Fred Vergnoux: The Best Sports Psychologist Is...

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Great Coaches: Leadership and Life newsletter.

We’ve been focusing on the topic of inspiration a lot this week, with Wednesday’s podcast episode focused on the legendary coaches who have most inspired some of our Great Coaches guests.

Speaking of inspiring coaches, we’re putting together a special listeners’ episode and we’d love to hear from you. Scroll down to learn how to get involved!

Finally, we’ve just released a great interview with swimming coach Fred Vergnoux, which you’ll definitely want to hear. As always, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the interview here in our newsletter - great for skimming on your way to work or training.

The Element Of Surprise With Fred Vergnoux

Our Great Coach this week is French swimming coach Fred Vergnoux.

Fred’s coaching career began in France with a position working with the club Racing Paris. From there, he then made his way to the USA where he took jobs working for people such as the Olympic swimming coach Greg Troy in order to gain a deeper knowledge of the sport.

His plan clearly worked, as he was eventually appointed as the Head Coach for the city of Edinburgh in Scotland in 2004. By 2008, he had built up such a good reputation that he earned the position of Head Coach for the Great Britain Olympic team.

In 2010 Fred found himself travelling yet again, this time moving to Spain to become the Head Coach of the Spanish team. There he remained until 2022, when he took up a new position as the Head Coach of the Belgium swim team.

As a coach, Fred has worked with a number of incredibly successful swimmers. His track record is remarkable, with his athletes having accomplished:

• 8 world records

• 11 European records

• 3 Commonwealth records

• 9 South American records

• 6 Olympic medals

• 22 World Championship medals

• 38 European Championship medals

Fred shared a number of fantastic leadership insights during our interview, stressing that the key to success lies in the relationship between athletes and their coaches. With that said, he also pointed out the importance of leaders and coaches taking time for themselves in order to refresh and connect with their family.

For those of you involved in training teams or athletes, Fred’s comments on the importance of surprising people may particularly resonate - as he explains, his approach to training allows athletes to see their own progress through a variety of activities designed to shake them out of their routine.

Oh, and if our newsletter title left you wondering about the best sports psychologist, make sure to give the episode a listen. The answer is probably not what you think.

Listen Now: Apple | Spotify

The Need For Belonging

As a leader, your day will involve interacting and working with a number of different people, each with their own personalities, backgrounds and experiences. Efficiently and effectively leading these diverse groups requires you to uncover and utilise what they all have in common.

In this clip from our interview with field hockey coach Barry Dancer, he focuses on the human desire to ‘belong’ and the way that he uses that desire to encourage certain behaviours and cultures within his teams and amongst his athletes.

A great point to consider over a coffee in the break room today.

If you enjoyed this clip, then you should take a trip over to our website where you’ll find a wealth of insights taken from interviews with over 200 of the sporting world’s greatest coaches.

In Case You Missed It…

A Word From Our Listeners

Wednesday’s podcast focused on the coaches who inspired our some of our Great Coaches guests, and it got us thinking about some of the inspirational coaches out there that we might not yet have heard of.

That’s why we’ve decided to make a special episode of the podcast, this time recognising the coaches who have impacted the lives of our listeners.

If a coach has had an impact on you in any way, then we would love to join you in recognising them. To take part in the episode, just grab your phone and send us a recording that includes their name and how they influenced or impacted your life.

Send your recording to [email protected]

We’re looking forward to hearing it!

The Difficult Road To Gold

During the 1980s and 90s, Jackie Joyner-Kersee was at the top of her game. The track and field athlete won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals and still holds her 1988 heptathlon world record.

This article from the BBC is a fantastic one, with Jackie sharing a number of insights into her gold medal journey including the social and mental hurdles that she faced along the way.

Timeless Insights To Share With Your Team

Having conducted more than 200 interviews with sports’ Great Coaches, we’ve built up a fantastic archive of visual and audio clips featuring countless insights into leadership and life.

Bring the voices of the Great Coaches into the room at your next event with one of our presentations, tailored around the exact issues and situations facing you and your team.

It’s timeless, authentic, and can be delivered either virtually or in person.

Get in touch today to find out more: [email protected]

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