Coaching Athletes

Kim Brackin is one of the greatest swim coaches in the world. Coach to 7 Olympic medals (two of those gold), 13 World Championship medals (7 of those gold) and 4 Olympic Games - 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. Kim was the Women's Head Coach at the University of Texas: 2006-2012, where they won 2 Big 12 Championship titles and previous to that was the Co-Head Coach at Auburn University from 1997-2005 where they Won 7 NCAA Championship titles. Kim was named 2002 NCAA Swimming Coach of the Year and in 2003 the SEC Swimming Coach of the Year.   Kim owns and operates the state of the art swim training facility - Brackin Elite Swim Training, and she’s been incredible on the AnyQuestion platform answering 100s of questions.   With over 20 years of collegiate swim coaching experience, Kim Brackin has proven her dedication to helping swimmers reach their potential as elite athletes. Her passion has driven her to build her own business, Brackin Elite Swim Training, so that she can provide one-on-one coaching to high-performance athletes using the latest technology.   Since opening her personal training facility in Austin, TX in 2012, Coach Brackin has coached National Junior Team members, Olympic Trials qualifiers, TAGS champions as well as swimmers just beginning their career! Coach Brackin is careful to ensure that she mentors all of her athletes within the same philosophy that helped her guide promising high school recruits to Olympic, World, NCAA, & Conference Champions. BEST was developed to help young athletes learn some of the same technical and racing strategies that helped her world-class athletes succeed.   Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26936856 "The Greg Bennett Show" -   AnyQuestion - Anyquestion.com/p_CoachBrackin   Find Kim Brackin on social media: Website: www.brackineliteswimtraining.com twitter: https://twitter.com/coachbrackin instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachbrackin facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kim.brackin   Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction to show. 2:00 - Interview starts 6:11 - Kim takes us back by rewinding the clock and describing her path as a young girl swimming led to a career in coaching. 9:15 - At what point did you say to yourself, "I'm actually pretty good at this" and know that it was a career path that you were fully invested in? 12:26 - What inspired you to pull the trigger and uplift and move to Auburn where you had such amazing success? 16:26 - When recruiting for NCAA swimming, was it a global search? 20:16 - What made Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe so good? 22:26 - What did you feel Kirsty needed from you above and beyond as a coach? 25:34 - With the Coach & Athlete relationship, obviously it varies greatly, how invested do you need to be? 33:15 - When you came to the end of your time in Texas, what were you looking to do next? 36:54 - We're seeing a lot of mental health challenges in athletes, particularly with college athletes. As a coach in that world, how do you find the balance of 'push' & 'hold back'? 44:43 - How do we get more women coaches into the NCAA system? 54:23 - What is the craziest thing you've ever tried in training or competition that has had the greatest marginal gain? 59:10 - Are there any favourite 'sets' that you had for distance swimmers v. sprint swimmers? 1:05:25 - When travelling around the world with your athletes, did you have a team that helped you manage long haul trips? 1:06:36 - What are your Top 3 Swim Coaches of all time? 1:08:33 - Who is the Greatest Athlete of All Time? 1:13:07 - What's next for Kim Brackin? 1:17:21 - Interview ends.