Exclusive: Interview with Former USC Coach Peter Daland on Dual Meet Strategy

By Brian Savard

PHOENIX, Arizona, May 15. RECENTLY, Swimming World Magazine sat down with Peter Daland, former head coach of the University of Southern California men's team, to talk about dual meet strategies since current active coaches are reluctant to share their secrets.

Daland, who helmed the 1964 United States Women's Team and the 1972 United States Men's Team at the Olympics, is an International Swimming Hall of Famer as an Honor Coach. He completed his career with eight NCAA team titles, 14 AAU men's titles and a pair of AAU women's titles.

"Circumstance definitely comes into play a lot in dual meets," Daland said. "We met Stanford one year after losing a close meet to Michigan, and we knew we had to win that meet to redeem our loss [to Michigan]. Stanford was ranked number one, while we were ranked number four. It was a long course meet against Stanford because of the Olympic year, and we felt as though we were better prepared. It came down to the last relay, and our guys just outlasted theirs.

"Everyone came into that meet knowing what was expected, and they knew what they had to do," said Daland.

Daland said that it is important to know your team and what they're capable of doing.

"It's really a matter of planning and letting athletes know what's expected of them," Daland said. "You have to figure out what you can do with the athletes on your squad."

Daland said that the character of the athletes on the team combined with the athletes knowing their roles contributes to success as well.

"Character contributes to lots of things dealing with success and failure in college sports," he said.

"Success in dual meets sometimes comes from sacrifice, Daland said. "You have to get it in the heads of the swimmers that they have to sacrifice some things. College sport depends on people forming their ideas that are not yet set, and you have to lead them in the right direction."

Daland said that if scholarship athletes aren't positively contributing to the team, they should have their athletic aid revoked.

"There were two instances where I had to go to a hearing for the revoking of a scholarship," Daland said. "I'll never forget them. There are departments on campus that need that money, so the people at the hearing have little sympathy for the athletes having their scholarships revoked."

Daland said that the present dual meet system is hard to prepare for, and he said that it's not necessarily good for the sport.

"Under the present system, it's hard to keep track of what's happening," Daland said. "I'll come to a dual meet a few times of the year, and most of the time, I won't know the score. It's more of a mystery, and I don't think it's good for the sport."

Daland said that the 16-event format is beneficial because it allows swimmers to swim events they may not normally swim in a regular dual meet.

However, Daland said that he disagrees with shorter-distance relays, especially at the Division I level.

"Two-hundred yard relays do not relate to Olympic events at all," he said. "These shorter relays don't successfully prepare you to become a U.S. National Team member.

"The biggest weakness of all of this is that some of the women are having a tough time finishing their distance races in international meets due to the shorter 200-distance relays in college," Daland added. "Some coaches don't see the big picture—that the ultimate goal is the Olympics."

Daland said that while preparing for dual meets is important, it is also important not to over rest in season where a year-end taper is ruined.

"Winning dual meets brings into play the whole college scene," Daland said. "You have to look at the schedule and pick out the teams to worry about and the teams not to worry about. For the teams that you don't worry about, you should continue normal training. For the teams that you do worry about on the schedule, you should take two to three days of rest to prepare.

"There are so many factors like that," Daland concluded. "Sometimes, being too good at dual meets might come back to get you at the end of the season."

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