5 Times Olympic Gold Medalist Gary Hall Jr talks to Jon Pardoe

Gary Hall Jr is the holder of 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze Olympic Medals as well as being histories fastest ever swimmer in organized worldwide competition.

So if you want to find out what it takes to be successful in swimming there are no better authorities on the subject. It was upon this basis that I posed a number of questions.

Jon Pardoe : “Here in the UK aspirations of Olympic glory are generally greeted negatively. There is a general feeling within swimming clubs that really great swimmers are born with the natural talent/gift. As a result people fear thinking big because they don't believe that they can achieve the highest of goals. What's your view? What are the prerequisites which make a world class swimmer? My 8 year old son Alfie dreams of winning an Olympic medal. He's been swimming since he was 4 and joined a local club at 6. He's reached qualifying times for our County championships in all strokes and distances - but is still too young to be allowed to compete.

He's likely to be 6ft + (I'm 6ft 2" and his mother is 5ft 7") and is currently swimming 5+ hours per week.
I've booked him on one of your Race club week camps in October, and am trying to support his goal in any way I can.

What more can I do or is it all futile - if he wasn't born with the necessary talent?”

Gary Hall Jr : “Are you asking me if I believe in preordained destiny? That one is simply born to be the best, is the best and that's it? What is the point of sport if this is true? The underdog does win against incredible odds sometimes, beating a seemingly invincible opponent. Our fascination with sport revolves around this reminder that we are in control of our own destiny. We can take on the man, the born talent, the legends, the supermen and beat them.

My grandfather told me that you can judge a man by the friends he keeps. If you surround yourself with a bunch of negative people telling you that you can't make a difference, that you can't make the Olympic team, that you can't, can't, can't. You know what the results will be. On the other hand, the right friends and support will take you anywhere you want to go.

It's not good enough to simply dream, you have to dream BIG! Anything is possible, you just need to believe it. Whether you think you can or can't, you're right. And so on.

People that believe that great swimmers are born with the natural talent are destined for failure not just in swimming but in everything they do. It's a cop out, an excuse. You can't argue with these people. If you prove them wrong through a lifetime of hard work and dedication they tell you that you were born to win and rule out what you know got you to the top.

Ultimately, it's up to Alfie. Continue to be supportive not pushy, encouraging not demanding, loving not smothering and your son will do great things not just in swimming but (what's more) in life.

I look forward to meeting Alfie in the autumn”

Jon Pardoe : “Thanks for very positive thoughts. In business I've always held the view that one can pretty achieve what one sets one's mind on. Scale of thinking being the only significant limiting factor. Over the years I've surrounded myself with people who think similarly.  I’m simply not prepared to give negative people the time of day.

In some sports (i.e. soccer) one can identify certain characteristics which make for great players. For example even at a young age some kids are far more coordinated and have a far better sense of balance than others. Whilst these characteristics obviously don't guarantee success they are probably fundamental to being successful.

My question was whether there are similar/parallel characteristics which are necessary for being a great swimmer. Obviously height appears to be fairly important but what else?

Anyway thanks for encouragement - Alfie is looking forward to the camp - in his words "it's an opportunity of a lifetime"

Gary Hall Jr : “It's so difficult to say really what characteristics contribute to swimming success. I would add that in addition to being very tall, having size 18 (Ian Thorpe) feet or huge hands would help. I call that natural talent. But then again I can name a lot of swimmers that don't tower over the 6' (feet, sorry for the American standard of measure) mark. But remember that hard work beats talent every time. The maturity process of kids is so scattered though that you would be doing the swimmers a disservice to pick out the talented ones at those early stages.

I remember standing on the blocks at age 14 or 15 or 16 and looking at the competition. I didn't have a pubic hair and looked more like the Olsen twin girl WITH the eating disorder standing next to guys that were shaving and built like men. I got beaten badly by those stronger more mature swimmers and comparing the two of us at that time wouldn't have accomplished anything. I was a late bloomer. I grew three, close to four inches once I got to college. There are a lot of late bloomers out there. And we all go through our awkward stages of growing too”.

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