Swimming World Presents “GoldMinds: How To Become An ‘A’ Swimmer” By Wayne Goldsmith

GoldMinds: How To Become An ‘A’ Swimmer

By Wayne Goldsmith

Ultimately, success comes to those amazing people who make the decision to be successful and who then live that decision in practice and performance—in and out of the pool—until they realize their potential.

One of the great myths of education is that getting good grades is all about “intelligence”: the “smarter” you are, the higher the grade you will achieve. People seem to believe that being an “A” student, a “B” student or a “C” student is dependent upon some innate, natural ability: a special academic talent that you either have or you don’t.

It’s the same in swimming.

There’s a commonly held view that gold medals are won by naturally gifted and talented swimmers—that it’s their natural “talent” that determines how fast they swim.

Yet in education—and in sport—success is a choice. It’s a conscious decision to be remarkable, to be better, to become the best.

The door to swimming success is opened when you decide—when you deliberately choose—that you’d like to be an “A” swimmer.

Let’s look at how you can make that choice and what you can do every day—in and out of the pool—to become the swimmer you want to be.

STEP 1. CHOOSE TO CHOOSE
The first step in becoming an “A” swimmer is accepting that your success is YOUR choice. There’s a lot of things in life you can’t control. But there’s one thing you can: you can choose to choose.
Think of it this way: if it’s not your choice to become an “A” swimmer, whose is it?

Your coach is there to inspire you, to guide you, to help you improve physically, mentally, technically and strategically…but it’s YOUR CHOICE whether or not you’ll listen to your coach, take their advice and train to the best of your ability every day.

Your parents might pay your swim fees, drive you to and from workouts and support you at meets, but it’s YOUR CHOICE to be committed to training, dryland workouts, practice sessions and competition.

Choosing to choose means making a simple statement: “If it is to be, it is up to me!”

To access GoldMinds’ full list of ways to become an “A” swimmer,
Check out the August 2020 Swimming World Magazine, click here to download the full issue now!

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Swimming World Magazine August 2020 Issue

FEATURES

014 OPPORTUNITY LOST
by Dan D’Addona
High school swimming has multiple seasons with roughly 130 state/sectional/divisional high school championship meets held as early as October or as late as May of the following year. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, some high schools had already completed their championships, others saw their season canceled…while still others were interrupted during the middle of their meet! Here are a few examples of how the coronavirus affected high school swimming.

016 A GOOD INDICATOR OF FUTURE SUCCESS
by Andy Ross
Since Swimming World first honored its Male and Female High School Swimmers of the Year in 1997, 60 percent of those athletes have gone on to compete in the Olympics from 2000 through 2016.

019 TOP HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITS
by Chandler Brandes
Swimming World takes a look at the swimmers it considers to be the 10 best high school recruits—both male and female—from the Class of 2020 and where they’ll be attending college in the fall.

022 THE RECORD BREAKERS
by David Rieder
Nine high school swimmers from eight different states combined for 11 public or independent school records and eight overall national high school records—including three times in one event!

026 A GROSS INJUSTICE
by John Lohn
In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, 16-year-old Rick DeMont had won the 400 meter freestyle only to have his gold medal taken away several days later in one of the biggest injustices in Olympic history.

029 ISHOF: THE TOM AND MATT SHOW
by Bruce Wigo
As explained in last month’s issue,sprinters are considered a different breed of swimmer. They’re not just free spirits, but they seem to be rule breakers and troublemakers of the sport. In July, Swimming World featured two of swimming’s notorious female rebels, Eleanor Holm and Dawn Fraser. This month’s article takes a look at two male disruptors who paved the way for professional swimming, Tom Jager and Matt Biondi.

COACHING

012 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTIMAL MODEL FOR TECHNIQUE: PART VIII—BODY BASE OF SUPPORT FOR BREASTSTROKE
by Rod Havriluk
The torso is the swimmer’s base of support (BOS). During a stroke cycle of a typical breaststroker, excess vertical motion of the shoulder distorts the BOS, which compromises the ability to maximize propulsion and, as a result, limits swimming velocity. This article offers suggestions for how to stabilize the BOS to generate more propulsion to swim faster.

033 SUMMER LEAGUE: HAVING FUN AND GETTING THE WORK DONE
by Michael J. Stott
No matter what tomorrow or next year brings, one can hope that the benefits of summer league as we know them will persist.

035 SPECIAL SETS: TRAINING FROM TRIALS TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES
by Michael J. Stott
Through the voice of Michigan associate coach Josh White, this month’s “Special Sets” traces the training Connor Jaeger did in the period between the U.S. Olympic Trials to the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.

041 Q&A WITH COACH NEIL HARPER
by Michael J. Stott

042 HOW THEY TRAIN ANNA HOPKIN
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

010 DRYSIDE TRAINING: EXERCISES FOR EXPLOSIVE STARTS & TURNS
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

039 GOLDMINDS: HOW TO BECOME AN “A” SWIMMER
by Wayne Goldsmith
Ultimately, success comes to those amazing people who make the decision to be successful and who then live that decision in practice and performance—in and out of the pool—until they realize their potential.

045 UP & COMERS: ABBY REICH
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

032 DID YOU KNOW? PETER JACKSON: “THE BLACK PRINCE”

046 GUTTERTALK

048 PARTING SHOT

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