Off The Blocks Swimming Podcast · Off The Blocks Swimming Podcast

Off The Blocks -REWIND with Stephan Widmar Part 2

·1 hr 9 min·4 clips

Libby Trickett took from 2002 to 2006 to win the first time.

1. Off The Blocks Swimming Podcast centers on Stephan Widmar's REWIND conversation about coaching elite swimmers across Australia. 2. Stephan Widmar is the guest and long-time coach; Robbie is the host who links the discussion to Australian swimming history and coaching practice. 3. The episode asks what it takes to coach swimmers who arrive from other programs and how a coach keeps improving after success. 4. Widmar says the first question is always "what's the story behind it?" and why the swimmer wants to change. 5. He describes a one-month trial period for top swimmers, where either the athlete or the coach can end the arrangement. 6. He uses a pyramid image to explain that every prior coach, from learn-to-swim through the last program, mattered to the swimmer's development. 7. He also says he would send swimmers to say hello to their old coach at the first competition to reduce psychological pressure. 8. Widmar says Liesl was a world record holder who had to learn how to perform at the right moment, not just swim fast in training. 9. He describes Montreal 2005, where Liesl lost the world record in the semi-final before the final was even raced. 10. He says the coach's task was to bring her back to her lane and keep attention on the "office" before comparing herself with others. 11. He calls the mind "the reality" and says the athlete's six inches between the ears determine how pressure is handled. 12. He says coaching requires thick skin because people talk, and a coach must tell the difference between criticism that is true and criticism that is not. 13. Widmar describes Christian Springer as the only swimmer he coached who could float badly because his legs were so heavy. 14. He says the suit era turned Springer from a 100-metre swimmer into a 200-metre world-record performer who still won bronze. 15. He says Mel Schlanger was one of the toughest athletes he coached and that health issues interrupted her career before she returned. 16. He says Libby Trickett was emotionally intense and could turn that energy into performance, but only after years of working through highs and crashes. 17. The conversation turns reflective and Widmar says he left Switzerland because he believed "there is more" and wanted to find out what Australia would offer. 18. He says he became an Australian citizen in early 2004 so he could be on an Australian Olympic team as an Australian if selected. 19. The tone is practical, reflective, and heavily focused on coaching decisions, athlete psychology, and specific race memories. 20. Coaches working with age-group or elite swimmers will get the most from it, while listeners wanting a race-by-race sports recap may skip it.

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