While swim meets and practices are largely on hold worldwide right now due to the effects of COVID-19, BSN Sports still wants to highlight and celebrate swim teams from around the country. This week’s Team of the Week is the Springfield YMCA Typhoons of Springfield, Illinois. The team’s history dates back to roughly 1955 and currently consists of roughly 175 swimmers who train at the Kerasotes Branch of the Springfield YMCA. In 2019, SPY finished 2nd in the combined standings at Illinois YMCA State Championships, both for long course and short course, and placed 11th at short course YMCA Nationals.
We spoke with head coach Alex Totura to get a sense of what makes SPY unique, as well as some of his thoughts on coaching in general.
The first thing that pops into my mind is the team culture we have tried to establish. Former Head Coach Rob Busby, now with Fox Valley Swim Team, and I discussed and experimented for several years with how to improve team culture and help swimmers build a lasting connection to the team. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of spectacular swimmers over the years, but the most important thing about those athletes is that they have been better teammates and role models than they have been swimmers. That includes our alumni who may be a well known 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist [Ryan Held] or current and former collegiate athletes. We have tried to impress upon all of our athletes that they do not need to be the fastest swimmer to have an impact and we have seen great leadership from all levels of athletes. This past season we invested in a dryland program, SwimStrong Dryland, and Eric Hudson of SSDL has worked with our coaches and a leadership group of athletes on continuing to build that team culture and put athletes in a position to make a real impact on others both in and out of the pool. That group has put different swimmers into a leadership position and increased the impact our older athletes have had on their younger teammates. I have also seen our older athletes be inspired by our younger athletes because they have built a deeper connection to the team as a whole. I think this past season was the best the culture had been so far, but it is work that is never completed. It is something the team has to keep working on, especially in a time like this where swimmers are facing unexpected adversity and are mostly separated from their teammates.
Like most teams, SPY is currently out of the water, but Totura and the rest of the coaching staff has been making sure that the team has been staying connected virtually.
I have started virtual meetings for the Senior level athletes to keep a connection. We are trying to do something informational or educational in one meeting and something fun in the other. I look to incorporate all ages of athletes into a virtual setting of some sort over the next few weeks. Our leadership group provided input into an April Instagram Weekly Challenge through our @spyswimmers instagram account. I am attempting to engage athletes with some learning opportunities to get them thinking about aspects of swimming that they may not normally focus on. I send an educational email and an activity email each week. I also check in multiple times a week on our Team Feed on our website to provide some pointers for different dryland exercises that athletes are doing throughout the week.
Hopefully sooner than later, swim teams across the country will get back to training. We asked Totura to tell us about a couple of his favorite sets that likes to use for various purpose.
Aerobic Threshold sets are my favorite type of test set. Now we do a Broken 1000, Swim 100/Rest :10, best average. We run it 3 times a year; September, late November or early December, and February. It is my current favorite because it gives athletes something to work towards and see improvement on while grinding throughout the season. If swimmers are in a rut with racing and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but have been putting in the work then this is the set that makes them believe again. I run this set for the final time at the beginning of February leading into championship season. If they have been putting in the work and they see improvement over this set I always see that translate into belief in their end of season and a good championship season run.
When it comes to “get up and work” sort of set, Totura likes to use aerobic repeats with a free/IM/kick mix.
I run through a variation of this set 2 times over the course of a season. I love to mix up Free, IM, and Flutter Kick into aerobic sets. I make this set rest based, though it can be interval based, and it is normally 5 or 10 seconds rest per 100 depending on the time of year. Everything is supposed to be Even or Negative Split focus all the way into the 400 IM at the end where it is their best effort while focusing on an increased effort on the 2nd 50 of each 100. I run a watch and get average 100s for swimmers at the end to give perspective on the work they are doing like I do during a threshold set. Swimmers who love to challenge themselves really dig it.3 Sets – 1×200, 1×300, 1×400S1) Free, IM, KickS2) IM, Kick, FreeS3) Kick, Free, IM
Finally, we asked what kind of things make Totura happiest as a coach, and his answers really capture what this team, and hopefully the entire sport of swimming, is all about.
Two things make me happiest as a coach. #1 is when our older swimmers make an impact on younger swimmers. Our practice schedule is set-up so our 8 and under and Senior level athletes cross paths between practice. Seeing the faces of those younger swimmers when their role models take time to say “hi”, high five, fist bump, or any other interaction always brings a smile to my face. #2 is when a swimmer surprises themselves in a race. As coaches we try to build confidence in racing in practice but some swimmers just don’t get very excited. As a coach I try to inspire confidence and try to make swimmers believe in themselves, but for some they may not believe in themselves until THAT swim happens. That swim where they crushed their expectations and afterwards believe they can do anything, that sticks with me as much as anything after a meet.
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Alex did not even touch on the positive impact the team has on our community. They way they give back, how they honor, and demonstrate the Y’s focus on social responsibility. The team raises money to ensure no family in our community is turned away from a Y membership due to inability to pay. In addition, the team has developed a personal and passionate partnership with families in our community who are homeless. Honesty, caring, respect, and responsibility are not just words. They are actions by the swimmers, parents, and staff. Kudos to SPY and thank you to BSN for highlighting them.