So I found a good running coach and am on the way to developing good form. Yay! Now it’s time to fix my stroke. Anyone know of a good swim coach in the Vancouver BC area? I’m not particularly interested in joining (another) masters program simply because I want a coach who will watch what I’m doing, and offer corrections. While a masters coach can do some of this, (s)he will also have 35 odd other swimmers to take care of. I’m not looking for sets, fitness, or meeting other swimmers (though I’m certainly not opposed) - I just want to develop a good stroke. I bought the TI video and drill book a few years ago and while somewhat beneficial, I can’t see what I’m doing in the water. I need a good coach.
Well, I don’t know any good swim coaches in Vancouver but like you, I have to believe there are some. Have you checked with the local high schools and colleges to see what they have going on? Sometimes the team coaches also “moonlight” for the local Master’s teams. A few bucks would probably get you some private coaching.
After returning from Curacao I can’t emphasize the value of in person/in your face coaching for swimming. My swimming has improved substantially as a result of Curacao and Doug Stern’s coaching, along with his assistant Boris Talon.
Good luck Khai, -thought I’d give you the bump up!
Would you consider Victoria to be the Vancouver area? Perhaps that’s a touchy question.
When I swam at the U of Toronto almost 20 years ago, Neil Harvey was one of the coaches and he was very patient with me and helped my stroke a lot (I was probably the slowest swimmer of the bunch). I found him listed at http://www.nttc.ca/services/nharvey.htm by searching google with ‘neil harvey swim’.
Isn’t the national triathlon center out there… call up them and see if they offer any services… I’d say short of that a masters team would help… joining my university swim team has definatly helped my stroke… but i’m also in the water 10-12 hours a week of solid quality practice…
Cheers
I just want to encourage you to be creative. There are a lot of good swim coaches out there. I live in a small community and thought at first there is no way I can find some one to help. Finally I asked the kids swim teacher abt teaching me and she said no problem. I quess I would say also that she is a distance swimmer so can understand my triathlon needs. That seems really important. She demonstrates the different stroke nuances for sprint swimming and for distance. Big difference. Ok it is costing my $30.00/hr for club time+coach, but I am improving which I had never been able to do.
Thanks for the ideas guys, and Tom for the bump! The problem with Victoria is that it’s a ~$100 (and 3hr) round-trip ferry ride away. This would be fine for a weekend workshop, but for an ongoing coaching relationship it gets a little steep. I’ll definitely talk to the local high school swim coaches and see if I can find someone suitable and willing to help me out (I never thought of that).
I didn’t email Terry, but I did check out the *coaches *section of the TI website. Apparently there are 3 TI certified coaches in Canada, but none on the West Coast (Toronto, Montreal, and I think Calgary). Perhaps I should shoot an email just incase the list is out of date…