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Mike Murray and the Death of #WorkWorks Nation? (PODCAST)

In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman HodgesGarrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.

We sat down with Mike Murray, head coach of Victor Swim Club, to talk about the infamous phrase many swim coaches love: work works. He explains his evolution of this philosophy and how he’s changed what his groups work looks like.

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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.

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Erik
2 years ago

This is so fantastic to see. Love seeing a coach & coaching staff in our sport being introspective, adapting, and evolving. Something that simply does not happen often enough.

My last a couple of seasons coaching I made the decision to evolve my “training” & “tapering” of kids. Specifically, giving the top senior group 100% autonomy in their taper. If they wanted to drive it, they could. It was a 100% collaborative approach. If they weren’t that dialed in or worried about it, I would take the wheel. Never had a better connection with the swimmers I worked with than those season. We had great swims at the end of the season AND it was far less stressful of time… Read more »

Swim dad
2 years ago

“We found our seniors weren’t having fun”. Great job noticing and having the humility to look into the program and change what you’re doing. Kids enjoying the process is EVERYTHING. For 99.99% of them, the experiences and memories created is the end game.

thezwimmer
2 years ago

I’m a big fan of this phrase “work works,” but I think it would be more appropriate to say “hard work works.” Obviously the phrasing is done for the alliteration and brevity, but this way, each individual can define what “hard work” is.

Is it grinding through a big aerobic set? Is it consistently matching or exceeding race pace? Is it diligently perfecting your stroke technique? In my mind, all of these examples constitute a different type of “hard work,” but they are all “hard work” none the less.

Great podcast!

Daniel Smith
2 years ago

Braden: great discussion and great questions. I got curious when you questioned pool availability…went to the Victor Sigh School website and found the following:

Please note that the Victor Aquatic Center will be closed from June 24 through July 18 for scheduled maintenance and cleaning.

To me that begs the question on where to train, and how much, and what structure the training/teaching program(s) take…presuming pool space is both more limited this late and possibly more expesive now and in the future.

Mike Murray
Reply to  Daniel Smith
2 years ago

Daniel, that’s definitely a big part of why we’ve evolved, but we have plenty of space at other sites.

Really we want our kids to enjoy what their doing, and believe in the work.

Caeleb Remel Cultist
2 years ago

Great interview and fantastic questions by Braden.

, Mel told me a month ago, that Caeleb Dressel is coming to the pod between trials and Worlds.
Is the podcast already scheduled with Mister 17.6 no fins?

And please before recording the podcast with the Sprint GOAT, let us know beforehand (In IG stories) so that we can ask questions. Moreover, it would be great if you Braden interview Remel like this podcast with Mike and the one with Shields.

still love dean farris
2 years ago

Bars

Iambic Pentameter
Reply to  still love dean farris
2 years ago

Liking this for the screen name.

Marc Rizzo
2 years ago

Great discussion. We’ve gone through the same evolution as we found less engagement with some of our old ground and pound training of the “old days.” Covid forced us to shorten practices and we found increased enthusiasm in the shorter sessions. We still get after it at practice; but, we reduced the time in the pool by 15-20% from pre- Covid schedules. We do more low yardage/ high intensity work than ever before and we have had very positive results.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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