Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 7, 2022: Swimming USA’s Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas urged participants at the OCA Stage 2 Development Programme to judiciously use the knowledge imparted in Tashkent in their race to shave off seconds from their swimmers best efforts.
“Swimming is always evolving. The timings from 50 years ago and today are completely different, even 15 or 10 years ago. And 10 years from now, times in the pool will be even faster. But I hope you have learned enough knowledge on how to develop faster swimmers,” Sokolovas said.
He was speaking at the ‘passing-out-parade’ for swim coaches from 12 NOCs in Central and South Asia, all of who received a well-earned certificate stating they had successfully completed the November 3-7 programme in Tashkent.
Sokolovas, who played a key role in the development of Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals including 23 gold medals, was appearing for the second time at the OCA development programme having featured in the pilot project for West Asian NOCs in Kuwait in March this year.
Swimming is the only sport to feature in both the initial programme and the just-concluded event in Tashkent.
“It was a pleasure to teach all of you. I received a lot of questions and I tried to answer them all. Some questions stimulated my own brain. But one thing is clear – swimming is all about going faster. If you can achieve this with your swimmer, you are doing something right,” Sokolovas added.
