Many times a year – especially on a spitting cold rain day like today – I walk past the pool deck, point down and say something to the effect of: “In my next life, I will be a swim coach. Preferably at a school with a pool. Like Marist.”
Think about it, from my perspective. Swim coach. Yeah. This is GOOD. For starters, it’s INSIDE. Warm. No spitting cold rain. Secondly, it’s always toasty warm on that pool deck. Third point: Forget about this hard-easy stuff of coaching runners. In the pool, it’s hard-hard-hard! Recovery is for wimps in the pool. No pounding, no problem! Intervals every day! Fourth: Did I mention it’s really warm and humid on that pool deck? Oh yeah, I did.
Well, this afternoon, for a few minutes anyway, I got my wish. I was a swim coach. Posch was lifeguarding and he witnessed this surreal few minutes of Swim Coach Pete.
I have known Director of Swimming Larry VanWagner for as long as I have been in Poughkeepsie. We have an excellent relationship. I respect the heck out of him, and the Aquatic Empire he has truly built at Marist. Plus, he lets me aqua-jog in the deep end during his team’s practices, when the pool is otherwise closed. Sometimes, he’ll even put on classic rock while I am aqua-jogging.
Anyway, today I was walking by the pool deck, and he excitedly waved me down. He was flyin’ solo on the deck. No help. He thrust a soaked kickboard with a wet workout sheet plastered to it, explained the dizzying myriad of numbers, and told me to “coach lane 6.” I had no idea what I was doing, but I got the hang of it quickly. Lanes. Times. Intervals. I’m a track coach. I can figure this stuff out.
Here’s the interesting thing: In Larry’s workout, there really was not much recovery! These Lane 6 Swimmers were supposed to do a 200-yard interval (I think) every 2:35. The fastest guy finished the interval between 2:25 and 2:30. Yikes! That gave him all of a few seconds to “rest” before starting the next one. Several women in the lane were not so fortunate, and they just had to keep going and going. That’s not interval work. That’s torture. Maybe this is the swimmers’ version of a tempo run. Hey, what do I know? I’m not a swim coach.
After a few minutes of this, one of Larry’s part-time assistants strolled in and onto the pool deck. I was quickly relieved of my duties. Dream job over. Back to freezing outside for the next few months. It was fun while it lasted.
2 comments:
Intervals with no recovery. Are they really intervals if they have no beginning and end? My nephew was a D1 swimmer (NC State) and swam in the Olympics in China for Puerto Rico (his dad was from there). I'll have to ask him about those "intervals".
Yes, consider it tempo work. Since there are no watches and only a running clock, they have send-off times, meaning you push off the wall on whatever the interval is plus recovery. If you don't make the interval you keep going. I thought it was silly but, the coach usually knows the athletes and gives them times so you get a short (5 sec) break tops!
There was a Olympic runner who's coach was a swimmer so 1k repeats would have a send-off. It might be steve scott. I kind of like it and have incorporated it because its even, its whole and if you run a little faster, well you get a little bit more recovery, hopefully aiding in a consistent workout.
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