Kuwait City, Kuwait, March 22, 2022: Swimming coaches from 12 National Olympic Committees in West Asia were given a juicy morsel to chew on on the opening day of the Olympic Council of Asia’s special development project when world-famous sports scientist Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas advised them to order fish when eating out at a restaurant.
“The next time you go to a restaurant, make sure to order fish, and not just any fish but fast fish,” Sokolovas, who prefers to be called Dr. G, said as the opening seminar got underway on Tuesday, March 22.
“And what is the fastest fish in the ocean?" he asked the 30 participants at the OCA headquarters in Salmiya, Kuwait City.
After a number of guesses from the audience, Sokolovas offered the answer: “Sail fish, which is the fastest fish, and can swim at 110 kilometres per hour.”
This unorthodox piece of dietary information might not produce the fastest swimmer across West Asia, but it was a novel way of catching the attention of the swimming coaches from Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan.
“Fish are built for swimming, we are not,” explained Sokolovas. “Fish are twice as fast as the fastest swimmer in the world. They are built correctly with their muscles connected. So next time you go to a restaurant, make sure to order fast fish.”
The Lithuanian-born Sokolovas is one among a number of expert coaches and referees who have been flown into Kuwait for the OCA’s inaugural project to boost the development of coaches and referees across West Asia across nine sports.
“This is my first time in Kuwait and I’m very pleased to get this opportunity to meet and mix with swimming coaches from West Asia. I believe that seminars like these are important to spread the right message as to how to develop swimmers in the right fashion,” Sokolovas pointed out.
A former middle-distance swimmer and pentathlete, Sokolovas has worked with USA Swimming for the past 22 years, beginning in 2000 in the run-up to the Athens Olympics, and been involved in every Games since.
He also played a key role in the success of Michael Phelps, peeling away record after record in the pool.
“I was involved with Michael from when he was 14 years old. In all I have trained and coached 130 Olympic champions in the US. The key thing in swimming is being able to identify talent at a young age and then providing them with the right training and information so that they can improve,” said the biomechanics expert.
Coaches from Oman to Qatar sat transfixed as Sokolovas expounded. Among his gems: “teach kids to swim without arms – fish don’t have arms do they?” he asked.
It was a lesson the elite swimming coaches in West Asia would remember – especially when they visit a restaurant the next time.
