Thursday PM ASCA

This afternoon was a little bit weaker than the morning (in my humble opinion). Matt Kredich spoke about World Class Walls and Elements of Elite Turns, which I found a little ho hum. The thing that Matt did very well was approach it very informally and non-commitally, which is to say that he said "why not try addressing it this way" rather than "this is the way that it needs to be done".  While I do like that approach, I was surprised how many coaches were furiously taking notes on elements that I have been teaching for years and are staples of my program. The troubling part of this: why aren't my swimmers faster if I'm already doing this stuff..?

Next, I dive bombed a private conversation between Brantford's +Tom Langridge and Bolles School's Sergio Lopez (a personal hero of mine). Sergio is a very nice guy and seems to have very pure intentions to what he is doing (he told us all about the foundation he has set up to teach children of under privileged families how to swim & water safety and Jax50, a meet that he holds to support that foundation). Possibly the best part of that conversation was Sergio speaking quite candidly and frankly about the problems & worries that he has as a coach. There is comfort in knowing that even some of the best experience the same problems that I am familiar with. 

I skipped that last speech and decided to chat philosophically with Tom for a couple of hours. I realize that we could have done this at home, but I feel like being isolated in a city allowed for us to talk more. We were joined by Niko from +ProSwimWorkouts | Professional Swimming Workouts and discussed his situation. If you have not checked out the ProSwimWorkouts site, I encourage you to check it out. I feel like the personal conversations and connections you make at conferences are usually the best part. It is certainly what I enjoyed most about this afternoon.

I fly home tomorrow afternoon so my Friday wrap up will be a little late. I'll try to get my thoughts written down while I'm in the air but I might prefer to sleep... we'll see.