Wednesday 15 August 2012

BIOGRAPHY OF A WORLD CLASS GYMNASTICS COACH


Liang Chow


Liang Chow born January 1, 1968, Beijing is a former Chinese gymnast and the personal coach of the 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglas.

[edit]Growing up in Beijing, Chow was tapped by a district club at the age of 5 to train in gymnastics. He was on China's national gymnastics team for more than a decade, winning numerous national and international medals. However, he never competed in an Olympics; in 1988 he was too young to make the Chinese team, and before 1992 he suffered a back injury and retired from competition.He moved to the United States in 1991 on the suggestion of his aunt, who was working on her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He accepted an English scholarship and a position as an assistant coach for the University of Iowa's men's gymnastics program. Afterwards he accepted a coaching job for the women's program. Out of his work with female gymnasts, Chow decided to open his own gym to train gymnasts at a younger age, when they would be more flexible and open to learning new skills. He and his wife moved to West Des Moines, Iowa and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute on August 23, 1998. He expanded his operation to an 11 acres (4.5 ha), two-gym facility by 2003.

Chow was the personal coach of Shawn Johnson since 1998. He began working with Gabby Douglas in 2010. He is known for his fatherly affection toward his proteges.[2]

[edit]


Monday 13 August 2012

NIGERIA CAN WIN 10 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS IN SWIMMING


                                                          Michael Phelps
Reading this profile made me realise that there is a lot of opportunity for swimmer in the olympics. Do you know that there are 34 gold medals available to be won in swimming alone at the olympic games. This does not include diving and synchronised swimming. Nigeria has  only 2 gold medals since it started participating at the olympic games in 1960.

If we invest all the money we spend in the olympic games on swimming alone, in sixteen years, I am certain we would have swimming champions in Nigeria because we naturally have the energy all we need  now is training and hiring of world class coaches.

Winning medals at the olympics is about having world class coaches. For instance Iran won 4 gold medals at the olympics 3 from Wrestling. China won all the gold medals in Ping Pong (Table Tennis). Jamaica won 4 Gold medals all in the Sprint events. USA won 16 gold medals of the available 34 in swimming. All these feats were achieved because these countries had the best coaches who scouted for the right athletes in their given sporting event.

By the way swimming is not only for the white skinned folks. We used to think Gymnastics was for the white skinned folks until 16 year old Gabby Douglas made history by being the first black gold medalist for the USA at the london olympics.

Its all about focus and determination.


PROFILE OF AN AFRICAN SWIMMER FROM KENYA 


Jason Dunford

Country
Birth date and place
Age
28/11/1986 - Nairobi (KEN) 
25
Height
Weight
Gender
182 cm / 6'0" 
74 kg / 163 lbs 
M
Sport
DUNFORD Jason
RankEventYearLocationResult
Olympic Games
5100m Butterfly2008Beijing, CHN51.47
Heats100m Freestyle2008Beijing, CHN49.06
World Championships
4100m Butterfly2011Shanghai, CHN51.59
650m Butterfly2009Rome, ITA23.04
6100m Butterfly2009Rome, ITA51.07
750m Butterfly2011Shanghai, CHN23.60
Heats100m Freestyle2009Rome, ITA49.16
World Championships Short Course
7100m Butterfly2010Dubai, UAE50.79
Hobbies
"Back in Kenya I love to spend time by the ocean surfing and fishing. I also have a passion for wildlife and ecology in which Kenya is so rich. I enjoy reading on various subjects as diverse as evolutionary biology, the world food economy and African history, as well as a good novel now and then [Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy being the most recent]." (Swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010)
Occupation
Athlete
Education
Earth Sciences, Human Physiology - Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Language(s) spoken
Swahili
Club name
Stanford University / ADN Swim Project, United States
Coach
Andrea Di Nino [club], Fahkry Mansoor [national] (Swimnews.com, 05 Oct 2011;Sportsnewsarena.com, 02 Aug 2011)
Other sports
His younger brother David is also a Kenyan international swimmer. (FINA Aquatics World Magazine, 15 Aug 2010)
Additional information
Start of sporting career
He began swimming competitively at the age of five at Kenton College primary school in Nairobi. (FINA Aquatics World Magazine, 15 Aug 2010)

Reason for taking up this sport
His father introduced him and his brothers to water sports off the coast of Mombasa. (FINA Aquatics World Magazine, 15 Aug 2010)

Ambitions
Winning a medal at the Olympic Games in 2012. "Given that I will be 25 when the Olympics come around in London, I suppose it could be my best and last chance to win a medal." He also wants to open a swimming academy in Kenya. "I have held swimming clinics back home, in Italy and the US, but opening an academy [in Kenya] would be my ultimate dream." (gulfnews.com, 13 Oct 2011; swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010; en.beijing2008.cn, 20 Jul 2007)


Training
"I do five sessions of land work per week, three in the gym using weights, swim balls and medicine balls and two extra core workouts. Running, ergo rowing and cycling have also been a part of my training regime as well. In the off season I try to surf as much as possible and also play some golf and tennis. As a percentage of my overall work, ‘fly constitutes about 30-40 percent." (swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010)

Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning gold medals at the 2006 African Championships in Senegal. "It was my greatest joy standing on the podium as the national anthem was being played," he said. "The feeling cannot be expressed in words and I am just happy to have put Kenya's name on the swimming map."

"Breaking the Olympic record in Beijing. Though I only held it for seven minutes, it caused a huge reaction in Kenya and surprised a lot of people."
(swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010; Swim News, 26 Mar 2007)

Superstitions / Rituals
"Rituals are no longer really part of my world because I've realised that superstition counts for nothing other to distract me from the task at hand. I do breathing exercises to help me focus and reach a state of flow before my races. Also, on occasion staring at a singular point for a period of time can help me focus and better ‘get in the zone'." (swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010)

Awards
He was named Overall Mens Swimmer of the Year at the 2011 All-Africa Games. (standardmedia.co.ke, 09 Nov 2011)

He was the first Kenyan to swim in an Olympic final in 2008 and was placed fifth. (swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010)

He won the 2007 Safaricom Kenyan Sportsman of the Year Award. (sportykenya.com, 08 Nov 2010)

He was voted Kenya's Sportsman of the Year in 2007. (nation.co.ke, 04 Aug 2008)

He made history in the 100m butterfly at the 2006 African Championships in Senegal by winning Kenya's first major international swimming gold medal. (nation.co.ke, 04 Aug 2008)

General
ADN PROJECT
He represents the ADN (Andrea Di Nino) Swim Project which trains in Italy. "My national team and management are very supportive of me no matter where I decide to train. They realise it would be difficult to get the level of training I now require if I were to be based in Kenya. I have so far learned much being at ADN. Being a small group I get more individualised attention than is feasible on a collegiate swim team. I am also getting the chance to race in Europe." (swimnews.swimfacts.com, 14 Oct 2010)

FROM KENYA TO THE UK TO THE US
He was born in Kenya and first represented the country at the age of eight. He then moved to the United Kingdom to attend the Marlborough College in Wiltshire and captained the south west of England schools team in 2004. He moved to the United States to swim for Stanford University in the 2005/06 season. (gostanford.cstv.com, 10 Dec 2007; Swim News, 26 Mar 2007)

FAMILY
His father Martin Dunford is the chairman of the Tamarind Group which owns the Carnivore restaurant chain in Kenya. He is also the vice-chairman of the Kenya Swimming Federation and is a patron of the Nairobi Amateur Swimming Association [NASA]. His mother Geraldine Dunford is the granddaughter of Abraham Block, who founded Block Hotels. She is the company's marketing executive. Jason has an older brother who graduated from the London School of Economics and was captain of the rugby team. His younger brother David is a swimmer and represents Kenya.
(china.org.cn, 21 Jan 2012; sportykenya.com, 08 Nov 2010)

Previous Olympics
Beijing 2008