4 Lessons Matt Grevers Taught Me About Swimming

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Annie Grevers, Swimming World Staff Writer

When you commit to swim in college at a top five Division I program, you might think you know a thing or two about swimming. I sure did. I knew I had a lot to learn as I worked toward a bachelor’s degree, but I did not anticipate the amount of schooling which would come from the thousands of hours logged swimming under the unrelenting Tucson sun.

Much of what I learned in the sport were lessons from my coaches Greg Rhodenbaugh, Frank Busch, Rick DeMont and Augie Busch. But as years splashed on, another coach began making an impression. That hulking Matt Grevers.

Ever received the advice not to coach your significant other? Yeah, there were many times I thought the common counsel had eluded Matt. He eventually grew weary of his girlfriend dodging eye contact and giving no signs of receiving his coaching. You’re not here to tell me what to do. That’s not your role, I thought. But, boy, was I wrong. Stubborn collegiate girls, am I right?

Matt is a student of the sport and persistently needs to know why. He resolutely finds the purpose behind every angle, every drill, every point of propulsion. He processes the sport differently than I did. I placed all of my trust in my coaches in high school. I blindly banked on the research they had done, and followed their instruction. If I were to question a drill, I would have felt disrespectful. This leads me into lesson one.

1. Ask Questions.

Photo Courtesy: Heidi Torregroza

There is no need to be rude about it or feel disrespectful, but without that “aha” moment of understanding why a stroke works the way it works, you’re only hoping it will work. Gregg Troy recently told me he loves coaching Arkady Vyatchanin because he is so inquisitive. “He is the type of swimmer who makes me a better coach,” Troy said. So even if your coach feels challenged, it may force he or she to explore the technicalities of a stroke more thoroughly.

2. Be Internally Cocky.

Photo Courtesy: Maddie Kyler

If we’re going in order of importance in my own experience, this should be number one. But there’s no way you can have unsurpassed confidence without asking questions and knowing you’re technically sound. I never thought I struggled with confidence until Matt said something that shook my opinion of my own mental game. “You need to be a little cocky…in your own head. How can you expect to win, without truly believing you’re the best.”

Oh. My. Gosh. So simple, yet so profound. I always wanted to win and I saw glimmers of what I could do in training, but when I approached the blocks, I knew I was up against girls who worked their butts off, like me. It felt more like gambling than racing. I’ll do my best, and the rest is fated, I thought. No. That’s not mental prep. You have to believe you are fiercely capable. You have to mount the block like you’re staking your claim. Matt doesn’t proclaim his dominance with trash talk in the ready room. But he knows in his heart he has everything he needs to unleash an astounding swim. Master this and you’ve mastered half of racing.

3. Be Anxious About Nothing.

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

This is one we’ve sat on a lot. There are all sorts of tricks out there which promise to calm your nerves. Some work. Some don’t. The most reassuring way for Matt and I to look at anxiety is by realizing it’s as an utter waste of energy, and in our faith, a lack of trust. The ready room is a place of nerves, self talk and for some, a sanctuary. Matt recognizes God has given him gifts, and he prays he will be a good steward of those gifts. Katie Ledecky recently told me, “I said at least 12 Hail Marys in the ready room before my Olympic final.”

If you’re confident in your training, your water wisdom, your racing abilities, plant your feet firmly on those rocks of stability and have no fear of slipping off. Your race has been mapped out and perfected every day in training.

Too often swimmers see all the training they have put in as a negative investment- “But I sacrificed my entire summer to this sport. I better swim well so that sacrifice was not for nothing.” Training should be a swimmer’s ammunition. You’ve logged all those practices, you’re armed with so much artillery! You’re bound to endure through the longest battle/race.

Anxiety doesn’t just plop on our backs as we crouch to take our mark. It builds on itself during the weeks and the days leading up to your race. Have faith in your preparations. As many wise swim folk have reiterated- swimming is not life. It’s merely something we choose to do in our lives. Choose to have fun racing.

4. Be a Resource.

US Olympic Training Center altitude open water camp 2015

Photo Courtesy: Tyler Fenwick

Ask any member of the US National Team if Matt has helped them in some way with swimming, or just offered up some words of consolation, and they’ll be able to recall some Grevers-ism. I noticed this trait in Matt immediately. He is perhaps the most generous soul I’ve ever met. He has been in the sport for 25 years. He has A TON of swim know-how, and he learns something new about the sport every week. Matt would feel guilty if he did not impart some of his swimtellect to those around him. We should too! And when your peers offer a helpful hint, accept it with grace and without grimmace (collegiate me toward Matt is a good example of a bad example).

Teaching need not be confined to the coaches roaming around on the pool deck. Every swimmer has a different way of experiencing and articulating our sport.

Swimming has remained immune to one virus that most sports are infected by — unsportman-like conduct.

Why is that? I’ve never seen a Super Bowl-like brawl erupt on the pool deck, or a swimmer take a slug at a guy who “unfairly” touched him out. Swimmers respect the work that their competitors put in and know that their swim is the result of their work. It’s no one else’s fault if we have a bad swim, but it’s a success for a team if someone has a good swim.

National Team Director Frank Busch, Grevers, and countless other Olympians said the Olympic Team in 2012 was different. It was a pack of lightning fast individuals, with talents that might drive some to be vain and self-serving. But this group was not self-serving. They helped one another through training camp, banded into a support system, and were a force to be reckoned with in London.

Turn your team into an inquisitive, confident, collected, group filled with teammates who want to help refine one another. You may see golden results.

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Tangie Nelson

8 years ago

Joshua Nelson

Chelsea Oder

8 years ago

U of A! Hey hey!