{"id":373707,"date":"2019-06-07T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=373707"},"modified":"2019-06-06T13:27:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T20:27:10","slug":"swimming-world-presents-special-sets-breaststroke-revisited-with-quest-swimming-coach-john-smithson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimming-world-presents-special-sets-breaststroke-revisited-with-quest-swimming-coach-john-smithson\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming World Presents “Special Sets: Breaststroke Revisited with Quest Swimming Coach John Smithson”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Special Sets: Breaststroke Revisited
\nwith Quest Swimming Coach John Smithson<\/span><\/h2>\n

By Michael J. Stott<\/span><\/p>\n

John Smithson, co-head coach at Quest Swimming in Richmond, Va., has coached multiple Olympic Trials qualifiers, state record holders and state champions. Last March, two of his 14-year-old swimmers took home wins in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Virginia State Short Course Championships. Here he talks about some of the breaststroke sets that have contributed to his team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

John holds an ASCA Level 4 certification and is a past Virginia senior coach of the year. In his own distinguished swimming career, he was an eight-time NCAA Division II All-American at Clarion College.<\/p>\n

Two of Quest\u2019s charges wrapped up the short course season by posting AAAA times and wins in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Virginia State Short Course Championships. Fourteen-year-old Josiah Yeomans clocked a 59.60 (plus a 2:12.22 to finish second in the 200 breast), while Riley Bridgman, also 14, charged home in 1:04.14.<\/p>\n

Such success doesn\u2019t come without technical precision, a concept Smithson emphasizes from Day One.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an ideal world, all breaststroke swimmers would have the benefit of specific training. However,\u201d notes Smithson, \u201cclub coaches are often challenged to provide that specialization in groups, where the number of swimmers in the lanes requires them to move at similar speeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to have breaststroke swimmers train in the stroke as much as possible. Where we can, we isolate breaststroke sets to separate specific stroke segments. From there, we construct or reconstruct the stroke into one cohesive movement. At Quest, we devote considerable time to underwater training, given that much of a breaststroke race is typically swum sub-surface,\u201d says Smithson.<\/p>\n

For full access to John Smithson’s successful freestyle training techniques and swim sets,
\ncheck out the June 2019 issue of Swimming World Magazine<\/em>, available now!<\/p>\n

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