Loggerhead Aquatics: Training Philosophy

The Loggerhead Aquatics philosophy focuses on preparing swimmers for long-term success. Our practice group structure, age group developmental model, and training philosophy are designed with this goal in mind. 

We stress a program that emphasizes the future more than the present. We feel that the ideal age group swimming program should emphasize a strong component of technique work, individual medley training, and distance-based aerobic conditioning. As a swimmer grows and matures, his or her “best” stroke or event typically changes, which is why it is important for every age group swimmer to prepare for the individual medley and all distances of freestyle. If a swimmer is exposed to all strokes and distances from a young age, then he or she will be better prepared to compete successfully in whichever event ultimately becomes their “best” stroke/event in their future years.

In the sport of swimming, there are two major energy systems - aerobic and anaerobic. In preparing our program’s swimmers for middle distance/distance freestyle and the individual medley, our swimmers will build a sound aerobic base. Typically, swimmers that possess the strongest aerobic foundation will have a greater capacity to develop a strong anaerobic base, which is ultimately important for ALL events, but especially the 50’s and 100’s of each stroke. Therefore, with our training philosophy and approach, our coaching staff is confident that we are helping develop a more versatile swimmer capable of swimming all strokes and all distances. We feel that another significant advantage of developing a sound aerobic base is that it makes the execution of good stroke technique easier and more flexible to fine-tuning and enhancement in the future. Swimmers without a strong aerobic or distance base in their training, and particularly those who have done more sprint training in their younger years, appear to have more "fixed" strokes that are more resistant to changes in technique and further stroke refinement as they mature and grow. This may explain why aerobic-based age group swimmers, historically, have appeared to experience more steady improvement throughout their careers without the marked plateaus in development common to many other swimmers from around the country.

In athletics, nothing provides greater confidence than knowing you’ve done everything necessary to achieve your goals. We believe that our training program and developmental philosophy benefit young swimmers both physically and mentally, and that it best prepares them for longer and more successful careers in the sport of swimming.