In Coleman’s Carpool we get the insider’s perspective on your favorite swimmers. SwimSwam Head of Production, Coleman Hodges, invites swimmers to take a ride with him and talk about anything…except swimming. Mostly.
Dave Durden is getting ready for his 10th season as the head coach of the Men’s swim team at the University of California, and what a decade it has been. The past 8 seasons, Cal has placed in the top 2 at the NCAA Championships, coming away with 3 NCAA team titles. Dave and Yuri saw 6 of their former or current Cal bears make the 2016 Olympic team, with almost all of them garnering medals at the games. He’s one enlightened dude, and when you talk with him you get a sense of how this level of greatness comes so consistently for the guys back in Berkeley.
Dave was kind enough to carpool with me in Mesa at the Pro Swim recently, and I got to pick his brain about his coaching background and insights. I realize I merely scratched the surface with a guy like Dave, who has such a plethora of knowledge and experience in this field. However, I think you can gain just as much from how he says things and how he handles himself as you can from what he’s saying. Dave is humble, he’s calculated in his actions and words, and he certainly doesn’t see swimming the way one might think.
That’s why I put up most of our interview, a whole 10 minutes. I think a lot of what Dave had to say was really interesting, and the way he answers the questions is just as important in my opinion.
Nice jorts
Keep your hands on the wheel! ?