Fitter and Faster Coaches Corner

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The Fitter & Faster Director of High Performance, Dr. Josh White joins Mike Murray on this week’s edition of Coaches Corner to discuss our newest offering: College Prep Camps!

This camp was specifically designed for parents and swimmers in 8th through 12th grades!

Are you ready to support your child’s journey to swim at the collegiate level? Fitter & Faster is excited to announce our exclusive College Preparation Swim Camps, available across the United States in 2024!

Why Attend?

Our 2-day camps are expertly crafted to provide both athletes and their parents with...

From his early days as a promising age group and senior swimmer for Texas GOLD to his collegiate career at Arizona State University, Kyle Sockwell’s journey is a testament to his dedication and passion for swimming. However, these are just the beginning of his story, as he has now become the most prominent figure in the social media world of swimming.

Over the past two years, Kyle has emerged as the leader in the swimming social media world. With over 75,000 followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands more on “X,” Kyle is the voice of the swimmi...

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Perhaps one of the most innovative minds in the swimming world, Herbie Behm has helped Coach Bob Bowman lead the Arizona State Swimming Program to unprecedented success in the past few years. Herbie joins host Mike Murray for an in-depth conversation about his philosophy on training, innovation in the sprint program at ASU, and using data to track athlete progress. Under Behm's direction, the Sun Devils sprinters have made substantial progress, which included top-five finishes nationally in both the Men's 400 and 800 free relay this year. The Sun Devil Men's team also set new program records this season in the 50, 100...

Coach Michael Kinross moved to Las Vegas in September 2016 to begin working for the Sandpipers of Nevada. He hails from the Chicago Area where he was born and raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

His previous coaching position was Assistant Head Coach of the Barrington Swim Club and Freshman/Sophomore Coach of the Barrington High School Boys’ swim team. During his tenure in Barrington, BSC received SILVER Medal USA Swimming Club Recognition and had the privilege of coaching an Olympic Trial qualifier, 3 State Record holders, multiple state champions, and over 20 National Top 10 swims. Coach Michael is an ASCA Le...

Josh White is the High-Performance Manager for Fitter & Faster Swim Camps. In this newly created position, Coach White will be leading the production of Specialty Swim Camps and other educational opportunities for competitive swimmers and coaches. During his tenure at the University of Michigan, White coached two NCAA champions in Connor Jaeger (2013: 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle; 2014: 1,650-yard freestyle) and Felix Auböck (2019: 1,650-yard freestyle). At the 2020 Big Ten Championships, White's swimmers held 13 'A' final spots in the distance events (1-2-3-8 in 500 FR, 1-2-4-6 in 1650 FR, 1-2-3-6-8 in 400 IM) and won the 800-yard f...

Irvine Novaquatics has produced many champions throughout their storied history, due in large part to their unique staff. This week Rod Hansen, the 2023 Age Group Coach of the year, joins me on #coachescorner!

Check out the full episode here: https://fitterandfaster.com/coaches-corner/age-group-coach-of-the-year-novas-rod-hansen/

Fitter & Faster Swim Camps Irvine Novaquatics

Reed Miller is a finalist for the 2023 @americanswimmingcoachesass9892 and @FitterandFasterSwimTour Age Group Coach of the year! Coach Miller joined the DART staff in 2015 as the AG3 lead coach. He is currently the lead coach for SR1 and SRHS. He also assists with SR2. Multiple swimmers have achieved top 10 national rankings for their age group, Far Western Championships, and Sectionals qualifying standards while under Miller’s tutelage. In 2017, Sierra Nevada Swimming selected Miller as the Age Group Coach of the Year. Before becoming a coach with the DART program Reed was an assistant senior coach and 9-10 coach for the City of...

Coach Joe Finke is a top 10 finalist for the ASCA and Fitter & Faster Coach of the Year award! Coach Finke has been coaching with St. Petersburg Aquatics since 2014 and is an ASCA Level 1 coach. He has twelve plus years as USA Swimming Official and is certified as a Deck Referee and also is a member of the SPA Board of Directors responsible for USA Swimming programs. Joe is a graduate of Purdue University and Stetson University College of Law, is married to Jeanne and has three children that have all been Olympic Trial level swimmers; Summer, Autumn, and Olympic...

In addition to his coaching achievements, Coach Andy Beggs is also a published author, with several articles on swimming and coaching appearing in various publications. His expertise has also led to interviews with multiple swimming media outlets. Beggs has developed a large social media following in the swimming community, which has resulted in numerous partnerships with some of the industry’s leading swimming brands.

Beggs believes in living a balanced life, and he shares that perspective on this week’s episode of Coaches Corner, with Mike Murray. The discussion centers around the specific philosophical adjustments these coaches have...

Jennifer (VanAssen) Brunelli MS, RD, LDN is a 7-time All American swimmer and Hall of Fame athlete who attended the University of South Carolina and graduated with degrees in Marketing and Management. Jennifer has worked on nutrition education, meal planning, body composition assessments, eating disorders, food intolerances and allergies, corporate wellness, performance kitchen design, supplement analysis, etc.

She has worked with a wide range of clientele including age group, masters, and professional athletes, along with collegiate and professional teams. Jennifer is the owner of RDpro, LLC, a nutrition consulting business in the Charlotte area that she opened...

Paul Donovan recently led the Jersey Wahoo’s to enormous success at the 2022 USA Swimming Jr. National Championships, where two Wahoo’s athletes, Henry McFadden & Maddie Waggoner raced to elite-level performances. Paul share’s his unique journey, and why he believes that both patience & positivity are critical factors for long-term success in the sport.

Abbie Fish has extensive experience in the sport. Abbie started Swim Like A. Fish in 2019 after 25 years of success in competitive swimming and 10+ years and counting of elite swim coaching. During her swimming career, Abbie tried out for the Olympics, was a 6x Olympic Trial Qualifier, SEC Finalist, NCAA Qualifier, and 2x USA Junior National Champion. On top of that, Abbie started coaching as they were in graduate school and still training. It was a natural transition for them from being the one in the water to the one on the pool deck. In this episode, Abbie talks about...

Coming Soon!Jennifer (VanAssen) Brunelli MS, RD, LDN is a 7-time All American swimmer and Hall of Fame athlete who attended the University of South Carolina and graduated with degrees in Marketing and Management. Jennifer has worked on nutrition education, meal planning, body composition assessments, eating disorders, food intolerances and allergies, corporate wellness, performance kitchen design, supplement analysis, etc. She has worked with a wide range of clientele including age group, masters, and professional athletes, along with collegiate and professional teams. Jennifer is the owner of RDpro, LLC, a nutrition consulting business in the Charlotte area that she opened...

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Dani Korman and Abby Brethauer were teammates at Kenyon College and won National Championships together! Since that time both women have gone on to have incredible success in the coaching ranks. While making significant impacts on the places they have coached, their experiences have been much more about cultivating meaningful relationships with the people they work with, the athletes they coach, and enjoying the process of development. Dani is now the Associate Head Women’s Coach at Cal Berkley, and Abby is the Assistant Men’s Coach at Princeton University.

In this episode we discuss a myriad of t...

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NC State's Associate Head Coach Brian Barnes has extensive experience working with a variety of programs throughout his successful career in the swimming community. Over the past 2-decades, Barnes has led his athletes to a multitude of conference titles, NCAA All-American honors, and even American Record performances. Brian's unique journey through the sport afforded him the opportunity to work with legendary coaches along the way, including Richard Quick, David Marsh, Tim Welsh, Dan Ross and a young Brett Hawke! In this week's episode of the @Fitter and Faster Swim Camps Coaches Corner, Barnes talks about the intricate process of...

Chris Everett is the Head Coach of Mercury Swimming, located in the Southern Tier of New York State, made up of mostly-rural, agriculturally based communities. Throughout the last 5 years, Chris has led athletes to success at Junior Nationals, Senior Nationals, and Olympic Trials!

Chris and host Mike Murray, were college teammates at St. Lawrence University! In this week’s episode the pair sits down to discuss what it takes to create a successful program in a relatively small market. Chris shares his vision for the future of Mercury Swimming, and some insights on how to develop strategies fo...

TJ Day is the Head Coach of STAR Swimming in Buffalo, NY. Day has been coaching at all levels for over 15 years, and most recently spent 4 years as the assistant swim coach at Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana. There, he coached for the High Performance and 11-12 squad as well as the boys Senior High School Team. Before his time in Carmel, Coach Day spent 10 years as the Head Coach of Boilermaker Aquatics in West Lafayette, Indiana. From 2003-2007, he served as a volunteer Assistant Coach at Purdue University. In 2006, Day voted by his peers the Indiana Swimming...

John Carroll is the Head Coach of Blue Wave Aquatics in South Jersey; is arguably one of the best club coaches in USA Swimming History. Over the past four and half decades, He has coached an American Record Holder, two USA Olympians, and 38 USA Olympic-trial qualifiers spanning 1988-2016. John's swimmers have been selected to compete internationally at Pan-Pacific Championships, Pan-American Championships, World University Games, World Junior Championships, and NCSA All-Star teams. He has coached National and Junior National Champions and had countless swimmers achieve NCAA Division 1 All-American status. He has helped many swimmers reach their dream of competing in...

Ellen Johnston has been developing highly successful swimmers over the past three and a half decades. During that time she has worked with the Westport YMCA Water-Rat Swim Team, faithfully serving the club in multiple capacities before becoming the Head Coach in 2011. In 2015, Ellen received the Larry Lyons YMCA National Coach of the Year Award, the highest recognition for YMCA coaches. She has twice been Connecticut Senior Coach of the Year and was nominated for the honor in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In this episode of the Fitter & Faster Coaches Corner, Coach Johnston shares her insights, experience, and advice regarding long-term, sustained...

Emmett Walling is the Head Coach & Aquatic Director at the Peddie School, an independent, private school in Hightsown, NJ. In this episode of Coaches Corner, Emmett and host Mike Murray discuss what it’s like working at Peddie, where the expectations for success in both the classroom and the pool are extraordinarily high!

Walling attended Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla., before becoming a student-athlete at USC in 2009-10 and team Captain for the 2010-11 season, working with legendary coach, Dave Salo. Walling was part of Indian River’s 34th and 35th straight National Junior Coll...

Will Bernhardt is the Head Coach & Aquatic Director at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Will’s life in coaching is one of the most versatile, interesting, and robust experiences in the profession.

Throughout his unique journey in the sport, Bernhardt has worked with some of the finest names in swimming, Salo, Looze, Welsh, Barnes, Bashor, among other coaching greats.

In this week’s episode of the Fitter and Faster Coaches Corner, Will and host Mike Murray sit down for an in-depth look at how to start your career in coaching; including the significance of making cold...

Coach Mo talks about building a culture of achievement

Josh Runkle is the Head Coach & Aquatic Director of New Trier High School Boy’s Varsity Swimming, in the Greater Chicago area. In this episode of the Fitter & Faster Coaches Corner, Josh discusses some of the things that have led his program to unprecedented success, culminating in both individual & team state titles.

The Varsity Swimming Season is unique, find some ideas on how to plan your scholastic season, incorporating weight training, dryland, resistance, and working with power towers, buckets, etc…

Coach Runkle will guide you through how he and the staff at New Trier collaborate to c...

Head Coach of the Westchester Aquatic Club, Carle Fierro has worked with every level of competitive swimming. Carle has coached Over 100 National Age Group Ranked athletes, Including 16 Number 1 National Age Group Swimmers!

Coach Carle’ was one of 13 Women in the United States Invited by USA Swimming to attend the USA Swimming Women’s Leadership and National Team Coaches Summit. Over the last decade, her Swimmers have Set 110 Metropolitan Swimming Age Group Swimming Records and Westchester Swimmers have Set 7 USA Swimming National Age Group Records!

In this episode of Coaches Corner, Fierro discusses the significance of teac...

Emily Melina is the Head Coach of the Lake Oswego Swim Club in Oregon. Over the past several years Coach Melina has tirelessly worked in governance at both the LSC & USA Swimming House of Delegates, as well as continued the development of the highly successful Lake Oswego program. Emily has led athletes to USA Swimming national rankings, Olympic Trials, World Top 100 designations and numerous top 10 team finishes at the Speedo Sectional, Futures and Far Western Championships.In this episode, Emily and host Mike Murray discuss the latest USA Swimming House of Delegates proposals as they relate to Coaches, as...

Coach Davidson talks about his commitment to speed and power while maintaining a strong aerobic base, and how his training got Hunter Armstrong to the Olympic Games.

CEO of the American Swim Coaches Association, Jennifer LaMont, explains her passion for helping coaches excel. She also touches on the upcoming ASCA World Clinic coming up in Orlando this September.

Coach Mike dives deep into the 2021 Olympic games and asks 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, Tyler Clary, for some of his insights on these exciting races we have coming up!

Coach Ira Klein gives some great insight into everyone being able to train AND compete in the IM events. He even dives into some of his different training methods and sets that have given him a lot of success.

Coach Lanzo talks about the importance of club coaching for USA Swimming and the journey of taking Kieren Smith to the Olympics

Coach Clemmer dives deep into his upbringing in the coaching world. Ranging from learn to swim programs, all the way up to Olympic Swimmers. He talks about the importance of IM and distance based training

Abi Liu talks about her journey of growing up in China, and how that has impacted her career as a coach and building relationships in the United States