Pablo Morales Lord Of The Flow
-An interview with swimmer Pablo Morales.
by :Cecil M. Colwin
From tiny splash to big splash that's the
story of Pablo Morales, who was destined to become one of
the most consummate manipulators of the flow in the history
of butterfly swimming.
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Yes, the career of this future Olympic champion started with
a small splash and in fact,with a series of small splashes.The
tall thin kid with the Latin good looks delighted in splashing
the others in his beginner class.Pablo wanted them to share in
the fun of being in cool water on a hot afternoon.
"I was a terror during those swim lessons," says Pablo.
"I didn't really listen. I'd splash the other kids. I failed
my first three beginning lessons because I couldn't do what was
then called the "elementary backstroke," which was an
odd sort of a drill, but one you had to master in order to pass.
Finally, on my fourth attempt, I succeeded."
"I look back on those days with amusement, but it does show
that, when you're starting out, just because you don't have a
great feel for it, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't
achieve a certain level in the sport."
"Tadpole" Days
Pablo Morales was born in Chicago, but when he was eighteen months
old, his family moved to California, the lotus land of swimming.
As children, both parents had nearly drowned on the beaches of
Cuba, so they made sure that Pablo and his sister learnedwater
safety by enrolling them in a summer club program.
Once both children had become safe in the water, Pablo's parents
thought that it "would be healthy, and a good idea"
for them to join a year round swim team, so they joined the nearby
Santa Clara Swim Team.
Pablo, then eight years old, was placed in the tadpole group,
and, even there, in the lowest tier of the great Santa Clara hierarchy,
the kids were pretty advanced. And, at a time when Pablo wasn't
feeling all that secure abouthimself, it was John Spencer, his
first coach at Santa Clara, who made swimming a lot of fun, with
the result that Pablo soon] began to feel at home among his peers.
Spencer wisely allowed Pablo to develop slowly, and to improve
at his own rate. This was important to him at a time when he didn't
believe that he had any more natural ability than the next person
in the group. Young Pablo learned early on that he had to work
hard for every ounce of success that came his way.
Pablo Morales more recently
Pablo's next coach at Santa Clara was the age group coach, Bill
Thompson. "He really taught me how to improve my workout
habits,and he was just a really great age group coach for me.
Bill Thompson continued along the same lines as John Spencer,
making it a lot of fun, but Bill had more of a coach's whip edge
to him. Even though he had great sense of humour, and made everything
fun, he nevertheless taught us how to really apply ourselves in
given sets."
By the age of nine, Pablo had learned to swim all four strokes.
As a nine year old, he still hadn't become particularly adept
at any one stroke. But, at the age of ten, his butterfly started
to show real promise. Says Pablo,"I worked a lot on it. It
didn't come to me right away but when I started doing it well,
I began to like it. I swam my first double A time in the 50 fly.
As a result, I developed an affinity as well as an affection for
butterfly."
Inspired by Mark Spitz
Pablo's first memories of competive swimming were of Mark Spitz's
successes at the Munich Games. Mark Spitz inspired many swimmers
of that era, and none more than the young Pablo Morales. "I
remember Mark Spitz swimming in Munich before I had really gotten
into swimming. Every day, I followed his progress, and the media
seemed to highlight his butterfly races because, although he was
the world's champion freestyler, his butterfly was considered
his real forte. His butterfly made a big impression on me."
"Later I met Mark Spitz at the 1984 Olympic Trials, and
I spoke to him briefly. I had naturally drifted towards butterfly
because of his influence, and because, after a couple of years,
my butterfly was improving fairly rapidly."
When Pablo moved up to the senior team at Santa Clara, he came
under the tutelage of Mitch Ivey, who by then had become head
coach after the departure of George Haines, the man responsible
for building the great Santa Clara dynasty.
Mitch Ivey coached Pablo for four years until he was 16, when
Ivey left to coach at Pleasant Hill Swim Team. But, at the age
of 18, during the summer following Pablo's graduation from high
school, Pablo rejoined Mitch Ivey at Concord to prepare for the
1983 nationals at Clovis.
Pablo freely acknowledges Mitch Ivey's contribution to his development
as an athlete. "He gave me the skills, not only the physical
skills to do well, but also the confidence that I could compete
at an elite level."
First World Record
Pablo's first world record came in 1984 when he swam the 100
butterfly in 53.38 seconds in Indianapolis.
"I had missed setting the world record the year before by
about six hours," quipped Pablo."This was at the 1983
long course nationals at Clovis, California. Matt Gribble set
a world record of 53.34 in the morning, and at night, we were
both under the old world record by a couple of tenths of a second,
with Matt winning the race by two one hundredths of a second.
So I guess you could say that I missed the record by six hours!"
"That year the nationals at Clovis represented a breakthrough
for me. I had made nationals before, and had qualified for the
finals. But that was the meet where I started butting heads with
individuals who really were my heros; people like Craig Beardsley,
Matt Gribble, Bill Barrett, and Ricardo Prado in the I.M."
"I was stepping up, and starting to compete at close to
the same level. This was a big breakthrough for me at that time,
and a great motivation to try even harder."
"Seven League Boots"
I told Pablo that I remembered the first time I saw him swim.
It was in the early 1980s at Indianapolis, and he was practising
his kick in a side lane. I was walking along the side of the pool,
and was amazed at the power of his kick, and how far his body
shot forward with each kick. I remember mentioning to someone
that "this fellow swims like the legendary giant with seven
league boots"
But Pablo insists that his strong kick did not come naturally
to him."I don't think I really had a great kick. Early on,
I just had this single beat kick, and this sort of hitch in my
stroke, this little squirmy hitch,trying to do a two beat kick.
You know that little hitch stroke that kids do, when they're trying
to learn a double beat kick; they kick out in front, and then
they pull through, and they kick again, but the hands won't come
out of the water (laughs)... you know that kind of thing... well,
I was doing a lot of that."
Pablo said that the development of his kick, getting distance
per kick on the downbeat and the upbeat, was the result of a comment
made to him by George Eadington, who coached him as a 13 year
old, when he made the senior development team at Santa Clara,
and first started doing twice daily workouts.
"But first let me tell you that, of all my years in swimming,
this was a very tough year. The transition from 11-12, into the
13-14 group was tough. I had grown taller, but not really filled
out, and so improvement was very difficult, and really didn't
come that quickly as a 13 year old, plus it was a tough transitional
year in terms of double workouts. George was a great coach, but
he really was a taskmaster. As I say, it was a difficult season
to get through."
"But, back to the point; just casually, during one workout,
when we were doing a kick set, George mentioned how one swimmer
he used to coach had such an amazing kick because, not only did
he have a remarkable downbeat, but he got so much out of his upbeat
as well. I'm sure he intended this comment as a correction for
me to follow out, but I just said, 'Hey! I can do that too!'"
Dolphin Kick on the Back
Pablo worked hard to achieve a full and balanced kick. He also
started doing dolphin kick while lying on his back. "I don't
know if it was Mitch's idea or if it was George's idea, but I
started kicking on my back, and, after a while, I did all my kicking
on my back. And, don't forget, this was the guy who couldn't pass
his 'elementary backstroke' as a beginner!
"For many years, all I knew was that when it was time to
kick, I never grabbed a kick board. I just got into my streamlined
position on my back, and just cranked out upside down kicking
sets."
Pablo explained that, when he kicked on the board, he did a strong
downbeat, but tended to relax on the upbeat. However, when kicking
on his back, he didn't forget about the upbeat, which was now
actually the downbeat when he was on his back. In fact, he emphasized
it more when on his back. "I believe it gave me better balance
between my downward beat and my upward kick. Not only that, it
was a great workout for the abdominal muscles, and it also helped
my streamlining."
Pablo said that a butterfly swimmer definitely gets more thrust
out of the downbeat, but kicking on the back helps to get the
feet up. "Not only was I getting some propulsion from my
upbeat, but it really helped me to get my feet up quickly, and
ready for a powerful downbeat, which is the most propulsive part
of the kick."
To Undulate or Not?
I asked Pablo whether he agreed that today's fly swimmers tended
to use less body undulation,and concentrated on starting the dolphin
motion from the hips down. Pablo said that Pankratov stays very
low in the water on his breathing cycle. When he is swimming on
top of the water, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference
between his breathing and non-breathing cycles. There is very
little extraneous undulation from the waist up.
Told that the Australian, Scott Miller, also seems to use less
body undulation,Pablo said that he hadn't had the opportunity
to study Miller, but that he thought too much hip undulation could
induce drag.
"I think that too much undulation, especially for sprint
fly, can put you at a disadvantage against somebody whose front
end of the body is more in alignment, without too much up and
down motion."
Asked what he thought were the key points of butterfly, Pablo
said, "Looking back over the years, I always thought that
a high hip position kept my body in alignment. I guess there's
a debate about kicking, and whether one should overkick or not
overkick; whether kicking too hard is a bad thing.
"One thing that most people will agree on is having a high
hip position. In workouts, I practised getting a high hip position
by emphasizing the entry point of my hands. As my hands ride forward
for a while, before the catch phrase, my hips were forced up."
Asked if pushing the hips up, as the hands enter, causes the
first downward kick to just happen, Pablo said, "Yeah, early
on, I always thought about forcing the hips up, but, as an older
swimmer, as a 27 year old, coming back into the sport, and always
learning something new, and getting to know Bill Boomer a little
bit, I understood from him that a good high hip position is also
attained by 'pressing the T.' By the "T," I mean the
lateral spread of the arms at the entry, and the line that crosses
from chin to belly button and from shoulder to shoulder. That
makes a lot of sense, if you're pressing the "T" out
in front, it's only natural that your hips will stay high in the
water."
The Entry and Body Position
We discussed Mary T. Meagher's beautiful stroke, and how, as
her arms enter, her hands actually seem to be higher than her
elbows, and she looks almost like a giant condor about to launch
itself from a cliff to soar out over the ocean. Pablo agreed,
and said: "I'll tell you who had the most natural high hip
position, without having a lot of leg drive, was Summer Sanders.
Her balance forward was amazing; the fulcrum at her hips brought
her naturally so high out of the water."
Pablo at the World Champs in Madrid, 1986
Asked if he allowed his chest to submerge lower than his elbows
at the entry Pablo said, "I can only answer your question
by making the motion now, as I talk to you, visualizing what I
do in the water. I can only guess without having looked at it
on video, nor having specifically concentrated on it, and I feel
like it does; I feel my chest does go lower than my hands, maybe
slightly, but, mind you, not so much that the elbows drop. I had
a tendency to over-reach, as a 16 or 17 year old, because I always
thought that length equalled efficiency."
"I did that to such an extreme that I was overextending
my arms and slipping at the front end of my stroke, and, at that
point, I was getting some elbow drop."
I asked Pablo if he was entering his arms then waiting out front
too long. "Yes, and I would be slipping water and over-reaching
so much that my elbows would drop slightly. I wasn't getting anything
out of the catch that I could grab."
Pablo said that he swam everything in training, "a lot of
freestyle, a lot of I.M. work, even though, as a 13 to 15 year
old, I didn'tcompete in the 800 and the mile, but I trained different
sets using these as multiples,and I tried to enter in a lot of
events in some meets, using them as training meets. I would enter
the mile, and I would enter the 800, but, as I got older, this
became less and less frequent."
Asked what he thought was the difference in arm posture between
the crawl arm entry and the butterfly arm entry, Pablo replied
that he thought the arm is straighter in the butterfly entry.
"When I recover my arms, and when they enter the water,
I tell myself not to extend my arms too much, but to enter as
my thumbs slide into the water. Having watched myself swimming
on video, it looks as if my arms are extended as far as they can
go without really over-reaching. I feel as if my elbows are still
up, but not quite as high as when my hands enter the water. In
the butterfly entry, my arms probably extend more than they do
in the freestyle entry."
Commenting on the feel of the water during the butterfly entry,
Pablo said that he felt the water first on his hand, and then
on his forearm, as he started to reach forward into the catch.
"So, as my arms enter, I feel the water first on my thumbs,
then on my forefingers, then wrists, and forearms."
"Pablo Is A Gentleman Athlete," says George Haines
When I asked George Haines if he remembered Pablo when he was
a young swimmer at Santa Clara, George responded in typical fashion:
"Did I know Pablo? I've known him since he was knee-high
to a grasshopper!"
"When Pablo was going to pre-school, my son, Kyle, who is
the same age as Pablo, was there with him. It was right off the
campus at Santa Clara High School. I could look through the fence
of the athletic field at these kids at the nursery school. They
couldn't see me. I could watch Pablo and my son playing on the
swings together."
"Well when he was older,he swam for John Spencer at Santa
Clara, and then he swam in Bill Thompson's group. I was still
there, and then, in 1974, I went down to UCLA, and I think, a
year later or so, he went up to Mitch's (Mitch Ivey) group, and
Bill Thompson had him for a couple of years before I left. He
was some talent. They used to call me over and say:'Look at this
guy.' And I'd say 'Hey son, what's your name?' and he'd say: 'Pablo.'
And I'd say: 'Pablo, you keep at it!' "
"And then I left to go to UCLA. This boy became a gentleman
athlete, and I put him in the same class with Steve Clark and
Don Schollander. Pablo Morales never forgot his early coaches.
He remembers guys like John Spencer, and he remembers Bill Thompson.He
knows who the coaches were who gave him his background. When I
went to Stanford, my first year at Stanford, Pablo was a freshman
on the men's team. I was coaching the women's team, but Pablo
came over to me and started talking all about the Santa Clara
Swim Club, and what he did there, and who coached him. He never
forgot. He said 'I owe a lot to all those people, and to the Santa
Clara Swim Club. That guy's unbelievable!"
Goal-Setting on the Path to Success
Today,Pablo modestly insists that everything he achieved in competitive
swimming involved "only a little bit of ability," but
that the main ingredient to success lies in perseverance and realistic
goal-setting.
Pablo emphasizes that improvement didn't always come right away.
For example, improving his butterfly action only came very gradually.
Pablo focusing before his race at the World Champs in 1986
Pablo set his goals at the beginning of each season. He stresses
that he didn't just set goals and forget about them. Each workout
demanded a specific mind-set.
Over time, Pablo learned how daily workout performance related
to the accomplishment of his goals.
"I had to always focus on my goals, on a daily basis, and
not only from day to day, and from week to week, but also from
each training set to the next,and from repeat to repeat."
Pablo says that he thought constantly about his goals, and what
he needed to do to achieve them. In time he developed a workout
focus that helped him improve, and produce the kind of effort
that yielded positive results. More than anything, it was this
approach that eventually contributed to Pablo Morales'success
as an athlete.
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