changed my personal fitness. I weighed 240 pounds in 2005 and am now down to 190. Once again, I can keep up with my swimmers during dryland workouts. I like to be an example of how healthy eating and making proper choices make a huge difference. My five years of taekwondo training really helped me find my patience. These days, I skeet shoot, which helps keep me sharp and focused...plus it’s really fun. SW: For you, CrossFit is... BN: ...a supplemental training regimen that consists of dryland strength and conditioning exercises. Together they increase overall fitness to make the swimmers better all-around and more physically fit athletes. SW: At what age do you introduce a CrossFit regimen? BN: At first, to the 9- and 10-yearold swimmers, with 30 minutes of dynamic stretching and proper movement techniques (burpees, air squats, push-ups, sit-ups). I apply the movements to CrossFit, using a body-weighted approach. I introduce the CrossFit philosophy with games such as dodge ball and baseball. At ages 11 and 12, we introduce some of the strength movements still without weights. We get creative and, for example, might use PVC pipe
instead of a weighted bar to show proper lift techniques. I also focus on proper pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups while continuing to add to the fitness toolbox. At age 14, I incorporate the strength component to workouts with specialized movements for swimming. SW: Why is Arden Hills no longer a high-volume program? BN: Training has changed. We have done high volume, and it works really well when you have swimmers who are capable of that. I’ve learned to plan micro and macrocycles better. We have higher volume days, and I sometimes separate a group out for that. My program ranges from 5,500 yards to 9,000 at a practice. It really depends on the swimmers, the time of year, etc. SW: You also do some Swim Salo stuff. Describe that and its benefits. BN: I like Dave Salo’s philosophy of really going fast at practice. I’ve incorporated some of his philosophy, but I hand-pick elements that work for the swimmers I have in any given year. SW: Kicking? BN: Kicking is very, very important in swimming. Watching the 2012 Olympic Games and seeing the amazing leg strength of the athletes has made it even more important. In
fact, I make kicking an emphasis in main sets. SW: How so? Bn: Definitely. My group is still learning to get better at it. SW: How do you prepare your athletes mentally and physically for second swims at championship meets? BN: I talk to individuals personally, help them work on their weaknesses, find out if—and why—they are nervous, try to draw out their anxiety and manage any external factors. At crunch time, it helps that I really know my swimmers and what makes them tick. Right now, the year-round swimming group I coach consists of 24 swimmers. SW: You have coached at a number of USA swimming camps. Bn: Being head coach of the National Select Camps was a great honor. I worked with many swimmers who went on to compete for the national junior team at the Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona in 2010. As the assistant women’s coach at that meet, it was a great honor to wear the USA Swimming jacket and represent the USA on behalf of Arden Hills. v
Michael J. Stott, one of Swimming World Magazine’s USA contributors, is based in Richmond, Va.
HOW THEY TRAIN
kailee nabeta
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It may take several years, but the young ladies at Arden Hills are serving notice that, once again, this USA Swimming Silver Medal club may be a force on the national level. At the close of the 2012 long course season, four 11-12-year-olds claimed top-10 places on USA Swimming’s national age group list.
Leading the way was Lizzie Menzmer, who had top-10 finishes in five events, earning the No. 1 spot in both the 100 meter free and 100 fly, a second in the 50 fly, third in the 50 free and 10th in the 200 fly. Teammate Amalie Fackenthal was seventh in the 50 back. The Otters’ 200 meter freestyle relay of Tina Reuter (30.81), Fackenthal (29.2), Kailee Nabeta (28.2) and Menzmer (27.7) tied for fifth (1:55.92) in an event in which just 75-hundredths of a second separated the top eight teams.
Perhaps no one on the team models the Arden Hills’ commitment to CrossFit training better than Kailee Nabeta, head coach Brian Nabeta’s daughter. A one-time tennis prodigy, Kailee took after her mother (who played at BYU), mixing the two disciplines until she devoted her energies to swimming at the age of 12. Kailee, a straight-A student, makes six to seven practices a week and has an immediate goal to qualify for junior nationals, followed by senior nationals and the 2016 Olympic Trials. — continued on 26 April 2013
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