· Nadandolibre · Coach Stefan Lurz·

Nadandolibre 1- Could you tell us how a coach like yourself can lead a talented swimmer to the victory?

Stefan Lurz · 1- It`s all about motivation. Talented athletes are unique individuels. Many of them have a hard time motivating themselves since thinks generally come very easy to them. Therefore you have to find the right stimulation to trigga their inner will to win.

Nadandolibre 2- "The most difficult batlle I have it everyday against myself" (said Napolean). At competitive swimming and being the first at world level with whom do you fight the hardest batlles? Against yourself or against others?.

Stefan Lurz · 2- In my oppinion worldclass athletes are very aware of themselves and their most important rivals. They have an innate talent to know when it`s time to turn in on in training.

Nadandolibre 3-. How do you structure the annual swim competition?

Stefan Lurz · 3- The mayority of the competitions such as the trials e.g. are fixed dates in our competitiv calender. In addition the major competitions i do my best to find additional "check-point-meets" to find out where my athletes are at at any given time in season.

Nadandolibre 4- At the most important competitions you can find the most talented and trained swimmers. How can you make the difference among the best?.

Stefan Lurz · 4- It`s very simple. The major competitions are 80 percent mental and they want it more then the rest.

Nadandolibre 5 - After so many sucesses in swimming as a coach how do you foresee the new coming of World Records?.

Stefan Lurz · 5- Technology has played a big roll in reason swimming history.The future with the new suit regulations remains yet to be seen.

Nadandolibre 6- . What guidance would you give to new coaches so they can succeed at the top level regarding the optimal structure needed for that purpose?

Stefan Lurz · 6- First of all a solid 1500 plays a very big roll in marathon swimming. Come race day this will help the swimmer to be ready to react to all different tactics of his competitors and it will also help a very strong finish.

Nadandolibre 7. -What is the real importance of tactics and strategies in world top swimming competitions?

Stefan Lurz · 7- .In open water races the tactics are very important.the swimmer must be able to swim different speeds during the whole race.and the swimmer need a lot of experience and a feeling for the 10km race.also the swimmer must be able to swim top speed at the end and find the best way to the finish.a clever and good strategie is very important and the swimmer need to practise this in training and races.

Nadandolibre 8.- How do you keep your swimmer stimulated to work harder when he/she is working at near maximum levels?

Stefan Lurz · 8.- Its important to remember the targets what we have.olympic games or world championships and to get this you must work very hard because all the rivals also do this.but also important is the fun sometimes during or after the training.the training group must be good so they motivate them each other.

Nadandolibre 9-. What is your best advise, as a coach for this problem that often arises to young coaches.

MOST OF MY SWIMMERS ARE AMONG 12 and 14 YEARS OLD BUT I HAVE A VERY 13 YEARS OLD TALENTED SWIMMER IN ALL STROKES AND REALLY RESISTANT IN LONG DISTANCES: I HAVE THEM ALL TOGETHER TILL NOW FOLLOWING THE ANNUAL PLANIFICATION.

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND? TO FOCUS PARTICULARLY ON THE MOST DEVELOPED ASPECTS OF HIS TALENT OR KEEPING HIM WITH THE REST FOR THE TIME BEING?

Stefan Lurz · 9- Its improtant that this guy will stay in the group and learn how to train and get all the technical things.when he is getting older then its good to specialies his training.in yound age its good to let him swim also the longer things even he is middle distance swimmer.

Nadandolibre 10- How do you split (%) your swim training between polls and OW?

Stefan Lurz · 10- We dont train in open water at all because the conditions are everytime different.before the race the swimmers swim the course and they getting used to this and tehn know the circut well.training in the pool is necessary because you can compare and you have exactly meters,time etc.

Nadandolibre 11-. What is your opinion regarding swim paddles? Do your swimmers train with it? Do you use it very intensively? Are you in favor of using it with younger ages? Since how young of age?

Stefan Lurz · 11 -. We swim a lot with finger paddles but not so often with big paddles.some swimmers can get problems with shoulder or elbow.with finger paddles it isnt like this.but then we also swim main sets with this.

Nadandolibre 12-. Do you prefer a 2 beat kick or 6 beat kick pattern with OW swimming? Does it depend very much of the swimmer? Do you use different kicking patterns for different race strategies?

Stefan Lurz · 12-

14.For ow its good when you can swim both.at the finsish for sure its good to swim 6 beat kick.the final sprint makes big difference.during the race its good to swim 2 beat kick and save power.but all the same its different from swimmer to swimmer.

Nadandolibre 13- An old chinese proverb states that "time is gold" and so an inch of time is an inch of gold. What really means to you 1/100 of a second?

Stefan Lurz · 13-1/100 Can decide from winning or being second!even in open water in long races.i saw this a lot times in history of this sport.but all the same then you need also a little bit luck;)

· Jose Diaz ·
     · Translator Nadandolibre:  Alessi Perez ·