ABOUT RACE PACE CLUB-KY

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The idea of Race Pace Club-Ky was born in the fall of 2016 after becoming close family friends with the Andrew family, Peter and Michael Andrew.  Holden had met Peter, Tina, Michael, and Michaela at an FCA dinner at home in Louisville, Ky.  After a coincidental encounter at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Omaha, and an invitation to Lawrence, Kansas to train USRPT with Michael, a close family friendship ensued, with the Smiths visiting Lawrence several times and the Andrews visiting Louisville several times.  It was after a trip with the Andrews to a swim meet in Oklahoma that Holden returned with conviction that he believed in USRPT and wanted to leave traditional club swimming to train that way.  After a search for the right swim coach fit, Holden eventually asked his father to coach him.  After both studying USRPT and even visiting and training with the founder Brent Rushall in California, they embarked on their journey as a father/son team.  After a successful year and a half of doing nothing but strict USRPT, they both felt as if their training was lacking some of the aerobic endurance for longer events.  It was at that point that they crossed the path of a former NCAA champion and 2 time Olympic swimmer who was interested in helping out and giving back to the sport.  Carlos Almeida began helping coach Holden in the spring of 2018, providing more endurance sets several times a week, with Coach Smith continuing his USRPT sets several times a week.  In addition to the water sets, Holden began CrossFit workouts with a former collegiate swimmer who now competes in the CrossFit games.  The mix has proved to be successful with Holden achieving his first long course junior national cut in the 100 butterfly as a young 15 year old at the 2018 NCSA championships in Indianapolis.

 

Race Pace Club-Ky believes in the science of swimming and continues to strive to incorporate the latest technologies and advancements in the sport.  We believe it is healthy to challenge the status quo of traditional training, accepting and continuing on the traditions of the past that work, but also adding new advancements that could be of benefit.

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