Mel Marshall on Coaching, Motivating the Greatest Breaststroker of All Time

In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman HodgesGarrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.

We sat down with Mel Marshall, head coach of the UK High-Performance Centre in Loughborough and most well-known for being the coach of Adam Peaty. Marshall dives into the summer that English swimmers have had, being that some of her swimmers (Luke Greenbank, Jacob Whittle, and Anna Hopkin) have competed at World Champs, Comm Games, and European Champs. Peaty himself was dealing with a broken foot and only competed at Commonwealth Games.

Marshall takes us through how she coaches and motivates all of her athletes both in and out of the water. She walks us through what kinds of sets work for each athlete in her group and what it takes to consistently perform at a high level. She also explains why Peaty has always had an affinity for long course, how she got into coaching in the first place after her swimming career, and the first time she thought Adam could go 57 in the long course 100 breast.

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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.

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Marty
1 year ago

So SC World’s confirmed for Peaty in December by Mel here. No Shymanovich swimming but will be difficult to beat Martinenghi in his current form there!

The unoriginal Tim
1 year ago

Are we sure Peaty is the greatest Breastroke swimmer ever? He has never won an international 200m medal even at Euro or CW level. Does only sprint Breastroke count?

Kitajima has two Olympic Golds over 100m and two over 200m.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
1 year ago

I’d say he’s the fastest ever in the 100 but he’s not the greatest breastroker of all time

Coco
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
1 year ago

He can swim 100 meters breast stroke in 56.88 seconds, he’s the greatest.

Jess
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
1 year ago

He has literally changed breaststroke permanently across the board. Since he stepped up, 58s are the new standard across all breaststrokers. It used to be anything under 60 was great.

16 golds out of 16 races at europeans. Would also be a 4 told olympics champ if the 50s were included. Every major title, individual and relay, available to him. Baring in mind without him all these relays would have not accomplished anything nearly similar with him regularly outsplitting the feild by over 1.5 seconds. A second cushion over the next fastest breaststroker ever. Dominant also over a 50 which Kitajima was not. Kitajima also was not a comparable effect to his relays which acheived little.

From 2014 and… Read more »

Jess
Reply to  Jess
1 year ago

If he was American he would be labelled as the greatest ever by 2016.

The unoriginal Tim
Reply to  Jess
1 year ago

The 200 is an Olympic event and the 50 is not. Peaty said he would take on the 200 and even labelled 2:07 a soft time. Yet he has never produced at that distance.

He is the greatest sprint Breastroke swimmer ever. He is not the greatest Breastroke swimmer.

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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