Mike Anzano
@mikeanzano
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Full Time Coach for 10+ Years • Here to help coaches who want more from their team • Owner of the Swim Coach Launchpad
Midland, TX
Joined March 2016
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Everything works.
Nothing works forever.
This is why the best coaches are the ones who adapt and change.
Even better the ones who know WHEN to adapt and WHAT to change.
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I think this is one of my favorite moments from worlds so far.
Bad start. Who cares. Still got the job done. In an event as tight as this.
Ends up with a silver medal in the finals. Takes mental toughness to move forward unphased.
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Hey I know the elite age group coaches of the world will hate this.
But your 13-14 athletes will still get better if you go play ultimate frisbee during practice time.
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I’m a 31 year old full time swim coach.
Most of my 31 year old friends think I get in the water everyday to teach lessons.
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I told one of my swimmers I think she is doing too much.
(3 sports and 3 other extra curriculars)
She just looked at me and said.
It’s fun though.
I told her to forget I said anything.
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Some truths about swimming people fail to remember.
- You will have bad meets
- You will get frustrated
- You will not enjoy parts of it
- Your coach will piss you off
- Your teammates will piss you off
But in the end you will be glad you did it.
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Don’t create fragile athletes.
You don’t need a perfect night of sleep.
You don’t need the perfect breakfast.
You don’t need the perfect taper.
You don’t need to “feel” great.
If you’re ready you’re ready. On race day it’s time to perform!
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Here is my list of things I teach my swimmers every season.
1. Attendance matters but you don't get rewarded for just being here.
2. Being kind will get you further with me than being talented. Who you are matters to me more than what you can do.
3. Never knock someone down
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The best swimmers don’t miss practice.
This isn’t just about attendance.
It’s about
Staying healthy
Staying injury free
Taking care of your school work
Minimizing life drama
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I'm going to give you my 3 step breakdown for crossover turns.
The drills I'm about to show you are designed to be simple, and to get lots of reps in a short amount of time.
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When my mom told me she couldn’t afford club swimming I adapted.
She took me to Sam’s and I bought boxes of candy to sell at school.
I mowed lawns on the weekend.
Ended up swimming D2 for a school in the middle of nowhere Texas.
I made it happen.
Most would not have done
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Today I had 7 kids who missed easy intervals.
My talk to them ended up giving them one of the best days of practice I’ve seen.
Here’s what I said:
“All of you missed the interval and didn’t care. That means you just took yourself out of the workout.
When you’re out of the
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Try these no breath 25s
1/3 posture kick
1/3 swim hold the legs
1/3 back to posture kick finish
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Summer league doesn’t get enough credit for teaching kids to love swimming.
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You know that one swimmer who doesn't seem to "get it"
They walk on the deck and are not in a rush to hop in the water.
They get confused during sets.
And have 1 gear during practice.
I don't believe you can turn all of them into real swimmers, but I know how to help most.
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A parent asked me why their 13&O athlete is in a 50 back.
I want to share my answer with you, and would love your thoughts on 50s for senior level swimming.
1. 50s are fun and different than the usual. Fun matters.
2. Chances to final are higher and getting second swims
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Swim coaching has brainwashed me.
When I see people post “IMO” (in my opinion)
I only see IM Order
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Hard lesson about swimming.
You can’t be great unless you’re consistent.
Being consistent doesn’t guarantee you’ll be great.
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Do you have a swimmer who always has something?
A vacation
A project
A sickness
An injury
A function
These are the ones I can’t help.
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When my mom said “I can’t pay for your swimming anymore.”
I sold candy at school and mowed lawns.
What about the summer nobody could pick me up from practice?
I rode a 2 hour city bus home.
If you want something to happen, you will find a way.
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Sometimes I put 20x25s on :35 instead of :30 so the whole group can stay together and do a good job.
I know I know.
My top end will miss out on 1:40 of extra work, but sacrifices must be made.
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Watching a kid be proud of themselves might be the one of the greatest feelings in coaching.
Last night we had a young lady get 6th in the B final.
Dropped about .4 from prelims.
SHE HAD TEARS OF JOY.
She couldn’t believe she did so well.
It’s always special to see that.
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Every coach should be showing their girls how fast Gretchen Walsh is swimming.
Her sub 20 is a 4:00 1500m barrier moment.
Once one does it.
More will follow.
The same can be said for all big swims happening.
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You’ve seen those special moments in swimming.
Tonight I got to watch a young lady from
@AggieSwimDive
get her first trials cut.
It was epic. She cried. Her team cheered.
I’ve seen the same thing happen with a first
Juniors, Futures, and Sectional cuts.
And any other time
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If you’re a swimmer in college going home for the break. Spend some time with your home club helping the younger athletes.
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I asked ChatGPT to write a swim workout for me.
My job is safe for now.
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You won’t see swim coaches posting about the grind because of the backlash from the self care community.
The thing is, lots of us love the grind.
Long days
Distant rewards
Hard situations
But here’s my take
I grind the same way I did when I was 20.
But instead of
90% swim
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After listening to hours of podcast with
@DrAndyGalpin
I’ve found the secret to strength training.
The secret: it depends
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Hey college kids.
You team back home loves having you at practice.
The generation behind you gets motivated every-time you hit the water.
You show them what they can be one day.
You don’t need to have the same commitment as them. You might even train on your own mostly.
But
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A paradigm shift in swimming was the moment everyone realized underwaters matter.
Phelps 200 free in 2008 is the one that sticks out in my mind.
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We call this long dog drill. Great for teaching catch and pull position.
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Here is one of my favorite freestyle progressions.
1. Long Dog drill
Use this to teach the proper catch shape
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A man with a higher purpose is a powerful thing.
David Popovici melted down his World Championship gold medal from the 200 freestyle and turned them into golden ribbons that he gave to kids who beat childhood cancer…
This dude is cool as hell 🥶
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Here is the key to coaching elite 12&U athletes.
Don’t call them elite.
It’s not a thing. They are athletes in the developmental stage of their sport.
Just like every other 12 year old.
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My favorite transformation to watch is not the slow swimmer into a fast one.
It’s the low self esteem kid into a confident one.
The kid who sat by themselves but through hard work they become proud of their results.
Start having big goals.
And believe in their ability to
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Yes I have my own coaching style.
But
Swimmer A may need me to be more direct.
Swimmer B needs me to be more relaxed.
Swimmer C just needs a good job here and there.
In those details is where the real coaching happens.
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It’s that time of year. College kids coming back home to train.
Our team has one rule.
You can’t be a negative influence.
If you do.
You can’t train here.
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If you want your age groupers to be great at butterfly do 3 things.
1. Do lots of fly kicking
2. Every stroke is a quality stroke
3. Don’t create a negative atmosphere around butterfly
4. Avoid slow versions of fly
Like
Using fly as punishment
Telling everyone fly is hard
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I taught an 8 year old how to swim butterfly their first week of practice using a simple progression.
1. Button drill hands down
2. Button drill hands up
3. 3 Buttons + Stroke drill
4. 2 strokes fly then free
I don't have the writing skills to type out the full explanation.
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The quality of swimming Twitter has been on the incline the past 12 months.
More voices being more helpful.
It’s becoming a place coaches can go to become better.
Shoutout to everyone making their contributions.
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College swimmers who are going back home for the summer.
Swim with your home team.
No matter what level you're competing at you're an inspiration to the younger athletes.
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Your swimmers will remember you more for how you treated them rather than the workouts you wrote.
Never forget how powerful words are.
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@TeamYouTube
@kylesockwell
@YouTubeCreators
Kyle is a big voice in a niche community, help him move forward!
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Every team needs a coach who can turn “kids who swim” into “swimmers”
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I had a kid do a 25 all UW for the first time the other day.
Best part it was on a 25 labeled
“MAX UW” I didn’t force anyone to go the whole way.
Which means he decided on his own he could go the whole way.
Love those moments. Best part about age group coaching! Lots of first
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Swim coaches, thoughts?
When an athlete is told to run at 85% they run faster than if they're told to run at 100%.
It's called the 85% rule and here's why it works:
Carl Lewis was a 9 time Olympic gold medalist who was known as a master finisher but a slow starter.
He began races 2nd to last but
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Word matter.
The titles you give kids matter.
I called one of my female athletes today a MACHINE.
She comes up to me later and says “do you really think I’m a machine?”
100% yes.
She lit up and had one of the workouts of the season.
Now let’s flip flop it.
You think that
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When I have a swimmer who is disappointed they didn’t make
the “A” relay.
I tell them the same thing.
Become undeniable.
In your practices
In your performances
In your attitude
The coaches are watching it all.
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It’s ok to do 100x100s
What opinion about swimming would get you into this situation?
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If you’re coaching a kid who you have written off as
• Lazy
• Bad influence
• A waste of lane space
At any point in their swimming career they can turn it around.
And the moment they move in the right direction you need to be there cheering them on.
The truth here is we
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I’ve seen coaches tell their swimmers to go UW past 15m because there was no official watching.
I’ve seen parents try and put Vaseline on their swimmer so they can swim faster.
You probably seen a swimmer sneak in some extra dolphin kicks on breaststroke.
And what does this
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The thing to say right now is “you don’t need 100x100”
I get it, mindless meters shouldn’t be the answer.
I do think athletes need sets they can look back on and say 2 things.
1. Everything looks easier because I did 100x100
2. I’m proud because I did 100x100
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6 kick switch is an essential piece of my drill toolbox.
Kick through the line, pull through the line.
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@kylesockwell
is a prime example of carving your own path.
He’s been posting about swimming for YEARS.
Making swimming content fun, relevant, and HELPFUL.
Congrats man and good luck. I will be downloading the new
@USASwimming
app for sure.
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If Obama can have a 600 person party, or Lollapalooza can have over 600,000 people in attendance.
I better be able to host my 250 person swim meet!
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Hey young coaches. It's ok that you're young.
You have something the oldies don't.
Energy.
No one forgets the coach who brought energy to their practices. You have it, bring it!
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The environment you create will have a bigger impact than the workouts you write.
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I love hearing Michael Phelps talking about training everyday between 2004 and 2008.
Not missing one practice.
Because most people think “that’s too much”
But very few people understand the focus it would take to do that.
The planning and care to stay healthy enough to train
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This is how I share the love of swimming with my daughter.
This video will warm your swim coach heart.
I went to a little college intrasquad meet and let her hang out with the team. She even met a friend she wanted to cheer on.
Also, good luck to
@UTPBSwimDive
this year. GO
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Here’s my “swimming is bigger than the pool” take.
We teach our athletes how to find confidence through work.
It’s an amazing feeling to work hard and earn something.
This is where passion comes from.
A kid with confidence in themselves will succeed.
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Michael Andrew out there with the Summer League lineup 💪
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This picture says a lot about our club.
1. A team that works together. This is a large chunk of our 13&O.
2. Great leadership. Jenna Purkey is our head coach and she does a damn good job!
3. Amazing facility. Blessed to work here everyday.
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I’m at a swim meet.
My two year old face times me to tell me he farted.
I told him I was proud of him.
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In most of my workouts I have an “A” and “B” interval group.
Most kids fit well into each but I have some in the middle.
Today I gave my middle guys a choice of intervals.
One said “I’ll try the A”
I shut that down. There is no trying. If you’re in, the you’re in.
They
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If your a coach worth their salt you know who the “sleepers” on your team are.
The kids who will make big moves in the next 6-12 months.
The kids who will have everyone saying “when did they get fast?”
The kid who does everything right when nobody’s watching.
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Our 10&U coaches do essentially the same first set everyday.
The kids don’t get bored because they love structure.
Also we coach the hell out of it.
There isn’t magical sets for 10&U. Just consistency and fun.
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Teach your female athletes they can be strong.
Teach them to be proud of being strong.
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Teams need traditions.
I don’t care if it’s:
Birthday swims.
A specific cheer.
A saying.
But every strong culture has pillars that stay through the generations.
What’s yours?
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Our org has a partnership with the local community college.
You can become a swim coach intern and get your first two years of college covered.
Room
Board
Books
Tuition
Stipend
If you know any high school graduates who want to step into swim coaching and get their college
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We call this buttons + stroke. Connect the press to a full stroke.
Once you nail the timing you have butterfly.
This one works ages 8-18
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Got this set from a coach on my staff. I haven’t run it yet but it looks like a good one!
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Tonight we had our team banquet.
630+ swimmers and families.
Growth takes time. But when you see it come together it’s a beautiful thing.
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I love teaching athletes about connecting the fingernails to toenails.
Kick on side is a great building block for that. We use it often!
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Kick on side
Single arm
Swim
Simple and effective
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Your athletes should encounter pressure at practice.
Create situations where they have two options.
Perform or fail
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There are thousands of age group coaches you will never hear about that do amazing work.
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An Athlete told me they loved practice today, so I asked why?
“Because each set felt like I was working on something specific”
I know coaches write workouts with purpose. I really believe most of us do.
But do the athletes feel that purpose?
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Sometimes a kid does everything you ask and doesn’t perform.
Those are the ones that keep me up at night.
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Next level flag touches
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I’ll never forget the first meet we went to where 80% of our seniors were doing crossovers.
So many DQs.
No because the turns were illegal.
But because the refs weren’t prepared to see them.
They assumed it was past vertical.
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We are two days into our training trip and one thing is clear.
The workouts are not special.
It’s the athletes.
By nature a training trip feels special.
You don’t need some fancy new workout to “get everyone going”
Everyone is excited, use that energy.
Write something
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95% of coaches who I’ve emailed and asked for advice have answered my questions or got me on a phone call to help.
Big name coaches. Guys putting kids on teams.
If you need help, ask.
If you don’t get a response. Ask someone else until you get the answer.
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There are so many good coaches out there you’ve never heard about.
People creating life changing moments for their swimmers.
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Parents.
It’s not your job to be as disappointed as your swimmer.
You are the emotional rock and leader of the family.
Let your kid be upset.
Walk them through it.
Don’t let them off the hook.
Treat failure as normal not special.
Treat success as special not normal.
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The first swim meet I ran by myself I reseeded the entire meet 5x after I passed out heat sheets.
You can imagine how it went.
We had to literally just call kids name by name to lanes.
But 10 years later I’ve learned and know how to run a legit meet.
I think of this often as
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We do our training trip different than most teams. (Possibly)
We bring all our 9-12th graders.
No time standard or specific level required.
Why?
Our team believes every athlete has the opportunity to do something special.
At any moment your “bottom” level guy could decide to
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Coach retention is a huge part of team success.
Here’s what keeps coaches on teams longer
1. Fun
2. Pay
3. Opportunity
4. Flexibility
5. Education
6. Ownership
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I love this drill for better backstroke starts. We call it penguin drill!
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Why do I love coaching?
Watching kids work toward a goal.
Achieve that goal.
Make friends and learn lessons along the way.
It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.
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Our job as coaches is to make practice the best part of their day.
Not the worst.
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Any workout can be garbage yardage.
If I write a speed set and a swimmer doesn’t have the right intensity and focus.
That set just became garbage yardage.
It’s all relative to HOW you do the work.
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