SwimSwam wants to give you an inside look at what a normal day-in-the-life looks like for any given swimmer, and how that differs from team to team or city to city. We send our head of production, Coleman Hodges, to be a fly on the wall at practice, then relay what he discovered back to you over pancakes. Or at least breakfast.
Before I visited Coach Whitney Hedgepeth (2-Time Olympian, 27-Time NCAA All-American, Mother of Dakota Luther), I had heard rumors. All around Austin pool decks, I would hear rumblings that Whitney ran the toughest practice in town if you’re a masters swimmer. While that may be true, what I discovered for myself didn’t really line up with my expectations.
Whitney is exceedingly nice and outgoing, making sure to welcome every swimmer on deck feels welcomed and prepared to conquer the morning. I went on a Friday, and Friday’s for the Longhorn Masters mean Fast Friday. I wouldn’t say the workout was anything over the top, but like Whitney said, was enough to get them tired and give them a good workout, but not so hard that they couldn’t finish their day. To be honest, I wanted to jump in with them… and I’m a little sad that I didn’t.
Just curious if this series go anywhere else besides the state of Texas? I feel there are a lot great programs around the country that you can be a fly on the wall.
I don’t know. Whitney is definitely super nice and makes you feel great, but that doesn’t mean her practices are hard as crap. I swam age group there and used to see the masters group swimming their butts off. It’s definitely fun, but challenging, too.
Whitney is the best. It is incredible how many irons are in her fire but she never lets that get to her. She is completely engaged at every practice giving equal time to the fast and not as fast alike. And ….she is one of the nicest people I have ever known. We are so lucky to have her.
Without a doubt Whitney is not only a great coach, but even a better person, wife and mom to her 3 kids. Everyday she is ALL IN at practice ….coaching, challenging us to be better and faster, but also laughing with us, asking about our lives and ensuring we are having fun. Ask any Longhorn swimmer what they love most about our team and the first answer is always Whitney! We are blessed to have an incredible coach on deck every day.
Coleman…. FAST Friday is not always a ton of yards as you saw, but high intensity and challenging. Monday we crank the yards with short rest intervals! Come join us for that as our pace is… Read more »
I don’t know. I think Whitney is kinda hard on us old whining guys. I’m just glad I can post anonymously so there isn’t any retribution at practice tomorrow.