After the high of an Olympics, it can be hard to remember the daily grind that athletes endured to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Many athletes are taking a well-deserved break before jumping into the next quad.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at how an Olympian of years past handled the transition. The training log of two-time Olympic champion Brian Goodell was shared with SwimSwam, containing workouts spanning from February 1976 to January 1977. While it’s not a complete log, it’s a fascinating look into an elite athlete’s mindset during an intense training block.
Goodell became a double champion at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, winning the men’s 400 free (3:51.93) and 1500 free (15:02.40) in world record fashion. Just 17 years old at the time, Goodell trained with the Mission Viejo Nadadores in the lead-up to the Games.
Goodell’s Olympics.com biography describes him as “a legend for his long-distance workouts and tireless capacity for work,” and that is backed up by the logs we have available to us (Biography).
“I told myself how great I was feeling,” wrote Goodell under a February 23, 1976 set consisting of 3000 meters with paddles. “I wouldn’t have made it otherwise – visualized long stroke [and] loose arms.”
That day, Goodell swam a total of 7,925 yards and 10,300 meters across two sessions.
The next day, Goodell swam his “best 400s ever,” swimming faster than Tim Shaw’s world record in a broken 400. “I got really stoked for the last one,” closes that day’s entry.
Interestingly, Goodell’s final time in Montreal almost exactly matches what he swam in February: 3:51.7 (broken by 50) versus 3:51.93. While it’s difficult to find splits from Montreal, Goodell was known for his tendency to negative-split his races. He did exactly that in the set, splitting 58/59/58/56.6. (We assume the variance in the final time is due to compounding rounding errors.)
There are plenty more ups and downs documented throughout the log. Some of it came from coach clashes, such as on March 1, 1976.
“Upset – I had an argument with Mark [Schubert],” wrote Goodell at the end of an 8,975 yard + 9,700 meter day.
Sometimes it was the weather.
“The smog was really bad today – too much to handle. I felt sick to my stomach,” is noted on February 26, 1976. “I am also very tired from speed swimming.” The speed swimming in question? 500 meter swims.
(The South Coast Air Quality Management District was established later that year with the mission to control stationary sources of air pollution in California’s Orange County, which includes Mission Viejo, as well as Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.)
Sometimes the weather and coaches worked together, such as March 3 when the Nadadores cut a practice short due to a thunderstorm.
“We all went to the doughnut shop [and] Mark treated,” wrote Goodell after swimming just 4,400 yards in an hour.
Later that day, he swam a dual meet for Mission Viejo High School against San Clemente through freezing rain and snow, competing in the 200 IM, 500 free, and swimming the fly leg of the ‘B’ 200 medley relay.
We don’t have access to Goodell’s training logs leading into the 1976 Olympic Trials, where he won both the 400 and 1500 freestyle in world record times he would later better in Montreal.
What we do have access to picks up later that year during Thanksgiving week, where Goodell averaged 15,000 to 16,000 yards a day (except for Thanksgiving Day, where he only did one practice).
“I began working out later this year, but I’m in the best condition ever for the beginning of the season,” wrote Goodell.
Goodell matriculated to UCLA by January of 1977, and won nine individual NCAA titles by the end of his collegiate career.
Unfortunately, Goodell’s second Olympic quad had a disappointing end due to the U.S.’s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. Though he was named to the U.S. team, it was purely ceremonial. He retired from competitive swimming in 1981, and now serves as a city councilmember in Mission Viejo while also managing a real estate business with his wife.
Goodells story is in GAMES-GIMMICKS-CHALLENGES for Swimming Coachgs.
Jesus, Mark Schubert is old
That was a great time for US Men’s distance swimming: Brian Goodell, Tim Shaw, Bobby Hackett, Mike Bruner. I hope we get some new talent to add to what Bobby Finke is doing now. I liked Jimmy Carter as president but his 1980 Olympic bocycott was wrong , did nothing , and damaged US swimming for year , while crushing those swimmers that trained their entire life for a chance to compete in those games.
Whitlock seems like he is starting to approach that level
The last American to break the 1500 LC men’s world record prior to Bobby Finke in Paris. A legend!
I love this story he told about a girls who came up to him after a clinic speaking engagement. She said she wanted to make Junior Nationals someday. He encouraged her. She said her coach said she didn’t have enough talent to make it. Goodell told her to change coaches. Awesome and bold. I so agree. In an upcoming series of interviews with Mark he reminded me that Brian also won the 400 I.M. in college. His swimmers were actually training faster than that animal lane this year. If anyone tells you kids aren’t will to train long and hard they are missing the point. It’s many coaches who have gotten softer. Toughness is taught and a function of the… Read more »
Goodell and Shaw weren’t going head to head on an every day basis.
Does anybody know if he kinda sorta tried a come-back in ’87 or ’88? I remember swimming in a meet that was kind of like today’s Pro Series back then, and IIRC Goodell showed up and threw everybody for a loop. All of a sudden, the strategy to get an evening swim completely changed, as some of the college swimmers clearly wanted to beat an Olympic champ, morning session or not!
This SoCal native wants to know how Brian could have driven “through freezing rain and snow” in Orange County.
Perhaps a narrative embellishment… the entry itself reads “Freezing wind – snowed at school!!” (emphasis maintained). A quick search on historical weather data shows 29 mph winds and 0 F weather around 4pm, but I’m no meteorologist.
“Freezing rain” and 40 degrees is probably considered a snow storm for Orange County
A couple of years ago (12/12/22) there was a hail storm here in Huntington Beach and some ignorant people were calling it snow
There are definitely some outlying weather days in socal. Although of course the most temperate place to live in the US, there are times (especially in super early in morning – although his meet would’ve probably been in the afternoon, so idk) it’s very likely his general standard of “freezing cold” was just a lot different than most easterners. Especially when one is in a swimsuit.
Would love to see the actual practices!!
The book Four Champions, One Gold Medal has the complete Olympic Training log for the distance group (Goodell, Hackett, Hartloff, etc) provided by Coach Don Gambril, as well as the middle distance group (where Tim Shaw trained) provided by Coach George Haines. In the book are also several samples of Brian Goodell’s practices.