ASCA Fellow Joel Elber Ready to Be Role Model as Coach

Feature By Jeff Commings

FISHERS, Indiana, May 23. COACHING was always in Joel Elber's blood, even while he was a swimmer.

“I always wanted to coach,” Elber said. “I had been coaching since I was in high school. I knew I wanted to continue that, whether it was part-time or full-time.”

It appears it's going to be a full-time commitment for the 24-year-old. He's been an assistant coach at the Southeastern Swim Club for about a year, working at a club in suburban Indianapolis that has a rich history of developing young talent.

And he is one of six members of the American Swimming Coaches Association's 2012 Fellows Class, the 12th such group of young coaches picked to work with experienced mentors for a year. The others in the class are Danielle Strader-Bordi (Salvation Army Krocs), Jon MacColl (Queens University of Charlotte), Mickey Murad (Rancho San Dieguito Swim Team), Rodrigo Pereira (City of Plano Swimmers) and Sam Wensman (Club Wolverine).

Each year, the Fellows work on a year-long project, and this year's assignment appears to be right up Elber's alley. The goal is to devise a strategy to implement a professional swimming league in the United States that will increase visibility for the sport.

Elber spent about a year training with the elite team at SwimMAC-Carolina before a torn labrum forced early retirement last year. The team took overseas trips to compete in Italy, where Elber saw firsthand how a meet for professional swimmers could be handled.

“The energy and excitement there was really high,” he said. “The general public came out to watch. There's music, there's fun and everyone has a good time.

“There are a lot of ideas I can bring,” he added. “It's going to be challenging, because in my opinion, USA swimming is very structured and its goal is to be the best it can be in the world. You can do that, but it shouldn't be an issue as far as the fun portion of it.”

Transitioning into full-time coaching wasn't difficult. Prior to coaching part-time at SwimMAC, Elber was an assistant coach for the Ohio State University's club team while finishing his degree in exercise science. (He was also captain of the men's swim team his senior year.) Working with Ohio State's Bill Wadley and SwimMAC's David Marsh instilled a lot of powerful coaching philosophies in Elber.

“David Marsh was a huge influence on me in terms of what it means to be a swimmer and challenging those ideals that had been accepted for 50 years, and trying new things,” he said. “When I was at Ohio State, Bill Wadley impressed me a lot. One of the reasons I chose to go to Ohio State is he remains devoted to creating proper men, and swimming comes second. That really impressed me, and I wanted to be that role model for young kids.”

Southeastern Swim Club has been a great place for him to instill those values and grow as a coach, he said.

“A lot of people in the community are excited about the sport, and it helps promote the sport, and it's nice because kids want to come out to swim,” he said. “The coach who has been there for over 20 years, Andy Peterson, asked me about my ideas, and that was great. (The team is) continually evolving and always wanting to be better.”

Being an ASCA Fellow could help improve Elber's outlook on coaching as well, noting that “it's great to have the chance to make a difference in this sport.”

If you have feature story ideas, contact Jeff Commings at Swimming World at jeffc@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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