Glenn Mills, a 1980 Olympian in the 200 breaststroke, has become the god of swimming videos, the master of showing "you" how to improve your stroke technique. Through his company, GoSwim, Glenn has produced best-selling swimming videos for swimmers who are serious about swimming proficiently.
Glenn, I love GoSwim! When do I get my GoSwim Lezak Video?
Say the word on the Lezak vid. You know we reserve some "press release" copies... but I'll see if I can get Jason to put his sig on it... as long as you promise not to sell it on e-Bay. He was just named one of the top 10 performances of the decade by the NY Times, so a signed copy will be a hot property. With the NY Times thing and his new baby, he'll be making a big effort to get the video back without baby powder on it.
You're a facebook guy with one of the best profile pics I've ever seen!
What was the inspiration behind your facebook photo?
That's very funny about the pic. I've thought of changing it a bunch of times, but then someone comments about it... so I've let it stay. The inspiration was the movie "Altered States", a 1980 movie that was kinda freaky.
That (the facebook profile picture) is from 1982 World Championships in Equador. We were doing all kinds of fun stuff with the cap, and from what I remember, a few of us actually put Kim Rhodenbaugh inside one of the caps. Those good old latex caps stretched a long way.
Let's get serious for a moment and talk swimming. Who got you started?
I'm the youngest of 3 boys, so I just went to the pool to be with my brothers. They both ended up being great swimmers with my oldest brother, Kevin, placing as high as 2nd at Senior Nats and being on the National Team. They broke the boundaries...I just did what they did.
Who inspired you to stay with swimming?
My biggest inspiration was my other brother Kyle.
He lost a two year battle with cancer when I was just a freshman in HS, and he was a Senior. I saw what people can endure, and it made the pain of swimming much easier. I did my best to never complain about 10 x 400's breast after watching him average 39 for nine holes of golf with one leg. Anything is possible. He showed me that.
Ok, the big question... How did you get through the anger and frustration after the 1980 Olympic Boycott? At the time, you were so young to be world-class, to be the best in your event!
1980 wasn't the worst part. As a senior in HS, and making the Olympic Team... you just figure you'll make it the next time. 1984 was the part that hurt. Missing the team by 5/10ths was initially very hard. However, I can now look back on my career with the knowledge that I did all I could. If it wasn't for my brothers, I would have never been as good as I was, so I'm very grateful for what I did achieve and made lifelong friends through it. Heck, I still hang out with John Moffet, and he's one of the guys that kicked me off the team in '84.... (and Richard Schroeder).
If you really want to read about the boycott, here's a great book featuring four swimmers, Craig Beardsley, Sue Walsh, Lisa Buese, and myself and with the initial mention of the boycott 30 years ago January 23rd... it's a good time to read it:
(Glenn with National Team alum, Clay Britt, way back when....)
Tell me about your NCAA success, coming back from 1980 and winning again, being the 1983 NCAA champ in the 200 breast.
I had a couple years where I was struggling and actually decided to quit. My Dad said one thing to me that I'll never forget, "we'll love you no matter what, but we've always tried to teach you it's better to quit when you're on top, not when you're on the bottom." I was back in the water within a couple days, worked extremely hard, and ended up winning a meet I didn't expect to win. Of course... then I didn't want to quit. My Dad was very sneaky that way.
Breaststrokers are a different breed. Are breaststrokers more sensitive to technique because they're pushing so much water?
Breaststrokers are simply more sensitive... so be kind with the rest of the questions. I think it takes a long time to be a great breaststroker. You have to realize it can't be all about the power, it's got to be about what you need to avoid. The harder you try, the more the water fights you. The goal has always been to develop a constant forward movement, and you have to be keyed in to wether the effort your putting in is productive, or destructive. It's a very fine line, always.
(Glenn with fellow breaststroke specialist and 4-time Olympic medalist, Brendan Hansen.)
Between coaching for so many years and ascending to the top in breaststroke, do you think you were destined to be the Dr. of stroke technique?
Well... I've never thought of myself as someone that knows a lot about technique, just as I've never thought of myself as a good swimmer. It's an insecurity issue I have... but it simply means I'm always looking for something that I can tell somebody that may help them. I make a point of never critiquing the Olympians I work with, but rather, trying to understand why they do what they do... so at some point, someone, somewhere, will swim like someone I've worked with... and I can help them acquire a technique they didn't know. I always do my best to tell who I've learned things from, and I think some of the athletes I work with think I'm trying to impress them... but I see it as a way to buy them in to the technique. Rather than it coming from some old dude, it becomes... THIS IS WHAT LEZAK DOES... it has MUCH more credibility... and Hansen, and Peirsol, and Beard, and Hoelzer, and Joyce... etc. etc. but especially Denniston!
What inspires you to come up with a new video?
Beauty and hunger. I absolutely love watching these athletes swim. It amazes me how fast and efficient they all are. I absolutely think that every athlete I see at that level has achieved a beauty the rest of us are striving for, and I love to show it. I also want to capture it for them... so they can show their kids or grandkids. The hunger part comes in because this is what I do for a living... so I gotta continue to produce to continue to eat, and you know me... I love to eat.
I think GoSwim Videos (and your website, and your youtube page, and your iPhone app) do more to broaden swimming's appeal than people realize. I've seen it firsthand. My wife bought a GoSwim video because she didn't want to look like a rec swimmer. She wanted to look like a champ. (It worked by the way.) Is a lot of your client-base like that?
Yes, and coaches. Barbara Hummel and I initially started the business for swimmers. We wanted to create videos that were made exclusively for swimmers. No talking heads on the screen... nobody standing in front of the camera telling you what to do, but rather, JUST the swimmers, and if possible, JUST the swimmers voices. As teachers and coaches, we started the Drill of the Week over 7 years ago to challenge ourselves. The short story is, in our desire to become the BEST teachers (why shoot for less right?), we'd put our thoughts and experiments on our website for everyone to see. When you go public with these things, and they don't work, people will call you out. We've had some really good ones, and some really bad ones... but we just keep trying. We now serve about 10,000 YouTube videos a day. We've put much of our stuff out there for free because we do believe a business needs to serve it's community as well as have a part that makes money. It can't be one way. That's just the way we think.
GoSwim is growing fast, especially considering you've only been in business seven years. What's the future of GoSwim? Get us excited. What do we have to look forward to?
The technique you need, when you need it, where you need it. As coaches and as swimmers, we know what we'd like to have at the pool with us, and with the many different opportunities that occur during a single practice... you're going to need some firepower in your hand, and in your mind, as both a swimmer and a coach. We're also going to be announcing our online evaluation system very soon, if we haven't already by the time this hits. It's just a simple way for people to upload a clip of video, and get some help with what they need to do to swim better or faster. Keep watching the site for that as well.
You're new iPhone app is awesome. (I got it and rated it after one day!) For folks who don't have it, explain all the GoSwim goodies they can get from their phone alone?
This app is our first venture into the mobile market. We're experimenting with what works, and with what doesn't. We're learning who wants what, and who wants it when. We're putting in bits and pieces and seeing what the response is from our friends. There are specific pictures in the app, that a coach can pull up at a moment's notice, turn the iPhone around, and show a swimmer who's still in the pool, "THIS is how I want your arm extended in freestyle." There are example videos in super slow motion that a coach, or swimmer can look at, and see details they can't see anywhere else... and it's in the palm of their hand. There is the daily news from the swimming community, we don't do news, but we READ the news... so we have a news aggregator with feeds from Swimming World, USA Swimming, Go Swim, and a few of our favorite blogs. Our daily Twitter feeds, with news from around the world about swimming, paralympics, olympics, triathlons... stuff that interests us on a daily basis. We've even linked about 50 of our YouTube videos into the app, categorized for easy locating of a freestyle, or breaststroke drill. While we know the app isn't perfect... HEY... it's FREE and we'll learn how to make it better.
Glenn, you're a great swimming ambassador and a friend. At what big swimming event will I be seeing you and GoSwim again?
Personally, I'm going to try some open water swimming this year. I've been spending some time with Fran Crippen lately (a DVD in production), and he's very inspiring. Barbara and I are both looking at a ridiculously long open water swim and I've entered myself into the Chesapeake Bay Swim. I'll also be at as many Swim Across America events as possible this year. It's a very easy connection to make especially since my brother Kyle was taken from us due to cancer, and some of my best Olympian friends, Janel Jorgenson and Craig Beardsley, run the events, it's become by far, the most important swims I do each year.
Gold Medal Media, LLC
Great interview with Glenn, I must confess I've known about GoSwim for 7 years but never really looked at it until the past few years and it has been great. My school, Fordham Prep, has now started to use the drills at our practices and we are seeing the results. We have won our league for the past 4 years. I must also say that this interview does not credit how much work Glenn and Barbara put into their work. They are constantly working on new videos, and updating the website from home. I havn't seen Glenn in a while but I know he works hard to make the videos and to edit them along with Barbara. And I know that Barbara works almost every moment she is up and she loves what she does. I'm her stepson. GoSwim is amazing.
Posted by: Miguel Hummel | February 01, 2010 at 07:48 AM
Great interview with Glenn! I just stumbled upon the Go Swim website a couple of years ago and was hooked immediately. The Go Swim videos are the BEST I have ever purchased. I keep buying them because I know they are of the highest quality. As a HS swim coach, Glenn & Barbara's stuff is easy to access and put into practice immediately. Keep it up - I love the "calmness" and serenity the surrounds all your work!
Posted by: clb | January 31, 2010 at 02:42 PM
Thx, Paul... Glenn's been a great mentor to many....
Posted by: GMM | January 24, 2010 at 07:16 PM
Nice article, Glenn is the real deal. One of the best guys you'll ever meet.
Posted by: Paul Reeder | January 24, 2010 at 06:21 PM