Open letter to all concerned

Just as the NFL is experiencing a drastic increase in injuries; international open water swimming has experienced it's first true tragedy.
The present level of athletes involved are now far better than the rules we have to provide for their safety. 

Every facet of the sport should be thoroughly inspected and rethought.
These high performance athletes are not going to adjust their efforts based on the conditions. Nor should they be asked to do so.

Then, going forward, we must all demand that the new standards we establish are adhered to without compromise.

Every national and international race I attended as a coach leading into and including the Olympic Games included a technical meeting. At every technical meeting we were told of the compromises to the athletes safety in the availability to hydrate(lack of single or multiple feeding docks) or lack of supervision on the course.  There was always a reason given that had to do with lack of funding or lack of knowledge on the race hosts part. We argued until we finally got through to the organizing committee on the night before the race to add a second feeding station in Beijing.
I wasn't quiet then, I wasn't listened to.  I was told what everyone is told: "that's open water swimming, you have a choice to compete". 

We have to change this culture of the inmates running the asylum.
There are so many well planned, well supervised well executed swims available to those interested, but the majority of swims and races are events that have just been lucky and not had a tragedy take place yet.  I caution the finger pointers to be very careful and take a close look at their house prior to casting stones.  The compromise to oversight of athlete safety is occurring on all of the FINA continents.

My challenge is to all who organize events to please leave our egos at the door as we progress toward the safest environment possible for our fitness, competitive, and international level swimmers.

My invitation is to any and all investigative bodies to ask me to relay to them my journal entries from all of the various open water technical meetings I attended in 2006-the present.
I can be contacted directly at:

John D. Dussliere  949.636.3337 (USA)
coachjohn@sbswim.net

I hope this is received in the very positive and motivating vein it is meant. 

I spent the weekend in Conshohocken  Pennsylvania saying goodbye to a great young man. It was an overwhelming experience. We laughed, cried, and mourned the loss of the best in our sport and more importantly one of the best examples of what a great person swimming produces. 

Fran is at rest, we cannot be.

Thank you in advance,

Coach John

Goals: Hey Coaches, Practice What You Preach!!!

Not a very glamorous shot, I admit.  This is something I see a minimum of 2 times every day.   I ask that my athletes do the same for themselves.  I tell them: "Physically place your goal in front of you somewhere that it is important to be reminded of it".  This is my garage door opener with an Olympic Rings USA sticker under it.  When I leave for the pool everyday, I am reminded as to why I am going there.  When I return home I ask myself if I got anyone closer.   These two weeks at SBSC are about goals as individuals and as a Team.  We had some deeply enlightening Team meetings last week that really had a profound effect not only on the athletes, but they really got to me.  I decided to use a corporate cohesiveness exercise I had read about where everyone writes down a fear or concern they have for the team, then we drew them out of a hat one by one and discussed them.  I wanted to do this so we could work them out and get closer to establishing Team goals.  They absolutely blew me away!  The concerns they had for each other were deep, well thought out, and very very real.  Rather than trying to define what a Team is after this exercise, we became a Team during the exercise.  I thought it would be a quick team meeting and we would move forward.  It took the better part of two workouts to get through the 30+ cards in the hat.  I've not seen a more supportive, cohesive group of young athletes come together.  Now practice feels like everyone is present in the moment and there to accomplish something.  This is a group of 13-17 year olds; most of which just moved into the senior group.  It feels as if they are now training not only with the purpose of getting faster, but seeing to it that no-ones fears come to reality.  I recommend this exercise to every team that wants to take their training to a new level for the individuals in the pool and the Team as a whole.
Getting back to the picture, we have decided to make our goals as real as possible this year and to stop hoping for them to come true and start seeing them as our reality.  Are your goals full of hope or plans?

That Moment Just Before Things Change...or don't.....

Beijing Olympic Games, 2008.

Crocker, Phelps, Cavic, Lauterstein.

100 meter Butterfly final.

Yes, there would be more races toward the 8th Gold, but this one was the test of greatness that would last.

Four different athletes.

Two distinct race plans between them.

All would come together at the finish.

Would Olympic history be set or stolen? That was the question on every ones mind in the Water Cube, as well as on the TV screens of millions of people around the world.

This was a great sports moment that everyone shared. I was fortunate enough to be there and take the photo to the left. Another in my series of Swim Geek Photos.

Have you had a moment like this that maybe only you know about?

My highest profile(pressure) moment came in 2008 in Florida minutes before Mark Warkentin was to enter the water for the World Championship 10k trials. It was a moment I was prepared for. We (coaches) generally coach our athletes to need us too much and a result of that is a habit they have been taught. Go see your coach before you swim for instructions. I have always hated this cultural habit in swimming. It was a little different with Mark. Mark came over to see my confidence level in him. My confidence in his preparation and ability to not only make the team but win the race was so high that I was afraid he would think I was bluffing in our pre-race "talk".

In his training, we had covered everything from the sport science of technique, training, race analysis of all competitors, methods of training for an open water race in a pool, arriving from altitude on the perfect day. We lined everything up and left nothing to chance, yet were ready to react to any changes at any time. I spent countless obsessive hours researching open water races, cycling tactics, currents, drafting, positioning, and most important of all every aspect of every competitors past race tactics. All we needed to happen was the start of the race.

It was the best and most confident race advice I had ever given:

"Every decision you are about to make in this race is the right decision, you can not be better prepared for this race. Now go win."

He did.

Life changed.

I love it!!

Now go get to work on creating that moment!!

one of the hardest questions I've ever been asked.....

Earlier this week, I was asked a question that seems easy at the surface, but what if the answer I gave actually was going to be scrutinized for the reason of the question.

The Question? If asked to serve as an Olympic coach, tell me why it should be you.

How would you answer this question?

The "popular" definition of talent.....don't buy into it.

Go to a talent show. Prepare to be both impressed and disappointed. Go to a sporting event, expect the same. I hear so much about young athletes and musicians having an abundance or a lack of talent. When looking deeper, it becomes quite clear that the best performers and performances did not come from this anomaly called talent. They came from preparation. All different kinds of preparation. The difference in some early success cases comes from genetics. Maybe a 12 year old in the 50 freestyle is a foot taller than their competitors. They do not have talent, they have a longer body that is probably stronger than their fellow 12 year olds as well. At 12, they win all the time against 12 year olds. They get talked about as being a phenom or being gifted with talent. The benefit? Early success and popularity of the young competitor, coach, and parents. That spotlight is warm, it feels good to be or to have the fastest kid on the team in the house. But this does not generally last very long. Unless, of course, there is a plan to continue that involves a lot of time and energy on good ole fashion hard work and dedication. In swimming, we have full time professional coaching. Not always well executed, but it does exist. A lot of times a young swimmer will have early success prior to puberty when the body does not necessarily need to train to be the best and they will expect the success to continue. If you study swimming history you will rarely find post-pubescent success in swimmers that did not continue to add training days, hours, and intensity as they got older. As they grow accustomed to winning at the age group competitions, gaining a perspective that there is something bigger out there awaiting them will pay big dividends later in their career. To achieve this it will be very important to introduce the young successful swimmer to more and more difficult competition along the way. This is where experienced coaches thrive. They know, through experience that protecting a young talented athlete from widening their competitive horizons will prove to result in them not being able to handle defeat. They also know, through experience, that their young successful athlete will be beaten far more than they will win in their journey to become the best that they can be.

Practice under pressure!!! Seek out pressure competitions!! Welcome pressure!! Fail under pressure!! Get back up under pressure!! Thrive under pressure. Make pressure your normal!!

You will have fun while others are nervous!! How's that sound?!

What many young coaches struggle to learn is that it is not just the swimmer in the pool that will benefit from their guidance, but everyone involved in the childs success should be included in the long range plan. Mom and Dad, want their child to be successful more than anyone else. Providing the right definition of "successful" is a big part of the coaches job along the way. The word will be redefined countless times throughout a career.

Don't be the most talented, be the most prepared!!

Next.......What happens if our child is the one described above? What can we do to help and maybe more importantly: not hurt this process?

Great Athletes of All Time. Part one.

Though there are some; there are few arguments against the choices in this months poll to the right. Biased? Yes! My blog: My Poll. Nice feeling. But seriously in each caegory or discipline of those selected it is my belief that they are or were the best. Many would argue they are on the list based on having an enormously high level of talent. I think if you interviewed them and got them to be completely honest they would not give credit to talent but to harder work than anyone in their respective discipline. Harder work on the details, harder study of their contemporaries and more historical knowledge than anyone around and just a more intense concentration on mastering their craft. They also had better support systems around them that was built on achieving the very highest level. They also shere the quality of taking things into their own hands. They took guidance from their coaches and matched that guidance with their training and instincts. They didn' need to be guided through every step of the competition during the game. They took ownership responsibility of their wins, losses, and everything in between. They spent more time learning about their competition than anyone else was willing to learn. They not only brought their best to the game, they knew every move that would be used against them. Based on this, they could be pre-emptive and stay on the offensive. The next step involved in this circle is that they were therefore able to remain in ther own game and carry out their own plans. The athhlete that accepts that another is better is doomed from the start. It is perfectly fine to respect anothers abilities, but never to accept that they are better. To do that would be to give up an advantage prior to competing. They don't use goals to hope for something to happen, they use goals to change their behavior and constantly reset their path.

Let it Reign!!!

First I better credit USA Today with that AP photo. It is among my favorite interpretations of the Olympic Rings.
The rings will get wet, dry, hot, cold...it doesn't matter what is going on anywhere in the world or in our lives. There are people that have set other things aside in preparing to make their Olympic plans really happen.

Many times it is the biggest decision of your life. I would say most times someone becomes an Olympic Champion, it was due to a long path of correct decisions made at each stage in their development. Even though most 10 year old swimmers do plan on being Olympic Champions, nearly every one of them takes an incorect path as they grow up. Some, actually very few, happen to get each challenging decision correct and set up Olympic success.

Nobody in my research has ever made the Team because of ther level of talent. To me, talent is a ghost that lingers in the minds of those who haven't put in the time and effort. There seem to be so many that have honestly believed that they did everything possible to be on the team or win a gold medal. Many come away with reasons that are simply not true as to why they didn't get to the ultimate position on the podium. Quite possibly, they just did not do enough. Hard to hear? VERY!



What I do know is that there are an endless amount of things that can go into all the right challenging decisions one is confronted with in trying to truely become the best at something. We may be limiting ourselves by not remaining inventors and risk takers. Once a formula for success is realized, it is already time to adjust it. In other words: KEEP EVOLVING!



So, how do we ever beat the continually evolving, "best athletes"? Take bigger risks, uproot what you currently believe in to be the best and search out and try out something new.

Some of the best swimmers have looked into new events and begun training for them. Some athletes are discovering new disciplines and adding them to their "cross"training. For example: Even Phelps and his coach are evolving his race line-up. Probably for a couple of reasons. One: the 400 IM is an energy sucker at every level and going forward may cost Michael dearly in other events as his competition evolves. Two: Michael and his coach Bob Bowman are evolving toward new events for Michael. Not easier events as there is no such thing at the Olympic level, but new events as Michaels body and training evolves.

On the contrary, some athletes keep doing the same thing as before and expect to get different results. These are maybe our best, but they have not yet been exposed making changes or worse yet they are resistant to doing new things or adjusting what they believe works.

I really like when my swimmers look up at me and wonder who I am. I'm not the guy that was on deck yesterday, I'm more strict on technique today or more tough on making specific times in big training sets than I was yesterday. Maybe I turn into the "fun" coach on a day everyone was expecting the drill seargent. Maybe they get the drill seargent on a day that is typically set aside for recovery. I LOVE IT!!! Keep em guessing, stay ahead of the challenge. Stay on track of the plans, but mix up the details. The swimmers that can adapt on those days are probably more suited to excel closer and closer to the Rings.

Beijing Olympic Comedy.

I have to just cut to the chase on this one and let you in to one facet of my sense of humor. This is the pool in the Olympic Village that is meant for recreation. Yeah Right!!! There were countless training sessions going on all day long by the swimmers that didn't want to go to the trouble of getting to the cube(it could be a long process through security, transportation, security again, then you hope the pool is open when you get there). These two guys are the polish rowing team. I have to stop you right there. If you are not laughing right now, you do not get my sense of humor. All of the childish, inappropriate, politically incorect jokes that instantly began to flood my head forced me to take this picture. To all my polish friends(Especially the 2 Barts): I'm sorry, but this was too good to pass up.

The Swimming GEEK.....tourist photos: Part one.

The image to the left is one that would evoke memories of some of the hardest, most specific, most successful training maybe ever accomplished for both athlete and coach. This is a statement that could evoke resentment from many of the collegues, countrymen, and athetes I have had the good fortune of working with on deck. The image was taken last year while I was a guest speaker in Australia. The pool: Miami Aquatic Center on the Gold Coast. The coach: Dennis Cottrell. The lane belonged to Grant Hackett. This is what he stared at for hours everyday as he trained for that 14:34 mile that we just can't seem to catch(yet). These were his tiles, his black line. The feeling I experienced when I asked Dennis what lane Hackett trained in was a that of a shy tourist asking for directions to the beach in Santa Barbara. He pointed to the lane as if is was a dumb question. The reason I grabbed this image was so I could look at it and remind myself that it is just another lane in another pool. You have to be told the story to appreciate the work that happenned in it. Even then I'm sure it doesn't have the impact on most people it does on me. I might remember more about Hackett's race stats than either he or his coach. In the Carvin-Mortimer-Jensen years in Mission Viejo, I studied Hackett's every move made in those races and tried to break them down and figure out what type of training he did to get to those times. Also during those years in the Mission Pool as Coach Rose's Assistant, I relentlessly studied Hackett's numbers not to mimic that swim but to help our guys see how that particular guy did it. The 1500's he did are still the World Standard. The way he put the parts of that race together has still not been matched by anyone. Again, look at that lane. It is similar to every other lane in every other pool. There was no magic happening in that lane. Just the work needed everyday to do something that would stand tall and not be touched even in the so far short lived era of the flotation and compression suits. Whether this blog angers you that is seems to be an homage to Grant Hackett, or it inspires you that a great swim can be built from any lane in any pool. Good. Now get to work and maybe some day a coaching geek will take a picture of your lane.

Jazzy start to new year!!

Even just being out and about in Santa Barbara can make one proud to be a part of this TEAM. Last night I was treated to the performance of Harry Swalley, youngest of the long time swimming Swalleys, and his Jazz band playing at Live Culture at Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center. Harry's band of local young Jazz players is a testament to how hard work and rehearsals make the difference between good and great. These guys could hold their own next to any 5 man band out there. Check them out if you are looking for some great jazz(most all original music as well!!) in a comfortable setting. I could only stay for one set, but what a set it was!!
Harry is yet another example of the great people involved in the Santa Barbara Swim Club.
Thanks Harry, for the hard work you put in to your play!!!! It was a great example of how we "KNOW FUN!!"

This team is gonna shake things up at all the January meets!! I've not seen more motivated, purposeful training in years.
It will be a challenge once school starts on Monday to keep this level of focus alive. This is the group that can do it. Take the challenge! Become the best. Let the detracters distract themselves as we accellerate past them once and for all!!