The goal of having an athlete swim their best at an Olympic Games remains the same but how you achieve that objective has changed during Dave Johnson’s long career as a coach.
Johnson, whose first Olympic coaching experience was at the Montreal 1976 Games, will be part of Swimming Canada’s coaching staff at this summer’s Paris Olympics. It will be the 10th Olympics for the 73-year-old head coach of the Cascade Swim Club in Calgary.
Johnson ended a 17-year Olympic absence when he was named to Swimming Canada’s staff at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“It felt very much the same in the sense the protocols and the routines to get ready, they haven’t changed that much,” Johnson said. “The specificity of what you need to be good at has. The skills the swimmers have are so much higher than when I first started in Montreal.
“I think it still always comes back to that basic vision. What does it need to look like in order to be competitive at the absolute highest level.”
What Johnson saw in Tokyo was the dramatic improvement in all the basic skills like dives, turns, stroke technique and underwater kicks. There also had been an evolution in the technology of the starting blocks.
He also noticed how fast the field was.
“Now the races are won and lost in the last five metres, all the way up to the 1,500,” he said. “And you basically can win out of any lane.”
Communicating with the athlete has also changed.
“Coaching today is a more collaborative sort of approach,” Johnson said. “They (athletes) are very knowledgeable but they’re also older. If you want them to get the most out of themselves, they need to have that sense of ownership, responsibility and accountability around the performance, working in a collaborative mater.”
Three swimmers from the Cascade Club quailed for the games. Ingrid Wilm, a 26-year-old making her Olympic debut, won bronze medals in the 50 and 100-metre backstroke at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. Rebecca Smith was a member of the silver-medal 4x100-metre freestyle relay in Tokyo while Yuri Kisil was part of the 4x100-m relay that finished fourth.
Joining Johnson’s group in Paris will be Josh Liendo, a medal contender in the butterfly and relay; Taylor Ruck, who won silver and bronze medals in relays in Tokyo; and Sydney Pickrem, another relay medalist from Tokyo.
Johnson is familiar with Liendo, Ruck and Pickrem, having worked with them at previous international competitions.
“What you try to do is listen really well to what they have to say, then try and provide advice and support to empower them to make some really good decisions,” he said. “If they own the decision, and you can be supportive of it, it’s a much stronger decision.”
It takes hard work, discipline and perseverance to qualify for an Olympics. Once at the Games, Johnson urges his athletes to take time to enjoy their accomplishment.
“Embrace the moment,” he said. “It’s the most fun competition you could possibility imagine. Everybody is ready. There’s no excuses.”
“The complexity of going there and getting the best out of yourself is the challenge. To do it, and be able to reflect back and have that kind of really meaningful experience, sticks with you for the rest of your life. In my case, I was so enthused about going in 1976 and I’m still doing it.”
Johnson was named men’s head coach for the boycotted 1980 Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where Alex Bauman won two gold medals and Victor Davis won a gold and two silver, plus set a world record in the 200-m breaststroke. From 1988 to 2004 he was Swimming Canada’s Olympic Head Coach.
Johnson feels comfortable in his role now as part of the coaching staff.
“There is a lot of complexities and extra responsibility when you’re the head coach,” he said. “I was happy to do it at that particular stage of my career.
“Now I really enjoy just being one of the coaches. I contribute my opinions on what I think should happen but I really think it’s fine for someone else to have those responsibilities. I can just be a voice of experience and provide that kind of support to the coaches and for the swimmers.”
Johnson’s coaching career began in 1972 when he was hired by the legendary coach George Gate to coach at the Point-Claire Club. He eventually convinced his twin brother Tom to also coach at Point-Claire.
The brothers placed swimmers on the 1974 Commonwealth Games team that competed in Christchurch, New Zealand. That’s where they caught the attention of national team coaches Deryk Snelling and Don Talbot.
Dave Johnson would also coach at Edmonton’s Keyano Club before joining Cascade.
After close to 50 years in the sport, Johnson would like to coach at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
“It seems like a good spot to aim for at this juncture,” he said.
A long career has shown Johnson you can’t always control your destiny, so he plans to soak in as much of the Paris Olympics as possible.
“I’ve had a bit of that reflective moment, how lucky I am to be going to another Olympics,” he said. “Not just having swimmers on the team but actually in a meaningful capacity.
“I definitely value every single moment that I’m away with the Canadian team.”