Visit the lap pool at Active Sports, Scotts Valley (formerly Club One) on any given day and you will find a mishmash of water enthusiasts, ranging from lap swimmers, to water aerobics, and everything in between.
On Aug. 19, this out-of-tune orchestra was rattled by the entrance of two harmonious soloists.
That day, the fastest swimmers willingly surrendered their ego and status to two young men named Nick Schwab, 24, and Sam Trahin, 23. The big questions were, where did these guys come from, and what could explain their unconventional way of training? First, we must go back to 2010, when Nick and Sam began training together at Indiana University, competing at the collegiate level.
While both swimmers set numerous school and personal records, they always felt there was a disconnect between high-yardage training sessions, and short-sprint races. Still, they trusted the coaches and did not question their methods.
In 2012, Nick qualified for the London Summer Olympics. Months of hard training, followed by disappointing race times, forced Nick to ask: “Why do I swim thousands of yards at slow pace when my races are only 200 to 400-meter sprints? What are all these yards doing for competitive swimmers other than risking burnout and overuse injuries?” Since graduating in 2013, Nick and Sam had become roommates, and while Nick was fully focused on swimming, Sam had begun a successful job in advertising.
Despite career advancement, Sam felt unfulfilled and when Nick suggested that they start training together again, he didn’t have to think twice about it.
As the momentum built, Sam found himself arriving to work late and leaving early to meet Nick for workouts at the local pool. Visions of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro prompted both young men to seek a new way of training and change of scenery.
In March 2014, following up on a lead for potential sponsorship with a supplement company in Southern California, they packed everything they could fit in their VW sedan, left the rest in Bloomington, Ind., and drove over 2,000 miles, pool-hopping to California.
Although the sponsorship did not come to fruition, their journey was just beginning.
Nick and Sam found clarity and direction when they discovered an article about USRPT (ultra short race pace training), created by Dr. Brent Rushall.
Fifteen-year-old superstar swimmer Michael Andrews, who holds 75 age group records, including those previously held by Michael Phelps, attributes his success to USRPT. This training method challenges traditional swimming “wisdom,” focusing on short distance, high-intensity workouts with highest priority on technique, followed by race psychology, and then endurance.
Finally, a training method that made sense, with a clear connection between training and racing.
“Swimming is a skill-based sport. Speed and stroke are interdependent of each other. So, swimming slow is a different stroke than swimming fast,” says Sam. Nick and Sam found strength Coach John Mullen, who was familiar with USRPT, in Santa Clara and promptly drove north up the coast.
They spent 10 weeks training with Mullen. During this time, they lived in a Motel 6, or when funds ran dry, in their car.
At times, friends and old teammates sent money, but it ran out quickly. They sold their belongings to keep themselves temporarily afloat. One generous man with whom they swam wrote them a check for $1,000.
They took on part-time jobs, but the hours were spotty and between paying for Motel 6 and food, every two days they were back to zero.
The only way to sustain themselves was to cut costs by sleeping in their car. Their longest stretch in the car was three solid weeks in which they survived on tuna, bread, unrefrigerated mayo, and chocolate bars.
Between training sessions, Nick and Sam frequented Barnes and Noble, reading books by Eckhart Tolle, who gave them a new view on both life and training. Things took a turn for the better when Mullen connected Nick and Sam with Coach Andre Salles-Cunha, of Quicksilver Swimming in San Jose.
Andre hired them as coaches and allowed them to use the Gunderson High pool for their own training. Their good fortune continued the first day they were on deck with Quicksilver, when they met Coach Brodie Trap of Scotts Valley.
Trap, the mother of four grown children, works for both Active Sports and Quicksilver. According to Nick, within the first five minutes of their conversation, and after learning that they were living in their car, Brodie said: “Oh, you can come live with me.”
Two days later, they moved in.
“Brodie believes in us,” says Sam, “she is amazing.”
She cooks meals for the young athletes and keeps her freezer packed with ice cream. Nick says they’ve each gained about 20 pounds since moving in with Brodie (which is hard to imagine given how lean they are).
Brodie simply glows when she talks about them, affectionately referring to them as “my boys.”
“I admire their work ethic — it inspires me every day,” says Brodie. “I believe their strength comes from their belief in the system they are using and their unwavering convictions. Also, they have amazing trust in one another. I feel lucky to be a part of it.”
Nick and Sam are implementing the USRPT methods with the 8-to 11-year-olds they coach with Quicksilver Swimming, and report that the kids are “dropping considerable amounts of time and the best part about it is they are having a ton of fun.”
Their advice to young swimmers is: “Train with a purpose. Have fun with your training. Engage your mind in your workouts.”
Currently, Nick and Sam are training at UCSC, Gunderson High, and Active Sports Scotts Valley — all of which have opened their doors to these Olympic hopefuls.
A typical day looks like this: Breakfast at 8 a.m., workout from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., lunch, drive to San Jose, coach from 3:30 to 6:45 p.m., evening workout from 7 to 10 p.m., drive home, dinner around 10:30 p.m., an hour to relax, and then it’s time to hit the sack.
Following the USRPT method, each of their workouts begin with dry-land warm up, followed by 1,000-2,500 yards of pure race pace swimming, focusing on 25s and 50s.
“At Indiana, Sam and I trained on average 7,000-8,000 yards per workout, none of which was designed to truly yield any race pace value,” says Nick.
They take turns coaching each other from the deck, simulating race conditions where “you swim hard, hang on the deck, then swim hard again,” says Nick.
They also constantly use their iPad Air with the LifeProof waterproof case to film their strokes and coach each other underwater.
Their next big meet will be the National Championships in North Carolina this December.
Nick will compete in the 200 free, 200 breast, 200 back, and 100 fly. Sam’s main events are 200 breast and 400 IM, but he will also compete in the 200 fly, 200 free, and 200 back.
Nick and Sam are not only showing us what it means to abandon all material possessions and fearlessly pursue your dream, they are on the brink of revolutionizing the world of swimming.
Their success with USRPT will force traditional-minded coaches to revaluate all those yards and ask themselves: “What is the race-specific purpose of this workout?” every time they step foot on the pool deck.
To support Nick and Sam on their journey, visit their Go Fund Me page at http://www.gofundme.com/ge8nv8
