Australian swimming | British winning
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Australian swimming inspires five tips to help produce more British medalists at Sydney 2000
1. Get organised
I strongly urge that we in Britain need to get organised if we wish to make an impact on world swimming. We have major advantages in our favour - a large population in close proximity, lots of coaches and teachers, numerous training programmes and competitive opportunities - but we need a concerted national effort-to bring maximum benefit from them. The days when club or individual set-ups could compete successfully at world level are going. We need a truly British effort. We must start to plan for national success and put our full support behind it in the knowledge that when our national team is successful every club coach will reap the benefit of greater publicity and greater participation.
2. Long-term planning
This is the first of my training tips for swim coaches. By the nature of the sport, most coaches are involved with younger swimmers from the age of eight to mid-teens. For these younger swimmers, we should constantly focus our aims on long-term goals. The 1993 World Top Ten Rankings in our sport show that, our of 120 Top Ten rankings in men's events, 107 were held by swimmers aged 20 or over. In women's events, 92 out of the 120 Top Ten Rankings were held by swimmers aged 18 and over. So there is clearly plenty of time to go before most young swimmers can achieve their full potential.
Remember that the Olympic medalists of Sydney 2000 could be in your 13-14 age groups today, so you don't want to see them forced out of the sport.
3. A positive attitude is essential
Emphasise the things which you and your swimmers can control. They can control only their own performances, so put the emphasis on good technique and personal best times. Improvements in these aspects are attainable by everyone, whereas winning an age-group gold medal is achievable only by a few. Swimmers will continue to enjoy training if they perceive they are making progress and if those around them are encouraging and praising this progress.
4. Cyclical trailing is vital
Coaches around the world operate a variety of macro cycles, ranging from 6-24 weeks in length. The most common cycle is 12 weeks, allowing 2-3 weeks build-up, 6-8 weeks max work, and 2-3 weeks taper. Within this, you also need to cycle aerobic, anaerobic and speed work as appropriate to the ages and abilities of your group. There are many excellent books which can help you decide the percentages of work most suitable to you, but the important point is to plan for your training to be cyclical in nature.
5. Fluid Intake is essential during training and competition
Even though swimmers work in water and may not appear to sweat, there is still considerable fluid loss in the average two-hour session. Swimmers should have a bottle of fluid with them on poolside and be encouraged to sip regularly throughout a training session and leading up to a competition.
Terry Denison
australian swimming





























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