The Vortex - July 2026: What have Olympic Gold Coaches Got That Other Coaches May Lack? Read On
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Loughborough Professor David Fletcher teamed up with Dr. Mike Peyrebrune and Dr Gillian Cook to conduct a scientific study of the mentality and behaviour of Olympic swimming coaches. Says Prof. Fletcher:
"More specifically, we compared the psychology of Olympic gold medal winning swimming coaches with Olympic non-gold medal winning swimming coaches. We found the findings fascinating, with implications and messages that go beyond swimming and sport into executive and life coaching too."
Here's where you can read the study and its insights:
July 15
Why The Doc Told O'Callaghan: "Your Swimming Days Are Done!"
Olympic 200m freestyle champion Mollie O'Callaghan took to Instagram today to reveal that she was told just last month before Australian trials that she should quit swimming "immediately" on medical grounds.
Obviously that would be more than just 'no trials and no Commonwealth Games or Pan Pacs" this year. She posted:
"I was also told to stop swimming immediately. It was a moment that reinforced just how much representing Australia means to me and how badly I want to be part of this team. The scans showed stress fractures and bone oedema in my lumbar spine. My team immediately sought advice from a spinal specialist to see if there was any safe way for me to compete. Thankfully, after further assessment, everything has continued to move in a positive direction, and after Trials I was given the green light to compete at the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs. "
The post in full:
July 14
Adam Wilkie's Times Diary On Mission 2:15 - In Dad David's Lane 50 Years On
Adam Wilkie is charting his year-long journey to see how close he can get to the iconic then World record of 2mins 15.11sec clocked by his farther David Wilkie when he claimed Olympic gold in the 200m breaststroke at the Montreal 1976 Games 50 years ago this month.
The anniversary is next week, and below is how Adam gets going with an update on his progress since announcing his mission in The Times in April, our parallel SOS take here:
Craig Lord
July 14, 2026, The Times:
"There’s no tumble turn in breaststroke but life since embarking on Mission 2:15 has felt a little like the first time you approach a pool wall with audacious intent to rotate, roll, twist, time your propulsion to perfection and emerge flowing with dolphin ease in the opposite direction, bruise-free, senses intact, the world the right way up.
"I’m still steadying my feet, finding my feel for water and its weight between walls. But I’ve taken the plunge, and that matters.
"For anyone new here: I’m Adam Wilkie, 33, son of David Wilkie — the Scotsman who stood on the blocks in Montreal in 1976 and swam 200m of breaststroke in 2min 15.11sec, breaking the world record by more than three seconds and ending Britain’s 68-year wait for a men’s Olympic swimming gold."
Shortly before his first race since his school days, Adam Wilkie saw a heartwarming post and writes:
"Team GB had posted a Father’s Day tribute about my dad and the challenge. I stood there for a moment and felt real pride wash over me.
"It reminded me who my dad was. Not just the Olympic champion, but the man. And why I was standing on a pool deck in Kent in a pair of Speedos at 33, about to race strangers, on the off-chance that moving through water the way he did might bring me somewhere closer to him.
"For a moment, it felt like he was there with me. In a quiet, reassuring way. It was almost as if he was saying, “Come on… you’re a Wilkie. You’ve got this.”
A reminder of the late, great David Wilkie:
Craig Lord
Also in The July Vortex for Registered Readers:
- Shayna Jack To Retire After Commonwealth Games
- Mr and Mrs Andrew: Michael Marries Alexandra In Hawaii
- Swimming Australia Wants Its Dolphins On Paid Contracts By 2029
- Brown's Record Waited 18 Years For Dawson To Place It On Warning
- Summer Blown Off Course By Illness But Heights of McIntosh Power 'Now, & In The Next Four Years', Says Bowman
- McIntosh's 12th Entry Delivers First All-Time Sub-4:30 Club In 400IM
- Wigginton Confines Johns' 2008 400IM Mark to History
- Steenbergen Follows 4th Sub-52 With 24-Flat Dash
- Steenbergen 51.82 - Queen Of Sub-52 Consistency
- Steenbergen Dashes To 27.4 Back Best
- Italy Heads To Paris 2026 With 48-Strong Squad
- Sweep Sweeps Ndoye-Brouard To Paris Showcase For Showdown With Kós
- Steenbergen Strikes Again! 58.33 Dutch 100 Back Record
- Sacha Velly On Aubry's Trail
