On the Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Academy, he said, “It is going really well. Ever since I retired after the 2004 Olympic Games, the Swim Academy has been a pretty a successful venture for me. My focus has been running the business, and building the Swim Academy. My goal is to teach children water safety and instill a love for swimming to them. I look forward to continue doing so. I wake up every morning with that type of energy in fulfilling these goals.”
Krayzelburg continued, “It’s a tremendous honor to do something I love with the Swim Academy, and it’s an incredible opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives by teaching children water safety. It’s a great way to love swimming.”
Regarding the key to longevity in swimming, he said, “Listening to your body. Understanding what works and what doesn’t work. Every year you need to evaluate the season and the performances, and see how you can improve and take care of your body. Obviously, staying healthy is the most important thing. Knowing when to push and when to pull back. It is important not to over-train, and to have constant communication with the coach that you work with. Those are the things that help with longevity in the sport.”
At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Krayzelburg won the gold in the 100 meter backstroke, the 200 meter backstroke, as well as the 4 x 100 meter medley; moreover, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, he won the gold in the 4 x 100 meter medley for Team USA. He is also a former world record holder in the backstroke. “It was definitely pretty special to win the gold medals. It’s a long and curvy road to get to the top. Knowing that you reached the top is extremely gratifying. It took a lot of grind and hard work to reach that,” he said.
For aspiring swimmers, Krayzelburg said, “Believe in yourself and work hard. Always do it with a smile on your face. Ultimately, if you want to accomplish anything in your life, it’s going to be a challenge and there’s going to be a lot of competition. If you have the right attitude, patience and persistence, the sky’s the limit.”
“Thank you for your support. Hopefully, I didn’t disappoint them,” he told his dedicated fans. “I hope to keep going, and continue to be the best I can be.”
Digital transformation of aquatics
On the impact of technology on aquatics, he said, “The sophistication in how advanced the suits are, and their designs, helps overall. There is a lot more focus on the analytics on the races and watching a lot more videos, and looking at the analytics and the speeds. We started to tap into bio-mechanical analysis in 2000 and 2001. I applied a lot of that in my career. I was certainly one of the first to do so. I call myself a ‘dinosaur’ in that sense. Now, it is so prominent and such a big part of racing, and rightfully so. It should be. It’s not just moving your arms as fast and you can. You need to be smart about it, especially if you have data to back it up. They measure distance per stroke, and speed, and you can compare yourself to your competitors. That is important since it gives you a chance to study your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses. When you are in the world class level, you need to absorb it all in. You need to have everything covered!”
Krayzelburg continued, “In the Swim Academy, we use technology for the training purposes of our instructors. We do record our children’s swimming, depending on what skills we teach, and we use that for training purposes, to identify the children’s strengths and what they need to improve.”
On his definition of the word success, the backstroke king said, “Knowing that you’ve given your all every single time the challenge was ahead of you.”
To learn more about the Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Academy, check out their official website, and Facebook page.
