2026 Bergen Swim Festival
- Friday, April 17th – Sunday, April 19th
- Prelims at 9:00am local (3:00am ET)/Finals at 6pm local (Noon ET)
- Bergen, Norway
- Alexander Dale Oen (AdO) Arena, Bergen (50m Olympic pool)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview
- Entries
- Live Results
- Livestream
IU post-grad Luke Barr moved to Dallas last fall to train as a professional with Coley Stickels at Texas Ford Aquatics (while also holding down a full-time day job). After about 8 months of Stickels’ unorthodox sprint training, a far move from what Barr had been used to at Indiana, Barr is starting to see the results.
This weekend in Bergen, Barr went 3 best times, going 1:00.2 in the 100 breast, 54.6 in the 100 back, and 1:58.9 in the 200 IM, notably his first outing under the 2:00 barrier in the latter.
Luke is the GOAT!
Coley actually coaches 25 highschool kids along with TFAs pros, who happen to be some of the fastest swimmers in the US right now. I am personally extremely excited to see how LA 2028 turns out with his swimmers.
“It’s so different than what I’m used to”. You mean not getting belittled and yelled at?
or maybe the training style is completely different and better than what luke is used to.
People were saying this same thing about Coley not that long ago
The “IU bad” narrative is so tired
https://www.2adays.com/coaches/coley-stickels-56504
Great to see him thrive while juggling work and training.
In my opinion, Coley is extremely underrated when it comes to producing high level athletes. He’s the most creative mind in swimming and is an incredible breath of fresh air training wise. Seeing a lot of pros start to build up in his group while he develops new talent. Very excited to see what happens come 2028.
I don’t think he’s underrated in producing high level athletes at all. I think everyone knows he can do it.
I’ve heard lots of criticisms of Coley, but not one has ever been “he can’t produce high level athletes.”
I think working with pros that have some agency to stand up for themselves is probably the absolute best place for Coley to be. I’m glad he found his way there.
Not every coach is made for every level of swimmer and that doesn’t mean they’re not a good coach. I don’t think I’d hire Dean Boxall to coach a summer league team but he’s one of the top 3 current senior level coaches in the world.