LESSONS with THE LEGENDS by michael j . stott
[ photo
provided by santa clara swim club ]
Sponsored by
Swimming World continues its series in which coaches share secrets of their unparalleled success. This month’s featured coach: Dick Jochums.
pictured > dick jochums , a 2004 asca hall of fame member , coached athletes from club to college
( long
beach state ,
cal berkeley , university of arizona , et al .) for more than
40 years . his swimmers secured 12 olympic medals and
set 25 world , 60 american and seven ncaa records . his club programs
( he
founded concord swim club , now the
terrapins ) won five national titles , including three with
D
the santa clara swim club in 1996-98 .
ick Jochums espoused the warrior society, a philosophy rooted in the Greek concepts of agon (struggle) and its relationship to arete (victory). So did his most successful swimmers, among them George DiCarlo, Bruce Furniss and especially Tim Shaw. It was a system he sold by asking his athletes daily to be the best they could be. They did so through high-quality training at race speed rather than the popular mega-yardage regimen of the era. The results spoke for themselves. During his career, Shaw set nine world records in distances from 200 to 1500 meters, won two Olympic silver medals (one in water polo), three World Championships and three NCAA titles. In 1975, Shaw was the Sullivan Award winner, bestowed upon the nation’s most outstanding amateur athlete, while holding global standards in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 meter freestyle. Jochums’ methods, honed in Long Beach, are still used today and practiced by a number of coaches, including those who have worked with Olympic and world champion Sun Yang. The hall of fame coach sold a system to his swimmers that included training specificity, workload measurement through pulse rates, season-long insistence upon improved technique, swimmer self-analysis of stroke and embracing of pain. He also favored building strength in swimmers, not by lifting weights, but through pulling, which also served as a recovery aid. “My system was really simple,” Jochums says. “We were really the first people to put quality and fast swimming together on a consistent basis.” An acerbic soul, Jochums earned a doctorate in physical education from Cal and acquired his practical aquatic knowledge from, among others, John Tallman, Pete Cutino, Don Gambril and George Haines. “I stole something from
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everyone I ever worked for,” he acknowledges. No one was more important to that learning curve than Shaw, whose meteoric career was eventually shortcircuited through poor dietary habits and Jochums’ demanding training practices. “What made Tim great was that he liked to work. He liked to test himself,” says Jochums. That meant 11 and eventually 12 practices a week. “DiCarlo and Tim had the highest tolerances for pain I have ever seen. Period. Both had no speed, but could swim fast within their stroke counts. “DiCarlo used to say, ‘Come hurt with me.’ He was going to win by hurting you. He’d get into your brain by just being there. It was the warrior concept,” says Jochums. “I don’t care how good you are, there is pain involved. And the people who know how to handle pain have a better chance of winning. “Tim worked hard every day,” adds Jochums. “He could adapt, worked well on short rest and was a master at descending sets. He loved to compete, race and wanted to
“I don’t care how good you are, there is pain involved. And the people who know how to handle pain have a better chance of winning.” finish knowing that was as good as he could have done. He loved the friendship part of swimming, but hated being No. 1. He just didn’t want the attention.” Another Jochums art was swimmer management. When he had two outstanding athletes, he was careful to adjust individual workouts. “There were things I could do with Tim that I couldn’t do with Bruce. “I learned you don’t train great against great. You have workouts where each can dominate slightly. Eventually, when the tougher of two kids emerges, you separate them and don’t let them train together anymore. That way, you end up with two champions instead of one. “That’s what I did with Shaw and Furniss, DiCarlo and Doug Towne, Kurt Grote and Tom Wilkins.” v Michael J. Stott, one of Swimming World Magazine’s USA contributors, is based in Richmond, Va.
September 2013
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8/19/13 2:34 PM