Bill Rose is Chloe Sutton's team coach at the renowned Mission Viejo Nadadores in Southern California, and one of the USA Olympic Swim Team coaches, but it will be Paul Asmuth who will be handing Chloe her drinks from the feeding station during the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. Asmuth, USA Olympic Swim Team's Open Water Chief of the Mission, knows very well what Chloe and her marathon swimming competitors are going through, both in practice and during a race.
BTO (before the Olympics), Asmuth traveled from Baja California to the Nile River to compete and win prize money as the world's dominant pro marathon swimmer for nearly a decade. While he is still widely-recognized in foreign cities from Quebec to Italy where he was so dominant in the 1980's, he came three decades too early for his own personal Olympic glory.
Asmuth was well-known at Mission Viejo where he also trained like Chloe and on the world's professional marathon swimming circuit for his ability to withstand hours of pain.
"I recall in 1984 when he was injured, he decided to swim the 22-mile Atlantic City race. The water dropped down to 55-57 in the ocean and he won the race going away," recalled one of his competitors. "It was amazing; his shoulders were shot before he got in the freezing water for hours and he still beat the world's swimmers."
That's what Asmuth did as an athlete and that's the experience that he can discuss first-hand with Chloe to help her prepare for her own Olympic glory.
Photo by Pei Qingsheng shows Asmuth handing Chloe a bottle during the Olympic 10K qualification swim on the Beijing course.
No comments:
Post a Comment