Love these interviews mate! What would be also great is a little more practical detail of those formative years 10-16 years old. How many sessions in the pool and what did it consist of in real terms. Your last guest Alexander Popov talked about conditioning as well as swimming. Was this happening in these formative years as well? Ian Thorpe talked about the massive amount of Km's he put in as an elite athlete but what was he doing at 12-14. Even in my small region in Australia there are so many great swimmers doing great times in their formative years but just flame out by 16. Surely there is a better way to bring on swimmers than just a war of attrition in these years but I also understand you need other special qualities swim at a national level. Anyway it was interesting to hear that Tom was so into the process rather than the times, as a general principal. Thanks again and I can't wait to hear from Gustavo Borges. BTW I never swam a lap in my life but as an Aussie the brutality of success and failure of swimming at the elite level has always intrigued me.
Great stories from Tom Dolan! I would have loved to hear about the 200 IM in Sydney against Rosolino and actually eould be great to hear from an italian-aussie like Max
This interview is genius! It's interesting to hear the background dynamics from the Sydney Olympics. The stories with the Aussie taxi driver and the chair-thrashing are hilarious! Interestingly, unlike with the megalomaniac claims made in the run-up to Barcelona '92, the US team really delivered at that meet. And unlike later meets, where they always had certain dominators (Phelps, Lochte, Frankin, Ledecky, and now Dressel), Sydney 2000 was a genuine team effort. Always thought that the most impressive performances came from Tom Dolan and Brooke Bennett, as they won back-to-back gold medals in very tough events.
4 Comments
Love these interviews mate! What would be also great is a little more practical detail of those formative years 10-16 years old. How many sessions in the pool and what did it consist of in real terms. Your last guest Alexander Popov talked about conditioning as well as swimming. Was this happening in these formative years as well? Ian Thorpe talked about the massive amount of Km's he put in as an elite athlete but what was he doing at 12-14. Even in my small region in Australia there are so many great swimmers doing great times in their formative years but just flame out by 16. Surely there is a better way to bring on swimmers than just a war of attrition in these years but I also understand you need other special qualities swim at a national level. Anyway it was interesting to hear that Tom was so into the process rather than the times, as a general principal. Thanks again and I can't wait to hear from Gustavo Borges. BTW I never swam a lap in my life but as an Aussie the brutality of success and failure of swimming at the elite level has always intrigued me.
Great stories from Tom Dolan! I would have loved to hear about the 200 IM in Sydney against Rosolino and actually eould be great to hear from an italian-aussie like Max
Love how talkative he is. Super informative.
This interview is genius! It's interesting to hear the background dynamics from the Sydney Olympics. The stories with the Aussie taxi driver and the chair-thrashing are hilarious! Interestingly, unlike with the megalomaniac claims made in the run-up to Barcelona '92, the US team really delivered at that meet. And unlike later meets, where they always had certain dominators (Phelps, Lochte, Frankin, Ledecky, and now Dressel), Sydney 2000 was a genuine team effort. Always thought that the most impressive performances came from Tom Dolan and Brooke Bennett, as they won back-to-back gold medals in very tough events.