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how i became a tri Swim Coach
by Kevin Koskella
www.TriSwimCoach.com  The
movie “Rocky” was my first inspiration as a 6-year old to the world of
sports. I watched in awe as Rocky woke up at 5 a.m., downed a couple of
raw eggs, and hit the pavement while most of the city was still asleep.
Nobody pushed him. His drive came from within. This inspiration led me to
train for my first event, the Bay Bridge Run, a seven-mile distance from
Oakland to San Francisco. At the time I became the youngest to complete
the span. I was immediately hooked on competition and sports in general.
As
I got older, I found that my best and favorite sport was swimming. The
Olympic swimmers were my heroes. I focused and dedicated myself to the
sport. This meant getting up at 5:30 a.m. many mornings, and countless
hours in the pool all year round. I found success in the sprint and middle
distance freestyle and backstroke events, ultimately achieving
All-American status in college (top eight individual events) and was part
of a few record-setting relays at University of California- Davis.
I
experimented with triathlons after college, competing in a few Olympic and
Sprint
triathlons. I was stunned that I could be so far ahead in the swim, only
to be quickly passed by about a zillion bikes within only a few miles of
exiting the water!
I
started coaching masters swimmers and quickly learned that there is a huge
need out there for help with completing a triathlon swim. As triathlons
are generally endurance races, the general trend of masters teams — high
heart rate training, tight intervals, and not much attention to stroke
technique — was something I felt avoided in my coaching. No matter how
fast of a swimmer you are, you cannot possibly get far enough ahead to
make much of a difference if your bike and run are weak (I proved that in
my races!). So I looked for a method that would allow triathletes to train
for the swim efficiently, rather than muscling through the swim and having
nothing left for the rest of the race.
I
found out about Total Immersion when I was surfing the web for “low heart
rate swim training.” This methodology- based on earlier techniques brought
forth by the great swim coach Bill Boomer in the 1970’s- I found was
perfect for triathlon swim training. In my workouts I began teaching
these techniques while giving swimmers enough rest so they get the most
out of it.
I
then began teaching freestyle swim clinics, mostly (surprise!) to
triathletes and aspiring triathletes. I have written several articles on
swimming and an e-book called “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming”,
which features 2 beginner-level workout plans- 1 for an Olympic Distance
race, and 1 for a Half Ironman. You can purchase and download a copy of
the e-book today right from my website-
www.triswimcoach.com. You can also sign up for my free newsletter
there!
I
love helping the beginners, and I frequent the beginnertriathlete.com
board often to see if I can answer swimming questions. If you have any
questions, my email address is
kevin@triswimcoach.com. I will get back to you as quickly as
possible.
Stay tuned for more in the coming months!
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