Coaches Education

ASCA Pacific Coaches Clinic Brings West Coast Coaching to Forefront 2025 kicked off to a fantastic start for the American Swim Coaches Association, as some titans of the coaching world touched down in Napa, California recently for a weekend filled with knowledge. Day one saw Russell Mark take coache...

Throwback Thursday: The Early Training That Led Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman to Legendary Status (Sample Sets) Together, Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman  forged the most successful athlete-coach relationship in the history of the sport. Here is a look at some of the early workouts that led to Phelps'...

Q&A with SwimRVA Head Coach Jonathan Kaplan; Self-Described 'Swim Nerd' Has Followed Dream A self-described “swim nerd,” Jonathan Kaplan has pursued a lifelong coaching dream in building programs and influencing hundreds of young men and women to become better swimmers and even better people. Jonath...

What is the Hardest Event in Swimming (VOTE HERE!) On the deck or on the team van, the question of which is the hardest event in swimming has been debated. Opinions vary on the topic and athletes who contest a specific event have a tendency to pick their own as the No. 1 choice. Does the grinding na...

How They Train: Christine Datovech & Bryce Mortimer CHRISTINE DATOVECH Now a freshman at Virginia Tech, Christine Datovech’s partnership with her age group coach, Jonathan Kaplan, began as a summer leaguer and YMCA swimmer at age 11. As she transitioned to USA Swimming, she steadily progressed and h...

Stay Strong, Swim Long—10 Ways to Beat Illness and Injury  By DAWN WEATHERWAX, RD, LD, ATC, CSCS  As an athlete, maintaining your health is crucial for optimal performance. The world’s top athletes experience fewer illnesses and injuries, thanks to their focus on recovery, nutrition and smart traini...

Q&A with Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA Head Coach Chris Karelus; Leader of Power Program At age 13, Chris Karelus moved from his native Poland to Scotch Plains, N.J., where the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA became his second home. These days, he directs FSPY competitive aquatic activities to consistent To...

Happy New Year! Winter Issue of Swimming World Magazine Available for Free - Plus Special Trial Subscription Offer! It's official! 2025 is upon us, and we’ve got something incredible to help you start the year strong. For a limited time, the Winter Digital Edition of Swimming World is available for ...

Special Sets: The Training of Adalyn Lee, a Surging Star with Brea Aquatics Adalyn Lee, a lean 5-8 Brea Aquatics product from Diamond Bar, Calif., is now 13 years old. When she departed the 11-12 age group last April, she left behind quite an 11-12 legacy. Not only was she heralded as the nation’s t...

WADA 2025 List of Banned Substances Now in Effect (Links Here) With the start of a new year, the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances for 2025 has gone into effect. The list can be found here and below, and is made available to assist athletes by providing knowledge of what is an ill...

How They Train: The Work of Y Nationals Champ Billie Sherratt After years as a mainstay among seniors at Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA, 5-7 Billie Rose Sherratt has taken her considerable free, fly and IM talents to the University of Kentucky. As a team leader, she has helped FSPY to four top-10 combin...

Special Sets: The Training of Rising 11-Year-Old Standout Millie Conner It’s early yet. Still, that doesn’t stop 11-year-old Millie Conner from plotting her swimming career. It is mapped out in the 30-40 swimming journals she keeps “filled with words, time and personal goals, charts, graphs and thou...

How They Train: The Work of ASU Standout Jonny Kulow Under Coach Herbie Behm (Full Week of Sets) Early on, a Wyoming coach suggested to Bob Bowman that Lander Valley High School swimmer Jonny Kulow was someone to watch. Coming out of high school, Kulow was SwimCloud’s top-ranked swimmer in Wyoming (...

Q&A With Arizona State Coach Herbie Behm By Michael J. Stott A sprinter himself Herbie Behm mastered the art of sprint coaching at Utah and with Bob Bowman at Arizona State University. When Bowman left for Texas this spring, Behm was promoted to ASU head coach and now has the Sun Devils once again v...

A Look and Breakdown Of the Legendary 100 x 100s Set Of Mike Bruner A tradition at some clubs during winter training is for athletes to complete a 100 x 100 workout. The set is an Ironman/Ironwoman accomplishment. So, as some swimmers prepare to tackle this grinding set, we visit the archive for a l...

Grass Roots to LA28: A Panel Discussion Featuring Some of the World's Greatest Coaches (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQjjxcKGLoc The Eastern States Clinic, which made its annual visit to the Philadelphia area in late September, featured some of the most notable coaching names in the sport....

Dryland Mania: Out-of-the-Pool Drills to Help You Succeed in the Water “Coming to practice is only part of being a great swimmer.” Those were the words my coach always used to tell me. Sure, swim Practice represents the best opportunity for a swimmer to get better. Through building strength and spee...

5 Signs a Swimmer Has Taken Ownership of Their Sport (Archive) By Brad Jones One common trait that you will consistently see in successful senior level swimmers is that they have complete ownership of their swimming. Over my years of working with high school kids on the Bellingham Bay Swim Team, I’v...

Swim Like A. Fish: How to Maximize Butterfly Breakouts (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erjXI7lhqgY What is one way to cut time in the butterfly events? Maximize your breakout. In the latest video by Abbie Fish, a Swimming World partner who travels the world providing coaching advice, the but...

Q&A with Coach Gary Taylor: Guiding Age-Group Star Thomas Heilman With Thomas Heilman set to race at Speedo Juniors East, Swimming World is running this piece from the archive that includes discussion of Heilman's training under the watch of coach Gary Taylor. A seasoned college and club coach, Cava...