Cleveland: A Mistake On The Lake No More; ASCA Review

Commentary by Jim Lutz, Head Coach for Viper Aquatics

Forty years ago, Cleveland was the recipient of some pretty harsh criticism when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire and thus named, “The Mistake On The Lake” (Erie). In the following decades, the downtown area would receive a major facelift with new stadiums for three sports, a basketball “King” and a home for Rock and Roll feature Elvis, the “King” of music as we know it today.

2015 was a special ASCA Clinic for me as it marked the 30th anniversary of my first clinic in Ft. Lauderdale in 1985. 2015 also begins my 50th year for involvement in the sport of swimming and my 36th year walking the deck as a coach. The transitions I have seen gave me a sense that I was driving a Model “T” in a world of open-wheeled Indy cars. Maybe I’ve become the Marty McFly of the aquatic world.

Beginning the week with an excellent session presented by Charlie Hoolihan, “Dryland Training for Age Groupers”, I realized that a strong core is mandatory for the swimmers in the physical world and the coaches in the methodology world of swimming. Old ideas may be old, but it does not mean they are obsolete. The core and foundations of swimming may be dressed differently, but many still hold true today.

I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Swimming World CEO, Brent Rutemiller. We discussed the scientific devices that were futuristic a few decades ago, and how they are having a dramatic effect on the swimming community today. As Brent had referenced, “We are on the cusp of the ‘Push-Button Coach’ era where everything is literally available at our fingertips”. We wondered if the ease of collecting information would cause coaches to coach by numbers rather than heart and instinct? Will coaches become afraid of going outside of the numbers on the chart to try something they feel might work? What happens if they fail?

Ironically, as three-peat ASCA Coach-of-the-year, Bruce Gemmell shared his preparation of Katie Ledecky for her incredible performance in Kazan, he made it very clear that Katie is not afraid to fail, but failure is not an option. In fact, at various periods in a training cycle, Katie will fail on successive days. Bruce felt if she didn’t fail in training, she was not being challenged. Bruce will never question her effort and knows with 100% confidence, if Katie fails on a set, they are moving in the right direction.

Dr. Ernie Maglischo benefited the ASCA attendees with video analysis for backstroke and breaststroke. World class backstrokers are slowly going back to a straight-arm underwater catch and press with a slight upsweep. As I watched the video, it reminded me of Adolph Keifer in the 1936 Olympic Games with a straight arm underwater but he used a bent arm recovery rather than a straight arm.

University of Texas, Head Women’s Coach, Carol Capitani, shared the importance and probability that swimmers will rise to the level of expectations placed upon them. Akron Head Coach, Brian Peresie proved you can go from worst to first overnight. Jon Rudd gave us insight to the challenges faced by the incredible Ruta Meilutyte and her ascent to Olympic gold in London. The sacrifices made by her family and her grandmother and the pride Ruta continues to display for her homeland.

National Team Director Frank Busch, introduced David Marsh and Bob Bowman as our Head Olympic Coaches for Rio. The passion and gratitude expressed by both deserving coaches instills a confidence to all of us in supporting roles for USA Swimming. As a keynote speaker, Bob candidly gave us insight to the world of Michael Phelps over a 10-day training period. Bob entertained the crowd with his comment about MP’s 200 fly in London and his reaction to the many who thought Bob and Michael would be disappointed with his swim. Bob responded, “If you only know what DIDN’T go into that swim, you would be amazed.”

Once again the ASCA Awards Banquet recognized those special individuals who have forever changed the face of swimming. In a surprise to everyone in attendance, even the recipient, John Leonard was inducted into the ASCA Hall of Fame in a stealth decision by the ASCA Board of Directors and resoundingly supported by those in attendance for his 30 plus years as the Executive Director of ASCA. Peter Banks was introduced by Brooke Bennett, Joe Bernal by David Berkoff, Steve Bultman by Andrea Hayes, Chris Davis by his two sons and daughter and USA Swimming’s first Executive Director, Ray Essick by Bob Steele. All of these great coaches shared stories of various backgrounds but all shared one common theme, humility and gratitude.

Many presenters did a wonderful job to make this ASCA Clinic one of the best clinics for knowledge and insight. It also presented a strong voice to support creativity and blazing your own trail. Jim Richardson, in a two-part presentation encouraged coaches to display and develop GRIT within their teams. Don Heidary continues to show the importance of character and ethics while Wayne Goldsmith reminds us many variables go into the final result.

For those who presented and were not mentioned simply means I have not found a way to clone myself to be in multiple locations at the same time. In conversations with coaches who have also attended many clinics over the past 30 years like myself, all felt some great information and ideas were shared.

From the “Mistake On The Lake” to the “Lake Enabled Great”. Well done Cleveland, Well done ASCA. See you in Ft. Lauderdale, 2016.

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