By SwimSwam Partner Content on SwimSwam
Courtesy of Athlee, a SwimSwam partner.
Recently announced Team USA Junior World Team men’s coach and Bolles School Head coach Peter Verhoef has an eye for what it takes to make it to the next level. His own experiences as Team USA captain in 2007 and Olympic trials finalist in 2004 and 2008 has created a confident coach who knows what it takes to get to the top, and how it feels as a young athlete striving to get there.
Verhoef, who will take charge of Team USA for the World Junior Swimming Championships in Romania this August, has been head coach at Bolles School since 2018, continuing the institution’s fine tradition of having swimmers at every Olympics since 1972. Bolles has produced 67 Olympians over the last 53 years, with a haul of 21 golds among the 36 medals that have been won by the likes of alumni Caeleb Dressel and Ryan Murphy.
Needs-based Approach Creates Winners
The Verhoef coaching philosophy does not change significantly from Bolles to Team USA and vice versa. He believes that success and improvement are all about fulfilling needs, although it is not about spoiling his students. His approach of looking at how he can provide each with the optimum setting to learn and grow has a lot to offer to coaches who work with younger athletes with differing skill levels and development rates.
“I want to know what they need,” he says. “Most times, need is more important than want. So, it’s what do they need to be fast? What do they need to be successful? Do they need to be left alone? Do they need to be having fun? Do they need to be serious? A coach’s job is to create that environment for them, whether they’re elite or not. The details of what you’re working on might be a little different, but fundamentally, you’re trying to figure out, ‘what does this kid need to go as fast as they can go?’”
See The Best, Be The Best
One part of Verhoef’s search for speed has been the increasing use of underwater video, which coaches and students alike can use to check on form and positioning. He encourages swimmers to monitor their own performance and to self-coach via Athlee’s split-screen video, or work in small groups during practice.
“No one knows what they look like under the water until they can see it on video,” he says. “You could be going a tiny bit off on each stroke, and by the end of the practice that adds up to 3%. Over a week it may be 10%, even when you are not intentionally changing anything. We have had lots of kids come through, use the camera feedback and get faster. Everyone who uses them can get better.”
When it comes to just how to get better, Verhoef believes that coaches need to learn from the cream of the swimming crop, so that their pupils can, too.
“Get your eyes on great technique and see what the best in the world are doing,” he says. “I learned that from David Marsh, as his assistant. It doesn’t mean you are going to get a 10-year-old to swim like that, but see how Olympians are moving through the water, imagine that 10-year-old swimming like that in the future – now take the next step towards that stroke. My other constant is that you must teach the kid in front of you. No matter how fast they are or where they are in their journey, you need to coach that kid rather than focus on anyone else. If you coach that kid in front of you then you will continue to move forward with them.”
The Why, Then The How
As an enthusiast for the art and psychology of coaching, alongside the hard numbers, Verhoef is not the type to crow about his achievements or count the medals won. For him, the wins come as much in the gains and improvements as they do on the podium. There is little doubt that he knows how to make better swimmers, but he also really seems to understand young athletes, even the reluctant ones.
“I think one of the biggest things we can do in early in the season, or when we get a new swimmer on the team, is understand why they swim,” he says. “The answer might be, ‘my parents drop me off’, or ‘I love the feel of water’. It may be they want a scholarship or to see how fast they can go. That’s important, because I want to be a little more gentle if he is just here because his parents drop him off. But if someone says they are here because they want to be the best in the world, well, I’ve seen what that looks like and I’m going to hold them to that standard. They won’t like all of it. I’m going to do it lovingly, but they need to know it’s going to be tough work.”
A Winner’s Underwater Checklist
This adherence to standards is underpinned by Verhoef’s underwater must-sees, which are made possible by the four Athlee cameras he uses at Bolles. He uses a simple step-by-step process to break down strokes when looking at strokes using underwater cameras.
“The cameras are super clear and by far the best system for ease of use,” he says. “We take it out, press one button, turn on the iPad and thirty seconds later we just go. The number one thing I am looking at on screen is the relationship or ‘line’ from their hips to their head. Next, I want to see how much propulsion they are sending backwards, how early they are able to press water behind them and how long they are holding that water. Finally, I look for the effectiveness of their kick. You want to see white water behind them, but you also want to see if their ankles are flexing and if they are kicking deep enough.”
Verhoef claims not to be one to look out for the next generation of stars too young, but when it comes to parents whose offspring may have potential, he has some simple advice. It’s certainly cheaper than lessons, but it could well leave you short at the toll booth or parking lot.
“Throw about $4 worth of change on the bottom of the pool and let them go pick them all up,” he says. “Time them doing that every day for a summer and you’re probably going to have an Olympian on your hands, or at least a very coachable swimmer. They need to be comfortable with water on their face and holding their breath. It doesn’t matter if they can swim lap after lap at a young age, just that they are aquatic.”
Hopefully, some of these divers for dimes will come up clutching gold one day. And with Verhoef to help them on their way, they won’t go too wrong.
If you want to find out more about how Athlee helps coaches to maximise their potential, as well as improving training programmes for anyone from juniors starting out to elite athletes, then please visit www.athlee.com to book a brief online demo.
NB: Peter Verhoef’s participation in this interview is entirely independent, and he is not compensated by or affiliated with Athlee.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Coaching The Coaches – How Team USA’s Peter Verhoef Rethinks Training
