Palisades-Malibu YMCA swim coach Adam Blakis doesn’t know how he found Valeri Bagri-or rather, how Bagri found him-but he’s glad it happened nonetheless. At a time when the Y program expects to field one of its strongest teams in years, it now adds a world class swimmer to serve as mentor and guide to kids who are already showing promise. If anyone can teach the Paly team about competition-and winning-it figures to be Bagri, a former professional breaststroker who reached the finals of the World Cup in Paris. He later served as a swimmer and head coach for Monaco’s national team. A native of Lvov, Ukraine (near the Poland border), Bagri moved to Van Nuys nine months ago with his wife, Victoria, a modern dancer who recently completed her business degree from the University of Las Vegas. The newlyweds met on a beach in Monaco while Bagri was still training six hours a day for international meets. “When we first moved to the States I worked as swim coach for Pinecrest School, but when I saw an ad for the Palisades opening, I applied and had an interview with Adam,” Bagri said with a distinctly European accent. “I am very happy to be here. The other coaches are very professional and I can already tell the kids really want to learn and improve.” Blakis found it hard to express his enthusiasm for the latest addition to his staff. “He keeps us all on our toes as coaches and, of course, when you tell kids that Val’s one of the fastest swimmers in the world in his event, they’re more inclined to listen to him. You don’t expect to ever find someone with his qualifications, but somehow it happened.” One area of concern initially was the language barrier. Blakis was afraid Bagri might not be able to communicate with the younger swimmers. The 29-year-old Bagri speaks Ukrainian, Russian, French and even a little Italian, but more importantly, his English is improving day by day. One of the girls Bagri coaches, Catherine Wang, was a standout performer at the Y regionals two weeks ago. “She’s really clever, a very fast learner. Whatever I ask her to do, she does,” Bagri said of his prize pupil. “What I tell her is the same with all the swimmers. Results don’t matter at the beginning [of the season]. You never want to swim too much right before a competition. You want to stay strong. And, as a coach, you have to keep things fun.” Without any training at all, Bagri recently competed in a three-mile ocean swim in San Diego and finished third. “I think if I train, I could win,” Bagri laughed. “But that was freestyle and that isn’t even my event.” In addition to teaching form and technique, vital elements that enable swimmers to shave precious seconds and fractions of seconds off of their times, Bagri recommends several out-of-pool exercises-including running and weight training to increase flexibility. “There’s so much we can all learn from his experiences,” Blakis said. “We’re lucky to have him.” Bagri is mainly training the 11-and-under age group, teaching them basic fundamentals and catching any flaws in technique that sometimes make the difference between first and second place. “At the Olympics, every half-second counts. Everything you do from the moment you hit the water affects your performance positively or negatively. Concentration is part of it, but its also preparation before the race.”
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