From Pro Triathlete to Deck Referee: Why Officiating Swimming Is So Rewarding: Chet Goudy, EP 315

A 13-Week Plan To Win

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, here's what we're gonna do. There's a race in early spring. I'm gonna pull my book out. It's 13 weeks. I know exactly what I have to do. Kids, I'm gonna follow this plan step by step and do everything exactly right, and I'm gonna go win that race.

Meet Day And The Deck Ref Role

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello, friends. Welcome to the Champions Mojo podcast, where we bring you interviews and topics to help you live well and swim well, conversations especially meaningful for master swimmers and anyone striving to perform better in the water or in life. We're here to champion you. And now your host, Kelly Pallas.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I am so excited to be doing an on-deck interview with Chet Gowdy. He was a college swimmer, a pro triathlete. He's now a master swimmer, and he is officiating at a big USA meet. And Chet, thank you so much. Welcome to Champions Mojo. First, let's start with your officiating. You're a USA swimming official. And what position are you working today?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Um I worked as a deck ref for this entire meet.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

What does a deck ref do?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

The deck ref um is in charge of the pool. Everything that happens, and everybody that's working. Um the meat ref is in charge of the meat, but the deck ref is handling what's going on in the water.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

So you obviously love swimming. How did you get into being an official and what's the rewarding part of it?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Uh well, my kids decided to swim uh year round, and I grew up coaching, so I was either gonna coach or do something. I wasn't gonna sit in the stands. So my wife begged me not to coach again because I stopped when my first was born. Um and so I said, well, fine, I'll officiate. So and we they always need more officials as it is.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

So how long have you been doing this?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Uh since Noelle started, so this is year four or five. Um, you asked what the rewarding part is. Um it's nice to be on deck when parents can't get on deck with the kids. So, you know, my kids are around me all the time and they come up and talk, and other parents like to say that their kids refuse to acknowledge them, whereas mine still come up. So I'm glad.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

That's

Quitting Swimming Then Returning Strong

SPEAKER_02 2:29

cool. Okay, so let's get into your um a little bit of your swimming history, like where you grew up swimming, you maybe your USA, and then how you got into college swimming, and then transitioned to I'm t I'm guessing traplons and then masters, but it may be the other way around.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

So yeah, so I grew up swimming at SPY in Saverna Park, Maryland. Um I played lacrosse, I was in band, and I swam. When I got to ninth grade, I decided I wanted to be the drum major of the marching band. And at the so at the time I stopped playing lacrosse and stopped swimming. Um to be the drum major, you gotta be the best. So you're you know, you're hand picked, and it was kind of like my ultimate goal at that moment. Um, and so I wound up being the drum major and everything was great. However, I missed swimming. And I didn't really intend on going to college. I thought I'd just work with my dad. And my dad said, No, you're gonna go. And I said, Well, if I go, I'm gonna swim. So, senior year of high school, I called my head coach and he said, Sure, come on back. So I started out with three years of being dry, and I was terrible. Um, and it took it took many months to get back into some kind of shape. Um, so I continued with SPY my first year of college, going to the community college, and then transferred to Towson. Um and then swam the final three years there, and that was the greatest thing ever. Um, and it was probably the hardest thing other than having kids.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Oh swimming in college.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

So I've heard a legendary set that you did. You want to share that with us? What Mark told me about it. So tell us about this legendary set.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Uh well, in college we used to do 2200s uh stroke.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

What stroke?

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Breaststroke.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

You were so you were a breaststroker?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yes. Uh I'm sure I had other kids do backstroke and fly, but you know, the breaststrokers did breast. Um and it I loved it. It took it took like six or seven or eight to get into it. And then by 11, 12, 13, you could really roll. However, I was rolling over the kids who were in the relays because I couldn't do a 50 or 100 to save my life faster than they could. But if we did many 200s, then that's where I got to take over.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

So you're a distance swimmer. Did that lead you into triathlons like swimming the mile? What was the next trajectory of your swimming career?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Well, we didn't figure out that I should do distance until my senior year at in college, and then I was on the 800-free relay, and that, you know, that was fun. Um, I couldn't wait for swimming to be over. We counted down the days, and then two weeks after conference championships, I was like, Well, what the heck do I do now? Um, and I didn't swim for I think four or five years after that, and then eventually I got back in the pool and then swimming here and there, and then I had friends doing triathlons, and I knew they were doing well, but I thought I can I can do that. So eventually I was doing triathlons, just a few a year, and these old friends would always beat me. And I told my wife, I know I can be better than this, I need to get a coach and get on a team. Um, and so I did that, and it changed everything about training for me, and kind of really opened my eyes to what I should have been doing. Um, and then, you know, we went from there.

Masters Training And The 5,000 Challenge

SPEAKER_02 6:16

So you're obviously a hard-working swimming official. You you're a dad, you're traveling down here to this big meet. Are you swimming yourself and how do you stay in shape yourself?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

So, yes. I swim at Riva in Annapolis with ABC, the Annapolis Breakfast Club. Um, I was going five days a week, and then I thought maybe it's too much. I'm thinking back to my triathlon where I would never do anything five days in a row. Um, so now I tried to pickleball on the off days um early in the morning when nobody's awake anyway. So the courts are clear at the gym.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

So uh that's great. Tell me more about the Annapolis Breakfast Club, even though we're at a USA meet. I ran into one of your ABC uh master swimmers in the lobby, and she very casually said, you know, because it's unusual to see a, you know, a an older person swimming in a USA meet, but she said, Hey, great job. I'm a master swimmer too. And I said, Oh, well, where do you swim? She said, Oh, it's just the ABC. We're the Annapolis Breakfast Club. And I said, Great. She said, Yeah, we only do 5,000. Or she said, I can only do 5,000. And I said, Wait, I don't even do 5,000. So tell us a little bit about this ABC. It sounds cool. And are you really doing 5,000?

SPEAKER_01 7:30

So we generally do 4,000 every day. Um, some of us stay after if we have time, and we'll do extra sets. Um, but in February, it's fitness February, and so we do 5,000 every day. Um, and that the whole point of that is to ramp up because the majority of the thought process is to get ready for the bay swim, which is today, the 14th, um, which I was supposed to be swimming in, um, until my daughter said, we're going to this meet, Dad.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Okay. So that was the the 4.4 Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, beautiful swim. I've always wanted to do that, never had.

How To Start Officiating Without Fear

SPEAKER_02 8:09

So the main thing I would love for you to share with our listeners is just getting more parents or more swimmers into officiating, into USA swimming officiating and also US master swimming officiating. It's such a great way to see swimming from the deck. What would you give advice if somebody's just listening to this and they're like, they love swimming, they have no idea how to get started. Um, what could be some of the step steps and where might they end up on the Olympic pool deck? Do you have aspirations for that in LA in 2028? Are we going to see you there as the deck referee? But give us a little um, give us a some encouragement for people out there and how we can get more officials because they're always needed, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yes. Uh we're always desperate for officials. Um, most people are afraid to officiate because they either think they don't know anything about swimming because they never swam, or B, they don't want to disqualify a kid. Well, love it. By disqualifying the the kid, you're not disqualifying them. They disqualified themselves. And you're bringing it to the attention of the kid and probably the parents and the coaches. So it's a benefit to everybody all the way around. Um, and I even found once I became an official that there were things that I didn't really realize were a thing as a swimmer. But then once I was an official, I was like, oh my gosh, I never thought of that or never would have considered that. Um, keep in mind many of the things that we call are not a benefit to the kid. You know, they're not getting uh an edge up on anybody uh by doing what they're doing. You don't have to know about swimming. Um you apprentice when you first get on deck. And so by that, I mean you stand with somebody and they tell you everything that they're looking at. And um, so that that was kind of nice. The first time I apprenticed, I remember the guy said, Gosh, I think you know more than I do already. Um, which was kind of funny. But um it's also a good group of people. So you run into the same people that you worked with, but you haven't seen them in six months, but you're all still friends. So, and remember you get to be on deck. So that's the best part.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

And you get great hospitality, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Some places it's really great. Um, we get crab cakes. I've had that before. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

But at least drinks and snacks.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Oh, yes. There's always there's always plenty of food.

unknown 10:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

And what might be the worst part? Like if you if you somebody's just like, oh, what maybe the worst part isn't that bad.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

For me, it's standing still. I will move bricks all day long and never stop and be fine. But if you tell me to stand perfectly still for four hours, that is the hardest part to me.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Okay, and you really have to stand still.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Uh generally, depending on the position you're doing. If you're doing stroke and turn, you may stand on the bulkhead for a four-hour session and you'll step one step up and one step back.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Okay, yeah, that would be a bummer. But there are some sitting positions as well, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

There are sitting positions, and I try to stress that the more officials we have, it makes it better for every person on deck working. Um, you know, if you have eight and you need eight, well, then nobody gets a break. If you have nine, now you have relief. Well, guess what? If 12 showed up, it would be amazing, and everybody's job would be infinitely easier.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Yeah.

Earning A Pro Card And A Comeback Win

SPEAKER_02 11:45

This is awesome. What was the professional triathlon career?

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Um Yeah. Yeah. So, well, it was very short. So I joined a team, a triathlon team, PHP I. Um, and I still have some of my best friends of my whole life from that team, um, even though it's not uh, you know, it's no longer around. Um, but my coach ran the team. Um my goal from the beginning was to get my pro card for sprint and Olympic distance. Um, I didn't really like going long and not as hard. I'd rather go real hard for an hour or two. Um, my coach always said, You're really fast, but you're really fragile. So he had to be careful with me uh with overdoing it. Um, but my whole intention was to get the pro card. We went to St. Pete Beach in Florida. Um, that's a really great qualifying race there. I got third. I had to be top three amateur, top three out of the to finish of the amateurs. Um so that was really fun because there was a pro field there and we're all together. Um we're passing each other on the bikes, on the run. So that was really fun. Um, but I I got my top three qualifying finish, and I literally felt like a weight was lifted, and I was like, well, I did it, and now I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

And so that was the end of it.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

That I have raced a few more times since then, and I still have all of my stuff. Um, I will never get rid of it. My kids actually asked me a couple years ago, after I had not raced for a few years, you know, what was triathlon? And I was shocked and sad. So I said, all right, here's what we're gonna do. There's a race in early spring. I'm gonna pull my book out. It's 13 weeks. I know exactly what I have to do. Kids, I'm gonna follow this plan step by step and do everything exactly right, and I'm gonna go win that race. And sure enough, it it all worked out.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Wow. How old how old are you now? And how old were you when you did this with when your kids asked you?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Um, I'm 43 now. I was either 39 or 40. Um, and the the funny part was the guys who came in second to third were from the Naval Academy Triathlon Club. Um, and I said, gosh, I could be your dad.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Wow, I love it. So um obviously you're a great swimmer, but I mean, where do you get the chops for bike and run?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Uh I have to credit my coach, uh Scott Padgett, for that. Um I started riding and would just go for rides here and there and ride hard and and do whatever. But once I got the coach, Scott, I did every single thing uh on purpose. Um, you know, depending on duration and power and heart rate, whatever it was. I stayed inside on a trainer full time. The only time I was outside was during a race because I could control all of it perfectly.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Probably smart because injuries happen out there on the road. Yeah. Well, okay. This is

Pool Business And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_02 14:54

awesome. Is there anything else that you wanted to share that that I have and ask you?

SPEAKER_01 14:58

We we're a swimming family. Um, you'll like this. I have a swimming pool business. Um I started that right at the end of college. So my wife runs the majority of that.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

So we You're embarrassed if somebody's listening. Yes, it's Gowdy Pools. Uh, we're in Arnold, Maryland. Uh, we open, close, service, renovate, um, and we build a few pools every year. But we do a lot of renovation, renovating, and uh open, close, and service.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Awesome. Thank you so much for spending the time with us. You got to come back for finals and officiate, so we really appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Sure. Glad to glad to talk.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo podcast. Would you consider leaving us a five star review on Apple? That's like getting a best time for us. Kelly and our team would be so grateful. See you next week for another Boost of Mojo.