Q and A with Scott Dickens

Olympian Scott Dickens is one of Canada's top Breaststrokers who will almost certainly make their Olympic team again and compete with Brendan in Beijing. Lala tells me he's also hella smokin' hot but I hadn't really noticed. Really. ;)


Photo compliments of lala.

1. Congrats on a personal best in the 100 at Pan Ams this season. How does it feel to be so close to the one minute barrier and do you feel it's more of a mental barrier now than a physical one? Has the addition of the butterfly kick on the pull-out made a significant difference in your times or would you attribute your faster times to your overall fitness?

I feel that the one minute barrier is both mental and physical. It will not be easy to get to, I will have to work on the little things in my race, like turns and starts. As well it is only 0.2 away so mentally I know I can do it, but it still seems pretty far away. The butterfly kick in the pull out took some getting use to because it was so unnatural for me to get use to. I still have work to do with the timing of the kick. In regards to whether it has had a significant impact on my times, I would say my times have dropped more to other things, like being in better shape, eating better, focusing on my technique and being more in control rather then just trying to swim as fast as I can.

2. Obviously, with a personal best in your back pocket you've got to feel confident going into your third Olympic season but are you still tweaking your training program at this point or do you know what needs to be done and now its just a matter of execution?

At this point in my training I am trying to stick with what I did this summer...it was then when I had made some different changes to my training, and they seem to have worked. With only four months in the summer training this way I am looking forward to this year.

3. How do you juggle your school and training schedule, especially during a critical Olympic year? Do you find that classes are a healthy distraction from the monotony of training or do they just infringe upon training time and dilute your focus? And just curious, what is your major, and what do you hope to do after swimming?

Personally I think having something on the side is good whether it be school or another hobby will take your mind off swimming. I am taking a lighter course load this year because it is normal to amp up the training Olympic year so it is a lot more demanding physically and mentally. I am currently majoring in Geography and minoring in Economics, and for after swimming I am not sure yet because I am still young and swimming is the main focus right now.

4. What's the best movie you saw over the summer?

The best movie this summer would have to be Knocked Up. It made me cry I was laughing so hard.

Wheeeee! I'd have to put Knocked Up second on my list behind SuperBad but I agree it was very, very funny. Many thanks to Scott for taking the time to do this.