The return of friend of the brief Nico Messer! Nico has just criss-crossed the country in search of swimming knowledge, attending clinics and looking in on one of the top swimming environments in America. Nico and I talk about- what makes a good clinic or learning opportunity for coaches. 

We also talk about some non-clinic resources for continuing education and preview some of what may be to come in that area.

Is it time to reconsider the streamline? Joel Rollings thinks so. We cover that and other topics, including: is your dryland accomplishing anything? What athletic things do we unlearn as we get older? What is the meaning of life? Ok we don't quite get there, but we do talk about how there are no "big time" swim coaches.

This conversation is free-wheeling but ultimately we get to a really good place. Enjoy:

Welcome back to my partner in Briefs, Nico Messer. Nico and I talk taper- that's right, we're talking taper in September, which is probably the least likely month to taper in. That's why its the best time to discuss it! We talk about the ways in which the word "taper" itself has become a dirty word, make some book recommendations and share some taper time stories of our own. Enjoy!

This podcast is sponsored by ProSwimWorkouts. As part of that sponsorship you can get 20% off a premium subscription to PSW by entering the coupon code "CRDESANTIS". By doing so you will support this podcast, the blog and everything Chris DeSantis Coaching.

This week I am joined by my John Bradley, the head senior coach of the Rochester Swim Club Orcas. John educates me on what it's like to get involved volunteer governance on all levels of USA Swimming, from your local team all the way up to the National board.

John also shares a few takeaways from a recent conversation with new USA Swimming Executive Director Tim Hinchey. Finally, we talk about how to make swim meets a little bit more fun. 

This week I am joined by my Jay Chambers, a long time club swimming coach who has taken on a new role in USA Swimming. Jay has a very different coaching philosophy from me, and we talk a bit about that. We also talk about interacting with people online, the role of consultants for swim teams.

Finally, we nerd out about National Age Group records from the 90s and how it's hard to compare what Mark Spitz did in 1972 to the stuff we see today.

This week, Erik Wiken brings homespun, midwestern values to the Swimbrief podcast. We talk about what it's like to be a swim coach in Lincoln, Nebraska. We talk about hiring, socializing as a coach and the pitfalls and advantages of new online communities.

Of course, we also talk Omaha, Nebraska as a loyal Olympic Trials host and why people should be excited to come back in 2020.

MJ Truex, who leads USA Swimming's Diversity and Inclusion team, joined me from Colorado Springs to discuss her life in swimming and how she got to that role. I learned a lot in the process and I hope you do too.

We discuss some of the issues that I've brought up in the blog, especially when it comes to gender diversity in coaching, and what USA Swimming sees as its role in tackling a range of issues.

This week there will be two Swim Briefs! In addition to the regular Friday podcast, I called up Garrett McCaffrey for a special bonus pod to discuss the World Championships in Budapest. 

Garrett and I talk all the big stories, including the Larry Bird of Swimming and what kind of comparison you can make to other sports with Ledecky's 200 free.

In a far reaching conversation with Kathleen Klein Prindle, Nico Messer and I got a lot of answers from the head coach of Performance Aquatics and Vice President of the American Swim Coaches Association. 

This podcast is sponsored by ProSwimWorkouts. As part of that sponsorship you can get 20% off a premium subscription to PSW by entering the coupon code "CRDESANTIS". By doing so you will support this podcast, the blog and everything Chris DeSantis Coaching. 

This week I managed to nab Alexis Keto for a podcast. We addressed some uncomfortable topics (mainly for me) and although there were some "women in coaching" questions, the discussion went to a lot of places.

Both Alexis and I talk about some of the lessons we've learned in the context of that, and Alexis gives out some tough love.