Swimming World Presents “Q&A with Diving Coach Wenbo Chen”

Swimming World January 2020 - Q and A with Diving Coach Wenbo Chen - Photo by Peter H Bick
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Q&A with Diving Coach Wenbo Chen

By Michael J. Stott

A distinguished diver himself, Chen is credited with increasing Chinese divers’ degrees of difficulty. He has coached divers worldwide, having served as national and Olympic team coach in both his homeland and the United States.

Coach Wenbo Chen has trained Chinese national, Olympic and Asian champions as well as athletes from Germany, Austria, Italy, USSR, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States. At the University of Minnesota, he has coached three two-time NCAA champions: Kelci Bryant, Yu Zhou and Sarah Bacon. Sixteen of his college athletes have won 62 NCAA All-America honors

CREDENTIALS
• Beijing Sports University, B.A., physical education, 1987
• Head coach, men’s and women’s diving, University of Minnesota, 2009-present
• Head coach, USA Diving, and associate director of the National Training Center, 2005-09. While there, he produced 15 senior national and 12 junior national champions, 2 World Cup medalists and three Olympians
• Head coach, Purdue University, 2001-05 (one of his divers earned 4x A-A recognitions)
• Head coach, Moss Farms Diving Tigers Club, 1997-2001 (assistant coach, 1994-97)
• Interim head coach, Florida State University, 1998-99
• Head coach, Edmonton (Canada) Diving Club, 1993-94
• Visiting coach at the University of Illinois, 1992-93
• Coach, Chinese National Team/Olympic Training Camp, 1985-92
• Head coach, Henan Provincial Team (China), 1983-92
• 7x Big Ten women’s diving coach of the year; 1x Big Ten men’s coach of the year
• Has coached two Olympic Games, 6x Olympic medalists and innumerable national champions and athletes to A-A honors
• Assistant USA Olympic coach, 2008 and 2012
• USA assistant coach for World Championships and Pan American Games, 2007
• Coach, USA team for FINA World Cup, 2006 and 2008
• Coach, Chinese National Diving Team, 1985-91
• Trained and was a finalist for the Chinese National Team, 1973-83

Q. SWIMMING WORLD: You were a Chinese national junior champion, multi-year national team member and national team coach. Who were some of your influences during your early competitive and coaching days?
A. COACH WENBO CHEN: When I was 11 years old, my coach, Jian Zhiqing, recruited me to dive. She taught me how to dive and coach, but most importantly, how to be a good person.

SW: You left China and coached in Edmonton, Canada for seven years. Why the move from China?
WC: I left China in search of better opportunities to reach new personal goals.

To access the full Q&A with Coach Wenbo Chen,
Check out the January issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!
Swimming World January 2020 Cover with Ryan Murphy

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FEATURES

016 THE TOP 5 STORIES OF 2019
by Dan D’Addona
From the debut of the International Swimming League to a worldwide youth movement, 2019 marked the start of a new era in swimming.

018 2019 ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
by Shoshanna Rutemiller, Dan D’Addona and Michael Randazzo
Diving: Shi Tingmao & Xie Siyi
Artistic: Svetlana Romashina & Svetlana Kolesnichenko
Water Polo: Ashleigh Johnson & Francesco Di Fulvio
Disabled: Sophie Pascoe & Reece Dunn

020 EVENT SPECIALIZATION…WHEN?
by Michael J. Stott
Many coaches are postponing specialization in favor of creating well-rounded swimmers for what lies ahead, leaving preordination behind so that other coaches, human nature and physical development can take its course.

022 READY AND REFOCUSED
by David Rieder
At last year’s World Championships in Gwangju, Ryan Murphy came home with three silver medals, but his first individual long course World title still eluded him. With his focus now set on the 2020 Olympic summer, the 100 back world record holder and 2016 triple Olympic gold medalist is looking ahead to Tokyo with confidence.

026 TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: THE BOYCOTT
by John Lohn
Years of hard work went unfulfilled. Dreams turned into nightmares. Sadness and anger abounded. The repercussions of the United States’ decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow were severe. This summer marks the 40th anniversary of a toxic mix of sports and politics.

030 2019 WORLD & AMERICAN RECORD PROGRESSION
by Taylor Brien

032 ISHOF: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
by Bruce Wigo
Dr. Kevin Dawson, who recently received the Harriet Tubman Prize for his book, Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, corrects and revises the history of swimming to include and recognize the contributions and accomplishments of Africans to aquatics.

036 MENTAL PREP: BEFORE THE BEEP WITH RYAN MURPHY
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COACHING

010 LESSONS WITH THE LEGENDS: RAY DAUGHTERS
by Michael J. Stott

014 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: STRATEGIES TO ACCELERATE SKILL LEARNING
by Rod Havriluk
There are many different skill-learning approaches that can help a competitive swimmer improve his/her technique. For example, competitive swimming strokes “can be taught in their entirety or broken down into parts.” While both the “whole” and “part” approaches can help swimmers progress in all four strokes, selecting the most appropriate method can accelerate skill learning.

042 SPECIAL SETS: GETTING READY TO RACE
by Michael J. Stott
As college swimming rolls into its championship season in February and March, meet warm-ups take on even greater importance.

044 Q&A WITH COACH WENBO CHEN
by Michael J. Stott

045 HOW THEY TRAIN SARAH BACON
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

013 DRYSIDE TRAINING: TIME TO RESET—READY, SET GO!
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

047 UP & COMERS: RYAN HOGAN
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

009 BEYOND THE YARDS

025 THE OFFICIAL WORD

035 GUTTERTALK

048 PARTING SHOT

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