No Limitations

If you’ve been following my blog entries then you know I’m a swimming coach for an incredible club team. If you haven’t, well, you’ve missed out on too much to catch up. So just start at step one. You also know if you’ve been able to weed through my obsession with Norse mythology that I love swimming. Even more than I love Odin.

Little did you know Odin's God is swimming

But this question is still asked—why do I love swimming so much? There are so many incredible memories for me that sometimes it’s difficult to relate the exact reasons as to why I love swimming the way I do. Memories are precious for their own reasons, but those memories are what made my heart grow fonder for this sport. Though I won’t delve into any exact moment, know that every reason is personal.

Swimming is difficult. (Read my other post before continuing here.) Although it is difficult, swimming still allows people to get what they want out of it. It’s entirely possible for any person to come into the sport and work his or her way to where they want to be. It will be incredibly difficult; that isn’t debatable. But, the results will be worth it. As long as there’s a drive strong enough to go the distance, there is no limit to what a person can do.

Lessons. Never stop learning. Swimming is one of the many facets in life where anyone can gain valuable knowledge. The reason above this one is one of these important lessons--the impact of having a great work ethic. Along with that comes dedication, discipline, responsibility, and integrity. While someone can very well understand what these mean outside of swimming, personal experiences are not something that can be traded for with definitions or examples. Swimming provides an opportunity for everyone to experience the importance of these qualities and many more admirable traits. However, swimming also gives them a place to think for themselves so they can fully understand these traits through their own experiences. Personal thinking and self-awareness is crucial to staying on target to goals during swimming, just as they are for success outside of the sport. The things swimmers learn are not simply used in water but throughout all of their lives.

Dreams. What’s the difference between a dream and a goal? Goals are reached. Dreams are

So let your dreams flourish with no chance of withering

experienced. This distinction is minuscule, but immensely important. If you go through an incredible journey only to lose footing right before the finish, you fail to reach your goal. However, if you dream the same dream every night while getting further and further along in it, how do you know when the end of the dream is? Simply, you don’t know. Dreams teach you to have no limits; that’s why you never stop dreaming. Something I learned while swimming.

Impacts. Society connects the word relationship to two people romantically involved with each other. This is a mistake. I like to think of a relationship as the first definition given: the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected. My relationship with my swimmers is unlike any other connection with other people in my life. It is built on a sense of

openness and mutual respect. They know that I’m there to help them become better swimmers, but they tend to forget I’m also a coach to help them become better people. Because our relationship is built on trust and respect, I am able to have a personal impact on every single swimmer. Watching someone advance in the sport while gaining positive attributes that will help them in life is an indescribably good feeling.

I love swimming, and these are only some of the reasons that I love what I do. I could go on for many more blog posts about how great of a sport swimming is (and perhaps I will). However, for now, I’ll end with one final reason. Coaching. Swimming has been my life for over 11 years, but now coaching swimming is my life. While I completely love the sport, I no longer coach just for swimming. I coach for my swimmers.

Familiar Characteristics

My swimmers and I have what I would call a very special relationship. And by special I mean the kind of thing that only happens when you and a friend continuously try to one up each other with rude remarks. The difficulty is my swimmers give no mercy. Though, their continuing pernicious behavior actually makes us connect better as coach and swimmers. It's strange, and sometimes even kills my self-esteem. I swear they have a bet to see who can make me cry first, but that won't happen. Their behavior will continue. While some may disagree, I don't think this is a bad thing. However, let me give you some context to what I mean.

Their rude remarks started out pretty simple. I walked into the pool one day wearing a thin, light orange hoodie. I love it, but as soon as I walk in all of the swimmers begin to comment about how strange I look—pointing, laughing, even whispering—which isn’t a big surprise since I normally wear shorts and a video game shirt. However, one of the parents even said to me they’re relentless. That’s an understatement. A couple days ago I came to the pool wearing jean pants and a polo as opposed to my regular outfit, which I somehow make Zelda (if you don't know what this is, shame on you) a part of. This is the resulting conversation:

Most comfortable hoodie ever

Swimmer—why are you dressed normal today?

Me—what are you talking about?

Swimmer—you actually have something decent on, not a video game shirt.

Me—so?

Swimmer—were you trying to impress a girl?

Me—no. Sometimes I wear a polo because I want to

Swimmer—okay. You wouldn’t be able to impress a girl anyways.

Making fun of my lack of a significant other seems to be there go to remark. I mean, I understand. If I thought my coach was 9 years older than he actually is (they all think I’m 31 when they first meet me…I do not look that old) I would be stunned if he were not married too. This is especially true for the younger swimmers. So I can see how they think it is strange, but I also think it’s because they question my sexuality, which they continuously try to figure out. For one they think my orange hoodie is a feminine color. It’s not. I also have a briefcase that I bring to the pool. It’s my school bag (my dad’s

It's a briefcase! Just look at the worn out leather

before mine, which is why I started using it) and I keep swimming supplies in there, but either way, they have gotten in the habit of calling it a man purse. I’ve been asked several times where my man purse is when I don’t bring it in. I even had someone ask me if I’d rather have a real purse. Apparently my briefcase means I don’t like women, which I guess is one reason why they ask if I have a girlfriend. That doesn’t really matter though because they ask all of the time. Observe:

Swimmer1—coach Brandon, do you have a girlfriend?

Me—I’m not going to answer that question.

Swimmer1—why?

Swimmer2—he doesn’t have a girlfriend!

Me—hey!

Swimmer1—oh…

Me—why do you ask?

Swimmer1—I was just wondering cause you’re handsome (she’s 9 years old).

Me—thank you!

Swimmer2 bursts into laughter, and I glare at her

Swimmer2—what? You want me to lie?

Me—no, I want you to get in the pool.

Swimmer3—what are you lying about?

Swimmer2—that coach Brandon is handsome.

Swimmer3 looks at me and turns around very slowly

Swimmer2—see? You’ll never get a girlfriend.

For how much my swimmers make fun of me, I can’t really complain too much because I’m equally as rude to them. Sometimes it’s just fun to tease them. Like this following conversation:

A ten year old girl came up to me the other day before practice…

Swimmer—coach, I took the Divergent test!

Me—oh yea? What did you get?

Swimmer—dauntless! Shows me the rubber band bracelet she made (I still don’t know why these are so popular)

Me—really?

Swimmer—yea!

Me—that’s weird. You should be in Huffle Puff.

Swimmer—hey! You’re so mean! She then storms off loudly

I know I would

There was also this instance when I pulled a swimmer out of the pool to talk with him about his breaststroke. He was moving up and down, not forward at all. So I told him he looked like the Lochness Monster. And that time I called a boy a coquette because he was flirting with one of the girls. He still doesn’t know I called him a woman. I also laughed pretty hard with the next scenario:

Swimmer—coach Brandon want to hear a riddle? (Clearly excited)

Me—(sternly) no!

Swimmer—oh…okay.

Me—what is it?

Swimmer—(perks up) what is black, white, and red all over?

Me—a panda I beat up (which I knew to be her favorite animal)?

Swimmer—no! Why would you beat up a panda? They’re so cute!

Me—Sorry, first thing that came to mind. So what is it?

Swimmer—a penguin in a blender! (My favorite animal)

Can I have one as a pet?

As you can see, my swimmers tease me quite a bit, but of course they don’t do so out of sheer malice. They are simply people and like to poke fun at me. Sometimes I even goad them into it. Though, as people say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; I definitely started the never ending game of poking each other with words. However, this teasing attitude brings us into a closer relationship as swimmer and coach, even if it does crush my ego. Being rude to each other (in a humorous fashion) is similar to making fun of my best friend. I know what I can and can’t say and still know that at the end of the day we’ll still be best friends. It’s the same with my swimmers and me. They know the boundary between being humorous and straight up rude. And even though this post may not make them out to be the best, they show me unbelievable respect (most of the time), which is something that everyone wants, but can’t always get. They have to earn my respect as much as I have to earn theirs. Poking fun at each other is just one way we transfer our respect. It allows us to communicate in a way that creates a more open communication and relationship. This is one of the key characteristics of a successful coach—great communication—and making fun of my swimmers allows me to begin opening that connection.

The Intensity of Swimming

Swimming is difficult. Plain and simple. In my last post (click to read it) I put a picture that pretty much says “if swimming were easy it would be called football.” I can’t agree more. But let me explain the reasons that make swimming one of the hardest sports in the world.

Time. Michael Phelps once said in an interview with 60 minutes that he was in the pool working out every day of the week since he was 11 (here's a link to a short summary). He was 23 when he won 8 gold medals in one Olympic Games in 2008. That is nearly 12 years of his life swimming every single day. Each practice for him was easily 3 hours long. That’s twenty-one hours per week just in the water.Wait. I forgot to mention he was probably doing doubles at least four times per week as well as dry-land and weights another 2-3 times per week. Swimming is a full time job. My swimmers of course are not doing this much, but they are in the water six days a week for a little less than two hours. Can you imagine working out for two hours every day? Yea, my swimmers are about eleven.

Workouts. I already mentioned last blog what dry-land is. What I do with my swimmers is much less than what the top swimmers on our team do, but it still plays a part in developing strength. Naturally though, the majority of our exercise is done in the pool. Practices vary immensely, especially when considering sets can be swum with different strokes or even all of them. Each individual work out is designed to make each swimmer stronger in at least one particular aspect. This is one workout that I gave my swimmers, which was about 5200 yards or a little over three miles:

400 warm up

8 X 100 im kick on 2:00

12 X 50 im order drill on 1:05 (drills help swimmers with their technique)

3 X      {1 X 75 fly/back/breast on 1:25

            {1 X 75 back/breast/free

            {1 X 75 breast/free/fly

            {1 X 75 free/fly/back

3 X 200 im on 3:20 descend 1-3

8 X 25 variable sprints 4 free 4 choice on :40

4 X 50 for time, one each stroke

10 X 50 on :50 odds-free evens-back

20 X 25 all out free (with fins) on :30

500 free (with snorkel) warm down

In high school I was friends with many football and volleyball players. One day we all went to the pool. They couldn’t even do an eighth of my warm up (two laps) without having to stop. If you don’t believe me, get in the pool and see how many you can do. Remember, my swimmers do over two hundred in an hour and forty-five minutes.

This is for you, Kevin

Dedication. If you’re weak willed swimming isn’t for you. As you can see from the above two reasons, swimming takes time and a great work ethic. Both of which are capable of bringing down even the most mentally tough. People often forget how mentally taxing exercising can be, and when you’re doing it every day for thirteen years it can be sort of repetitive. That’s why it’s important for swimmers to be self-motivated and know why they’re putting in the work. This is a difficult feat all on its own.

Though swimming is debatably the hardest sport, that’s one of the reasons I love it so much. Swimming takes work in order to be really good at it, which means even those kids with natural talent have to develop a strong work ethic in order to be great competitive swimmers. This makes swimming a sport of truly disciplined and dedicated individuals where anyone can get where they want (in the sport) if they put in the effort. It isn’t easy, but it’s possible. This is something I teach my swimmers, something they can take with them once they stop swimming. Success is based on their habits, their mind. Just like life, it’s up to them to make of it what they will.

Dryland

About once every week my swimmers do what is called dryland, which is essentially exercise that is out of the water. The name makes sense for swimmers since they’re constantly soaked in water. Football? Soccer? Running? Oh yea, all just dryland.

If you want to argue with me here, wait until next post when I delve into just how intense swimming really is.

The dryland I do with my swimmers is nothing major as I simply want to build more core strength and do some leg work since this is where my swimmers are the weakest. This means that I rely heavily on abdomen exercises. I will also take my swimmers running (usually no more than twenty minutes). Conveniently, there is a park located next to the pool in which we practice at so I try to head over there every other week. For some reason this never works for me though; the weather usually turns extremely sour. The Gods of rain and wind must hate me. For the past six months every time I have tried to go running with my swimmers, Njord and Thor decided to have a party (I’m sure it included mead, vast amounts), which results in a failed attempt yet again. It’s okay though because as one of my swimmers pointed out to me, “[they] run slower than a hoard of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.” My swimmers really hate dryland. I mean, I get it; it’s why they swim. But their complaints mean nothing to me. So here is one typical dryland workout that they do:

4 X 25 crunches – just getting their shoulder blades off the ground

3 X      {20 straight leg curls (like this but with a streamline and all the way up)

            {30 second plank  – making sure they are engaging their core

50 X toe touches

3 X      {10 V-sits (this is a decent video)

            {30 second 6 inch hold (I like this video)

3 X      {15 squat jumps

            {10 lunges each leg

2 minute wall sit in a streamline position

5 standing Ts each leg

I try to make dryland no longer than 25 minutes as they are still in the stages of growing into their athleticism (my average age is 11). However, I can see the effects of dryland in their swimming capabilities, even if they can’t. By working on their core and legs, they are able to push off the walls faster and stronger with more efficient dolphin kicks. Core work also impacts their strokes, especially butterfly. Instead of dropping their hips, they are able to keep them up longer and engage their core more during their stroke. When they can’t keep their hips up they look like frilled sharks (want to see one? They're creepy. Try this) purposefully trying to drown themselves even though they can’t physically do that.

Dryland is also a time where my swimmers can talk without repercussions. Practice doesn't usually provide for this since it's difficult to talk underwater and they just don't have the time in between sets. But during dryland, I strike up conversation if their jaws get idle. Here is one said example:

While doing a wall sit:

Me—guess what trailer came out today?

Swimmer1—the hobbit!

Me—Seriously? That came out like four months ago

Swimmer1—oh…

Swimmer2—I am number four

Me—I don’t care about preteen nonsense

Swimmer2 becomes highly offended and starts to speak preteen nonsense

Me—you all fail. Thor!

Swimmer(s)—oh I saw that!

Me—did you?

Swimmer(s)—yea it looks awesome!

Me—I know! I can’t wait! Has anyone else seen it?

Swimmers shout

Swimmer3—plot twist: there is no Thor trailer. 10 minute wall sit

Yep, that’s what my swimmers think of me. A compulsive liar who just likes to torture them. But perspective is everything. They think dryland is to simply torment them, but I know different. I wait for the day they start to think for themselves and appreciate the pain they think I induce. However, for now I just say what any good coach would: “pain is weakness leaving the body.”