Coaching Philosophy and Goals

During my 48-year career, I have taught all levels in the sport of swimming. Over the years I have developed my own precise instruction methods and am capable of stroke correction at any level. All my life I have thought like a champion and a winner and I try to instill this spirit in all my swimmers.

My goal is to inspire swimmers to their best performances. First and foremost, I feel Masters Swimming is for life. I believe that a Masters team should be a second family. As a coach, I want to promote that feeling of togetherness not only in the pool and at swim meets, but also outside of the pool arena. Every swimmer is important to a team. Every swimmer has a place on the team, not just the highly competitive athlete. The fastest are the most visible in public, but a team depends on all of its swimmers for support by participating at swim meets or even just cheering their teammates on.

My goals for non-competitive swimmers are to guide the individual swimmer to achieve his or her highest potential using stroke drills, giving real-time correction during workouts, and encouraging them to start a small weight-training program for strength.

My competitive goal for Rinconada Masters is to build a Championship team. To do this we need to create more interest in going to meets. Working toward a common goal makes it easier to train and work hard, so I want to set team goals at the beginning of the season to develop interest and commitment. This is the purpose of forming an advisory committee; to have members of the team dedicated to the task of providing opportunities for the team to grow and succeed.

But success in competition is not necessarily success in the sport. Winning races is of value only to the extent that it represents the quality of the experience you had along the road to Victory.