My Background My Path How I was coached: In Spain My coach from 12 until 19 years old was a very scientific coach. Also the two doctors for my team were the first doctors to study in the DDR with the scientist that developed lactate testing. In USA My first coach was James Doc Counsilman, he was well known as the father of the science of swimming. In my opinion he was a brilliant psychologist. My second coach in the USA was Jozsef Nagy (Hungarian) that was very scientific but also very creative with an amazing understanding of human behavior. I also had the opportunity to be coach by Frank Bush and Rick Demont.
Ingredients to be a Successful Coach Science Physiology Methodology of Training Nutrition Psychology Human Behavior Stress/Stressors Understanding Oneself Art Expressing Oneself Day Dreaming Bring your Dream to Reality Experience Swimmer Coach Human Being (Age) Planning Seasons Daily Thinking Time Family Time Planning Experience Science Coach Art Psychology
Cultural Coaching Differences Spain Very well educated about the science and methodology of planning and creating workouts. Believe that long course training is most important. Plan for long term success. Two peak performances a year but preferable one. USA No really required specific education to be a coach. No long term plan. Short seasons with multiple peaks every season. Over 400,000 swimmers signed up for USA swimming but there are a lot more in different organizations like YMCA and summer league.
USA Way of Swimming These are the groups that make USA Swimming successful: Summer League (8-12 weeks in summer) High School (12-16 weeks at different times of the year depending on the State) Club (year round but has to deal with summer league and high school seasons) College (144 day college season + voluntary rest or club training after college season) Post-Grad / Pros (year round, but interesting ;-)
Swimming in USA Factors that make swimming in the USA successful: From Summer League to College Swimming the seasons are set up to be short and FAST. They race/compete very often (once or twice a week). The idea of competing for your TEAM is engraved in their souls. It translate in PRIDE when being part of TEAM USA. Many different groups where the kids have different mindsets but always thinking of swimming FAST and TEAM: Summer Leagues They compete in short events with their childhood friends from the neighborhood, racing almost once a week FUN = FAST High School Higher level workouts than summer league. Always playing around with friends but racing as a team at least once a week FUN = FAST Club-Colleges Combine the short season, swimming FAST constantly and being part of a TEAM that is bigger than you. Pro/Post Grads They need time off to make money to support their swimming and also they like to take a lot of time off ;-)
Sample Season at The Bolles School The Bolles School is a year round swimming club that deals with usa swimming, high school, summer league and international competitions. Very complex. August (last week) to November (first week) (SCY): High School Season 10-11 weeks November to December (SCY): Winter Senior or Junior Nationals and Gator Meet 3-5 weeks Break 1-2 weeks December to March/April (SCY): Sectionals (SCY) 15-17 weeks Break 1-2 weeks May to July (SCY): Summer League 10-12 weeks April to August (LCM): Sectionals, Futures, Summer Trials & International meets 12-14 weeks Break 2-4 weeks
How Do I Coach? Important to teach swimmers how to race. Practice at race pace with perfect technique. Aerobic base will build overtime. Design practice based on the best swimmers in the group. Three Day Cycle twice a week. Use of the 150 Chart to design sets and workouts. Mix of science and art. Having an open mind and learning from the swimmers everyday has allowed me to evolve quicker. I teach my swimmers to challenge my thought in the water everyday with their actions not words.
Simple Does it! Goals! Important not to get too Complex Design practice so you can use different or combinations of energy systems each day. Think about building base over time. Trust your creative side. Believe in what you write down and what you tell your swimmers. It is your thought! Stay the course. Don t turn your back to your thought. It will keep it SIMPLE.
Season Planning Traditional I have not used it in at least for 20 years years. Too hard to follow, adapt and change quickly because of the size of the group. I had groups as big as 106 swimmers at the same time (summer of 2014). Example: how I learned to plan but, I don t do it: 2007-08 Plan Nimrod Shapira-Bar-Or Semifinalist at (2008) Olympics 200 Free for Israel while Senior in high school 1:47.78 (15 TH ) & 49.10 (26 TH ). He was 1:50.57 and 50.45 the year before. Coaching in USA and learning to understand the culture, it has helped me to create a much more simple way of planning.
Season Planning - Three Day Cycle AEROBIC: Work from AE 1-3 Technique work POWER / SPEED: Circuit training in water Use buckets, weight belts, parachutes, stretch-cz etc. RACE PACE: From Threshold to Vo2max to Tolerance of Lactate to Maximum production of Lactate. Important: everyday work on technique, race strategy/learning how to think, understanding how to change and correct strokes on the run, learning and developing mental skills.
Three Day Cycle Weekly Design Single Practice (6 a week) Double Practice (9 a week) A.M. P.M. Monday - Aerobic Tuesday - Power-Speed Wednesday - Race Pace Thursday - Aerobic Friday - Power-Speed Saturday Race Pace - Monday A.M. Dry-land Underwater P.M. Aerobic Tuesday - Power-Speed Wednesday Dry-land Underwater Race Pace Thursday - Aerobic Friday Dry-land Underwater Power-Speed Saturday Race Pace -
Club & H.S. Team - Three Day Cycle Weekly Design Single Practice (6 a week) Double Practice (9 a week) A.M. P.M. Monday - Aerobic Tuesday - Power-Speed Wednesday - Race Pace Thursday - Aerobic Friday - Power-Speed Saturday Race Pace - Monday A.M. Dry-land Underwater P.M. Aerobic Tuesday - Power-Speed Wednesday Dry-land Underwater Race Pace Thursday - Aerobic Friday Dry-land Underwater Power-Speed Saturday Race Pace -
College Team (non-sprint) - Three Day Cycle Weekly Design AM Workout PM Workout Monday Dry-Land Med-Ball 20-60 Swim Alactic Work Skills Uw kick Tuesday - - Wednesday Med-Ball 20-60 Alactic Work Skills Uw kick Thursday - - Friday - Aerobic Recovery Saturday - Race Pace Weights Swim Monday - Aerobic Tuesday Weights Power-Speed Wednesday - Race Pace Thursday - Aerobic Friday Weights Power-Speed Saturday - -
Pro/Post Grad Team - Three Workout Cycle Weekly Design AM Workout PM Workout Dry-Land Swim Monday - Aerobic Tuesday - Race Pace Wednesday Med Ball 20-60 FAST Kick + Aerobic Swim Thursday - - Friday Med Ball 20-60 FAST Kick + Aerobic Swim Saturday - Race Pace* Weights Swim Monday Weights Power-Speed Tuesday - - Wednesday - Recovery Short Swim Thursday Weights Power Speed Friday - Recovery Short Swim Saturday - -
Why Do I like This Set Up Sean Hutchinson Charlie Houchin-Olympic Gold Medalist 2012 Ariana Kukors-Olympic Finalist 2012 Allows me to work at a high level every day. Does not allow the swimmer to Plateau at certain energy system. Swimmers get in Fast Mode shape very quickly. It is not boring for the swimmer.
Energy Systems Emphasis 12 Weeks Cycle 16 Weeks Cycle Energy System Priority First Second Third Energy System Priority First Second Third Week 1-3 Week 4-6 Aerobic Power- Speed Week 7-9 Race-Pace Power- Speed Race-Pace Power- Speed Race-Pace Aerobic Aerobic Week 1-4 Week 5-8 Aerobic Power- Speed Week 9-12 Race-Pace Power- Speed Race- Pace Race-Pace Aerobic Power- Speed Aerobic Week 10 Transition to Taper Week 13 Transition to Taper Week 11-12 Taper & Shave Meet Week 14-16 Taper & Shave Meet
Second Peak Second Taper Normally is a 3 to 4 week period: Week #1: 1-2 days off to recharge batteries and recover from emotional stress. 1-2 days of recovery swims with working on technique and some alactic work but very short. Volume of workout: 2500-5000 m/yds depending on swimmer. 1 x 3 day cycle where the aerobic work may appear every day, sets Free or IM. Power-Speed day with some work at 200 pace and some alactic work. Race-pace lower intensity but some race simulation Week #2: First three day cycle increase intensity no Volume Second three day cycle will be the hardest on intensity Volume in my opinion is not important unless is a distance swimmer
Second Peak Second Taper Week #3: This week we play by ear since we don t want the swimmer to get to the meet tired. Still thinking of the three day cycle structure but a lot more flexibility to change to what the swimmer needs and feels. Maybe do a test set like the 3 x 100 from a Dive with 12-15 minutes rest. The first at 4-5 of Best Time The second at 3-4 of Best Time The third a no more than 2 of Best Time Week #4: Keep resting with some key sets to do depending on the days and how the swimmer feels.
Ingredients to make a second peak successful I believe: Taper/Peaking is not only designed for just a given day or a given week to be able to perform your best. If the swimmer is well trained physically and mentally the window of opportunity (time) to swim FAST, it s very big. In the necessity to create a culture that embraces trust between swimmer/coach and a believe that at any given moment in time the swimmer can be at his/her best. In my creative side that will quickly adapt to the swimmers needs. I am very flexible with the whole plan but even more with the taper time.
Most Important About This Process Believe that the window of opportunity to swim FAST it goes beyond the Target Meet. The Second Taper do not try to improve but make sure that the swimmer recovers well and does not lose the feeling for racing. Too much will slow the swimmer down and the swimmer won t have time to recover in time. Watch, talk & Listen to your swimmer and his/her body language outside and in the water. It will show you the way. Trust your instinct and believe that rest is a good thing in anything we do in life, and it is crucial for high performance success. After your swimmer makes the meet you can not doubt at all in front of your swimmer of anything that happens. Make positives of negatives. MOST IMPORTANT Coaching is an ART never forget and allow yourself to think outside the box.
Ryan Murphy Four Year Times 200 Back Season Projected Accomplished Trials Place 2012-13 1:54"5-1:55"2 1:55"87 2011-12 1:57"3-1:56"3 1:57"39 4th 2010-11 1:59"5-1:58"5 1:59"33 2009-10 2:01"5 2:00"81 100 Back Season Projected Accomplished Trials Place 2012-13 53"60 53"38 2011-12 54"30 53"76 6th 2010-11 55"30 55"43 2009-10 56"40 57"27 s e r g i o l o p e z m i r o. c o m c o a c h s e r g i o l o p e z @ g m a i l. c o m 2013 2018 Sergio Lopez Miro Miro
Charlie Houchin Three Day Cycle Charlie came to train with me September of 2011 until August 2013: 2012 Olympic Gold Medal in the 800 Free Relay for USA. 2013 FINA World Championship in the 800 Free Relay for USA 2011-12 season he trained 6 times a week: Once a Day Monday through Saturday Volume between 5,000-9,000 yards/meters Some times he would come in the afternoon to do some work on his stroke and do some IKKOS. Maybe once or twice a week the most. Volume between 600-1200 yards/meters 2012-13 season it was very interesting: September to December he barely swam since he creating an App and he was looking for an investor December-March I asked him to train at least three times a week Volume between 4,000 to 6,000 yards/meters March to June (Trials) I asked him to train once a day Monday through Saturday Volume between 6,000 to 7500 yards/meters Trials to Worlds he did once a day some time a second session of technique.
2011-12 Charlie Houchin Three Day Cycle 2012 USA Olympic Trials Prelims Semis Finals/Place 200 Free 1:48.15 1:47.69 1:46.88 / 5th 400 Free 3:48.48 X 3:48.32 / 4th 2012 London Olympic Games Prelims Semis Finals/Place 800 Free Relay 1:48.22 lead off X Gold Best Time
2012-13 Charlie Houchin Three Day Cycle 2013 USA World Championship Trials / June 25-29 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 200 Free 1:47.55 1:47.36 / 4th 400 Free 3:51.43 X 3:47.16 / 3rd 2013 FINA World Championships / Aug 4 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 800 Free Relay 1:45.66 X 1:45.59 / Gold Best Time
Kevin Cordes Three Day/Workout Cycle Kevin move to Singapore at the end of May of 2015 and still trains with me now at Auburn: 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan. He arrived to Singapore out of shape from college and I had two months to figure it out before meet. He trained for two weeks in Vancouver with Josef Nagy but he had to be very careful with volume and intensity. He couldn't train fly or back and his free is not very good. IM training was out (still is ;-) He was the male swimmer from the USA team to win more medals at Worlds: 50 Breast (3 rd ) / 200 Breast (2 nd ) / 400 Mixed Medley Relay (2 nd ) / 400 Medley Relay (1 st ) He couldn't train fly or back and his free is not very good. IM training was out (still is ;-) We used the Three Day cycle this season and his volume went from 4,000-5,000 to 1,500-1,000 meters x day
Kevin Cordes Three Day/Workout Cycle 2015-16 season he trained 6-9 times a week: He trained at the Singapore National Training Center with the team: Volume between 4,500-6,000 meters Main Workout Volume between 1,000-2,000 meters after Weights/ Dry-land Still a BIG LEARNING EXPERIENCE for both since he never really trained much for a extended period of time. 2016 USA Olympic Trials: Qualified in both 100 & 200 Breast with Best Times 2016 Rio Olympics: Won Gold in 4oo Medley Relay, 4 th in 100 Breast & 8 th in 200 Breast
Kevin Cordes Three Day/Workout Cycle 2016-17 season he trained 6-8 times a week: He moved to Auburn (USA) with me. I modified the way I coached him and the Pro Group: Volume between 5,000-2,500 yards/meters Volume between 1,000-1,500 yards / meters after Weights Between August and December of 2016 our plan was to train once a day and work on technique but for him to learn how to become a Pro, find an agent and sign with a suit company. Between January and March of 2016 we had a cycle were started the three workout cycle and experimented with altitude. Between March and June we focused on World Trials Qualified in the 50, 100 (American Record) & 200 Breaststroke with Best Time At the 2017 Worlds Kevin: Won Gold in 4oo Medley Relays (Normal & Mixed, Silver in the 100 Breast, 4 th in the 50 Breast and 5 th in the 200 Breast
2014-15 Kevin Cordes Three Day Cycle 2015 FINA World Championship / August 5-9 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 50 Breast 26.93 AR 26.76 AR 26.86 / 3rd 200 Breast 2:09.94 2:08.69 2:08.05 / 2nd 400 MedleyR mx 58.33 WR X 58.63 / 2nd 400 MedleyR X X 58.88 / 1st Best Time
2015-16 Kevin Cordes Three Day Cycle 2016 USA Olympic Trials / June 26-July 3 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 100 Breast 59.05 58.94 AR 59.18 / 1st 200 Breast 2:08.54 2:07.81 2:08.00 / 2nd 2016 RIO Olympics / August 6-10 100 Breast 59.13 59.33 59.22 / 4th 200 Breast 2:09.30 2:07.99 2:08.34 / 8th 400 MedleyR 209.35 X 1st Best Time
2016-17 Kevin Cordes Three Workout Cycle 2017 USA World Championship Trials / June 27-July 1 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 50 Breast 26.89 X 26.88 / 1st 100 Breast 59.16 X 58.74 AR / 1st 200 Breast 209.35 X 2:07.41 / 1st 2017 FINA World Championships / July 23-28 Prelims Semis Finals/Place 50 Breast 26.83 26.86 26.80 / 5th 100 Breast 59.15 58.64 AR 58.79 / 2nd 200 Breast 2:09.47 2:08.40 2:08.68 / 6th 400 MedleyR mx 58.95 WR X 1st 400 MedleyR X X 58.88 / 1st Best Time
Questions & Answers Questions & Answers THANK YOU! coachsergiolopez@gmail.com