Taper Problems for Swim Coaches

Swimming Video is courtesy of SwimMAC.

Swimming coaches of the world over have this issue at taper time (see video above). Training trickles to nothing, swimmers’ energy spike, and you can’t  the athletes still. SwimMAC Coach Pam Swander understands this as much, if not more, than any.

Thanks for sharing the video Pam, and good luck to all swimmers during taper time!

About Pam Swander via SwimMAC’s HQ

Pam Swander, the former Assistant Head Coach for Women’s Swimming, at Indiana University and Level Five ASCA certified coach, brings more than 30 years of coaching success to the SwimMAC Carolina program. Swander arrived at SwimMAC in September 2010 and currently serves as the North Region Manager in Huntersville, North Carolina. She is responsible for coaching, as well as supervising other coaches and staff and the operational plan, budget and facilities.

While at Indiana, Swander helped direct the men’s program to the 2006 Big Ten Championship and the women’s program to three Big Ten Championships (2007, 2009, 2010) and three top-ten finishes at the NCAA championships (2008-2010). During her tenure, Indiana swimmers garnered 49 NCAA All American honors and numerous Big Ten academic honors. In 2010, Kate Zubkova Fesenko became Indiana’s first-ever female NCAA swimming champion and earned the 2010 Indiana University Co-Female Athlete of the Year Award and Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Award.

In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Swander coordinated all aspects of recruiting at Indiana, including identifying prospects, arranging official visits and organizing promotional items and mailings, along with assisting in team travel arrangements, budgeting, compliance and meet entries.

Prior to Indiana, Swander served as the men’s and women’s assistant coach at Clemson University for one season, working with the mid-distance group, overseeing recruiting and running the Clemson summer swim camp.

Before leaving for the collegiate ranks, Swander had a hand in the formation and development of several USA Swimming clubs over a span of more than 15 years. From 2001-2004, she worked as the senior coach and Swim America director at Washington Township Swim Club in Indianapolis, mentoring some of the top age group swimmers in the country and producing several Olympic Trials qualifiers and Indiana state championship titles. She also served as head coach and Swim America director at Center Grove Aquatics (1997-2000), Yorktown High School and Yorktown Swimming Club (1987-1997), which she founded and managed.

Swander’s extensive coaching and leadership experience has earned her several positions within USA Swimming, including the Director of the USA Select Camp in 2006 and 2007, Vice Chair of Hospitality on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials Committee and the Indiana Swimming Delegate at the USA Swimming National Convention, among many others. Recently, she was inducted into the Delaware County (Muncie, Ind.) Athletic Hall of Fame for her achievements.

An Indiana native, Swander graduated from Yorktown High School in 1977 and went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Arizona State University in 1986. She married Jeff Swander in 1979, and their two children, Laura and Kevin, became top swimmers at Auburn University and Indiana University, respectively.