The Olympic Relay Anchor Hero Jason Lezak Coached Himself

Contributor Josh Davis is a 5-time Olympic medalist and the Manager Partner the Mutual of Omaha BREAKout Swim Clinics, a SwimSwam partner. 


The longest running Olympian swim clinic tour, the Mutual of Omaha BREAKout! Swim Clinic tour, founded in 2007, wants to join forces with your team as part of their annual 100 city tour.  Their roster of clinicians includes some of the greatest swimmers in history. This week, we focus on one of our most accomplished Olympians and Speakers on the Mutual of Omaha Gold Medal Team, Jason Lezak.



Equivalent with the words “the relay” and “the anchor”, Jason Lezak’s amazing final leg of the 4x100 free relay in Beijing 2008 is still on record as the fastest relay split in history. Still today, anytime the swimming community needs some extra encouragement or seeks validation that the everyday pain and persistence of training will eventually pay off, they can simply re-watch Lezak’s heroic effort and get reinfused with energy and enthusiasm to conquer another day.

Leading up to that historic relay, Team USA came into the Beijing Games as the underdog, with the squad of French relay swimmers seemingly unbeatable on paper and the Aussies stacked with talent as well.  Already carrying the disappointment from both the 2000 and 2004 Games where Team USA’s relay earned a sub-par silver and bronze, respectively, in 2008 the American squad had the extra pressure of keeping Michael Phelps on track towards his goal of 8 gold medals at the Beijing Games.
Another component of this memorable event was the fact that, from 2005 to 2008, 32-year old Jason Lezak had been training and coaching himself. Considered past his prime age-wise, Lezak kept grinding in the pool and in the weight room, confident that he would one day reap the benefits of his intense hard work and dedication.
Relying on himself is a concept with which Lezak was intimately familiar, as this 4-time Olympian was kicked off his college team at one point for having a consistently poor attitude and effort level.  But what is truly extraordinary is how this Team USA Captain used all of his career ups and downs as fuel to shape him into the goal-setting guru and master clinician he is today.  As a motivational speaker, Jason inspires today’s youth with his perspective on the highs and lows of his career and his first-hand account of what transpired that night in Beijing.
Still on an upward trajectory, Jason has broken another record in his career, surpassing Josh Davis for having conducted the most clinics in a summer.  Jason has led over 30 clinics within a 3 month period, taking over the lead from Josh who conducted 28 in that same time span.
If you would like to relive one of the most amazing moments in swimming history with Jason at one of his BREAKout! clinics please call the Mutual of Omaha BREAKout! offices today. Jason would love to come to your team and chase down your swimmers! He is available for clinics, banquet talks, school presentations, grand openings of pools and civic luncheons, or as some teams have done, you could commission Jason do all 5 in one weekend!
Help your swimmers BREAKout! this next season with Jason Lezak by going to www.breakoutswimclinic.com
Upcoming clinics with Jason Lezak:

Sept 13 Brunswick, ME w/ Jason
Sept 26 Milwaukee, WI w/ Jason, Josh Davis and Garrett Weber-Gale
Oct 18 Dubuque, IA w/ Jason and Josh Davis

Some of the other athletes available through the Mutual of Omaha BREAKout! Swim Clinics:
Women:

Allysa Anderson
Haley Anderson
Amanda Beard
Elizabeth Beisel
Karlee Bispo
Elaine Breeden
Caroline Burckle
Maya DiRado
Janet Evans
Margo Geer
Annie Grevers
Jessica Hardy
Kathleen Hersey
Margaret Hoelzer
Misty Hyman
Lara Jackson
Lacy Nymeyer John
Madison Kennedy
Kristy Kowal

Jason Lezak
Dagny Knutson
Ariana Kukors
Breeja Larson
Caitlin Leverenz
Christine Magnuson
Stephanie Rice
Megan Romano
Allison Schmitt
Laura Sogar
Kim Vandenberg
Shannon Vreeland
Kate Ziegler

Men:

Michael Andrew
Randall Bal
Ricky Berens
Clark Burckle
Tyler Clary
Ian Crocker
Josh Davis
Hans Dersch
Conor Dwyer
Anthony Ervin
Jimmy Feigen

Michael Andrew and Peter Andrew (courtesy of Keith Allen)
Rowdy Gaines
Mark Gangloff
Andrew Gemmell
Eugene Godsoe
Matt Grevers
Brendan Hansen
Dax Hill
Charlie Houchin
Cullen Jones
Jason Lezak
Ryan Lochte
Mike McBroom
Matt McLean
Alex Meyer
Cody Miller
Aaron Peirsol
David Plummer
Eric Risolvato
Josh Schneider
Giles Smith
Scott Spann
Davis Tarwater
Darian Townsend
Peter Vanderkaay

About Josh Davis
Josh Davis was the first American to go 1:46 in the 200m free at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He just recently broke his own Masters American Record in the 40-45 age group going :20.6 He has been leading the Mutual Of Omaha BREAKout! Swim Clinic Tour for 8 years to challenge the next generation of swimmers to work harder, swim smarter and have more fun. Josh is a proud 2 breather and he will race anybody, anytime, anyplace.
2000 Olympics

Silver 400m freestyle relay

Silver 800m freestyle relay
1996 Olympics

Gold 400m freestyle relay

Gold 800m freestyle relay

Gold 400m medley relay
Follow Josh Davis on Twitter here.
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Mutual of Omaha BREAKOUT Swim Clinic HQ.
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