The USC Trojans will “keep it moving” next year, as Dave Salo has brought in one of the most popular coaches in the country as a volunteer assistant on their staff next season. Jon Urbanchek will be joining the staff in a move that has been rumored for months but was just confirmed today in an announcement by Dave Salo at the team's annual awards banquet.
Urbanchek's most recent work has been with the post-grad group at FAST in nearby Fullerton, where he trained among others Olympic 200 backstroke champion Tyler Clary. Prior to that, he spent 22-years at the helm of the men at the University of Michigan, where he revived that program and at one point won 10 consecutive Big Ten Championships.
The Hall of Famer is famous for his words of encouragement to “keep it moving,” and is nearly-universally revered by national-level swimmers, most of whom have been accompanied by Urbanchek on a trip of some sort in recent years.
Among the innovations that he has brought to the sport is the concept of color-coding the different Energy Zones.
Urbanchek and Salo were both members of the USA Coaching Staff for the recent Olympics in London. This will still be an interesting dynamic as Urbanchek's training is based on higher volumes and with a big focus on heart rate, where as Salo's is based all on race-speed swimming.