Brett Hawke A 2-time Olympian for Australia, Brett was a 17-time All-American at Auburn in the late '90s. In his second year as the sprint coach at Auburn, his work speaks for itself. This year one of… + See More +
Brett Hawke A 2-time Olympian for Australia, Brett was a 17-time All-American at Auburn in the late '90s. In his second year as the sprint coach at Auburn, his work speaks for itself. This year one of… + See More
A 2-time Olympian for Australia, Brett was a 17-time All-American at Auburn in the late '90s.
In his second year as the sprint coach at Auburn, his work speaks for itself. This year one of Brett's swimmers, Cesar Cielo, set the NCAA record in both the 50 and 100 freestyle.
#70
Alvaro September 8, 2009 at 11:15am
people please stop ripping everything apart. this will only end up making coaches and athletes NOT want to SHARE anything with the flowswimming community. i think it was a great a idea and great help for cesar's mentality. good job brett
Don Talbot hand out $$$$... thats funny cause that would NOT happen... he would make you give it to him not some poor person... Elle...what have you done?? EVER??
People, people - just accept the video for what it is....insight into how ONE coach dealt with ONE swimmer on ONE occasion. If we continue to rip apart everything posted on this site, coaches/athletes will stop volunteering their time for Garrett and/or Garrett will need to eliminate posting (which, personally, I would love).
Ellie said: “Thanks for the backup, Zane. Here's the thing: as a coach, Hawke has the right instincts to want to mold his athletes into good people. But instead of setting an example for Cesar to follow, he told Cesar to hand a poor Chinese man $100. How much more powerful would it have been for Cesar had Hawke just pulled out $100 bill of his own and spontaneously given it to a random person in Macau? Methinks Cesar would have learned more from that. But what do I know? I'm just an "artard."”
I think what is obvious throughout all this is that there are some real idiots that post here. Get a friggin life.
How do we know that the $100 made the Chinese man better off? How do we know that one minute after he got the money, a second man didn't come along, beat the first man up and steal the $100 after witnessing the two Westerners handing the first man money?
It is an erroneous, Western assumption that money makes people better off in all cases. Once again, I agree that the intention was good, but I stand by my idea that this is flawed logic and sort of embarrassing for Hawke. I like the idea of sending Hawke to get a $100 massage instead. No hubris involved there!
Brett could have had Cesar spend that $100 on a massage session to relax. Instead, he had Ceasar gave the $100 to a poor Chinaman and took Ceasar's focus away from swimming for a while to relax. The Chinaman was not begging for money. He was sought out by Brett and Ceasar. Everybody wins. To those judgmental zen masters: you can a least look at the positive sides: a lucky Chinaman got a break and a swimmer got a break from his pressure and a coach taught a lesson to his pupil about life: do good unto others. There are many good lessons here.
To repeat for the people below who didn't actually read this previously posted:
He does give the money for the wrong reasons (not for the beggar but for his own ends). This is a fact.
BUT a poor guy does get a 100 bucks. Fact.
Good for the beggar. Good for Ceasar performance wise. Bad for a lesson.
Does that seem to sum it up?
Great interview and insight from an obviously excellent coach.
I think i've learnt more from those few minutes then i have from years of listening to some 'coaches'. Smart guy. Looking forward to the next episode....
I think Hawke had Ceasar give the money because it calmed him down and made him feel good - with the added bonus of helping someone out. He said that the whole ride back Ceasar was talking about how good he felt for doing that. You think he was nervous cause he was at the Olympics? The reason for doing so might not have been the best reason, but it doesn't negate the fact that the deed was still done and the desired result was acheived.
It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It didn't hurt anyone, and it worked for him. Why not learn from this and think of ways you can motivate or be motivated. Not to mention doing something great in the meantime, there is a such thing as win-win.
I don't think its so much about the whole "do something good for someone else and something good will happen to you" because thats not the way things work. I think what Brett was ultimately going for was the feeling Cesar would have gotten when he saw and felt the reaction from the man he was helping. Anyone who has ever helped someone or done a selfless deed knows that feeling and there really isn't anything like it in the world. Thats the true power in what Brett had Cesar do.
He does give the money for the wrong reasons (not for the beggar but for his own ends). This is a fact.
BUT a poor guy does get a 100 bucks. Fact.
Good for the beggar. Good for Ceasar performance wise. Bad for a lesson.
Does that seem to sum it up?
Great interview and insight from an obviously excellent coach.
Just goes to show that ANYTHING on Floswimming will get picked apart and ridiculed by the masses, even if it is giving money to people who need it!
We say, "Oh but how impure of him to give it in such and such a way..." blah blah blah "He didn't give with purity of heart, it doesn't count...."
I really think all of you people are sad, and you know nothing of the world that is surrounding you.
I think your missing the point..He is not trying to make ceaser into a charitable benefactor and of course he knows that by giving someone 100 dollars it does not bestow mother teresa status upon him.It is more just one of many steps to set him up for the games.. psychological preparation or creating a new ritual..something that is very effective for athletes.
Just see it for what it is and dont read anymore into it
I love the forward planning and insight that Brett explains here. Great coaches are psychologists too! This just shows the level of preparation for the most intense and hectic sporting event in the world.
It's also nice to see he gives a nod to his old Aussie team for helping to show him how to prepare as a swimmer, and as a few people have mentioned below, passing on knowledge is massively important! coach to coach, coach to swimmer and swimmer to swimmer.
Thanks FloSwimming
Thanks for the backup, Zane. Here's the thing: as a coach, Hawke has the right instincts to want to mold his athletes into good people. But instead of setting an example for Cesar to follow, he told Cesar to hand a poor Chinese man $100. How much more powerful would it have been for Cesar had Hawke just pulled out $100 bill of his own and spontaneously given it to a random person in Macau? Methinks Cesar would have learned more from that. But what do I know? I'm just an "artard."
Ellie said: “This is the most flawed logic I have ever heard anyone utter. Hawke wants Cesar to have good karma headed into the Olympic Games so he manufactures a scenario where Cesar hands a man on the street a $100 bill? That's called a self-serving good deed, not altruism. Embarrassing for him that he's so proud of this story.”
I agree w/ Ellie. Not selfless and completely nonsensical.
This is the most flawed logic I have ever heard anyone utter. Hawke wants Cesar to have good karma headed into the Olympic Games so he manufactures a scenario where Cesar hands a man on the street a $100 bill? That's called a self-serving good deed, not altruism. Embarrassing for him that he's so proud of this story.
Yes, I think part of Hawke's brilliance here is helping Cesar to break out of the narcissistic pre-race mentality that can creep into any serious racer before a big event. When that huge race approaches it is easy to fall into the trap of self absorption and tense fixation on one's own performance. A simple act of selflessness no matter what size can bring an athlete back to a big picture mentality of life that can relax and set them at ease. Hawke's got the X-factor in coaching people not just swimmers.
The real story is how sick that screeching hawk at the beginning was! It's great to see that so many people think that Brett is so hot right now. Truth be told, he has been 'hot' for over 10 years now. Brett Hawke is legit, end of story. Looking forward to the rest of these talks.
Great story - but isn't the idea to do good or give without expecting anything in return? Giving $100 in order to receive something good back during the Olympic Games is not what Lao Tzu or any of the wise sages of old intended in their writings and philosophies.
Garrett McCaffrey said: “His swimmers will all tell you that it is his ability to relate to his athletes that makes him successful. This story exemplifies that, and the real end of the story came when Cesar got the gold medal just a short time after this.”
It's so true. Athletes are always going to be more responsive to their coaches when they feel like they can relate to them. Brett's stories show that he is able to that he is able to do this incredibly well, and that is what is going to help him keep his team working to stay at the top.
Brett is a great speaker and storyteller and I am looking forward to more from him. He spoke so highly of Richard Quick at the recent CSCAA conference in Chicago; it is clear that he has learned from him and has a lot to share with the rest of us.
Ceaser gives a poor bloke 100 dollars, he feels good about it, ceaser feels good about himself and when your feeling good about yourself you swim fast. So no i dotn think brett will take ceaser out before every big meet to give away 100 dollars but he will make sure he is feeling good about himdelf one way or another. I agree with earlier comments 'so hot right now'
It's forward planning like this that takes a good coach up to being a great coach and the only way you can know this stuff is if you've been there and done it yourself. No amount of book reading can prep you for the Olympics.
This also shows how important it is for the older swimmers in a club to pass on their knowledge to the younger swimmers they train with.
i dont think he was looking for the karma, spiritually, but when cesar thinks on those blocks " i did something good, now something good will happen to me" he will swim faster, the brain has alot to do with your body, and if your brain thinks you will succeed, for whatever reason, you will succeed
Anyone who has been to the Olympics will tell you, it's a different beast than any other meet. Brett is sharing personal insight to his interaction with his swimmer leading up to the Olympics. His swimmers will all tell you that it is his ability to relate to his athletes that makes him successful. This story exemplifies that, and the real end of the story came when Cesar got the gold medal just a short time after this.
Anonymous Coward said: “I wish Auburn was in a less backwards place and had any kind of academics to speak of, I might have gone there. I was warned by numerous teachers and even AU alum that if I was serious about grad school Auburn would be the worst decision I ever made, but if I just wanted to swim I would be golden. I wonder if any members of the swim team take academics seriously?”
I don't know, why don't you ask the dozens of doctors, dentists, lawyers and financial advisors that swam for Auburn?
brett, get over yourself. you do a good job. there is no question about that but do your research when you decide to enter the karmic world. karma doesn't work like that. seek the good because it is good. in the example given, it would equate to another famous quote: "prayer, the last refuge of a scoundrel". you have now set up not an existance of doing good for goods sake, you have begun a new superstition that will cost young cesar a hundred bucks everytime he wants to do well in a meet. what you have instilled in him is the concept of superstition. far from a method that comes back to one. tell em how to swim fast and live a good life so they want to emulate your good. all the best.....
Dummies? said: “Auburn is just like a bunch of big universities, you get what you put into it. I'm sure there are people on the team doing the minimal amount of work to stay eligible, but there are also others with high academic standards that are also soaring in the classroom. Being an athlete on a team with the athletic standards like Auburn AND majoring in something like Biomedical Sciences or Electric Engineering isn't something to make fun of. Some of those swimmers and divers take their extreme work ethic to class with them and they should be proud.”
You are exactly right. I worked under an Exercise Physiologist from Auburn, while in the service, and he was very insightfull. Not someone I would want to test my wits to. It's to my understanding that Brett is a EP major as well. From personal experience and having gone through several certifications as well, coaching while you are studying helps to put you on another playing field as a coach.
We recently hired a UT senior, who has since graduated, who was a kines major. It's amazing to see what skills and what enthusiasm they bring to the table.
Brett the Buddhist. One of the principle tenets of that religion is karma--that good deeds and thoughts lead to good deeds and thoughts, etc. That doesn't mean that one should do nice things because they expect or want something in return. It is the unselfishness without motive that prompts the karmic return. I love that story.
Auburn is just like a bunch of big universities, you get what you put into it. I'm sure there are people on the team doing the minimal amount of work to stay eligible, but there are also others with high academic standards that are also soaring in the classroom. Being an athlete on a team with the athletic standards like Auburn AND majoring in something like Biomedical Sciences or Electric Engineering isn't something to make fun of. Some of those swimmers and divers take their extreme work ethic to class with them and they should be proud.
I wish Auburn was in a less backwards place and had any kind of academics to speak of, I might have gone there. I was warned by numerous teachers and even AU alum that if I was serious about grad school Auburn would be the worst decision I ever made, but if I just wanted to swim I would be golden. I wonder if any members of the swim team take academics seriously?
in reference to giving money to poor people in order to swim well,
i was walking along my campus one night when the typical kid and his mother asked me if i wanted to buy a candy bar because the kid was raising money for football uniforms
this year my college team was on a quest to find a discount on the new high tech suits, so i felt the kids pain, trying to raise money for the proper equipment, so i gave him my last 10 dollars and went home and ate some roman noodles
later that year we did get a huge discount on our suits and that 10 dollars came back to me many times over, what goes around does come around
Let us remember that Mr. Hawke is using techinques he has learned from other coaches throughout the world. I have heard the same story about walking arount from Don Talbot, bill Sweetenham, Pieree Lafontaine and other US based coaches doing the same at previous olympics and in China.
Mr. Hawke is using techniques that he has learned .....good on him for using information to help his athletes. Other coaches should learn from him on this. Even if you do not agree on somethings posted on here you can still learn.
lets just appreciate what we have here: one of the beast sprint coaches in the country telling us some stories about how he got one of his swimmers to perform well and win an olympic gold medal. theres no need for all this "typical auburn" stuff... yeah, it sounds a little superstitious, ut who has the gold medal?
Flip Flops Retailer said: “I guess you're using a built-in or mountable omni directional mic. They give good average results in most conditions but sort of swallow everything around.
I know, I know. Most cardios are out of prize and might require some sound engineer's presence. So, may I suggest that you guys move into a quieter room next time? Thanks! Keep bustin'”
most unreasonable suggestions ever award winner = you
hawke is without a doubt one of the future leaders of this sport. his tremendous insight is going to be so valuable to our sport in the years and decades to come
Sorry Garrett, but I have been holding this for too long... Please. I am begging you. Don't do interviews while you're standing near the Niagara Falls! Seriously! They give monster headaches when played back! And stream vid compression isn't helping!
I guess you're using a built-in or mountable omni directional mic. They give good average results in most conditions but sort of swallow everything around.
I know, I know. Most cardios are out of prize and might require some sound engineer's presence. So, may I suggest that you guys move into a quieter room next time? Thanks! Keep bustin'
The first episode of Hawke Talk is an inside look into Brett's approach to mental and dryland preperation going into the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with Gold Medalist Cesar Cielo. May 27, 2009
What Goes Around Comes Around
“Thanks for the backup, Zane. Here's the thing: as a coach, Hawke has the right instincts to want to mold his athletes into good people. But instead of setting an example for Cesar to follow, he told Cesar to hand a poor Chinese man $100. How much more powerful would it have been for Cesar had Hawke just pulled out $100 bill of his own and spontaneously given it to a random person in Macau? Methinks Cesar would have learned more from that. But what do I know? I'm just an "artard."”
It is an erroneous, Western assumption that money makes people better off in all cases. Once again, I agree that the intention was good, but I stand by my idea that this is flawed logic and sort of embarrassing for Hawke. I like the idea of sending Hawke to get a $100 massage instead. No hubris involved there!
He does give the money for the wrong reasons (not for the beggar but for his own ends). This is a fact.
BUT a poor guy does get a 100 bucks. Fact.
Good for the beggar. Good for Ceasar performance wise. Bad for a lesson.
Does that seem to sum it up?
Great interview and insight from an obviously excellent coach.
BUT a poor guy does get a 100 bucks. Fact.
Good for the beggar. Good for Ceasar performance wise. Bad for a lesson.
Does that seem to sum it up?
Great interview and insight from an obviously excellent coach.
We say, "Oh but how impure of him to give it in such and such a way..." blah blah blah "He didn't give with purity of heart, it doesn't count...."
I really think all of you people are sad, and you know nothing of the world that is surrounding you.
Just see it for what it is and dont read anymore into it
It's also nice to see he gives a nod to his old Aussie team for helping to show him how to prepare as a swimmer, and as a few people have mentioned below, passing on knowledge is massively important! coach to coach, coach to swimmer and swimmer to swimmer.
Thanks FloSwimming
“This is the most flawed logic I have ever heard anyone utter. Hawke wants Cesar to have good karma headed into the Olympic Games so he manufactures a scenario where Cesar hands a man on the street a $100 bill? That's called a self-serving good deed, not altruism. Embarrassing for him that he's so proud of this story.”
John 12:26
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
“His swimmers will all tell you that it is his ability to relate to his athletes that makes him successful. This story exemplifies that, and the real end of the story came when Cesar got the gold medal just a short time after this.”
Brett is a great speaker and storyteller and I am looking forward to more from him. He spoke so highly of Richard Quick at the recent CSCAA conference in Chicago; it is clear that he has learned from him and has a lot to share with the rest of us.
This also shows how important it is for the older swimmers in a club to pass on their knowledge to the younger swimmers they train with.
“Auburn's Academics have improved quite a bit over the years. Check out my girl Kristen, winner of the McWhorter Award in 2008:
http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/spec-rel/040608aaa.html
It's all about what you get out of things, not what they give to you!”
“I wish Auburn was in a less backwards place and had any kind of academics to speak of, I might have gone there. I was warned by numerous teachers and even AU alum that if I was serious about grad school Auburn would be the worst decision I ever made, but if I just wanted to swim I would be golden. I wonder if any members of the swim team take academics seriously?”
http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/spec-rel/040608aaa.html
It's all about what you get out of things, not what they give to you!
“Auburn is just like a bunch of big universities, you get what you put into it. I'm sure there are people on the team doing the minimal amount of work to stay eligible, but there are also others with high academic standards that are also soaring in the classroom. Being an athlete on a team with the athletic standards like Auburn AND majoring in something like Biomedical Sciences or Electric Engineering isn't something to make fun of. Some of those swimmers and divers take their extreme work ethic to class with them and they should be proud.”
We recently hired a UT senior, who has since graduated, who was a kines major. It's amazing to see what skills and what enthusiasm they bring to the table.
Dave
i was walking along my campus one night when the typical kid and his mother asked me if i wanted to buy a candy bar because the kid was raising money for football uniforms
this year my college team was on a quest to find a discount on the new high tech suits, so i felt the kids pain, trying to raise money for the proper equipment, so i gave him my last 10 dollars and went home and ate some roman noodles
later that year we did get a huge discount on our suits and that 10 dollars came back to me many times over, what goes around does come around
what goes around comes around what goes around
comes around
I apologize, it was a great article
this auburn video is much better than the last
Mr. Hawke is using techniques that he has learned .....good on him for using information to help his athletes. Other coaches should learn from him on this. Even if you do not agree on somethings posted on here you can still learn.
“I guess you're using a built-in or mountable omni directional mic. They give good average results in most conditions but sort of swallow everything around.
I know, I know. Most cardios are out of prize and might require some sound engineer's presence. So, may I suggest that you guys move into a quieter room next time? Thanks! Keep bustin'”
I guess you're using a built-in or mountable omni directional mic. They give good average results in most conditions but sort of swallow everything around.
I know, I know. Most cardios are out of prize and might require some sound engineer's presence. So, may I suggest that you guys move into a quieter room next time? Thanks! Keep bustin'