Monday, January 9, 2006 |
What's New in Water World |
| In 1947, age-group swimming did not exist on a national level. Few aquatic stars ever developed to their fullest because there was no system of swimming competition graduated by age. This all changed when former M.A.C. Athletic Director Carl O. Bauer served as the National AAU sub-chairman for Novice and Junior swimming. He planted the seed, and today, age-group swimming is a daily term in the aquatic world. Richard L. Nix Sr. coached swimming under Bauer and now wants to pass on his competitive swimming philosophy to today’s M.A.C. children. Nix plans to conduct a six-week competitive swimming workshop for first to eighth grade M.A.C. members. The classes will start on Sunday, Feb. 5 and end on Sunday, March 12.  Nix promises the classes will help children perfect their strokes and anticipates times to improve by up to 25 percent. To do this, Nix will break swimming down to its basic fundamentals. Rather than swimming lap after lap, swimmers enrolled in the class will spend time perfecting their kicks, strokes and breathing patterns.“It’s these younger children that need their techniques perfected,” Nix said. “They will learn the fundamentals of competitive swimming in all four strokes.” Coach Bauer’s method of instruction was to give very short and to-the-point explanations. The emphasis was always on action not idleness. Nix plans to have swimmers at his workshop in the water and not wrapped in towels listening to long-winded speeches. “It has to be fun and not boring,” Nix said. “We keep them constantly moving so their interest is maintained. You have to make it fun or they’ll burn out on it by the time they reach high school. I think a lot of talent is wasted like that." Nix was able to adopt many of Bauer's swimming philosophies while working and volunteering in the M.A.C.’s Athletic Department for 13 years during the ‘50s and ‘60s. From 1954 to 1965, Nix coached the Club’s swimming and water polo teams, during which the teams won many championships, including the 1960 AAU Junior National Indoor Water Polo Championship. Bauer’s method of instruction emphasized coaching not training. The swimming sessions will incorporate a lot of drills and not focused on miles of swimming. Nix points out that it's not doing a child any good to swim two miles if his/her technique is not correct. Nix wants to teach children how to have these good techniques by breaking the strokes up into small parts. In fact, he doesn't want them to even swim the length of the pool. Instead, he wants them to concentrate on swimming well, quality instead of endurance.The goal will be to achieve good technique and maximum speed in all four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke and butterfly stroke. “They’ll still go home as if they’d swam a half mile,” Nix said. Every session will begin at 2 p.m. with a free swim. At 2:30, the instruction will begin. Swimmers will have a short warm-up in the water, when they will primarily concentrate on developing their leg strength. The main lesson’s concentration will vary on different aspects of swimming, including leg strength, kicking speed, starting dives and arm-and-hand coordination. Times in various strokes will be taken at the beginning of the session to determine the progress made at the end of the six-week program. At the end of the session, Nix predicts a 25 percent improvement in all swimmers. Click here to learn more about Carl Bauer's contributions to the national swimming arena |
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