Camana Bay, Grand Cayman: Earlier this month, Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC) swim coaches Dave Bott and Caleb Miller headed to New Orleans, LA to take part in The American Swimming Coaches Association’s 45th Annual World Clinic. The event took place Tuesday 3 – Sunday 8 September 2013.

The World Clinic, one of the most prestigious learning events in professional swimming, provides swim coaches from around the world with more than 300 hours of educational opportunities, including lectures, workshops, classes and poster presentations, and covers Learn to Swim through Olympic training levels. Amongst an impressive roster of guest speakers at this year’s clinic was Bob Bowman, coach to record- breaking American swimmer Michael Phelps, and Catherine Vogt, coach to three-time Olympic medalist Oussama Mellouli.

“The World Clinic is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for coaches from around the world to get together for learning, networking and to talk swimming,” explains Coach Caleb Miller. “This was our first time attending the clinic and, as coaches, a chance to catch up on the latest teaching trends and best practices, meet other swim coaches and learn from some of the leading swim professionals in the world.” Topics covered included athlete training, research, programme administration and operation, bio-mechanics and coaching philosophy to name but a few.

Highlights for Miller included an interactive session with Bob Bowman, North Baltimore Aquatic Club head coach and past coach to 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. It was under Bowman’s tutelage that Phelps won five World Championship gold medals and was named American Swimmer of the Year

2001 and 2003. Bowman also saw Phelps win eight medals, including six gold medals and two bronze, at the 2004 Olympic Games, and eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics – a feat never before achieved in Olympic history. “Bob is truly one of the best coaches in the world. It was exciting to gain insight into his training methods and philosophies, from injury prevention to nutrition to training practices,” says Miller.

Coach Dave Bott took advantage of the clinic’s diverse schedule to learn more about dry land training. “Dry land training is just as important for swimmers as the training that takes place in the water,” explains Bott. “I recognized an opportunity to learn more about a specific training area in order to better complement what we do in the pool and sea, as well as broadening my own skills and expertise as a swim coach.”

Bott enjoyed taking part in a session on open water swimming with University of Southern California Coach Catherine Vogt. “Catherine spoke about her experiences training long-distance swimmer Ous Mellouli, which was hugely beneficial to us as we start our preparations for CBAC’s annual Open Water Swim Series, taking place in February next year,” he says. “Hearing how she prepares a world-class athlete for such events gave us a host of new training ideas for our swimmers, who are just starting out in open water swimming.” The talk was particularly poignant for the Cayman coaches; Mellouli visited the Cayman Islands last year to take part in the 2012 Pirate’s Week 5K Swim.

“The World Clinic is renowned for its amazing speakers and serves as a great learning tool for coaches,” says CBAC President Jeffrey Wight. “At CBAC, we are committed not only to the professional and personal development of our swimmers, but also our coaches, through on-going training and education opportunities like the World Clinic. I’d like to thank CIASA for their continuous support of CBAC, and for helping us to send our coaches to this great event. Dave and Caleb are now putting their learnings into practice, and I’m looking forward to seeing the benefits to our club as we continue to grow and develop.”

For more information on the Camana Bay Aquatic Club, visit camanabayaquaticclub.com, email [email protected] or call 345.640.2878. To stay up to date with all the latest Club happenings, like Camana Bay Aquatic Club on Facebook and follow @CBAC_Cayman on Twitter.

Photo Caption: Coach Dave Bott prepares CBAC swimmers for the start of the club’s 2013 Open Water Swim Series.