Head Coach Kameron Kennedy is no
stranger to fast swimming. From the time his grandmother
tossed him in the lake and said "SWIM!", he had the mindset
to get to the other end as fast as possible.
Coach Kennedy is familiar with all
levels of swimming. He has coached summer league swimmers,
tri-athletes and Olympic Trial qualifiers. Currently an ASCA
Level 4 coach, Coach Kennedy demands quality swimming from his
swimmers at all times. After all, we train to race and we
race to win!
Coach Kennedy's coaching and swimming
career began during his junior year at Trinity High School in
Euless, Texas. His Head Coach, Larry Ridge, was on the cutting edge
of training in the mid 90's with one of two under water tracking
systems in the USA. Swimmers from all teams in the Dallas/Ft.
Worth metroplex came to get instruction from
Larry. It was Coach Kennedy who assembled and
tore down the rig after each training session. It was a life
changing job that inspired him to take his training to the next
level with Mid-Cities Swim Team and set his sights on Olympic Trial
cuts. While learning the ins and outs of the tracking system,
he also logged hours upon hours of mastering hydrodynamics,
ascertaining underwater video and exhibiting expertise in
manipulation of the water to work for you; not against you.
At a young age, Coach Kennedy began
coaching group lessons to the beginner level of MCST.
Swimmers he directed in that group went on to become some of the
fastest swimmers in Texas because of the knowledge he instilled at
the early stages of their career. You can still find some of them
on the record boards at their respective high schools.
In two short years Coach Kennedy
earned himself a full scholarship to college and some pretty fast
times in the freestyle and butterfly sprints. Everything was
falling into place when the unthinkable happened. Coach
Kennedy was hit by a drunk driver and severely injured. Both
legs were broken with multiple compound fractures, head fracture,
loss of hearing in one ear and ligament/tendon damage in both
ankles and shoulders. He went from training three times a day
to laying in a hospital bed 24 hours a day for two months.
Not knowing how to cope with the emotional and physical overload,
he turned to the only thing he knew: swimming.
The accident could have debilitated
him but instead it changed his life for the better. Not only
did it give him a new found appreciation for life, it taught him
how to deal with many levels of emotion and pain that laid the
foundation of successful coaching. Not only is he one of the
best technical coaches in the nation, he now knows what physical
pain is and how to rehab and deal with it to continue a healthy
swimming career.
One of the biggest coaching obstacles
is keeping swimmers healthy and listening to what the body is
telling you. Most "old school" coaches believe the more
yardage, the better. Coach Kennedy believes this leads to
injuries and, in the worst cases of over training with no technical
instruction, surgery.
After physical recovery from his
accident, Coach Kennedy decided a change of scenery would be best
and moved to Los Angeles. He was Head Coach of two teams in the LA
area: the Hollywood YMCA and the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.
He was invited to be a coach of 15-18 year old boys in the
California All-Star meet during his first year of coaching in
southern California. Coached Kennedy produced some of the
fastest swimmers in Southern California during his time as Head
Coach for both teams.
After his reign in California led him
back to Texas in 2006, he instructed swimmers at Dallas Athletic
Club as Aquatic Director/Head Swim Coach. After the
summer was over, he began his four year stint with The Dallas
Mustangs. As an Assistant Coach he led the bronze group and
set his sights to get the kids swimming as fast as possible.
After the short course season was over and other coaches noticed
what he was capable of, Coach Kennedy was asked to coach two
different groups in The Dallas Mustang organization. His
cutting edge technique and knowledge of the sport was like nothing
the swimmers or parents had ever witnessed. Along with
training the bronze and silver groups, he was hired by swimmers on
the gold and national teams as well. Most of the swimmers that
trained with Coach Kennedy are now swimming at the top of their
game and can still be seen implementing the knowledge passed on
from him. Swimmers of all levels request private
lessons and video taping to get that extra edge that wasn't
available otherwise.
After starting a new DASA summer
league team, he decided to take a year off from USA Swimming to
regroup and strategize his next plan of attack. In the fall
of 2011, he commenced the new USA Swimming club ELITE SWIM
PROGRAM. ESP has some of the fastest swimmers in the state in
all age groups.
As the client list gets bigger,
swimmers spread the word about Coach Kennedy’s authority in
swimming and Coach Kennedy could not be happier training these
athletes to achieve their goals.
Come to a practice and see for
yourself why people are talking! Coach Kennedy believes in stroke
specific training and practicing with a purpose. Each set is
designed to simulate race strategy in some way. He believes
you should benefit with every stroke, kick, turn, start and
finish! If it's worth doing, then it's worth doing
right! At ESP, we do it RIGHT!
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