#coachmikepodcast

I'm back. It's been 5 years or so since I published my last episode but I'm back now that I am more experienced and have more to say. I want to introduce you to my group starting with Danielle Kisser. Have a listen and see what I've been up to and the awesome athletes I work with.

Today I am joined by Head Coach of the Guelph Marlins Aquatic Club, Kendra Burton. Kendra has coached for a number of years in Guelph and before that was the coach of Kristy Cameron (now Kristy Lyon) with the Huron Hurricanes. Kendra discusses the Swim Ontario OHPSI Coach Accelerator Program with me, talks about Women in coaching roles, gender based practices & groups and the importance of good walls! This is a great interview that (in my opinion) sounds more like a conversation than many of the previous episodes.Kendra references the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - which I said I would link in the description.Here is the link to Kendra's presentation from the Swim Ontario Coaches Excellence Series about walls and kick outs (first 2 items on the news list).As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

I wasn't planning on doing a podcast on my trip to Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, BC, but took the opportunity to talk to Breaststrokers Kiera Smith & Richard Funk. Both are Canadian breaststrokers competing in the NCAA. We talk about how their respective schools prepared them for their performances at Trials and reflect on their careers so far. Thanks to Richard and Kiera for doing this!As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

This is a long one (47:23) but I refuse to edit because I have the very interesting Ben Keast of the Winskill Dolphins. Ben is one of the young and up and coming coaches in Canada and currently is the coach of Canada Junior Team Member, Markus Thormeyer.Ben talks to me about his philosophies of coaching, how to coach to an athlete (rather than coaching a bunch of athletes), what you can learn from mentoring and a little bit about his visit to Sergio Lopez at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. Even though this is a little bit of a time commitment, this is probably one of the best interviews #coachmikepodcast has done. So much to learn from Ben Keast!As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

While in Naples, Florida on a training camp, I ran into Swimming Canada's National Coach for the Para Program, Craig McCord. Craig was able to pull himself away from his busy day to sit with me for a half hour to discuss para swimming in Canada and how coaching para athletes is not as complicated as it seems. This is a fascinating interview - Craig asserts that coaching a para athlete will make you a better all around coach because it forces you to think outside the box.I said I would list Craig McCord's email address (cmccord@swimming.ca) and Emma Van Steen's email address (evansteen@swimming.ca) in the event that listening coaches wanted to get in touch with them.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

My guest today is Dmitry Shulga of the Halifax Wave Cutters. Dmitry recieved an 11 month ban from a positive test forN-ethyl-l-phenyl-2-butanamine and 1-phenyl-2-butanamine, which Dmitry insist was unintentional. In this interview, Dmitry talks about his experience and warns athletes of the dangers inherent in mass market supplements.In an age where dietary supplementation is very common and required for some athletes, this is a very interesting story to listen to. Dmitry never though that this would happen to him, but was forced to face the reality of a positive test and an 11 month ban.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

I'm back after a 2 month break. I'm hoping to bring this podcast in force and starting with some interviews with coaches. With me today is Rick Madge of the Mighty Trightons in Milton, ON. Rick is the head coach of this newer club and is also the author of a blog that I have been reposting lately.In this interview, Rick talks about starting a new club and identifying core values of the group, use of technology and social media as well as the business of swim clubs.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

Today I talk with Ryan Atkison of the Canadian Sport Centre - Ontario. Ryan talks about Ben Titley's training camp in Pompano Beach Florida, sport science support and the OSCC Apprentice Coach Position now available to Ontario Coaches at www.ontarioswimcoaches.com.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

2 weeks ago, Kelowna BC native Kierra Smith won the CollegeSwimming.com Counsilman Hunsaker Women’s Division I Swimmer of the week. She was also named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after a much talked about performance at the Minneapolis Grand Prix. Smith, had three first-place finishes during the national meet including a win in the 200 yard individual medley event with a time of 1:57.80, which gave her a qualifying provisional time in the NCAA.Today, she joins me in a discussion of turning her career around after a disapinting freshman season in the NCAA. Kierra is one of the nicest swimmers I know and I love having her on the show. She has a great story of overcoming adversity and this is a great listen for all athletes that feel they have maybe hit a wall and are having a hard time turning it around. This is Kierra's second appearance on the show - she also appeared last November on #coachmikepodcast episode 31.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

My guest this week is former World Record Holder and deceivingly tough Annamay Pierse. Annamay talks about the athletic lifestyle, dealing with the ups and downs of sport and what made her the best in the world despite her saying a few times, "I'm not very strong". This audio was recorded during a talk Annamay gave to my Senior Sprint group after practice one night; they thought we were having a team meeting, only to find a swimming hero of theirs waiting to meet and talk to them. I thank her very much for doing it. As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

Back in September, I was in New Orleans, LA for the ASCA World Clinic and spent some time speaking to Rod Barratt of Pacific Coast Swimming. We talked a lot about the way swimming in Canada was going and how the club structure currently worked. Rod had some great analogies on the "Coach Owned/Run" club structure vs the "Not For Profit/Board Run" structure. I wanted to get some of these on tape because they were so good; they totally changed my outlook on "Coach Owned" programs (especially since his won an Olympic medal for Canada in 2012). Rod and I try to reenact that conversation on the air and explore some other topics around the sport of Swimming in Canada. Rod is a very insightful guy and this is a terrific interview that can help coaches and volunteer board members better understand the sport and the club structure.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

I skipped the intro today to get right into the podcast because of the stimulating discussion. Today I've got a round table featuring Chris Stone of Acadia University, Don Burton of the University of Guelph, Ken Fitzpatrick of The University of Western Ontario and Tom Rushton of the Montreal Training Centre. Together we discuss the hot topic of CIS University recruitment of swimmers and some of the reasons that we cannot echo what the NCAA has in place... time for a new structure..?We also touch on the cancellation of Swimming Canada's Training Centre in Montreal with Tom Rushton, who is directly affected.As these are all hot topics, the podcast is a little longer (almost 40min) so my apologies for the length, but I promise you, it's not boring!As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

I'm back. This time I thought it would be fun to get a little post-modern; we're listening to an interview I did with Noemie Thomas for Swimming World News. I play the entire audio segment of the interview including the set up and he errors. I thought it would be kind of cool for everyone to hear how I do these interviews. Check it out; it's kind of cool. I have a lot of cool interviews on the way so stay tuned. More regular podcasts coming...As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

My Guest today is Team Canada's Zack Chetrat. Zack is a friend of the show (check the archive episodes) and talks about his experience at World Championships as well as his preparation for this coming season. Zack is a fantastic speaker and is available for guest appearances. Audio of him speaking at a banquet last season can be found here. Anyone interested in contacting Zack about an appearance can contact him directly here.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

My Guest this time is member of Team Canada, The Vancouver National Training Centre & UBC Dolphins, Noemie Thomas. Noemie talks about her approach to racing, what she brings to Team Canada, her experience at FINA World Championships, her very positive relationship with another top butterflier in Canada and her relationship with her new coach (Tom Johnson) and her teammates.Noemie was a joy to interview and is every bit as pleasant and down to earth as you've probably heard, but do not let that confuse you: she is as tough as they come!As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well.

No intro again today... still working somethings out so you'll just have to settle for jumping right into the action.My guest today is Head Coach of Team Canada & VAS, Randy Bennett. Randy talks about Team Canada's performance at #BCN2013, about Canada's future prep for April Trials & what Canada needs to do to move ahead. Please excuse the Scooby Doo music in the background... my children like it loud.As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well.

This week Don Burton of the University of Guelph (and staff member of Team Canada at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona this summer) stops by to talk about his first Major Games experience as well as what he learned from #BCN2013. As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well.

Okay, I lied... I didn't take a hiatus... but I'm totally going to now... trust me... This week, I visit Dr. Greg Wells at his office at the University of Toronto to get the truth about lactate clearance and how warm down can affect it. Also, Swim Canada's Junior National Coach, Ken McKinnon, joins me to announce the new initiatives replacing North America Challenge Cup. As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well. I swear I'm on hiatus this time. See you in 2 or 3 weeks...

My guest this week is Lance Cansdale, head coach of the Dal Tigers and Team Leader for Team Canada at FISU Games in Kazan Russia. Lance talks about returning to coaching after a 2 year hiatus, his role as Team Leader at FISU and the games themselves.  Pretty good interview - done at 7:30am my time (3:30pm in Russia) - I would have kept him longer but my kids woke up and were too noisy. Sorry folks. #coachmikepodcast will be on hiatus until August due to the busy 3 week period of Senior Nats, Age Groups and the travel involved. Hopefully the archives, my blog & Twitter account will tide you over until then. As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well.

Wow, I just realized that I haven't done one of these in a month. Sorry everyone. This one is for the coaches. I've taken clips from great speeches from great coaches Bob Bowman, Dave Salo, Dave Marsh & Randy Bennett. I'll be back soon with some new content. Enjoy! As always, you should check out my blog and follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim). Check out my archived past episodes as well.