Most speakers in this field cite the research. I’ve run it.
For thirty years I have worked on two questions: what deep water does to the human body, and what separates athletes who win repeatedly from athletes who win once.
I answered both with original research — a doctoral study at Boston University on the factors of winning among elite alpine ski racers, and a study with the University of Connecticut School of Physical Therapy on deep water exercise and knee osteoarthritis. And I am still testing both, every day, coaching in the water at Swymfit®, the club I founded and still run.
I speak to rooms full of professionals: aquatics directors, club operators, coaches, trainers, sports organizations. They do not need to be inspired. They need something they can put to work on Monday.
Deep water exercise and aquatic programming
For: aquatics and fitness industry conferences, club and association meetings, professional education days.
Deep water is the most underused asset in the fitness industry. It reaches the members land training cannot hold — joint pain, mobility limits, post-surgical recovery, the 55-plus demographic — and it conditions elite athletes at intensities their joints will not tolerate on the ground. Most facilities own the asset and program it as a swim lane.
These sessions cover what the water actually does physiologically, where the research stands, and how the programming works in a real club with real revenue targets.
What actually separates champions
For: ski clubs and coaching associations, sports organizations, athletic departments, coach education programs.
My doctoral research asked elite alpine ski racers a direct question: what did the ones who won repeatedly have that the ones who won once did not? The answer was not talent, and it was not training volume. That research became The Champion’s Way.
These sessions are for the people building athletes — coaches, program directors, and the parents they have to manage.
Also: performance and “striving to be your best” for non-athletes
The same research on what separates repeat winners translates directly to sales teams and leadership groups. Most recently delivered to the sales team at the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
“I really enjoyed the presentation. I have heard a lot of keynote speakers at big events and I would put you right up there with any of them.”
Why me
I ran the research, I did not just read it.
A doctoral study of elite alpine ski racers at Boston University. A deep water and knee osteoarthritis study with the University of Connecticut School of Physical Therapy. When I make a claim from the stage, I can tell you exactly where the number came from.
I operate what I am describing.
Swymfit® is one of the first health clubs in the country built around water exercise as the primary modality. I am not theorizing about club-based aquatic programming — I am running one, and I will tell your audience what did not work as readily as what did.
Elite athletes and 80-year-olds, same framework.
I conditioned U.S. Ski Team athletes through an Olympic cycle. I also coach members with knee osteoarthritis who want to keep walking their own stairs. Very few people in this field have credibility in both rooms, and the crossover is where the useful material is.
I am still in the field, not retired into speaking.
Three to four conferences a year as an attendee, plus current research. I know what your audience already heard last year, and I am not going to repeat it back to them.
Your audience leaves with something to do.
Every session ends with specifics — programming, progressions, staffing, sequencing. Applause is nice. Implementation is the point.
Formats
- Conference keynote
- Breakout or educational session
- Half-day professional development or staff in-service
- Panel participation
- Virtual sessions and webinars
Audiences served
- Aquatics and fitness industry conferences and associations
- Health clubs, YMCAs, and multi-site operators
- Ski clubs, coaching associations, and sports organizations
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation professional groups
- Corporate sales and leadership teams
Background
Doctorate in Human Movement, Boston University, 1999
Doctoral research on the factors of winning among elite alpine ski racers
U.S. Ski Team conditioning coach, through the 1988 Olympic cycle
15+ years working with Dr. Igor Burdenko; Burdenko Method Certified
Founder and developer of Swymfit®, Boxborough, Massachusetts
Co-researcher, University of Connecticut School of Physical Therapy — deep water exercise and knee osteoarthritis
Author, The Champion’s Way
Featured in Health & Fitness Business, the publication of the Health & Fitness Association
Let’s talk about your event
Tell me who is in the room and what you need them to walk out with, and I will tell you honestly whether I am the right person for it.
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617-699-4269