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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.134 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Debbie Muir Interview |
Scope & Content |
Debbie Muir interview, 12 December 2008. Digitized MP4. Three videos with a total viewing time of 01:02:07. (synchronized swimming has been abbreviated to synchro; discussion of how the sport evolved in Canada) 1 of 3; 01:01Introduction to Hall 01:52Childhood: main sport was swimming at the YMCA 02:28Sports idols: those athletes who were more in the artistic sports such as Karen Magnuson, Toller Cranston, Brian Pockar; Nancy Green whose success at the Olympics was inspiring 03:10When did you start to swim: about age 6, at Christina Lake and at the YMCA, took the Red Cross classes; in 1965 at age 11, lady came to take over the aquatic programme and she had experience in synchro, she started a group, that was when she got interested in the sport 04:07Were you in a formal programme: she had just been doing the Red Cross levels, when the synchro group was started she got involved in the training in a serious kind of way, it grew from there, the training went from 3 times a week to daily to twice daily, they helped build an entire sport in Canada because at that time it was not done very much 05:05Was Calgary the epicentre: Quebec was the leader in the country, BC was next; when Marianne Reeves came to Calgary that's when Alberta really started to get involved and start to push the other provinces & have visions of where in the world they could go 06:02Point where started to take it seriously: she was an athlete, a founding member of the Calgary club, went on to the nationals, was on the first team to ever compete at the Pan American Games in 1971 when it was the first time this sport was held at these Games, was on the first team to compete at the first World Aquatic Championships in 1973; the defining moment was when she was 16 when she heard her sport was to be included in the Pan Ams, she was motivated to go even though they had finished 5th at the nationals and would have to win in order to go, realized she was passionate about it, would do anything to achieve that goal 08:05Did you know you had that fire/competitiveness: knew deep inside she would find something that someday she was going to be passionate about but no idea what it was until that day, such a defining moment, can remember it very clearly, mental commitment you give yourself at that point to achieve that goal drove everything else she did 09:06How far did you think you would take it: at the beginning of when it was becoming a more global sport, initially all they had were the Canadian and US nationals, then the Pan Ams were the star to reach for, then the Worlds; expectations rose as the events for the sport started to take place; the Americans were so much farther ahead at that point that as an athlete she didn't see that they were going to be able to catch up, the goal always was the Silver medal and that was what they targeted, later realized "why not be the best in the world", what are the Americans doing that we can't do and improve upon; limited herself as a swimmer by thinking they couldn't beat the Americans 10:34Why did you limit yourself: so awestruck by the Pan Ams and the Worlds, the accomplishment was to get to go and represent your country than to worry about if you were going to win or not; it was out of their realm of thinking; too green on the scene, not setting expectations high enough, intimidated; took a few years of competing against the Americans to realized they did not have to keep the status quo going, they could be the best 12:18How were they being coached: all so green in it together, at that time had the best coach who really thought big, talks about the wake up call, had read a book on psycho-cybernetics and the power of positive thinking and how you can do anything if you set your mind to it, that brought in the thought of beating the Americans, the moment that instigated her to think higher 14:42On the transition to coaching: at the 1973 Worlds she was competing on the team as an athlete, started to coach her team mates in their compulsory individual swim and loved it, had the ability to tell them the right thing to do in the moment and to help them get in the right mindset, had a better ability to do it for them than for herself and that moment realized she would be a great coach, it was going to be her calling and focused on one day winning the Worlds and the Olympics 16:30Turning point into a coach: the day she realized she would connect her team mates to a higher performance simply by the words she used, that she could inspire them to do their very best and that's when she knew 16:50How did you become a coach: first position was with the Calgary Aquabelles, took on every losing team, the B teams, in the club, it was part-time while attending university, really earned once again that you can take B athletes and with a bit of belief, inspiration and doing the right things in the pool you can do amazing things 17:20How did that progress: started coaching in 1973 at age 20,in 1975 the club coach retired and she took over the Calgary Aquabelles senior A team and A athletes, in 1976 attended her first nationals as a coach, won and had first opportunity to go international as a coach, there was no national team at that time, the club that won the nationals was selected to the 1976 Pan-Pacific against the Americans and Japanese, first opportunity to beat the Americans, they didn't but it reinforced that was what she wanted to do 2 of 3; 00:57Mindset to take on the role of a coach: moment when she realized she had the gift for coaching gave her a lot of confidence, right away got positive feedback from the swimmers, they would listen to her and do as she suggested, the issue of being too young or the same age as the people she was telling what to do never came about because her belief in what they were doing was so strong and the direction in what they had to do every day was so strong they believed everything they were told to do; not a lot a female coaches to use as role models so she used male coaches, Don Talbot was one of them and he said 'Do not compromise your goals. Do no compromise your training', had to be tough to be the best in the world, that's how she coached; athletes would not miss practise, expectations and work ethic set right at the beginning, nobody questioned that or what they were there to do, that was the driving factor 03:07Did your style of coaching evolve: if she had stayed as an authoritarian type of coach she felt she would have burnt out; not her natural personality; over time learned to adapt her style to what was really going to work in that moment; talks about Carolyn Waldo & listening to what Carolyn had to say and what she wanted to incorporate into her training; she had things that made Debbie change the way she coached in order to connect them to a higher performance; grew and evolved and became better over the years 04:34Talk about the training for synchro: it has evolved, the regime is very exact and very time consuming, need to work on fitness aspect, technical aspect, the choreography aspect and create routines and make them perfect; time demands are huge, talks about the hours put in during the day at 6 days a week; definitely an athletic, highly demanding sport; people underestimate it, people became more familiar with it once it started to do well, they would come to watch the training sessions and realized it was not as easy as it looked 07:12On Carolyn Waldo and Michelle Cameron: met Carolyn in 1981 at the trials for the national team, she was young at that time and did the wrong figure but did make the team; Deb was the national coach, when she had the opportunity to work with her she realized her huge potential, a gifted athlete, had the capacity for hard work and had the right body type; Michelle came in as an older swimmer, she was part of the Aquabelles; after the 1984 Olympics looking for a new partner for Carolyn and noticed Michelle, who was a late bloomer but a persistent athlete, she was not a natural athlete, had to work harder than anyone else but never gave up, in 1985 she started to see a similar drive in Michelle, do anything that I have to do 10:27How did you coach them: 1982 Carolyn moved to Calgary, Deb was a huge team supporter and understood the dynamics of building teams, part of that was "you have to trust each other', Carolyn came with the understanding that she would not be on the A team because Deb would not drop one of them for her, she trusted that Deb would support her in the same way; she coached her solo and the same as the others; did not coach her special because she was the best, coached all the athletes to be winners; after 1984 Silver medal wanted to win Gold in 1988, then the coaching for the duet and solo became very focused on what needed to be done to win the Olympics; they got more of it, expectations and demands a lot higher and their ability to do what was demanded of them was a lot stronger 13:25Was it hard not to have favourites: never put any athlete on a pedestal because you're never good enough until you have won; never became complacent not did they, they were part of at team and expected to contribute and to make the team better 14:09Pinnacle of career as a coach: has 2; obvious one is finally winning both events at the Olympics, always remembers that moment, that year the feeling in the training and preparation as you move forward to winning at the Olympics is very strong for her; the other moment is when the 12 and under B team tied the A team, so proud of them and of herself for connecting them to a place they never dreamed they could be, inspired her for the rest of her life and one of the defining moments as a coach 15:56Talks about the team: some came with problems such as not doing well in school or being lazy athletes, put on the B team because they were not good enough for the A team, when they understood they were important to her and then she could get them to do anything, they could see improvement, got excited, left the door open for them that anything was possible 18:20Coaching is all about connecting other people to the highest performance level they can connect to, not about the coach, it's about connecting others to higher performance, tries to do that in every aspect of what she does is life 19:24Why are there no males in synchro: in the Olympics it is a women's category; globally and at the Worlds have been allowed to have males; only been a couple who have done to a high level; the body type is different, the muscle density makes it harder for them to stay up in the water; when looking for a mirror imagery in the team event the legs look different in the water so it is hard to get a mirror image; talks about strength and technique needed to push the body out of the water, need endurance plus explosive strength and ability to hold breath 21:46What was significant about Australia: quit coaching in Canada in 1991, felt she had achieved everything she could in Canada from a coaching perspective, doing consulting and project work, invited to Australia to help their synchro team prepare for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, went from coaching the best in the world to the last 23:20Talk about the evolution of the Canadian National Team: became the national coach in 1976, based on her club's performance, as it evolved had to become a true all-star national team if they wanted to win at the international level; developed the team selection process; had to learn to work together as a country where before it was east vs. west, learn how to train and compete with their Quebec counterparts; over time their ability to train together for one single purpose started to snowball, saw the integration of the east-west that was so effective that it rained the calibre of the sport in the country; when went out as a national team their ability to work together as one unit was second to none; able to capitalize on that for an entire decade 26:50Thinks we are in a bit of a downswing now 26:22When and why did you leave the coaching position: 1991, felt had achieved everything as a national coach; needed to go out and find new things to do, to find/discover more about herself and what she did do best and apply that to different environments; spend next several years doing outside work on projects; went on to help the Australian team, very much a learning experience, informative and instrumental in working with that team to what she is doing now 27:40What did you get out of that experience: good for her because went from coaching the very best in the world to the last in the world, she had started to take it for granted that athletes could do whatever you wanted them to do, never realized you also need talent, fell back into the trap that it's about the coach, these athletes were not naturally talented, goal to perform well at the Sydney Olympics, made her realize it was what was going to work for this group right now, had to re-invent as she went, a humbling experience, made her recognize she is good at helping others to achieve no matter what level they are at, re-inspired her from a coaching perspective 3 of 3; 00:272 proudest moments as a coach: coaching the 12 and under B team to tie the A team, one of the defining moments of her career; second was actually winning the 2 Gold medals at the 1988 Olympics, difficult to describe the feeling but it was memorable, a defining moment as a coach 00:59About coaching Carolyn and Michelle to the Gold medals: winning the duet was truly inspiring and to follow that up with the solo Gold by Carolyn was the highlight of her career as a coach 01:48On the talent in Canada: in a rebuilding phase, new athletes coming in 02:15Defining moment as a swimmer: shows her Silver medal from the Worlds, defining moment moving from swimming to coaching was winning Silver at the very first Aquatic Championships in the team event, at that moment wanted to keep doing this and do it as a coach, the medal she is most proud of 03:06Significance of this Silver medal: it's the moment she want to become a coach, that she wanted one day to win at the Worlds, silver was not good enough 03:50Life lesson: ability to set a goal, focus, never give up in that pursuit of achieving that goal, life lesson that can apply to anything you do in life, only through sport that she learned this 04:29On winning/losing: in the moment you learn more from losing, have that critical reflection, what can I do differently, what can I do better; over time learn more from winning, learned type of thinking and things you have to do in order to be a winner, see that more clearly now, able to transfer into other areas of her life 05:44Funny moment: she like to have fun when coaching and have her athletes have fun in training; talks about a fun moment 07:48Desire to win in young people: it's not about winning, it is about the process and what you go through on a day to day basis; winning is different to different people; it's being involved in sport, whether it be at a recreational level or a competitive level; it's that experience, what you do to your mind and your body by being involved in sport is absolutely the reason why we should do that; winning a Gold medal is a by-product; they are all winners just be being involved 09:03On being inducted in the CSHoF: in the company of absolutely amazing coaches and athletes from Canada, heroes to her, feels very humble and proud of her accomplishments 10:443 things that mean a lot to you: watching Mark Tewksbury win the Gold medal in 1992 because she had been involved in what he did; seeing the Canadian flag and hearing the anthem in Seoul; the look on the faces of the B team when they tied the A team; all the human part of it; flashes of accomplishment |
Date |
2008/12/12 |
People |
Muir, Debbie Waldo, Carolyn Cameron Coulter, Michelle |
Search Terms |
swimming synchronized swimming interview women in sport Debbie Muir coach 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles 1988 Olympic Games Seoul 1983 Pan American Games 1987 Pan American Games 1986 Commonwealth Games 1990 Commonwealth Games World Aquatic Championships |