Rob Mirande Notes

ASCA World
Clinic 2001

Rob Mirande Notes

He was talking about building High School distance swimmers. Interesting talk, but I will skip the technical details.

Key points from his coaching philosophy:

Must have patience with young athletes (young of age and young in the sport)
Make standards clear to the athletes
Athletes must realise that sacrifice is required to achieve elite level
"There are many ways to get fast, but the only way is my way" -- the kids either believe in this method or go elsewhere.
Learn how to win in training
Demand excellence -- expect athletes to perform
High personal standards -- the coach must demand excellence of himself as well
Get rid of all slackers -- he used to have a "money lane" with athletes who were not dedicated. He cut them all -- difficult at first, but far better in the long run. The slackers were holding the team back.

Even for distance swimmers, he does a lot of fast 50s and 100s in the specific preparation phase. Why? He wants to develop "easy speed" -- the idea being when they back off a little for the 1500, they find the pace easy. [This worked really well for my running and is a great concept.]

gordo - 8 September 2001