Swimming Coaches

I'm hijacking here, and I'm sorry you were disappointed in the swim - but I came here this morning specifically to stalk you. I saw who I thought was you in the results of the Alabama Coastal Tri. Your finish time was great and you should be SO PROUD. AWESOME!! Congrats!!! Woohoo!!!

I had a horrible time trying to find a swim coach. I looked online, I contacted the athletic departments at two area universities, and I enquired at the gym. I had sessions with a couple of people, and they ended up being not at all what they advertised. Two people claimed to be coaches, but they were really just beginner instructors. Neither of them had ever swam competitively, and one of them could not believe that I could swim more than 2000 yards at a time--after all, he couldn't. Another was obsessed with trying to teach me flip turns but wouldn't give any feedback about how I was actually swimming. I was surprisingly difficult to find someone to fix my stroke and write out a couple of workouts for me.

Then this summer I was swimming laps at the gym. I saw a couple sharing a lane, and it was obvious that they knew what they were doing. I went up to them and just asked if either of them had ever coached. It turns out they were both D1 college swimmers before graduating a few years ago, and the woman had coached before. She has been amazingly helpful.

So, there are conventional routes that you can go, but just keep your eyes open and be willing to ask for help. That was what worked for me.

And congratulations on a great first race!

Edited by happyscientist 2016-09-12 12:11 PM

Carin1976 I asked someone if they were you while waiting for the race to start - they looked at me like I was crazy, lol! Thanks so much - I am tickled that I finished strong, I am just determined to master the swim!!!! How did you feel about the race?

That's great advice - I actually know a couple who train at the pool at my gym and they have given me some pointers. They are SO busy though that I hate to take up their time. They both work full time plus she teaches aerobics classes at the gym so I know their time is precious. I think I may ask them if they had a coach when they started training for tri's. Maybe they will know of someone..

Ha! Too funny!

I enjoyed the race. I felt like, for a beginner, the course was good b/c it's flat and pretty low pressure. The swim was intimidating b/c the water was rough, but I did better w/ the swim than I thought I was going to. Having so many people around me while trying to swim was also difficult to get used to. I'm going to do Tri the Gulf in Dauphin Island in October. If you haven't looked in to that one yet, check it out - also a sprint, but a little bit longer than AL Coastal Tri it On. Seriously though, awesome job! I was really excited when I saw the results.

I'm not really sure where you are located, but I used Gary Fahey (http://www.strokedocswim.com/) in Miami. Sometimes he does clinics elsewhere though. I improved drastically with him, but I was willing to put in the time between lessons to cement his changes into muscle memory. He's a total immersion coach so he might be able to connect you to another coach in your area if you contact him.

It sounds like you could benefit from a coach specifically to help you learn how to manage your emotions & stress under conditions. Dinah Mistilis is a swim coach & emotional intelligence coach that does skype consults and I've referred many of my clients to her. look her up at Discovery Aquatics in Moorseville, NC.

I am doing Tri the Gulf as well! We'll have to meet up!

If you have not registered yet for Tri the Gulf there is a discount code that will save you $10 TOA16.

Talk to Scott! I believe he goes by k9car363 on here. He's helped me out a lot this year! Feel free to PM me with any questions.