Testimonials

Listen to what collegiate, high school, and club coaches, have to say about us. And then hear what masters swimmers, and even age group swimmers have to say about the 3S Training System.

"Fantastic time drops across all events" ... "Every swimmer finished the season with career best times" ... "Better than anything I have ever tried" ... "Our season was a success" ... "Cutting edge ... most progressive" ... "Light years ahead of the competition" ... "The system works!"

"Sergei... One of the swimmers on your Internet program, Tamara Swaby, is presently competing in the Central American Games in El Salvador. She swam the 100 meter (LC) butterfly in 1:04.8. You predicted she would be swimming 1:04.79 at this time. Her best time is 1:04.3. Very Impressive results."

Ernie Maglischo

"I am in awe of the 3S program. It has taught me a more productive way to train, and has helped me further my coaching career."

Matt Kredich, Head Swim Coach University of Tennessee, Coach of Olympian Christine Magnuson

"Our conference meet went extremely well. The girls nearly erased all of the school records. I am not amazed, based on my experience with 3S, even after all they've been through. I wouldn't plan a season without 3S."

Rich Rogers, Ast. Coach University of New Orleans Women’s Swim Team

2006 USA National Jr. Team Champions, Head Coach Tampa Bay Aquatics

"The swimming program at the YMCA and high school have taken quantum leaps in performance over the past couple of years. I expect that it will continue to do so over the coming years. I have used the Super Sports System program developed by Sergei Beliaev extensively as my training model. It works."

Bill Asay, Head Coach Saratoga YMCA, Saratoga High School

“We had our conference meet Feb. 14-16 and saw some great results running the 3S system. We set 21 school records and had 11 MAAC conference champions… We've only scratched the surface of the system and I think we've only scratched the surface of improvement.”

Michael Hofman, Assistant Coach Swimming and Diving, Loyola College

"We had our school's first ever NCAA qualifier this season! She is seeded in the top 8. Everyone had big drops at conference. 4 out of 7 had lifetime bests in every event. The other three had season bests. In a season plagued by injuries, we had great results! "

Laura LeDuc, Coach Agnes Scott College Women's Swim Team

"Best conference ever. 15 school records. Women had 13, 40 swims in the top 10 all-time. Thanks!"

Thomas Johnson, Head Coach University of Wyoming Swimming and Diving

"Sergei... After implementing the 3S System for one year, we had a swimmer drop over 5 and a half seconds in her 200 free and over 2.5 in her 100. After placing 87th at Summer Nationals the year prior, she won both events at NCSA Junior Nationals with times faster than the 2004 USA Olympic Trials cuts.

I truly believe that Super Sport Systems has made a difference. Not just in our elite athletes' performances, but team wide. 3S gives our program the tools we need to excel. The 3S paces and seasonal planning have proved to be dead on accurate for individual and systemic success.

What used to take me hours before 3S, now takes minutes. I wouldn't plan a season without it."

Coach Rich Rogers, Head Coach Tampa Bay Aquatics

Dear Sergei:

Our mid-season November meet this year was one of the best that I have ever coached. We had some fantastic time drops across all events and distances, and almost everyone was "on target" with their times (or ahead of schedule) based on the 3s projected progression of results in each of their best events. One of the program's greatest values, however, comes when an athlete is NOT on schedule.

I have made the assumption in these few cases that the training has been appropriate, but that there is another side to the story, such as sickness, a technical or strategic problem, or an error in mental approach or motivation.

Experience has shown me that this has invariably been the case. We have a couple notable kids who trained well last year but did not perform up to expectation in meets, and who addressed the "other issues" and who performed extremely well in our November invitational this year: a breaststroker who couldn't break 1:10 or 2:30 last year and who has already gone 1:07 and 2:27, a sprinter who went 53.2 last year and has gone 52.3 and split 51.6 twice this year. ..

I am a big believer in this system. Looking forward to sharing more success stories in the spring"

Matt Kredich
Head Coach
University of Richmond
Swimming
December 2003

Dear Sergei,

At Randolph-Macon College, we had a very strong level of success with the 3S program that we utilized this past season. On the men's team, every swimmer finished the season with career best times; on the women's side, we had 10 of 12 swimmers achieve one or more career best times at our conference meet (the remaining 2 swimmers were injured for a significant portion of the season).

In my mind, the benefits of the program are threefold:

Accountability - The scientific nature of the program enabled us to plan, manage, and measure our training and progress with better efficiency and reliability. The 3S program acted as an impartial third-party intermediary, giving both swimmer and coach some added accountability in the goal attainment process. It forced us into being more jointly responsible for working hard to produce appropriate expectations, to stick to those expectations throughout the season, and then to follow through with results in the pool.
Confidence - As a coach, 3S allowed me to be more confident, consistent, and detailed about planning for a workout, a week, and the season. I relied on the program as a guide to help me with gauging the percentage of work for each energy zone for our individual swimmers. The 3S system was infinitely valuable during workouts because it provided us with multiple variables to confirm that the appropriate energy system was being stressed (i.e. heart rate, number of repeats, distance, amount of rest, etc.). Toward the end of the season, if the workout called for a zone II set, our athletes knew instinctively what was expected in terms of work effort and heart rate. The swimmers gained confidence by having all of this information on the workout and they became independent at correlating workout pace with season goals on a daily basis.
Motivation - The parametric sets (i.e. 23 x 100) proved to be an effective weekly report card and motivator because the swimmers knew what was coming and what was expected in advance. We used the parametric sets as a team-bonding experience and each athlete's goal pace/ actual pace was documented in an open forum so that each athlete could assess herself and her teammates on a weekly basis. The swimmers gained confidence because they knew precisely where the clock should be for them on a given repeat, and precisely where their heart rate would be when finished.

Although the program and the workouts can appear overly scientific and mundane, I found that using the system did not jeopardize my own creativity or coaching style. I tried to be consistent about following the total volume for each energy zone, but I found that I had to be flexible in terms of making changes to workouts to address the psychological needs of individuals, academic priorities, fatigue and illness, stroke mechanics, and meet/ travel situations.

I was encouraged by our results and I am looking forward to learning more about how the 3S system can help our athletes in the future.

Dave Holland,
Head Swimming Coach
Randolph-Macon College

Dear Sergei,

About our season: Overall, our season was a success. This was our second season using 3S and it made the world of difference. My ability to understand the system and specialize it for the different athletes in different training groups improved tremendously. I had two revelations this season regarding the 3S:

My more experienced swimmers understood very quickly the different zones, different phases, etc. within our season. They quickly absorbed our training approach. They were the swimmers that clung closely to their required HR; they were the ones who would admit that their HR would stay the same but their times/efficiency in a set would improve throughout the season. These athletes - many of which are 21/22 years old - had the best season of their lives. A senior 200 Freestyler dropped 2 seconds this season to a 1:39.34; a senior 200 Backstroker erased a whole second off his school record with a time of 1:48.30.
Some swimmers just don't get it. They are under the impression that "full throttle" is the best way to train. These swimmers would receive the "Hardest Worker" on many teams - but they fail to grasp the understanding of different energy systems. I have had a hard time re-programming them to pay attention to HR, stroke count, and efficiency in the water. They just want to go, go, go, go.

My approach with them has been very different from my experienced group. This group needed to be controlled - I had to force them to follow stroke count guidelines regardless of speed or breathing patterns regardless of speed. They became more mature, but need more time in the "system."

I'll be back on next year. I already look forward to making changes to my approach to 3S.

Thanks again!

Matthew Barany
Head Men's Swim Coach
James Madison University
540-568-6528 office
540-568-3489 fax

Sergei,

I got involved with the Super Sport Systems program for one simple reason and that is to produce max performances at the championship meets. With all my experience in the swimming world as a competitor, parent of swimmers, and coach it was not clear to me how a coach could guarantee a swimmers best performance at the end of the year and also the times that they may obtain. I was in search of that holy grail, if you will.

The system has worked wonderfully well for producing championship swims at the big meets at the end of the year. The more I use the system the more confidence I have in the program.

Highlights of the performances for the high school and YMCA swimmers:

2004 - 2 of my high school swimmers qualified for the NYS High School Championships
2004 - 2 of my YMCA swimmers won state titles in there respective events
2004 - 1 of my swimmers qualified for the YMCA Nationals
2005 - 4 of my high school swimmers qualified for NYS High School Championships
2005 - we won our first relay ever at the sectional championships coming within a couple tenths of a second for All American Recognition
2005 - 4 swimmers qualified for YMCA nationals with 3 swimmers in individual events, 2 freestyle relays also qualified for the national meet

The swimming program at the YMCA and high school have taken quantum leaps in performance over the past couple of years. I expect that it will continue to do so over the coming years. I have used extensively the Super Sport System program developed by Sergei as my training model. It works.

Respectfully,

Bill Asay
Head Coach
Saratoga YMCA
Saratoga High School

Dear Sergei,

I would like to thank you for your involvement in our program's success at this past week's USA Swimming's National Championships. Our athletes had an extremely positive experience and I attribute much of their success to the 3S system. Our swimmers had all best times and finished each race with authority. We look forward to continuing our association with you as we prepare for US Olympic Trials later this year.

I have analyzed the numbers and the results are amazing. Chelsea Nauta dropped over four (4) seconds in her 200 free. The drop moved her from 87th at Nationals this summer to 28th this past week. The time also placed her 8th in the country for the 18 & Unders and 2nd in 16 & Unders.

Chelsea also had the opportunity to swim her "second event" that we targeted through the 3S system at the meet; the 100 meter Free. Her time of 57.96 was over a second lower than her previous best. The time placed her 32nd overall, 7th in the country for the 18 & Unders and 4th 16 & Under. The time qualified her for the USA National Junior Team. In addition to these targeted swims, she swam well in her 400 (3 second lifetime drop) and the 50 (another personal best).

We had a 16 year old female back stroker place 30th in the 100 meter backstroke at the meet. Her time of 1:05.77 was her best and was strong enough for a 15th place finish in the country for 18 & Unders and 10 for 16 & Unders, and this was her first individual National Competition.

These girls followed the 3S suggested workouts closely. We made a commitment to the system and worked hard to hit the target times. I feel strongly that now, with their positive experience using the 3S system, they will progress even faster.

Again, Thanks.

Rich Rogers
Director, Tampa Bay Aquatics
February 2004

Dear Sergei,

I have been using your Super Sport Systems for a couple of weeks now and cannot tell you just how impressed I am with your system. It is better than anything I have ever tried before. I have 4 swimmers and myself who would like to stay with the system once your offer expires. .we wish to extend our gratitude and congratulations on such a fantastic system. Thank you Sergei, we are all eternally grateful.

Kind regards,

Dawn Thompson

Australian Master Swimmer & Coach
geocities.com/blacktowncitymasters

Dear Sergei:

Our season is finished now but we are still practicing every day until it gets too cold. It was Nationals (our main event) this weekend and teams from Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland took part.

I followed your program and it worked very very well! The last two weeks we didn't practice hard, just technique with lots of starts & turns.

Last year I only got one medal this year I got 9 and won the junior victor ludorum as well.

My fly is much better now, mom says practicing with the front snorkel got my rhythm right. Mom will put my results in, but I wanted to tell you how I did myself.

50m fly = PB -7.03 sec = 2nd place
50m back = +0.97 sec = 1st place
100m back = PB -3.40 sec = 1st place
50m breast = PB -1.86 sec = 2nd place
100m breast = PB -0.38 sec = 3rd place
200m breast = PB -7.97 sec = 3rd place (under 12)
50m free = PB - 3.81 sec = 2nd place
100m free = PB - 6.25 sec = 1st place
100m IM = PB -9.40 sec = 1st place

Thank you for everything you do for me.
Oliver Koen

Sergei:
     I am writing this as a first time user of the 3S Training System. I am a 39 year old Masters Swimmer. Because of a medical condition, I am required to train in a non-chlorinated pool, where no coaching is available. I have been doing this for the last 11 years, and have used two other on-line coaching systems.
     Though these sites offered well thought-out programs, they did not allow for a tremendous amount of flexibility. You followed the program, hoping for the best. In my case it usually led to overtraining, severe fatigue, or illness. I was very fit, but too exhausted to perform.
     Because I have used many web-based training systems in the past, I decided in January of 2005 it was time to find a program that accommodated the most important things a Master Swimmer or athlete requires: appropriate opportunity to work on technique, and recovery in workouts. 3S is able to do this, and quite successfully at that.
     What makes the 3S System different is the actual heart rate based recovery, which is built into their workouts. This allows swimmers to do several meters of drill every workout (I do approximately 1000 m to 1500 m of drill per workout), offers flexibility in terms of volume adjustment, ability to adjust sets and still accommodate heart rate requirements and energy zone targets. I wear a HR Monitor for all workouts and focus on HR and technique, not target times. Once rested, meeting target times takes care of itself. However, I must emphasize this is unique to myself and may not be the same for others.
     If used properly, the 3S System can be a powerful tool for any athlete. All athletes need to accommodate their bodies, and know when overload is beginning to affect performance. 3S is able to do that, and because it is heart rate based, you become familiar very quickly with how your body is functioning, adapting to physiological changes, and most importantly, when rest is required vs. doing that one extra workout that may turn into a cold or flu. And a simple e-mail is all it takes to get a very quick answer on where to adjust.
     In short... you can "Train Smart".

Grant Andruchow

Masters Swimmer

Even though I'm not a coach, Sergei, thought that this forum would help us out, considering our situation. We started using the 3S program October 2005, because we needed some guidance.

Not knowing what to do, I have just used the 3S program for my daughter, who wants to swim. She is 17 and has no coach or team. It has been great being able to print her workouts from the site.

She just finished a meet in Los Angeles. A Championship meet and she swam her best times in 5 of the 8 events she swam. She had even added in prelims to still be able to come back in finals and drop 3 seconds in her 200 Back and 2 seconds in her 100 Breast. We have had coaches at the swim meet in awe of what my daughter is doing "by herself".

Thank you,
Valerie (mom) and Jennifer (swimmer)