EP 67 (S2E15): Matthew Gearing Catawba College Head Coach || Pt. 2- Swim Science

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

He says a recruit can be fast enough and still be left out because of culture.

1. Swim Bros Podcast EP 67 (S2E15) centers on Matthew Gearing’s swim-science approach at Catawba College. 2. Matthew Gearing is the Catawba College head coach, and the host says he also talks shop with Herbie and Todd. 3. The episode asks how a college program organizes training, recruiting, and staff roles without relying on old-school yardage. 4. Gearing says Catawba is “quality over quantity” and splits swimmers into sprint, middle distance, and distance groups. 5. He says the distance group is doing more volume than last year, and that one meet has already shown better practice performance. 6. He argues that aerobic work still matters for sprint swimmers because a 100 freestyler may race prelims, finals, and the 4x100 free relay on the same day. 7. He uses an Israeli sprinter named Anya as an example, saying she went 50.6 in prelims, 50.2 in finals, and split 49 on the relay at conference. 8. Gearing says pounding swimmers with yardage is not always beneficial, because some athletes need a different mix of physiology, speed, and enjoyment. 9. He says the team is transitioning out of threshold and aerobic work in week seven and into heavier anaerobic work, speed, and racing. 10. He says sprint group does power and resistance twice a week, while the other groups do it once a week. 11. Tuesday is a team set where sprint, mid-D, and distance swimmers do the same work together. 12. He says the men and women practice separately on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and he thinks that setup helps both groups. 13. Gearing says his sprint, middle-distance, and distance groups now train eight or nine times a week, depending on the event group. 14. He says one swimmer did three or four summer practices of 10K, which led him to fit in more work for that athlete. 15. He says Destro power machines and double towers let him put 16 swimmers on resistance at once. 16. He compares double towers to traditional racks and says the racks cost more, hold one swimmer, and used to mean scraping rust and repainting them. 17. He says the strength coach runs the weight room, while he adjusts the pool plan when testing or fatigue needs to change. 18. The episode sounds conversational and practical, with long back-and-forth examples and coach-to-coach references to Bob, Herbie, Todd, and David. 19. Swimmers, parents, and coaches interested in Division II training structure would get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a general sports interview without coaching details will probably skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Swim Bros Podcast