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8 SwimmingWORLD May 2006

Q: Swimming World Magazine:

Ray, what has the Indiana team dynamicbeen like since the mens and womens

programs were combined this season?

A: Coach Ray Looze:

Im used to having a combined team asa coach. Previously, I coached at theUniversity of Pacific, and it was thatway. Im comfortable with it. Ive lookedup to programs like USC and Auburnthat have been run by Mark Schubertand David Marsh. I like the way theyrun their programs, and Ive tried to

emulate that.

The men and the women are much clos-er this year. They spend a lot more timetogether outside of the pool and have agreater respect for each other. Our work-outs have improved tremendously. Themen push the women, and, sometimes,the women actually push the men. Themen also help make the women betterand the women likewise.

When you took on the program,what was the first thing you changed?

I wanted to instill the dream that wecould be the best. Indiana has goodacademics, and we are in a good loca-tion. I let everyone know that itwould be our goal to rejoin the eliteteams in the country and eventuallyfight for a national championship. Itwas important for them to believethat was possible.

What has remained true toIndiana swimming?

Anybody who is part of Indiana

University knows that it is an honor to bea part of this program. It doesnt matter ifyou are a part of the team or if you arecoach, it is an honor to be here. Its anhonor to be part of the best swimmingand diving team in the Midwest.

When Doc Counsilman was coaching at

Indiana, the Hoosiers were a powerhouse

in swimming. Is it part of your plan to

build the program to that same level?

Those are the promises Ive made to the

team and to the university. However, Imrealistic about one thing: there is only oneDoc Counsilman. No one will win six(NCAA Division I) national titles in a rowagain or 23 Big Ten championships. We dowant to reach that same level of swimmingwhere we are consistently in the Top 10nationally. Every year, we want to be com-peting for the Big Ten title.

Does Counsilmans

legacy still have an influence on

the way things are done at Indiana?The Counsilman name carries a lot ofweight. We actually do a history class for thefreshmen so they understand the legacy ofthis program and the tradition. Hoosiersneed to know what it means to be part ofthis university and this program, of whichDoc Counsilman is a legend.

The success and tradition of the Indianaswim team creates appreciation for every-one throughout the state and school.

People who know nothing about theswim team still ask about how we are

Download anelectronic copy at:

mmingWorldMagazine.com

T H E H O W - TO F O R B E T T E R S W I M M I N G

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Ray Looze, Head Swimming Coach

Indiana University

COACH LOOZE

Ray Looze has achieved extraordinarysuccess as both a coach and a world-class swimmer. Since he was hired asIndiana Universitys mens swimmingand diving coach in June 2002, Loozes

mission has been to return Indianaswimming to the elite level it

maintained throughout the 1960s and70s under legendary coach, James

Doc Counsilman. Looze has madesignificant progress. Last year,

Indianas men enjoyed their bestseason in nearly

20 years, f inishing second at the BigTen Championships, just three pointsbehind first-place Minnesota. IU then

finished 16th at NCAAs, its bestshowing since placing 15th in1991.

This year, Indianas men won their firstBig Ten title in 21 years. And sureenough, they improved to 12th at

NCAAs. Beginning with this season,Looze now coaches both the mens

and womens swimming programs.His women finished 14th at NCAAs.

BY D AVE D ENNIS TON

Coach Ray Looze wants his swimmers at Indiana to rejoin the elite teams in

the country and eventually fight for a national championship.


3/9SwimmingWORLD May 2006 39

doing because of Doc. The swim team isone of the top three programs that Indianafields and supports. You dont hear a lot ofswimming programs getting that kind ofrespect anymore. So, yes, Doc Counsilmanhas a strong influence on our program eventoday.

Are you expected by the schoolor the team to fill his big shoes?

Im realistic. Theres no way Ill come close todoing what he did. Putting that pressure onanyone is unrealistic. He is considered bymany, including myself, to be one of the bestcoaches of the 20th century. Ive removedmyself from that sort of pressure. On the flipside of the coin, we are very competitive, andwe want to win a national title.

What is your fall training like at Indiana?

To win a national title, you have to trainextremely hard. The fall semester gives theathletes the opportunity to train withoutinterruption for the longest period of time.So that training is very hard and veryintense. Our Christmas training starts inSeptember. There are a lot of ways to skin acat, but you cant shave (for a meet) twice.So we make the absolute most out of everypractice in the fall.

We want to get to a point where we go tothe national championship meets withoutshaving twice. We will get there withtime. Right now, our regimen requiresintense training the first semester. We allshave for our conference meet, and thenagain for NCAAs. The fall training alsosets us up for the summer meets as well.

And because national team competition isimportant to our athletes and our pro-gram, the fall training serves a dual role.

Does dryland training have a

significant role in your program?

We hired Mike Bastier from Auburn. Hehas brought in some intense, athletic,butt-kicking stuff. Getting our athletesstronger and more athletic can only bedone on dry land. He has carte blanche inthat area.

In the spring and early season, the dry-land intensity will be at its peak. By thetime Christmas training rolls around, wewill have shifted gears. At that point, themoney is in the bank. During that train-ing period, we are vulnerable in dualmeets because we are training so hard.That can be a tough schedule in the BigTen. But our approach is all about win-

ning the toughest and most competitivemeet in the worldthe NCAAs.

Indianas men won their first Big Ten title

this year in 21 years. What was that like?

It was such a great experience. It mademe think of the first Big Ten Champion-ship that I coached, where I told all of the

guys on the team, We are going to win atop-level competition, and all of you haveto embrace that. Several of our graduateathletes were there this year because, inmany ways, they earned that as much asthe guys in the pool. Many of the grad-uates sacrificed their own spot or evensome scholarship to get the guys onthe team who won.

The Big Ten Championship is astep, but there is a lot more we

would like to accomplish. Oncewe do reach those accomplish-ments, we would like to do thatevery year. Just as important to usnow is being among the Top 5 atthe NCAA meet.

Championships dont just

happenwhat made this one a

reality for your team?

Good chemistry, hard work and abelief that we could. Additionally,

we had superior depth. Twenty-seven guys competed in the meet.Twenty-six of them scored individ-ually. Walk-on swimmers raisedtheir training and their ability to anew level to achieve that. Even theone guy who didnt score swam well.Depth is important at the conferencelevel. However, NCAA top-end pointsare more about quality and quantity,not just depth.

How are your swimmersdivided up training-wise?

We have a sprint group that is almost 100percent male. It consists of about 12 guys.We have our middle distance group thatconsists of freestyle and stroke swimmersdoing the 200 and capable of up to a 500.Many of the middle guys will do the 100as well. Three coaches coach that group, sothere is some variety. And its based uponwhat they need training-wise. The distancegroup is made up of the 400 IMers to the

milers. Two coaches take that group. One

coach

ing

continued on 40ABOVE Doc Counsilman (talking to IU swimmer Mark Spitz) guided his Indiana mens swimming teamsduring the 1960s and 70s to six straight NCAA Division I national titles and 23 Big Ten championships.


4/90 SwimmingWORLD May 2006

coach runs the sprint group. I generallywork with the middle-distance swimmers.

What are one or two things you constantly

remind your swimmers to focus on?

Preparation is key. I tell the swimmers that ataper is not magic. I remind them that its

what they do in the season that counts themost. The choices and commitment theymake in September and October set uptheir season.

I always liked what Coach Eddie Reesesays: You dont blow a taper; you blow aseason. I make sure they know thatsacrifices need to be made in order tobe successful. Its always a challenge toget a new group to commit complete-ly to that level. I also remind them not

ever to swim sloppy and always tothink about their stroke.

I remind them that (a great swimmersuch as) Aaron Peirsol still looks forways to make his stroke better, andso should they. I want them to thinkabout the next adjustment they canmake in their stroke. You can alwaysget better technically. You cant gomore yards or lift more weights, butyou can always improve technique

and swim faster in workout.

How do you handle preparation for the Big

Ten Championship, then turn around and

get ready for NCAAs?

Both our women and men prepared fullyfor conference. In the Big Ten, its a separatemeet. Half the staff stayed back in Indiana. I

made sure to leave really good instructions.Regardless, I coach on independence, notdependence. They have to be able to takecare of themselves. I educate them to knowhow to take care of themselves and thethings they need to do to be ready. After theBig Ten, we go back to working very hard.We have a month to prepare, so the secondtime we re-taper and go faster. We mightmake a few technical adjustments, but theintent is to go faster the second time around.

What role does USA Swimmingplay in your program?

A pretty big one. We requested that (USASwimmings director of physiology)Genadijus (Sokolovas) come out in thefall and do some testing with our ath-letes. Jonty Skinner let him do someresistance training testingafter wepaid him, of course. We have a veryelaborate 30-station pulley system ondeck. We have a very nice set-up andwanted to learn how to use it more effec-

tively. Genadijus instructed us on howmuch we should do and how often. Sowe use USA Swimming studies alongthose lines. This also helps our swimmers

gain international experience and expo-sure. This is important to the growth anddevelopment of our program.

What changes will you make in the future?

Every year we want to get better. Wehave to change or adjust somethingabout ourselves to get better. We mustkeep workouts and swimming interest-ing and fun. Swimmers have to be happyto be able to push them to be the best.

COACH LOOZE continued from 39

Kevin Swander primarily trains in the

middle distance group at Indiana

University, working on his IM as well

as his breaststroke. However, once a

week Kevin does his favorite set to

work on speed and power in the div-

ing well. All of the swims are done

breaststroke.

Kevin alternates between swims on

the Power Rack and regular swims for15 meters. On the Power Rack efforts,

no pull-down is used. During the

width swims, three are done with a

pull-down, three are done without.

The diving well at IU is 15 meters

long, and Kevin goes widths with var-

ious pieces of equipment that he

strips off until he is just swimming.

All of the swims are max-out, full

effort. Kevin uses the maximum

amount of weight on the Rack, and

does all of the repetitions on a

minute. All of his swims are at race

pace, and he holds between five and

six strokes per effort.

HOUR OF POWER:

KEVIN SWANDER

6 repetitions on a Power Rackwith medium-size paddles

(wearing a T-shirt)

6 regular widths with medium-sizepaddles (wearing a T-shirt)

6 repetitions on a Power Rack withmedium-size paddles

6 regular widths with medium-sizepaddles

6 repetitions on the Power Rackwith no equipment

6 regular sprints with no

equipment

H O W T H E Y

TRAIN:K E V I N S W A N D E R

BY COACH RAY LOOZE

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ABOVE Indianas Ben Hesen finished fifth in themens 100 back at the NCAA Division I Cham-

pionships last March. The Hoosiers placed

12th overalltheir best finish in 15 years.

(PhotobyTimMorse)


5/9

ABOVE Winning is all about speed. Its about getting from Point A to Point B faster than anyone else.

SwimmingWORLD May 2006 41

Winning is all about speed. Here are

five speed development workouts that will

help you burn up the lanes. Be sure toread the following 7 Golden Rules of

Speed at every speed development work-

out before you practice. These sets willhelp develop speed, indeed!

THE 7 GOLDEN RULES OF SPEED

1. Train fast to go fast.Train the way you want to race and

include speed development training every

weekin all cycles of training.

2. The faster you want to go, the morerelaxed you have to be!The only difference between swim-

ming slow and swimming fast is the

speed. Speed has nothing to do with grit-

ting your teeth or tensing your muscles or

pulling or pushing harder in the water. Its

all about relaxation.

3. Only fast is fast.Ninety percent of your best is not fast.

Ninety-five percent of your best is not fast.

Only 100 percent of your best is fast. Youwont swim faster by doing your speed

workouts at near-to-best speed. You get

faster by training faster than youve ever

trained before.

4. Think fast to go fast.Get yourself mentally ready for speed

training by thinking about speed. Focuson words that give speed meaning to you,

such as explode, drive, power, etc.

5. Practice wall-to-wall speed.The fastest swimmers in the world

usually get to top speed before their oppo-

sition. In other words, their acceleration is

critically important. They also have great

finishing speed and often will swim faster

than their opposition in the final few

meters. If you are practicing speed, work

on it from wall to wallmaximum speed

starts and maximum speed finishes.

6. Focus on quality, not quantity.The goal of speed development work-

outs is to develop speed. Increasing the

number of repeats to achieve an increase

in workout volume at the expense of the

quality (speed) of the workouts will only

develop the ability to swim slowly more

often.

7. Maintain skills, technique andlegality while maintaining your speed.

Going faster does not mean a compro-

mise on skills, technique and legality (i.e.

legal dives, starts, turns and finishes).

WORKOUT #1. KILLER KICK SET

Fast swimmers are invariably strong

kickers. The ultimate goal of this setis to help swimmers bring their 50kick time as close as possible to their50 swim time.

Part 1: Finding Your Speed Limit

Start with your personal bestswim time for a 50, and add 15seconds

Try to kick a 50 in a faster time Take off a second Try to kick a 50 in a faster time

Take off another second Again, try to kick a 50 in a faster time Continue this routine until you

can just make the wall in the tar-get time

This is your kicking speed limit.

Part 2. Practicing at Your Speed Limit

8 x 50 kick on 2:00, holding theindividual kicking speed limit

Variations:

No kickboard Combine with a swim at target race pace(i.e., 50 kick); leave the kickboard at theend of the pool, then sprint 25-30 metersat target race pace

B Y W AY N E GOL DS M ITH

Speed is the most precious thing in swim-

ming. In the end, it is what we are all about;

it is what we are all trying to achieve.

Gennadi Touretski

(

b

)

continued on 42

training

SPEED INDEED

WORKOUT #2. OVER/UNDER SET

Over/under sets are those sets that targetspeeds over a best previous speed at dis-tances under a target race distance. Forexample, if the swimmer is targeting 100meters in one minute, an over/under set

might be as follows:

Warm-upStretch3-5-minute break

2 x 25 meters on 15 seconds 2 x 30 meters on 18 seconds

100 easy swim and stretch

2 x 40 meters on 24 seconds 2 x 50 meters (feet on the wall) on 30

seconds 200 easy swim and stretch 2 x 55 meters (tumble plus 5 meters)

on 33 seconds

2 x 60 meters (tumble plus 10


6/92 SwimmingWORLD May 2006

tra

ining

meters) on 36 seconds

300 easy swim and stretch

1-2 x 70 meters (tumble plus 20


1-2 x 80 meters (tumble plus 30


Swim-down and stretch

The key to the set is the flexible restinterval. Unlike most sets in which thegoal is to hold a cycle (e.g., 10 x 100 on

a cycle time of 2 minutes), the purpose

of a speed development set is to rest as

much as the swimmer needs to achievethe target time.

Variations:

Shorter distances, more repeats Longer distances, fewer repeats Decrease rests between repeats only

if quality can be maintained Start halfway down the pool so that

the distances/times include a turn attarget speed

Add stroke count targets

SPEED INDEED continued from 41 WORKOUT #3. 8-10-12-14-16

You can use any numbers you liketheprinciple is what matters. For example:

Warm-upStretch3-5-minute break

8 strokes at maximum speed (nobreathing on free or fly)

Easy swim to the end of the pool(1-min. rest)

10 strokes at maximum speed







Easy swim to the end of the pool;200 easy swim

Repeat the set 2-4 times

Swim-downStretch

Variations:

Add a dive

Use paddles (take care with young,inexperienced swimmers)

Control breathing patterns

With young swimmers, these num-bers will work fine. With seniorswimmers, their additional distanceper stroke and distance off the wallunderwater will mean using num-bers like 6-7-8-9-10.

Start at various points in the pool toinclude more turns at target racespeed


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training

SwimmingWORLD May 2006 43

ABOVE Get yourself mentally ready for speed training by thinking about speed. Focus on words that givespeed meaning to you, such as explode, drive and power.

WORKOUT #4. DIVE CONES

This is a fun speed workout for all swimmers.Organize swimmers into pairs with simi-lar swimming speeds. Ask one swimmerin each group to swim as fast as he canfor 10 seconds. The other swimmerplaces a cone (one of those brightly col-ored plastic cones used by P.E. teachersand coaches) on the side of the pool tomark the distance his partner swam.

The set could be:

5 x 10 seconds at maximum speed,trying to go a little farther each repeat



2 x 25 seconds at maximum

speed, trying to go a littlefarther each repeat

1 x 30 seconds at maximumspeed

Why does this work? It taps into the competitive nature of

swimmers

It provides immediate, clear, visualfeedback after each repeat

It gives each swimmer a clear, imme-diate, tangible, measurable goal

It provides an opportunity to develop

stronger team bonds with each swim-mer encouraging and urging his orher partner to achieve improvedresults over the set

Variations: Control breathing

Set stroke count goals

Have a world championships, inwhich the winning swimmer is theone whose distance swum over theset improves the most

Check out Swimming World Interactive at

www.SwimmingWorldMagazine.comfor another speed development workout:

Super Sixties


8/9

BY JOHN LOHN

Ray Benecki coaches with an open-minded approach that includes

adjusting workouts to the specific needs of his athletes.

COACH BENECKI

Ray Benecki, Head Coach

The FISH Swim Team

A former standout swimmer at the

University of Delaware, Ray Benecki

has been involved in coaching for the

majority of his adult life. Serving as an

assistant coach during the summer season

while in high school and college, Benecki

also spent stints at the YWCA and club level.

However, it was in 1991 that he triggered his

major success by founding The FISH.

Nominated for a Golden Goggles Award as

Coach of the Year in 2005, Benecki has built

The FISH into a 300-swimmer powerhouse,

with Spring Hill Recreation Center in McLean,

Va., acting as the home base for the club. In

1995, he developed Elizabeth Cooper as his

first junior national qualifier. In 2002,

Kate Ziegler became his first

senior national qualifier.

As the woman carrying the distancebanner for the United States, KateZiegler has excelled under a heap ofpressure. After all, comparisons to JanetEvansthe greatest female distanceswimmer in historycarry significantweight. Yet, Ziegler has handled her sit-uation with aplomb. She has remainedfocused on her program and goals, whileallowing her talent to speak volumes.

Last summer, Ziegler made herbiggest splash on the international sceneat the World Championships inMontreal. Matching the hype that sur-rounded her prior to the competition,Ziegler popped gold-medal performanc-es in the 800 and 1500 freestyle events.Consider the efforts as statementstoward the future: Beijing, here I come.

Since the summer, Ziegler has con-tinued to flourish. Aside from setting anAmerican record in the 800 meterfreestyle during the New York stop of theFINA World Cup Series, Ziegler alsoerased Evans name from the shortcourse record book. Contesting the 500yard free at the Washington Metropol-itan Championships, Ziegler covered thedistance in an American record time of4:33.35, well under the former standardof 4:34.39, which had stood since the1990 NCAA Championships.

Of course, Zieglers gift accounts foronly a segment of her equation for suc-cess. The other major element is hertraining regimen, coordinated by RayBenecki. The founder of The FISH SwimTeam, Benecki has molded Ziegler into astar, doing so with an open-mindedapproach that includes adjusting work-

outs to the specific needs of his athletes.Heres a glimpse of Beneckis training

philosophy, along with a look at his pro-gression with Ziegler, who joined TheFISH in 2000 and moved into its seniorgroup in 2001.

WIDE RANGE OF TRAINING

When Benecki began coaching, heleaned toward high-volume trainingsets that featured longer swims. But overtime, Beneckis program began to incor-porate a wide range of training.

The program used to be old school,with a lot of longer swims, Beneckiadmits. But in Kates second year withthe program, it became apparent that shehad the speed and could be a good dis-tance swimmer. So we evolved the pro-gram and took the philosophy of doingmore sprinting and speed work.

But we would mix it up with shortand long sets as well as pace sets. Varietyis one big factor in training, and theother is changing speedfrom sprintingto middle distance to distance. I thinkafter establishing a solid base and condi-tioning, the program must accommo-date the special needs of a swimmer.

During a typical week, Ziegleradheres to a program that requires sevenin-water sessions and a handful ofPilates workouts. While Zieglers num-ber of weekly workouts may seem lowin comparison to other distance aces,the intensity of her pool time is eye-popping. As part of his design, Beneckiaffords minimal rest time between sets.His workouts also routinely featureinspirational quotations.

On Monday, Benecki usually per-mits his swimmers to design their

own workouts. This system allowshis athletes to work on areasper-

Distance TrainingPUTTING THE SWIMMER FIRST

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4 SwimmingWORLD May 2006


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haps starts and turnsthat they feelrequire additional attention. The dayinvolves 90 minutes of pool timealong with a Pilates workout.While following the Pilates aspectof the workout, Ziegler does notnormally enter the water onMondays.

On Tuesday and Thursday,Beneckis crew does double duty.Following a long course workout

in the morning, the members ofThe FISH hit the water for shortcourse training in the evening.

On Wednesday, Saturday andSunday, Benecki puts his swim-mers through short course work,although the Wednesday scheduleis accompanied by Pilates. As forFriday, it is the one day of the weekin which Beneckis athletes are freefrom the water.

Its the best thing weve done,

Benecki said, referring to the installationof long course training to the regularroutine. There was no urgent need, butwhen Kate started making her nationalcuts, we couldnt wait to get started.That was four years ago. Its reallyimportant to feel comfortable in a varied

element, and it also keeps the condition-ing up. In the summer, I feel there mightbe a loss in speed by doing it all along,so during that time, well make sure tokeep the heart rate up and work onturns.

A NEED FOR ADJUSTMENT

In his time with Ziegler, Benecki hasadjusted his program both out of necessi-ty and by design. In the spring of 2003,

while jumping into the pool, Ziegler suf-fered broken bones in both of heranklesinjuries that required casting.Rather than throw away several weeks oftraining, Benecki placed floaties on thecasts to keep Ziegler buoyant and, mostimportant, in the water. Even today, due totendinitis in Zieglers ankles, Benecki willnot have Ziegler wear fins. He has alsomodified her kicking sets to alleviate thestrain on her lower extremities.

As for stroke work, Ziegler does less

these days than she put in a few years ago.Part of that decision revolves around thesoreness brought about by breaststrokekicking. The decision, too, has been influ-enced by a simple reason: Ziegler is a dis-tance freestyle specialist and reaps morerewards from working in that domain.

However, Benecki has kept the door ajarfor his latest phenom, Chloe Sutton. Notyet defined by a specialty, Sutton remainsconnected to a more diverse program.

Already cemented as the globeselite freestyler over the longest dis-tances, Ziegler is hoping to make animpact on the international stage inthe 200 and 400 disciplines. Notonly would the expanded arsenaladd to Zieglers mystique, but her

ability to find success in the 200would create further opportuni-ties, namely the chance to repre-sent the United States in relayaction.

Not surprisingly, Benecki isgoing to continue to amp up theworkouts.

Every year, I tweak thingssome by modifying one of everyfour sets or so, Benecki said.Kate said this year has felt hard-

er. We expect her to swim theworkouts faster, and the quality isgoing to increase. Shes real toughand worked her butt off comingthrough the program. She alwayspushes herself.

Everyone who watches theOlympics really gets into the relays.Theyre the most patriotic races.Who doesnt remember the U.S.womens 800 free relay from Athenshow they were acting during the race and

after? They had so much fun. I would love tosee Kate on that relay.

Her training path could produce justthat result.

John Lohn is SwimmingWorldMagazine.coms

newsmaster and a sportswriter for the

Delaware County Daily Times.

coach

ing

SwimmingWORLDMay 2006 45

Kate Ziegler popped gold-medal

performances in the 800

and 1500 meter freestyle

events at last summers World

Championships in Montreal.

(PhotobyPeterH.

Bick)

Check out Swimming World Interactive at

www.SwimmingWorldMagazine.com

for some of Kate Zieglers sample workouts.

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