Chad Le Clos has a couple new coaches and neither of them are from South Africa: Andrea Di Nino of Italy and Bobby Hurley of Australia are headed to Cape Town.
In 2005, Andrea Di Nino created the A.D.N Swim Project, the first European program for international swimmers in his native Italy. His team has helped develop many of the world’s best sprint butterflyers: Milorad Cavic (Serbia), Evgeny Korotyshkin (Russia), Andrej Govorov (Ukraine), and Jason Dunford (Kenya).
Bobby Hurley will be running the day to day on-deck responsibilities as “Performance Manager”. Hurley recently wrapped up his swimming career at FINA SC World Champs in Canada. His reputation, from what I’ve heard, is that he is the epitome of a swimnerd. He eats, sleeps, and shits swimming. He’s a ferocious reader and student of the sport.
So what is next? If Di Nino takes the same approach as he did at ADN, I can only assume the first weeks will include meetings to assess and evaluate Le Clos:
1. check swimming background
2. set personal goals
3. undergo a battery of tests
This will allow Di Nino, Hurley, and the rest of their team to create a specific, individualized prescription. This would include…
1. necessary physio work for flexibility and proper posture (ultimately leading to better technique in all facets)
2. the creation of a strength training/drylands program
3. video analysis for evaluation of stroke technique and power
4. nutrition, recovery, and hypoxic/hypercapnia training plans
Andrea Di Nino discussed the “Science and Innovation of Sprint Coaching” at the FINA Swimming Coaches Golden Clinic in 2014. This is an intriguing look into the data-driven, team-centered approach that Di Nino fosters.
“Everybody must be a team player…it’s important that everyone knows what to do in the beginning of the season and they know how to share data and information during the season.”