SWIMMING GOLD – Details, episodes & analysis

By Wayne Goldsmith

I’ve been to over 1000 swimming pools.

Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Fiji Islands, USA, South Korea, Zimbabwe, South Africa, England, The Isle of Man, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Greece and Italy - and a few more places I’ve probably forgotten.

And the “default” version of coaching swimming is the same in 90% of the places I visit: Coaches standing at the end of the pool yelling numbers and orders at kids!

“1:20, 1:23, 1:21”….

“Take your marks GO, Take your marks GO, Take your marks GO”…..

“44 strokes, 39 strokes, 41 strokes”….

“Finish on the wall, don’t breathe inside the flags, stop pulling on the lane ropes”….

It’s like we’ve decided that there’s only one way to coach swimming and it’s replicated over and over and over all around the world.

Coaches - here’s the great news: You don’t have to do it this way.

You don’t have to be just another “telling and yelling” coach standing at the end of the pool screaming numbers at kids and calling it coaching.

What is it the coaches do?

WE COACH!

And what is coaching?

It’s connecting with, engaging with and inspiring the hearts and minds of everyone we coach.

In this video I talk about how you can coach more effectively, more engagingly and have a lot more fun - and success in the process.

Wayne Goldsmith

Coaching is moments that matter.

I was coaching a 14 year old.

He looked sad and flat and tired and I asked him how he was going.

He said, “I’m ok. I just wish I was more talented like Steve. He doesn’t train much and yet he keeps kicking my butt in races. It’s not fair.”.

I replied, “From where I’m standing, when I see you I see a tough young man, who never gives up, who always tries his best, who encourages his team mates, who turns up even when he’s tired and who works harder than any athlete I’ve ever known”.

He just smiled and walked away and started training.

25 years later I received a letter.

“Coach Wayne. You may not remember me but when I was 14 and was about to give up swimming, you told me how amazing you thought I was. I never really thanked you. You were the only person who believed in me. I have never forgotten you or your words.”.

My friends - THIS IS COACHING. We change lives.

We are all focused on helping kids to learn, to improve, to get better and to be successful in sport. That’s the nuts and bolts of coaching.

But do you know what’s even better?

Having the opportunity to say to a kid “I believe in you”.

In my long experience, sometimes you might be the only person in their lives who is giving them that message.

You might be the one person in their entire life who makes them feel that anything really is possible if they just believe it is so.

Have you changed a life today?

Wayne Goldsmith

Welcome to 2026 and welcome to Swimming Gold.

This year I’ve made a commitment to do a lot more video. There’s a lot of Ai generated text out there - and a lot of it is rubbish. So in response, I’ve decided it’s time for me to record videos most days and strive to help more coaches, more teachers, more swimmers and more swimming parents around the world.

I believe our sport is at a cross-roads.

There’s no way to spin it: in many places around the world, the number of kids in organized, competitive swimming is on the decline as it has been for well over a decade.

We can look blame a lot of things for this decline…Covid…Pool closures…the cost of being involved in the sport…Meet formats… and 100 other things, but in the end - as coaches and as teachers - let’s focus on one thing - the one thing WE can control: how can we do what we do better.

If you’re still standing at the end of the pool yelling numbers at kids for two hours morning and night five days a week and wondering “Where have all the swimmers gone?” - this is the year to re-think and change the way you coach.

I strongly believe the future of this sport is in the hands of coaches and teachers.

If we do what we do better, if we coach with energy, passion, enthusiasm, engagement and if we do all we can to inspire the hearts and minds of every kid we coach, this sport will grow and flourish for another 100 years.

If we don’t - if we stand back and wait for more pools to be built, for the Federations to change Meet formats, for the sport to become cheaper to be involved with - my friends - we’re in trouble.

Let’s make 2026 the year when we grab hold of the destiny of this remarkable sport, lift our coaching every day in every thing we do to extra-ordinary levels and together inspire every child in the world to fall in love with the experience of being in and around water.

We can do it!

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

By Wayne Goldsmith

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Three Important Things to Remember:

* Traditional “400m easy” type warm-ups prepare swimmers for mediocrity, not excellence;

* Your warm-up should activate the skills you're about to practice, not just the muscles;

* Elite swimmers warm up their technique first, their fitness second.

Many swimming sessions in the world starts the same way: "400 easy swim, mix your strokes." Twenty minutes later, swimmers are "warmed up" but their technique is scratchy, their focus is scattered and their stroke feel is non-existent.

Your warm-up should prepare swimmers for what's coming next, not just get their heart rate up. If you're working on underwater dolphin kick in the practice, warm up with some underwater dolphin kick. If it's stroke technique day, warm up with stroke technique work.

I've worked with great swimmers who spend their warm-up finding their stroke rhythm, connecting with the water and activating their technique. They leave the pool knowing exactly how their stroke feels and what they need to work on.

Meanwhile, most swimmers complete their warm-up knowing they swam 400 meters at a slow speed with little or no thinking involved. That's it.

Your warm-up is your first coaching opportunity of every session. Use it to prepare minds and technique, not just bodies. Make every stroke count from stroke one.

Summary: Effective warm-ups activate technique and focus, not just the cardiovascular system and muscles. Start the way you want to finish!

Two Practical Tips:

* Technique Activation: Include 50-100m of stroke technique focus in every warm-up - underwater dolphin, catch work, body position drills.

* Progressive Preparation: Structure warm-ups to gradually prepare swimmers for the main set's demands, not just general movement

Wayne Goldsmith

COPYRIGHT WAYNE GOLDSMITH - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Check out Wayne's new book THE TALENT MYTH - WHY TALENT ISN'T WORTH SH&T - available now on AMAZON BOOKS https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Myth-Isnt-Worth-S**t/dp/0987155733/

By Wayne Goldsmith.

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

If you’re a swimming coach - you probably love it.

Sure there’s early mornings, difficult parents, long slow boring days at swim Meets and your feet that always seem to be cold and wet - but - for the most part - working with young athletes every day and helping them realize their potential while pursuing their dreams is a pretty good way to earn a living.

You’d do anything to help your swimmers and you encourage them to eat well, rehydrate, get plenty of quality sleep, rest and recover on weekends, take care of their mental health and generally live a healthy lifestyle.

But do you expect and demand the same of yourself?

If you’re like most swimming coaches I know, the answer is no.

Legend Coach and good friend Bill Sweetenham tells the “transfer of energy” story.

Bill says, “In the morning, the kids walk in to the pool - generally moving slowly and quietly. The coach on the other hand is upbeat, full of energy, greeting swimmers, joking with parents….setting the scene for a great workout. The swimmers eventually get moving and reluctantly jump into the pool, while the coach is running around, organizing lanes, encouraging kids, writing fine details of the workout on the board and trying to lift and inspire everyone and everything. For two hours the coach never stops - walking, moving, running, talking, yelling, inspiring, giving feedback - giving everything they’ve got to everyone. Then at the end of workout, the swimmers are all upbeat, positive, motivated and excited and high five the coach on the way out of the pool……and moments after the final swimmer leaves practice….the coach slumps into a chair completely exhausted and drained because they’ve transferred their energy, their happiness and their passion to each and every member of the team”.

Coaches - we need you.

The sport needs you.

Your team needs you.

And your family need you. Your friends need you and YOU need you.

You can’t keep giving everything you’ve got to everyone else and not take care of your own physical and mental health. It is not sustainable.

This video is one I’ve been wanted to do for a long time.

I’ve outlined some practical, real-world ways you can take care of yourself and give as much time and energy to your own wellbeing as you do to that of the people you coach.

Take care of yourself my friends.

Wayne Goldsmith

COPYRIGHT WAYNE GOLDSMITH - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

By Wayne Goldsmith

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

You know how swimming coaches love repetition?

Say this to yourself 100 times…

“Swimming is a straight line sport”.

“Swimming is a straight line sport”.

“Swimming is a straight line sport”….you get the idea.

In this sport, in training - and of course in competition, you dive and start straight, swim straight, turn straight, push off straight and finish straight….everything about swimming is straight lines.

Yet, I often see swimmers in practice dive, start, swim, turn, push off and finish in “circles”, owing to the fact that most swim teams have to squeeze many swimmers into each lane and avoiding colliding with each other is of paramount importance.

However, in competition, being able to swim in straight lines is a critical swimming skill and it contributes significantly to achieving PBs and swimming fast.

Here’s three practical tips for straight line swimming:

* As much as possible dive, start, swim, turn, push off and finish in straight lines. It’s not always possible - but try to remember to keep coming to the middle of lane throughout practice as often as it’s safe to do so.

* When swimming multiple laps, as soon as you’ve passed the feet of the last swimmer in your lane, come to the centre of the lane and practice turning, pushing off and finishing in a straight line.

* Try to avoid pushing off in diagonals! If necessary give swimmers a little more distance between each other so that when they get to the flags at each end, they can come to the centre of the lane and practice turning and pushing off straight!

Safety is of course our number 1 priority! There will be times when the lanes are full and it’s almost impossible to swim straight - but try to create training environments which prepare swimmers to be successful in competition and a big part of that is learning to swim in straight lines.

Wayne Goldsmith.

Copyright Wayne Goldsmith. All Rights Reserved.

By Wayne Goldsmith

A lot of coaches get to a point in their coaching where they want to lift the standards of their teams, become more performance orientated and reach for higher and higher goals in the sport.

A common scenario is where a Club coach decides that the team could achieve success at State or National level championships and to do that, the team needs to train harder more often.

This leads to the coach considering the introduction of “minimum attendance rules” - e.g. to be in the National Age Group team you must attend a minimum of 6 sessions per week.

A coach recently wrote to me and expressed his frustration in trying to introduce new attendance standards in his team. He said, “It’s (minimum attendance rules) caused me a lot of headaches. Kids want to skip sessions but still be in the top squad. I don’t know what to do”.

Here’s a few suggestions if you decide you want to strive for success in your program:

* COLLABORATE! Discuss your vision and goals with your swimmers, their families, your club committee, staff and everyone connected with the team. Take them through what you’re trying to do, how you’re going to do it and MOST importantly WHY you’re looking to introduce minimum attendance standards.

* COMMUNICATE! Once you’ve got the support of the swimmers, families and the club to implement the changes you’d like to make - communicate clearly how it’s all going to work.

* CONSISTENCY. The single biggest problem you will face if you go down the performance path and introduce minimum attendance standards is swimmers and parents wanting flexibility for their specific circumstances. For example, it’s highly likely a parent will approach you and say something like “My daughter plays basketball and also does gymnastics. She can’t make the minimum attendance requirements to be in the National Age squad but she should still be in it”. When this happens (not if it happens - because IT WILL HAPPEN) - you need to apply a consistent approach and policy to every member of the team.

In a perfect world, there would be no need for minimum attendance standards in swim teams - but our world is far from perfect. Ideally swimmers, coaches and families work together as a team with a clear focus on helping every swimmer realize their potential because they’re passionate, committed, dedicated and share a common focus on the achievement of excellence.

This is a very common challenge many swimming coaches around the world have faced and continue to face. How successful you are at introducing change depends on your ability to lead through collaboration, communication and consistency.

Wayne Goldsmith

Copyright Wayne Goldsmith. All Rights Reserved.

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

By Wayne Goldsmith

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a special video.

I’ve recorded it for COACHES to play to, forward to and share with SWIMMING PARENTS.

It’s a plea for parents / carers to work with their child’s coach: to form a partnership - a “team” - who are committed and dedicated to a single purpose: helping each and every child be all they choose to be.

I do a lot of swimming coach mentoring. Included in my mentoring program are one-on-one sessions where the coach can decide what topic they’d like to cover in our session.

In almost 75% of those discussions, coaches want to talk about their challenges and difficulties with swimming parents.

I thought I’d record something that coaches can share with the parents of the swimmers in their team so that an independent voice can talk with them about what it takes to be an outstanding, supportive swimming parent.

Wayne Goldsmith

Copyright Wayne Goldsmith - All Rights Reserved.

Drills, drills, drills.

Every swimming coach has a tool-box full of drills.

Drills for arms and stroke technique.

Drills for legs and kicking.

Drills for timing.

Drill for breathing.

Drills for dives, for turns, for finishes, for underwater…….

But here’s the thing: having more drills than your local hardware store doesn’t make you a better coach or improve the ability of your swimmers to perform at their best when and where it matters.

In this video I talk about swimming drills and suggest ways for you to connect the drills you do to the ability of your swimmers to maintain great technique and skills at high speed, under the fatigue and pressure environment of competition.

Wayne Goldsmith

Copyright Wayne Goldsmith. All Rights Reserved.

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

By Wayne Goldsmith

SWIMMING GOLD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is special just for my subscribers on Swimming Gold.

Three Key Concepts

* Anyone can write a workout, but success comes from coaching the actual swimmer standing in front of you, not the theoretical one in your plan

* Age group swimmers have multiple "swimmanalities" - i.e. swimming personalities - they're different people every day based on school, fatigue, social dynamics and adolescent changes

* Smart coaches fit the program to the athlete using connect-engage-inspire and individual checking speeds, rather than forcing athletes into rigid plans

When you start your coaching journey, you get obsessed with the science. Energy systems, training zones, biomechanics, force and power. You learn to write detailed, scientifically sound and overly complicated training plans. Then you believe that precision planning equals coaching success.

Here's the massive problem with that thinking.

You're coaching the plan instead of coaching the swimmer. Anyone can write a workout. If you like you can ask ChatGPT to design you a 1000 training sessions. You can buy programs online. That stuff is everywhere.

But what separates great coaches from plan-followers is this: they coach the human being who walks through the door.

Your perfectly designed aerobic threshold session means absolutely nothing when your swimmer shows up after playing football all day at a school tournament. They're tired, dehydrated, glycogen-depleted and mentally flat. Forcing them through your prescribed workout because "it's Monday and this is what we do on Mondays" is coaching madness.

Age group swimmers are walking chaos.

They're adolescents dealing with everything life throws at developing humans. Physical changes, emotional swings, social drama, academic pressure, growth spurts and hormonal fluctuations. The swimmer you coached yesterday isn't the same person who walks in today. They have multiple "swimmanalities" depending on what's happened in the 24 hours since you last saw them.

Here's what works: Content and Intent.

Content is what you've written - the workout on paper.

Intent is the energy, focus and execution quality you need from that workout. If swimmers are flat and fatigued, they can't deliver the intent that makes your content effective.

Content is the science of swimming. Intent is the art of coaching.

Start every practice with Connect-Engage-Inspire. Look them in the eyes. Use their names. Ask how they're going. Listen to the answers. If a kid tells you they've had cross-country training, exams all day and haven't eaten, that's not the day for high-intensity work.

Use Individual Checking Speed early in your warm-up. Get them swimming a 200-400 freestyle at even pace, 5-10 seconds slower than PB pace per 100. Watch their stroke mechanics, heart rate and stroke count. Compare it to last week or the last time you did the test. If they're working harder to maintain the same speed, you're dealing with a fatigued swimmer.

Ask them directly: "Rate how you feel?” - i.e. with 10 out of 10 feeling fantastic. Listen carefully to their response.

Smart coaches fit the program to the athlete, not the other way around.

Summary: Great coaching happens when you adapt your well-planned program to meet the real swimmer who shows up, using connection, observation and flexible thinking rather than the rigid adherence to written workouts.

Three Practical Exercises:

* Daily Check-In Protocol: Start every practice with name recognition, eye contact and genuine questions about their day. Listen actively to their responses before proceeding.

* Warm-Up Assessment: Include a 200-400m even-pace freestyle swim early in practice, monitoring heart rate, stroke count and mechanics compared to previous sessions.

* Energy Rating System: Ask swimmers to rate their energy/readiness on a 1-10 scale after warm-up and adjust workout intensity accordingly rather than forcing predetermined plans.

There's a lot more coming soon, including plans, programs, learn to swim schedules and a whole lot more videos and posts as well.

If you haven't subscribed, please go ahead and do it now.

I look forward to sharing some more sessions with you soon.

Checkout my new book THE TALENT MYTH – WHY TALENT ISN’T WORTH S**T available now on AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Myth-Isnt-Worth-S**t/dp/0987155717

Copyright Wayne Goldsmith. All Rights Reserved.