The USA Triathlon (USAT) Art & Science of Triathlon International Coaching Symposium wrapped up on Saturday, sending attendees home from the Hyatt Regency La Jolla armed with the knowledge to take their coaching practices to the next level.
“This is probably the greatest assembly of triathlon intellectual horsepower ever,” said USA Triathlon CEO Rob Urbach. “The amount of knowledge you get from having these experts all in one place is very beneficial to our coaches.”
Day one
Mike Reilly, the ‘Voice of Ironman’, kicked off the bi-annual event, which features two presentation tracks — one for experienced coaches working with advanced and ITU athletes and another for coaches working with beginner and youth athletes.
“It’s great to see our coaches focus on their continuing education and learn from the best in the industry,” said USA Triathlon High Performance General Manager Andy Schmitz. “More importantly, they network with each other. It’s as much about the networking as it is about what they learn.”
The first day was filled with presentations from experts in the sport, including Bobby McGee, Bob Seebohar, Robbie Ventura, Genadijus Sokolovas, Brad Carlson, Julie O’Neill, Barrie Shepley and Hunter Kemper.
“One of the things we decided this year was that we needed to bring in some different faces, some new names and branch away from the strictly triathlon mentality,” said USAT COO Tim Yount.
Diana Nyad’s keynote address wrapped up Day 1. Nyad recounted life events that shaped her resolve and captivated the audience with her high and low emotionally-charged stories. “We endure. You’re having a bad day, you’re not going to get your Olympic medal, but do you quit? No, you don’t quit. It’s the honour of the endurance athlete,” Nyad said.
Day two
On the final day of the two-day event, coaches had the opportunity to hear from Monique Ryan, Dr Max Testa, Gordo Byrn, Dara Wittenburg, Derek Grabert, Retül, Melissa Mantak, Mark Sortino, Peter Harsch, Sage Rountree, Dr Joe Vigil, Ian Murray and Scott Schnitzspahn.
The presenters covered topics ranging from fuelling and hydration to underperformer syndrome to paratriathlon training.
Renowned running coach Vigil, who has coached Olympic marathon medallists Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi, lectured the packed room on distance running and what coaches should emphasize in their work.
“You must believe and adhere to the principle of unending improvement and the setting and achieving of even higher goals,” Vigil said.
Art & Science, a bi-annual USAT event, attracted a record 246 attendees this year, up from around 150 in 2010.
“I can’t think of a better line-up of speakers, not just from triathlon but from cycling and nutrition and more,” said Linda Cleveland, USA Triathlon’s Coach Development Manager. “We brought people in who coaches don’t normally see when they go to a conference.”
USA Triathlon boasts nearly 2,300 certified coaches and three levels of certification. While triathlon is often viewed as a participatory sport for age-groupers, the importance of coaching should not be underestimated.
“You can give me a hammer, a backhoe, all the equipment and materials I need to build a house, but I’m not going to be able to build a house,” said coach Paul Hanft of Chicago, Illinois. “It’s kind of the same thing with the triathlon; we’re taking on three disciplines, and if you don’t come every day with a plan, you just flounder. You can waste a lot of time going down routes that really don’t work.”
