#coachmikepodcast Mike Thompson

I'm back. It's been 5 years or so since I published my last episode but I'm back now that I am more experienced and have more to say. I want to introduce you to my group starting with Danielle Kisser. Have a listen and see what I've been up to and the awesome athletes I work with.

Today I am joined by Head Coach of the Guelph Marlins Aquatic Club, Kendra Burton. Kendra has coached for a number of years in Guelph and before that was the coach of Kristy Cameron (now Kristy Lyon) with the Huron Hurricanes. Kendra discusses the Swim Ontario OHPSI Coach Accelerator Program with me, talks about Women in coaching roles, gender based practices & groups and the importance of good walls! This is a great interview that (in my opinion) sounds more like a conversation than many of the previous episodes.Kendra references the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - which I said I would link in the description.Here is the link to Kendra's presentation from the Swim Ontario Coaches Excellence Series about walls and kick outs (first 2 items on the news list).As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

I wasn't planning on doing a podcast on my trip to Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, BC, but took the opportunity to talk to Breaststrokers Kiera Smith & Richard Funk. Both are Canadian breaststrokers competing in the NCAA. We talk about how their respective schools prepared them for their performances at Trials and reflect on their careers so far. Thanks to Richard and Kiera for doing this!As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

This is a long one (47:23) but I refuse to edit because I have the very interesting Ben Keast of the Winskill Dolphins. Ben is one of the young and up and coming coaches in Canada and currently is the coach of Canada Junior Team Member, Markus Thormeyer.Ben talks to me about his philosophies of coaching, how to coach to an athlete (rather than coaching a bunch of athletes), what you can learn from mentoring and a little bit about his visit to Sergio Lopez at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. Even though this is a little bit of a time commitment, this is probably one of the best interviews #coachmikepodcast has done. So much to learn from Ben Keast!As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

While in Naples, Florida on a training camp, I ran into Swimming Canada's National Coach for the Para Program, Craig McCord. Craig was able to pull himself away from his busy day to sit with me for a half hour to discuss para swimming in Canada and how coaching para athletes is not as complicated as it seems. This is a fascinating interview - Craig asserts that coaching a para athlete will make you a better all around coach because it forces you to think outside the box.I said I would list Craig McCord's email address (cmccord@swimming.ca) and Emma Van Steen's email address (evansteen@swimming.ca) in the event that listening coaches wanted to get in touch with them.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!

My guest today is Dmitry Shulga of the Halifax Wave Cutters. Dmitry recieved an 11 month ban from a positive test forN-ethyl-l-phenyl-2-butanamine and 1-phenyl-2-butanamine, which Dmitry insist was unintentional. In this interview, Dmitry talks about his experience and warns athletes of the dangers inherent in mass market supplements.In an age where dietary supplementation is very common and required for some athletes, this is a very interesting story to listen to. Dmitry never though that this would happen to him, but was forced to face the reality of a positive test and an 11 month ban.As always, you should follow me on Twitter(@coachmikeswim) and check me out at Sportcafe.ca/coachmikeswim. Check out my archived past episodes as well... you'll be happy you did!