![\"Lenny](\"\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/media\/Lenny_Krayzelburg_002.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Phillip Whitten<\/p>\n
Recently, world record-holder and triple Olympic champion Lenny Krayzelburg left Coach Mark Schubert and the Trojan Swim Club at USC, where he\u2019d trained for nine years and achieved phenomenal success, and began swimming for Irvine Novaquatics and Coach Dave Salo.
\n\tI asked Coach Schubert how he felt about Lenny\u2019s decision. He replied: \u201cLenny Krayzelburg is one of the most impressive individuals I\u2019ve ever met in my life. What he accomplished is phenomenal. He gave me the best nine years any swimmer has ever given me, and I have tremendous respect for him. Whatever he does is okay with me.\u201d
\n\tI then sat down to talk with Lenny to talk about his decision, his current training environment and his goals for 2004. Here is what he had to say\u2026<\/i>\t<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tLenny, you went through a second shoulder surgery recently. When did you get back into the water?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>:\tThe first week in August. I spent about a month basically doing rehab in the water and just going through the motions as far as swimming was concerned. Gradually I built up my yardage from 1,000 to 4,000 a day.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tYou dropped a bombshell recently when you decided to leave Trojan Swim Club and USC and Coach (Mark) Schubert and move up the road to Irvine Novaquatics and Coach (Dave) Salo. Why did you make that move?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: You know, Phil, I used to tell people swimming was my job, and that was true in several senses. For the past few years it was<\/i> a job \u2013 something I just did, but without the joy and passion I had previously. That\u2019s all changed with Dave. I find his whole approach to training fascinating and I can\u2019t wait to go to practice every day.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tWhen you refer to Coach Salo\u2019s \u201cwhole approach to training,\u201d what, specifically, are you referring to?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: About 70 percent of what we do is done all out \u2013 at 200 race pace or better. We\u2019re always training at the speed we race at.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tLeaving SC was a big decision. When did you decide to leave?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: In August. I needed a change of scenery. I\u2019d been at SC for nine years and it wasn\u2019t fun anymore. I felt I needed to train differently if I was going to take my swimming to the next level.
\n\tI told Mark all this last year, and he responded by having me train under Larry (Liebowitz). That actually worked pretty well. With Mark I was doing the same things I did in 2000. That was fine back then, but I\u2019m 28 now and I need to do something else if I want to improve \u2013 and I\u2019ll have to<\/i> improve to win in Athens.
\n\tBasically, I just wanted something new and when Larry moved to Oregon (as the new head coach at Oregon State University), I knew I had to move on too.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tHow did Coach Schubert take your decision?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: Very well. He was open-minded and very supportive. He agreed that his training was based on a distance perspective, while my perspective \u2013 and my races \u2013 is shorter. I am very respectful of him. All of my success at USC was due to Mark.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tWhy did you decide to go with Coach Salo?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: You know, since my injuries, I\u2019ve become a student of sport \u2013 not just swimming, but sport in general. I\u2019ve tried to understand why it is different athletes train the way they do. And I came to the conclusion: why not train at race speed?
\n\tOver the years I\u2019ve observed Dave and his program, and saw that it has been very successful. He\u2019s had lots of people, including many kids he developed as age-groupers, who have achieved great success, and his coaching philosophy is based on training at race pace or faster. This was all very appealing to me.
\n\tI also liked the workout environment. He has lots of post-grads, and all of us share a common goal: making the 2004 US Olympic team. It\u2019s different from training with a college team, where the coach\u2019s primary responsibility is seeing that his team does well at NCAAs.
\n\tThen too, as I got older, I realized I was drifting slowly away from the other swimmers at SC. That\u2019s natural. The freshmen are 18; I\u2019m 28. It\u2019s natural for our interests to be different. Besides people like Erik (Vendt) and Lindsay (Benko), I felt I wasn\u2019t really relating or interacting with the other swimmers.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tWas part of your motivation in going to NOVA the opportunity to train with Aaron (Peirsol)?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: Yes, very much. But I told Dave, I understand that your primary allegiance is to Aaron. Actually, I\u2019m not even sure whether Aaron will train here or in Texas this summer, but I would embrace the opportunity to train with him. It was great training with (1996 Olympic champion) Brad (Bridgewater) for four years.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tSpeaking of training, how is your shoulder coming along?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: Good. It\u2019s not 100 percent yet, and I\u2019m still doing physical therapy twice a week, but it\u2019s coming along pretty nicely.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tLenny, you said you and Coach Salo share a training philosophy. How would you describe that philosophy?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: I\u2019d say the key is getting used to feeling comfortable being uncomfortable. What I love about Dave\u2019s training is that he gives you the opportunity to swim fast, to be good. It\u2019s up to you<\/i> to decide what you want to do, and how good you\u2019re going to be.
\n\tEveryone here works hard. It\u2019s a great training environment. But each swimmer has to decide for himself how hard he\u2019s going to work.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tWho are some of the other athletes you train with now?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: Well, in my lane we have Scott Tucker, Derya Buyukuncu, and Dan Shevchik. Dave Denniston is my dryland partner. I\u2019m loving it!<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tAfter winning three gold medals in 2000, what are your goals for 2004?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: They\u2019re very realistic. My first goal is to make the Olympic team. After that, to win the 100 and 200 back and swim on the medley relay. Obviously, it\u2019s going to be tougher this time. But if I can stay healthy, I\u2019m definitely going to be a major player.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tAnd after Athens\u2026?
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: You know, Phil, I think 2004 will most likely be my last year. So I want to make it special. Fortunately, I\u2019m in the right place to make it happen.<\/p>\n
SwimInfo<\/b><\/i>:\tGood luck, Lenny.
\nLenny Krayzelburg<\/b>: Thanks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Phillip Whitten Recently, world record-holder and triple Olympic champion Lenny Krayzelburg left Coach Mark Schubert and the Trojan Swim Club at USC, where he\u2019d trained for nine years and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n