Swimming World Presents – How They Train: Tayla Lovemore

Tayla Lovemore

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How They Train: Tayla Lovemore

By Michael J. Stott

Before she became a professional swimmer (New York Breakers), Durban, South Africa native Tayla Lovemore enjoyed a distinguished college career at Indian River State College and Florida State.

As a Pioneer, Lovemore was an 11-time national junior college champion, helped Indian River to two NJCAA team titles in 2015 and 2016, and was named NJCAA Women’s Swimmer of the Year in 2016. She still holds the NJCAA 50 yard free (22.47) and 50 back (24.93) records and is a member of the 200 free and 200 medley relay record teams. At Florida State, she was team MVP as a senior, a two-time NCAA All-American and school record holder in the 100 yard butterfly (51.60).

After graduating from FSU in 2018 with a B.S. in environment and society, Lovemore earned a master’s in aquatic environmental science while traveling the World Cup Swimming Circuit and continuing to train for Tokyo. In 2019, Lovemore broke South African and African records (SCM) in the 50 fly (25.54) and 100 IM (1:00.30).

Competing in the 30th World University Games (LC), she captured gold in the 50 meter fly, clocking a 26.25. At 2019 Worlds in Gwangju, she teamed with Erin Gallagher, Emma Chelius and Rebecca Meder to set a South African national mark (3:43.35).

“When Tayla joined the Indian River program, she was already quite a good athlete,” says her IRSC coach, Sion Brinn. “She was easy to train because she had a lot of drive to improve in everything. Occasionally, she did need that extra push either to stay on pace or realize she could go up another level. She did not have many weaknesses. Tayla was very coachable and quickly adapted once she realized anything was possible or once she set a new standard for herself.

“Often we did sets of 50s that would start at a strong pace and end with best possible average. Her work/rest was usually about 1:1.5. Every time she did sets at that rate, there was always a new expectation, and she was able to achieve it. During the hard sets, she was consistently doing her best to motivate her teammates and get them to work as hard as she was.

“In swim meets, doing a lifetime best was always her goal—no matter what the meet or how tired she was. In relays, her energy was contagious, so her teammates were always swimming fast as well,” says Brinn.

[PHOTO CREDIT: TAYLOR NATIONS]

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Swimming World Magazine September 2020 Issue

FEATURES

010 IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN
by Dan D’Addona
Indiana’s Carmel High School has won the girls’ state swimming and diving championships for 34 straight years, a feat unequaled by any other high school—not only in swimming, but in any other sport.

012 BEST OF THE DECADE (2010-19)
In Swimming World’s first mythical national high school championships to determine the best teams of the last decade, Carmel High School of Indiana won both the girls’ and boys’ competitions.

013 GIRLS’ NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS MOCK HEAT SHEET: BEST OF THE DECADE (2010-19)
Times compiled by Bob Klapthor

015 BOYS’ NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS MOCK HEAT SHEET: BEST OF THE DECADE (2010-19)
Times compiled by Bob Klapthor

017 PREP POWER
by Andy Ross
Since Swimming World first began recognizing the top high school teams in the country in 1971, The Bolles School of Jacksonville, Fla., has won 18 national prep school titles—10 boys’, eight girls’. The Bulldogs have also captured 12 combined championships (public and independent schools), with both teams finishing No. 1 six times.

020 THE GOLDEN YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING
by David Rieder
Public schools Santa Clara and Mission Viejo built high school swimming dynasties from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Not only did they dominate high school swimming, but unlike today, they also produced many of the swimmers from that era who competed in the Olympics.

026 STILL CHASING EXCELLENCE
by John Lohn
Matt Grevers does not need to achieve anything more to stamp himself as an all-time great. But even at 35, there is a desire to accomplish more, and there is no reason to doubt Grevers can come through.

029 SUMMER OF SPEED
by John Lohn
Politics interfered at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, preventing South Africa’s Jonty Skinner from competing head-to-head against the USA’s Jim Montgomery in the men’s 100 freestyle. But that summer, they became the first two swimmers to break the 50-second barrier in the event, with Montgomery clocking 49.99 at Montreal, followed by Skinner with a 49.44 at the AAU National Championships three weeks later.

032 THE TROUBLE WITH SPRINTERS (Part 3): GARY HALL JR.
by Bruce Wigo
The theme of this series of articles has been that sprinters are different from other swimmers—athletes who have historically been considered troublemakers by the establishment, but who have been great for the sport. This month’s featured sprinter is Gary Hall Jr.—one of the greatest in Olympic history…but, perhaps, one of the most maligned and misunderstood.

COACHING

038 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: TRUST IN SCIENCE
by Rod Havriluk
Based on the many counterproductive technique elements that are conventional wisdom, it seems logical to ask why there is not a greater acceptance of science in swimming. The purpose of this article is to give swimmers and coaches some very real reasons to trust in science and scientists.

040 SPECIAL SETS: BACK TO BASICS
by Michael J. Stott
While college swimming as we know it faces a roadmap unlike any in recent memory, Coach Eric Skelly of the University of the Cumberlands, Ky. is treating the return to campus and formal practice as business as usual.

043 Q&A WITH COACH SION BRINN
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN TAYLA LOVEMORE
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

036 DRYSIDE TRAINING: MORE CORE
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

046 UP & COMERS: GABI BRITO
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

023 DID YOU KNOW? JIM CROW

037 THE OFFICIAL WORD

042 MOMS AT MEETS

047 GUTTERTALK

048 PARTING SHOT

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