The Matt Kredich School of Thought is a coaches clinic that is totally unique in the swimming world. The goal of the School of Thought is to create an immersive and exciting learning experience that challenges all participants - coaches and speakers alike - to clarify and evolve their thinking around high performance coaching and swimming.

The clinic began when Jan Olbrecht (and his wonderful wife Pascale)  offered to come over from Brussels and spend a couple of days with our staff. He suggested that he could present for a small group of coaches to help pay for expenses. I immediately thought of many coaches whom I know had been influenced by “The Science of Winning” and, like me, had many questions about the implementation of Jan’s concepts. I invited several, who signed on immediately, word quickly spread, and the School of Thought Clinic was born.

Over the first four years I simply added speakers who I knew could help answer some of the questions that I was asking, and who had unique and powerful insights into high performance in swimming and coaching. Many coaches over the years have told me that the School of Thought was the best educational experience of their careers.

The 2023 featured speakers are among the most progressive thinkers in the sport of swimming, and the format allows for all coaches to be active participants in discussion. The three-day clinic will feature many different learning environments – including larger group lectures, by-the-pool sessions, small group workshops, as well as some great social opportunities that inevitably lead to some of the best experiences of the clinic.

The clinic will be limited to 60 registrants in order to provide the best possible learning experience for each member of the group.





The Matt Kredich School of Thought is a coaches clinic that is totally unique in the swimming world. The goal of the School of Thought is to create an immersive and exciting learning experience that challenges all participants - coaches and speakers alike - to clarify and evolve their thinking around high performance coaching and swimming.

The clinic began when Jan Olbrecht (and his wonderful wife Pascale)  offered to come over from Brussels and spend a couple of days with our staff. He suggested that he could present for a small group of coaches to help pay for expenses. I immediately thought of many coaches whom I know had been influenced by “The Science of Winning” and, like me, had many questions about the implementation of Jan’s concepts. I invited several, who signed on immediately, word quickly spread, and the School of Thought Clinic was born.

Over the first four years I simply added speakers who I knew could help answer some of the questions that I was asking, and who had unique and powerful insights into high performance in swimming and coaching. Many coaches over the years have told me that the School of Thought was the best educational experience of their careers.

The 2023 featured speakers are among the most progressive thinkers in the sport of swimming, and the format allows for all coaches to be active participants in discussion. The three-day clinic will feature many different learning environments – including larger group lectures, by-the-pool sessions, small group workshops, as well as some great social opportunities that inevitably lead to some of the best experiences of the clinic.

The clinic will be limited to 60 registrants in order to provide the best possible learning experience for each member of the group.





"I have been a swimming coach for 35 years. While I have coached swimmers from age 3 to over 90, I have spent the majority of my career focusing on college and professional swimmers who have goals of performing at the highest levels of the sport.

I have coached hundreds of swimmers, and each one has taught me a unique set of lessons and given me a different kind of understanding of swimming as well as of the world we live in. Throughout my career I have engaged in a continuous search for knowledge, partly to take steps towards the mastery of the craft of coaching swimming, and mostly to try to satisfy my curiosity about how to help bring out the best in the human beings I coach. This has led me to ask questions and to pursue knowledge in in dozens of different disciplines, and to try to synthesize this information into a unified philosophy and approach. This approach has never stopped evolving and I hope it never does.


The School of Thought is a vehicle for helping to advance my own knowledge, the knowledge of others, and to advance the sport of swimming by bringing great people and great minds together."

"I have been a swimming coach for 35 years. While I have coached swimmers from age 3 to over 90, I have spent the majority of my career focusing on college and professional swimmers who have goals of performing at the highest levels of the sport.

I have coached hundreds of swimmers, and each one has taught me a unique set of lessons and given me a different kind of understanding of swimming as well as of the world we live in. Throughout my career I have engaged in a continuous search for knowledge, partly to take steps towards the mastery of the craft of coaching swimming, and mostly to try to satisfy my curiosity about how to help bring out the best in the human beings I coach. This has led me to ask questions and to pursue knowledge in in dozens of different disciplines, and to try to synthesize this information into a unified philosophy and approach. This approach has never stopped evolving and I hope it never does.


The School of Thought is a vehicle for helping to advance my own knowledge, the knowledge of others, and to advance the sport of swimming by bringing great people and great minds together."

Matt Kredich

This year's speaker:

This year's speaker:

Jan Olbrecht, PhD

🇧🇪 Brussels, Belgium

🇧🇪 Brussels, Belgium

Expert in Lactate Testing

Jan Olbrecht is a highly esteemed training adviser with a Ph.D. in physiology and biomechanics. He works with world-class athletes in swimming, triathlon, running, and rowing, focusing on careful planning and developing a unique method of lactate testing to assess muscular potential and optimize individual conditioning programs. His approach and its application in training are outlined in his book "The Science of Winning."


Dr. Olbrecht has received numerous awards for sports science research in Belgium and other countries. For over 40 years, he has provided training advice to many world-class athletes, including Inge de Bruijn, Pieter van de Hoogenband, Marleen Veldhuis, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Kyle Chalmers, Duncan Scott, Florent Manaudou, Arno Kamminga, Ferry Weertman, Marie Wattel, and David Popovici, resulting in over 120 gold medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships.


In addition to his work with athletes, Dr. Olbrecht is a visiting lecturer at the Coaches Academy in Cologne (Germany) and various institutions in The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, France, UK, US, Australia, and Canada. He is also an invited speaker for many international sports federations.

Register here!

Register here!

Questions?
mkredich@utk.edu

Questions?
mkredich@utk.edu