Blast from the Past: A Look at Olympian Brian Goodell’s Training Log

After the high of an Olympics, it can be hard to remember the daily grind that athletes endured to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Many athletes are taking a well-deserved break before jumping into the next quad.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at how an Olympian of years past handled the transition. The training log of two-time Olympic champion Brian Goodell was shared with SwimSwam, containing workouts spanning from February 1976 to January 1977. While it’s not a complete log, it’s a fascinating look into an elite athlete’s mindset during an intense training block.

Goodell became a double champion at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, winning the men’s 400 free (3:51.93) and 1500 free (15:02.40) in world record fashion. Just 17 years old at the time, Goodell trained with the Mission Viejo Nadadores in the lead-up to the Games.

Goodell’s Olympics.com biography describes him as “a legend for his long-distance workouts and tireless capacity for work,” and that is backed up by the logs we have available to us (Biography).

“I told myself how great I was feeling,” wrote Goodell under a February 23, 1976 set consisting of 3000 meters with paddles. “I wouldn’t have made it otherwise – visualized long stroke [and] loose arms.”

That day, Goodell swam a total of 7,925 yards and 10,300 meters across two sessions.

The next day, Goodell swam his “best 400s ever,” swimming faster than Tim Shaw’s world record in a broken 400. “I got really stoked for the last one,” closes that day’s entry.

Interestingly, Goodell’s final time in Montreal almost exactly matches what he swam in February: 3:51.7 (broken by 50) versus 3:51.93. While it’s difficult to find splits from Montreal, Goodell was known for his tendency to negative-split his races. He did exactly that in the set, splitting 58/59/58/56.6. (We assume the variance in the final time is due to compounding rounding errors.)

There are plenty more ups and downs documented throughout the log. Some of it came from coach clashes, such as on March 1, 1976.

“Upset – I had an argument with Mark [Schubert],” wrote Goodell at the end of an 8,975 yard + 9,700 meter day.

Sometimes it was the weather.

“The smog was really bad today – too much to handle. I felt sick to my stomach,” is noted on February 26, 1976. “I am also very tired from speed swimming.” The speed swimming in question? 500 meter swims.

(The South Coast Air Quality Management District was established later that year with the mission to control stationary sources of air pollution in California’s Orange County, which includes Mission Viejo, as well as Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.)

Sometimes the weather and coaches worked together, such as March 3 when the Nadadores cut a practice short due to a thunderstorm.

“We all went to the doughnut shop [and] Mark treated,” wrote Goodell after swimming just 4,400 yards in an hour.

Later that day, he swam a dual meet for Mission Viejo High School against San Clemente through freezing rain and snow, competing in the 200 IM, 500 free, and swimming the fly leg of the ‘B’ 200 medley relay.

We don’t have access to Goodell’s training logs leading into the 1976 Olympic Trials, where he won both the 400 and 1500 freestyle in world record times he would later better in Montreal.

What we do have access to picks up later that year during Thanksgiving week, where Goodell averaged 15,000 to 16,000 yards a day (except for Thanksgiving Day, where he only did one practice).

“I began working out later this year, but I’m in the best condition ever for the beginning of the season,” wrote Goodell.

Goodell matriculated to UCLA by January of 1977, and won nine individual NCAA titles by the end of his collegiate career.

Unfortunately, Goodell’s second Olympic quad had a disappointing end due to the U.S.’s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. Though he was named to the U.S. team, it was purely ceremonial. He retired from competitive swimming in 1981, and now serves as a city councilmember in Mission Viejo while also managing a real estate business with his wife.