Just lik
e at Starbucks at Carmel Swim Club it is about the experience. I is not about the pool or the water every swim team has that. There is so much more here, so much more than what meets the eye. I have been privileged to work with Carmel Swim club since August 2009. My task was to help them develop a long-term development program on the dry land side that would emphasize the development of the movement skills necessary to enhance their development as swimmers. In essence move from age eight to eighteen in a progressive manner that reflected the growth and development epochs of both the growing boy and girl swimmer to develop their physical literacy.
This past week was my fifth visit over the past two years. As I was flying home on Saturday I reflected on what I had seen happening at Carmel. Certainly every swim club works, in fact many put “work” above all else. At Carmel I see purposeful directed work that is mindful directed to make the swimmer better not just tired. Everything in dryland is connected to what happens in the pool. There are no wasted movements. They warm-up to swim to swim, they don’t swim to warm-up. Not many work like this.
The past two years they been named a Gold Medal team by US Swimming, an accolade only awarded to 16 teams throughout the country. It is an honor well deserved, but more importantly it is an honor earned. The coaching staff headed by Chris Plumb, assisted by head age group coach Ian Murray, and assitants Maggie Moss and Roch King is outstanding. They are innovative and willing to learn. All are terrific communicators who pay attention to detail. My passion is coaching. When I visit Carmel that passion is really ignited. Coaching is teaching 
and these coaches coach and teach. Whether it is a pool session or a dryland session you see high quality teaching. Instead of repetition of errors as I see in many swim programs, the emphasis here is on getting it right. Getting it right for that individual swimmer. The coaches walk the walk and put the athlete’s number one and work to guide and develop their athlete’s growth in and out of the pool.
The age group coaches are also to be commended. They are the foundation of the whole system. They do a super job of getting the little ones going, of teaching crawling, skipping and good stroke mechanics. They start the swimmers on their development pathway by teaching good habits and routine. It is as fun to watch them coach, as it has been fun to watch the growth of the swimmers over the two years that I have been there.
Fast times and championships are a results of the process, here at Carmel the process is amazing to watch. Special things are going on here because the emphasis is squarely on the human element.