Coach Browne engineers Dylan Carter’s success

DEXTER Browne, coach of ace TT swimmer Dylan Carter, is impressed by the display of the 26-year-old at the recent FINA World Cup, where he won nine gold medals, during the three legs (Berlin, Germany from October 21-23; Toronto, Canada from October 28-30 and Indianapolis, US from November 3-5).

Carter was named the men’s overall series winner and earned at least US $130,000 for his top finish, as well as incentives for each triple-crown earned (he copped three gold medals in each of the three legs).

“I thought it was a phenomenal achievement,” said Browne, during an interview on Tuesday. “We did everything in training to make it possible, but he made it happen. To perform at that level, with that level of consistency, is rare, so my hat’s off to him as a warrior and as a competitor. I was very pleased.”

Browne is based at Flying Fish Club at Federation Park, St James, where Carter trains during his time at home.

How does it feel to be a local coach for an international TT swimmer? Browne, who has been Carter’s coach for over a year, replied, “I am a local coach but I’m also a former coach at Howard University (in the US). So, I’m very familiar with the American swimming system.

“Some of the coaches abroad would have access to things that might give them transparency in terms of what they’re doing. But we have found ways around it, mechanically, and it’s been working for us.

“The technology is always great but when it is not available, you must find ways around it. I am an engineer, so I’ve been obsessed with the laws of motion, kinetics, all of these things.”

Carter revealed in a recent interview that he was fired up to compete at the World Cup after his failure to medal at last year’s Olympic Games (in Tokyo, Japan) and this year’s Commonwealth Games (in Birmingham, England).

“It’s no secret that the Commonwealth Games did not go as well for us as we had expected,” said Browne. “That was a little adversity. I was not with him for the last three weeks before Commonwealth. After (the) Budapest World Long Course Championships, he made a decision to stay in Europe. Things didn’t go the way we’d like it to go.”

Browne continued, “We made a decision that he’d come home and we would try to stay close to the things that got him to that point. We refocused, we reset and we were very methodical about what we did and how we did it. We feel like we were fighting with some new science...myself as an engineer.

“Dylan is also very intelligent, he’s been racing for many years, so we have technical discussions about possibilities and the way we go about each day in terms of training. We never plan so far ahead, we like to call it real-time coaching.”

Asked how they communicate when Carter is abroad, Browne responded, “When he’s abroad and I’m here, we communicate remotely, whether it’s before or after a race. But we spend so much time in training that it doesn’t take a lot for us to state what needs to be done.”

Carter’s immediate focus is the National Open Short Course Championships, which begins on Thursday at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, followed by the World Short Course Championships in Australia.