The Ohio State women are entering the season as the 4x defending Big Ten champions. But speaking with head coach Bill Dorenkott, there is a lot more to focus on than just conference this season. With the ultimate goal of performing at international long course meets, there will be buckeyes competing at the Pan American Games in October as well as the World Championships in February (2024), not to mention the US Olympic Trials in June.
Dorenkott breaks down his team’s mentality heading into the college season, not wanting to overdo training in September to keep their athletes engaged and excited through February, March, and the long course season. For this reason, Dorenkott has his team swim 5 times and lift 4 times during the month of September, easing their bodies and minds back into training.
This is why the only perform at Big Tens and nowhere else
That’s great. This is pure out of curiosity (I’ve been out of college for a while).
Does this mean OSU would go straight to 20 hours/week training?
Ohio State diving and swimming should be swimming 12 times a week if they wanna avoid another inevitable NCAA collapse
Thier women were seeded to place 5th and they placed 6th… I would not call that a collapse. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But I’d say that’s pretty dang good coming off of a 4th-straight conference title.
Now the men… were seeded to place 17th and finished 11th.
So you’re telling me they should lift 10 times and swim negative one.
Swimming is overrated.
I don’t
That was meant to say – I don’t know who you are, but you’re not the real Pineapple!
I’ve been Pineapple for 9 years! Please adhere to the Swimswam guidelines and do not steal anyone’s identity within a single comment thread
Wow, I’ve been Pineapple for a couple years and have never come across someone using the same name. I’ll take you at your word and find something else to use going forward.
I’m a huge fan of lifting more and swimming less. Ok, maybe not for distance swimmers, but definitely sprinters.
So you’re focused on the kids swimming at International meets so you can get them ready…got it coach. Your
AD is on board with that? Parents of kids not swimming at International meets are on board with that? I hate when coaches put their focus on a couple of kids and ignore the rest…
“Dorenkott breaks down his team’s mentality heading into the college season, not wanting to overdue training in September to keep their athletes engaged and excited through February, March, and the long course season.”
Guess you missed that part
Should be “overdo,” we’re not talking about the overdue library book. Sorry, not sorry.
Listen to the entire interview that was posted, and then please come back and comment.
I conducted the entire interview. I’d say every coach at a Top-10 school has this mindset. They are prioritizing international meets, followed by NCAAs. That doesn’t mean ignoring the rest of the team.
Go watch Bill coaching his workout during P+P at OSU – he’s not just focusing on 2 or 3 athletes. None of his coaches are. They are focusing on building a culture that emphasizes performance at the highest level.
https://swimswam.com/ohio-state-suits-up-for-mid-season-speed-practice-pancakes/
If you commit to a top-10 school as an athlete (or a parent of an athlete), I’m sure the coaches are very transparent about that in the recruiting process. You talk to any of these coaches, they’re looking for athletes who fit their culture… Read more »
prioritizing LCM/international meets is probably a main part of the pitch. they want kids who have goals of making those meets
I hope this pans out well. When February-March-April roll around and the rest of the country is experiencing mental and physical fatigue, I hope OSU is swimming well and fresh and you regret this negativity.
I don’t know it you’re speaking from first-hand experience, but I imagine most of OSU’s program trained through the summer. It’s not like we’re talking about a mid-major program where a number of athletes took the summer to rest. They’ve got yards under their belt, and they’re taking 4 weeks to rest without losing too much aerobic ability. Sounds smart to me.
They were doing 9 + 3 most of the summer, only people not there were at Int’l meets/training.
Should carry this schedule through October.
I don’t think too many mid-major swimmers take the summer to rest…
Not sure which teams you’re looking at in that case…
i swam mid-major and I don’t think anyone on my team kept training up through the summer. by september the most-prepared people had been doing like 3 workouts a week with their club team.