Swimming for Life

Coaching

Articles about coaching

Kevin Cleary — I would like to dedicate this article to a topic that has been on my mind for a while now: the importance of mastering techniques before learning to perform them fast. When you begin to learn a new skill or technique – be it in the pool or otherwise – […]

Slow is Smooth…Smooth is Fast

September 20, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coaching / Freestyle by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — Since my sophomore year of high school (1999-2000), competitive swimming has played a central role in my life. That’s 22 years ago…YIKES!!! While many have been involved in the sport longer than I have, and would doubtless have many more and far deeper insights, I’d like to share some of […]

How the Sport of Swimming Can Improve Everyday Life

August 20, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — In my previous article, I gave some pointers on how to push yourself in training. We explored the concept of “I Can’t!” vs. “I Don’t Want To!” This article will dive into the other side of that coin: “Can I?” vs. “Should I?” While many athletes – especially newer, less […]

“Can I?” vs. “Should I?”

July 17, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching / Motivation by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — As a coach, I often hear my athletes say to me, “I can’t do this!” or “I can’t keep going!” or some other version of “I can’t!” in the middle of a tough practice. A couple of years ago, I was knee-deep in a particularly intense training session, and at […]

“I Can’t” vs. “I Don’t Want To”

June 9, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching / Fitness / Health / Mental Training / Motivation / Training by Kevin Cleary

Ralph Mohr — We in the US have not been aware of it very much, but swimming outdoors in rivers, lakes, ponds, the oceans, etc., is called “wild swimming” in the British Isles, and there is a long tradition there of swimming all year around everywhere. Here in the US we have always […]

Swim Bits – July 2021

June 9, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Motivation / Open Water / Open Water / Swim Bits / Training by Ralph Mohr

Kevin Cleary — For this, the third and final installment of my three-part series, I will be discussing a critical trait shared by all high-level athletes: the ability to not only generate high amounts of strength (aka tension, or the ability to generate tension) and relax completely, but transition from one to the […]

How To Be a Master Athlete (Gold Medal Not Required) ...

April 17, 2021 in Coach's Chair / Coaching by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — This is the second in my series of articles discussing the attributes of a great athlete. If you haven’t read the first part, I would highly recommend that you do so, as the concepts in this article will be very difficult to put into practice without the solid foundation of […]

How To Be a Master Athlete (Gold Medal Not Required) ...

March 22, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — This will be the first in a three-part series of articles covering the concept of what it means to be a Master athlete. What is a Master athlete, and what differentiates them from a novice or even a more casual practitioner? In this article and the two following, I will […]

How to Be a Master Athlete (Gold Medal Not Required)

February 18, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching by Kevin Cleary

Kevin Cleary — It is my great pleasure to be addressing you for the first time as your OMS Coaches Chair! When I first hopped into the pool for my very first Masters swimming session back in 2003 – yikes…was it really that long ago?!?! – I never envisioned myself writing articles for […]

Greetings, fellow Masters swimmers!

January 17, 2021 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching by Kevin Cleary