- The Swimnerd Newsletter
- Posts
- ASCA in Review + Major Partnership Announcement
ASCA in Review + Major Partnership Announcement
ASCA World Clinic Las Vegas + 2022 ISHOF Induction
SWIM NERD
August 22, 2022
Morning, Nerd.
Welcome to the Swimnerd newsletter where each week we highlight the most interesting stuff going on in swimming.
🏊♂️ ASCA Review + Major Partnership Announcement
🤡 Swimming Meme of the Week
📜 Swimming Set of the Week
🧑🏫 ASCA 2022 IN REVIEW 👩🏫
The American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) hosted it's World Clinic in Las Vegas over the past week. I was back manning a booth, showing off our new Wifi + Bluetooth pace clocks. Arriving this Thanksgiving, you can now sync as many clocks as you want and run any set you want on all clocks from just 1 phone!
I said this back in the 2019 review and I'll say it here again: nothing beats making connections in-person. Perhaps more than ever before due to the pandemic.
In fact, we announced a major partnership with the International Swimming Hall of Fame and Swimming World! This ultimately came to fruition while we were all at the World Clinic in Vegas. And for those keeping track at home, Brett and I met at the 2019 ASCA World Clinic and then started a podcast together. I wonder what connection we will make at the 2023 ASCA World Clinic in Dallas...
Okay, back to this year's ASCA World Clinic.
My booth was next to one of my favorite people in swimming, Glenn Mills, the Founder of GoSwim. He was showing off his new race analysis tool. You can see him in the picture above showing Aaron Peirsol how it works. He was also jumping into the Endless Pool putting on demonstrations.
The Endless Pool was quite a nice touch this year. Any exhibitor could sign up and get some pool time to show off their swimming equipment. Surrounding it were bleachers making it really feel like you were there to learn. Incredible use of the space. I assume this will be back for years to come. Though, the hotel probably hates it.
We also got to hang out with one of our long time sponsors, Swim Angelfish!
Cindy and Ailene are Occupational and Physical Therapists that created a curriculum to help swim instructors obtain the skills needed to work with children with special needs. This is extremely important for children with autism, as they are attracted to water. Drowning is the #1 cause of death for children with autism and are 160x more likely to drown than their neurotypical counterparts! Arm your swim instructors with a toolbox of strategies that address the underlying problems. Overcome obstacles in your very next lesson. Get your swim instructors certified online here.
My college roommate, Vashon, lives in Vegas so he took us all out to the Freemont Experience. Cindy and I snuck into Stadium Swim - "The Best Pool in History". I don't think it's the best pool in history but my picture doesn't do this venue justice — it was pretty ridiculous.
I met Mel Marshall and told her what I tell everyone that I meet that's been on the podcast: your episode was 100% undoubtedly my favorite. Simply the best.
But seriously, I did tell her the periodization of her positive communication to athletes like Adam Peaty is next level shit - she seriously blew my mind when she dropped that. Her interview is Top 5 All Time if you haven't listened and you are a swim coach you might want to listen to this twice.
I also got to meet Ron Aitken, who absolutely loved this meme I made for him. He said he uses it in his presentations.
And I ran into Jason Lezak while wearing my 46.06 t-shirt in his honor. He liked it a lot.
The exhibitor room was open from 8-5 each day so I didn't really jump into the presentations too often. I did get to see another sponsor of ours, Erica Beine, killing it on stage talking about nutrition.
All in all the best part for me was seeing all our customers and hearing how much their teams enjoy our green pace clocks. When I first started coming to conferences, nobody knew who the heck we were. Every once in a while you'd run into a Kickstarter backer but for the most part you were introducing yourself to everyone that walked by. Fast forward 6 years and multiple times throughout the show we had current customers singing our praises to potential customers at the booth, leaving me without a job.
One last thing...this week is Swimming Coach Appreciation Week. Sign up for an ASCA course this week and it's 50% off. Here's to you, Coach!
See you all in Dallas!
🏊🏽♀️PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT 🤝
As aforementioned above, we have partnered with the International Swimming Hall of Fame and Swimming World Magazine!
When Brett and I started out, one of our main goals was to preserve swimming history by recording the sport's most amazing stories both past and present. Growing up as someone completely obsessed with baseball, the Baseball Hall of Fame is a BIG deal. A trip to Cooperstown is a requirement for those who love baseball and I want to see the same happen to Ft. Lauderdale.
This is why I'm so partial to the historical interviews and why it is such an honor to align with our sport's HOF. One of my favorite interviews is #170 with Jon Sieben, who inspired millions of young Australians when he won the 200 Fly at the 1984 Olympics defeating the unbeatable German, Michael Gross. It's still the only interview with Jon on YouTube! Next month, we will interview him in-person, at the ISHOF 2022 Induction Ceremony.
The history of our sport is so vital to capturing the hearts and minds of young swimmers -- which is why we are committed to supporting the preservation of our sport.
BRETT HAWKE CLIPS OF THE WEEK
Last week on INSIDE with BRETT HAWKE...
Jon Rudd is the National Performance Director for Swim Ireland. His swimmers have won Olympic gold medals and broken World Records. He is also the President of the World Swim Coaches Association (WSCA). In this hour long interview he hits on everything from coaching ambition and the psychology of swimming to training Ben Proud and Rūta Meilutytė.
This week on INSIDE with BRETT HAWKE...
Bonnie Tsui is a lifelong swimmer and the author of, "Why We Swim", as well as, "Sarah and the Big Wave The True Story of the First Woman to Surf Mavericks". Bonnie has won several awards for her writing including the Jane Rainie Opel Young Alumna Award from Harvard University, the Lowell Thomas Gold Award, and a National Press Foundation Fellowship. Brett & Bonnie unpack our relationship with water, including both the fear and pleasure we experience from it. They discuss the Swimming Samurai, the Icelander who survived a 6 mile swim in freezing cold water, how COVID has affected swimming, Dara Torres' competitiveness, and much more.
📝 SWIM SET OF THE WEEK 📝
4-7 Rounds depending on where you are in the season...
3x50 Build Fly from a Dive @ 1:101x100 Push Backstroke @ 4IM pace
Mix up the rounds Fly/Back, Back/Breast, Breast/Free.
"I really like this set it gives me lots of confidence going into the next meet and swimming the 400 IM." - Tessa Cieplucha
🤡 SWIMMING MEME OF THE WEEK 🤡
Kyle Sockwell continues his reign. Subscribe to his new YouTube channel.
Learn something today?
Click on a link to vote: