MAKE YOUR COACHING MORE EFFECTIVE

An interview with Brent

McFarlane
Recently Robin Saunders met up with coach McFarlane in California
to discuss his philosophy of coaching
BRENT McFARLANE has been a National Hurdles
Coach for Canada for almost 30 years and has
coached at the Olympics, World Championships,
Commonwealth and Pan-American Games. The
author of the definitive Science of Hurdling and
Speed, he has studied and visited coaches in
more than 50 countries and published over 500
articles in athletics journals throughout the
world. Alongside these achievements, he has
worked for nearly four decades as a volunteer
coach in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, where
members of his training group have set 22
Canadian records and won many national titles.
In his 14 years and more as head coach of the
University of Waterloo track and field team, his
varsity athletes have established over 2100
personal best performances and, in 2002, he was
inducted into the University of Waterloo Hall of
Fame as a coach and an athlete.
RS Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Brent.
You are considered to be one of the greatest
coaches in the world and its a privilege to
speak with you.
BM Let me first of all say how honoured and
thrilled I am to be able to share some of the past
35 years of my coaching experience with readers
of The Coach. I have many people to thank for
giving so much meaning to my life and I am very
happy to share a few lessons from my journey.
RS What, would you say, was your earliest
success as a coach?
BM Teaching and sharing with young athletes a
message that they would remember and use for life.
22 The COACH

RS What has been your biggest

disappointment in sport?
BM Not fulfilling my mission of providing a one
team concept as Canadas head track and field
coach at the Sydney Olympic Games. After three
decades of commitment and dedication to my
sport, Athletics Canada appointed me Head
Coach of the 2000 Olympic Track and Field
Team. This should have been the greatest
honour ever bestowed upon me but, in fact, it
was not. My Olympic story became one of lack
of funding, sabotage and deceit.
How can any nation expect to compete at the
world level with little money coming from the
government to support struggling programmes
and elite level athletes? The lack of funding, in
turn, shows a lack of vision and support for the
athletes. The Canadian government and public,
it seems to me, care only about the Olympic
Games every four years. They cannot continue to
treat amateur athletes and their funding needs
like a third world country. For our team, Sydney
was like going to a ploughing match where we
were forced to use a hand driven horse plough
to compete against a state of the art airconditioned tractor. How could we succeed?
I have always been an athlete advocate.
Coaching, for me, is all about the athletes. My
role and that of all the Olympic staff, was to
make it as easy as possible for every Canadian
athlete to succeed in Sydney. I felt this could only
be accomplished by eliminating stress,
distractions and error. Because of my strong
belief in ownership, I believed in a One Team
Philosophy. For too many years, our teams had

been two distinct and separate teams: Power/

Speed vs Endurance, including Walks.
Despite limited resources, my one team
philosophy was to provide an equal opportunity
for all team members to perform at their highest
level, while servicing all individual event needs. I
believe that athletes not only depend on
themselves to succeed, they are also constantly
at the mercy of many outside forces. All Olympic
staff were to ensure that an eclipse of these
forces lined up to provide the best possible
training, living and competitive environment for
our athletes. Unfortunately for our team, this was
not to be.
My Olympic vision of a one team philosophy
was considered ahead of its time by some. In
fact, several staff went out of their way to make
sure it failed. Other staff rejected the one team
vision because this team philosophy did not
allow for selfishly motivated principles or people.
There is no place on any Olympic staff for the
me, me, I syndrome. You cant go to battle with
some staff who are not on the same team,
especially when they are shooting bullets at the
teams vision and the countrys top athletes.
RS What has been your greatest moment in
sport?
BM In 1996, I coached an unranked and
unknown University of Waterloo womens cross
country team to an upset and surprising national
team title. This Cinderella teams efforts earned
me the national cross country Coach of the Year
award, as voted by my peers. This was indeed an
unexpected surprise and a true honour for a
hurdles coach. I retired that year from coaching
cross country to start preparations for our team
for the Sydney Olympics.
RS Your book, The Science of Hurdling and
Speed, has sold thousands of copies worldwide and many coaches refer to it as a
coaching bible that has guided and influenced
their coaching philosophies. What, if anything,
has been your own coaching bible?
BM I keep a coaching journal or diary which is

Brent
McFarlane

always with me. In my bible, I record new

findings or trends I see from major competitions,
interviews with other coaches and the newest
training trends Ive observed. I record every
detail I find useful. I have had four journals in my
life. Coaching is a lifelong quest for knowledge.
You never stop learning. I have learned over the
years that, the more you know, the more you
know you dont know. For years, while on
national teams, some Canadian coaches would
mock me when I interviewed coaches on other
national teams.
When I began coaching in Canada, I went to
the best coaches in the country asking for advice
and help to get started. Nobody would help me.
Everybody had their secrets and nobody was
willing to share. In 1974, with a grant from the
OKeefe Sports Foundation, I got on a plane and
flew to England. At Loughborough College I
studied at the British Athletics Coaching School
under the likes of Frank Dick, John LeMasurier,
Wilf Paish and Harry Wilson, receiving my levels
II and III middle and long distance certification.
At that time, I swore to myself that I would have
no secrets and that I would share whatever I
learned with others by writing articles from my
bible.
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MAKE YOUR COACHING MORE EFFECTIVE

When Gerard Mach came from Poland to
Canada as our new head coach in the mid1970s, my education became an endless road of
studying, translating and listening to Gerard. You
had no choice but to listen. He never stopped
talking. I was one of his students and I wrote
everything in my journal. He taught me and
many others in Canada his art and the science
of coaching. Unfortunately for Canada, with
Gerards retirement in the 1990s, it was the end
of an era in Canadian athletics history.
In 1980, I boarded a plane again to visit worldrenowned coaches in Europe Italian legend
Alessandro Calvesi, Finnish Coach Esko
Olkonnen, and Scottish Coach Sandy Ewen. The
following year, I attended the European
Coaching Congress in Venice, with Charlie
Francis, Ben Johnsons coach, where we learned
from such greats as Carlo Vittori, of Italy, Tadeusz

New 110m hurdles joint world record-holder:

Chinas Liu Xiang
24 The COACH

Szczepanski from Poland, and H. D. Hille of the

GDR. I am truly indebted to all these great men.
My quest for knowledge to educate myself has
never stopped. That has been my philosophy for
life, and it has taken me to over 50 countries. In
the beginning, I wrote to make sure I
understood what I had learned and then to
share my newfound knowledge.
RS Who is the most accomplished athlete you
have worked with, and what were his or her
best qualities?
BM I have helped several Olympic hurdlers from
Sweden, Japan, the Caribbean Islands and
United States and Canadian national teams.
Most recently, from my local club, Olympian
Margaret Fox (4x400m Relay, Sydney); Dave
Tomlin (60m: 6.62, World Indoors, Paris, 2003;
Pan Am Junior champion, 100m: 10.27 and
200m: 20.96) and Roan Sterling (4x100m Relay,
World Outdoors, Paris 2003). In ones coaching
career, as in life, there is a fine line that separates
those who succeed from those who fail. Ive
learned that without a Goliath there would be
no David. Forty athletes from my training
groups were that David who went on to become
national champions and Canadian national team
members, with four making Canadian Olympic
teams. There were times when the odds seemed
stacked against them, but they remembered the
lessons they learned from training and the
dreams they wanted to come true. We learned
together that the power of a dream could
become a reality. We shared many of those
impossible dreams and we watched them come
true, right in front of our eyes, because we
shared a place in this world where dreams were
made, promises were kept and we believed in
and cared for each other.
RS Which single person has had the greatest
influence on your coaching career, and why?
BM As I look back 35 years to the roots of my
coaching career, beginning in Sarnia, Ontario, I
realise that I walked into coaching athletics not
knowing the path that lay ahead of me. I had no

vision of where I was going. I most certainly

never dreamed of ever coaching national level
athletes or becoming a coach at the Olympic
Games.
My club coach, Mike McClemont, had given
me and taught me so much about life and sport
that I simply began coaching to pay him back for
the years he put into my personal growth, as an
athlete and as a person. He was my mentor,
teacher, parent and is a true friend for life. He
simply said, I believe in you and I care.
Our relationship still continues and grows
today. Mike was a coach who loved to watch
young people grow, work hard and succeed, on
and off the track. He found great joy in coaching
each athlete in their climb and struggle to the
top of the mountain.
I remember driving weekly for one hour to the
sand dunes of Port Franks on Lake Huron, to run
three to four hours of repeat sand hills, loops,
and relays with thousands of push ups and sit
ups. Nobody could believe how we drove our
bodies through one hill after another and one
pain after another to defeat a hill that had no
mind (or was it the coach?) In the winter, for
our break from running, we would play hockey
on a frozen lake that we cleaned off with shovels
and hockey sticks. Of course, we had to carry this
equipment with us on our 5km run to the lake
and back to our cars after each session.
This is where my coaching philosophy and
education began. Running up those sand hills,
year after year, is where I learned the real
meaning of words like determination, strength,
courage and character. This would lay down the
foundations of my coaching philosophy for life,
and I cant thank Mike McClemont enough for
that.
RS You have travelled extensively around the
world to meet and work with the best coaches
available to you. Is their any single quality, in
your experience, that sets the most successful
coaches aside from the rest?
BM The great coaches of the world have an
enormous capacity to share their knowledge and

they are humble. The true meaning of

greatness in our sport reminds me very much
of Italian coaching legend, Alessandro Calvesi. In
the 1960s and 70s, Calvesi was the man behind
four Italian hurdlers making Olympic Finals,
including his son-in-law, Eddy Ottoz (Bronze,
110m hurdles, Tokyo 1964), as well as the
success behind 1976 Olympic 110m hurdles
champion, Guy Drut, of France. For three days in
1980, I visited Calvesi and his wife, Gabre, in
Brescia, Italy. I asked questions, made notes,
listened and became a student of a man I would
come to admire my entire life. He became my
friend and teacher. He gave me a unique insight
into the hurdle events that showed me why
coaches from across Europe came to him. He
was a man of class and a solid personality. His indepth knowledge of hurdling rang out every
time he spoke or demonstrated different versions
of hurdling drills. Considering he was almost 70
years old and spoke very little English, this was
one of those experiences of a lifetime that must
be shared.
I often think back to my time spent with
Calvesi. His name makes me think of a 16th
Century Italian artist. I remember the final hours
with Gabre and him in a small Brescia cafe,
trying to get answers for too many questions. He
said, You must come back. The time has been
too short. How true. Calvesi answered all my
questions honestly. He took me to meet his
family and friends, and showed me his country.
He treated me to hospitality I never expected.
After that experience I began to ask myself the
question: Why? Two things came to mind. Firstly,
I was a coach! When I arrived in Italy, I simply
phoned him and asked him if we might meet
and talk about hurdles. Thats all. The fact that I
was a coach interested in learning was enough
to open up the door to this great man. Secondly,
Calvesi was an artist a real, 20th Century artist.
RS What should a talented and ambitious
athlete look for in a coach?
BM In 1999, I met Calvesis son-in-law, Eddy
Ottoz, at the ARCO Olympic Centre in San Diego
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MAKE YOUR COACHING MORE EFFECTIVE

where we had both been invited to speak to the
Elite USA Track and Field Hurdle Camp. He was
now the national hurdle coach for Italy. It had
been 22 years since my visit with Calvesi and,
although I had met Eddys family in Italy, we
had never met. Calvesi died in 1981, but his
vision and passion lived on in both of us. Our
meeting at ARCO was like two long-lost brothers
being reunited, hugging and embracing. Eddy
Ottoz and I were the product of a vision. Like
Calvesi, our vision was one where actions speak
louder than words.
This is not unlike American coach Don Pfaff,
who gave Canadian athletes (Donovan Bailey,
Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert) a vision to achieve
the Olympic gold in the 4x100m Relay in 1996.
Donovan Bailey took that vision to the Olympic
podium twice, in 1996. Those with vision,
whether it be a Don Pfaff, Donovan Bailey or
Eddy Ottoz, all share the same vision as Calvesi
to achieve Olympic gold. All are real artists and
architects unto themselves. Such is the case of
Canadian 100m hurdler Perdita Felicien and her
American coach, Gary Winckler, from the
University of Illinois, who share a true vision for
success. And I think its possessing that vision
that an athlete should look for in his or her
coach.
RS What advice would you give to a coach who
was just starting his or her career and was
seeking the benefit of your experience?
BM I believe coaching is a gift, and you give
back to athletes that which you had on loan
from your own coach. Coaching athletes like I
have had, made coaching the profession of all
professions. I learned that coaches are like a
small stone that, when cast into a brook, cause
many different ripples to go out. You never know
how far those ripples go. You see them but you
dont know how far their strength and energy
travels. But it touches, influences and gives
strength to many.
RS Which present day athlete would you most
like to coach, and why?
26 The COACH

BM That would have to be Canadian 100m

hurdler and world champion Perdita Felicien.
She is a complete package as a person and as an
athlete. Perdita is the kind of athlete and person
you would want your daughter to be and one a
parent would be extremely proud of. She is a
class act, a gifted and talented athlete who
would be a pleasure to coach.
RS In your first year as head coach at the
University of Waterloo, you had no track, no
facilities and very little equipment. What were
the qualities you possessed that made you and
the team so successful despite inadequate
facilities?
BM Well, its 15 years on, and we still have NO
track! Our team motto is, No Track No
Problem. What we do have, though, is a
wonderful team spirit, a great track programme
and strong leadership. In this individual sport,
TEAM is our strength. I believe that the journey is
far more important than the destination. This is
why I believe in the spirit of personal best. All of
us share a great sense of motivation. I believe,
also, that a meticulous approach to leadership is
invaluable to the athletes. As people, they are
better prepared for all things because of this. I
care about them and reassure them that they are
getting better. There is a bond on our track and
field team that is very noticeable. Spirit exudes
from this team. Many of the team members do
other contributing acts for us in athletics. They
are involved people. The team culture is just like
that, its an expectation. But these important
things must have strong leadership, they do not
just happen.
RS You are regarded as one of the best coaches
in the world but, in your own words, you were
no more than an average athlete. What lessons
learned from your track career have been most
useful to you as a coach?
BM As an athlete, I was an average runner,
breaking 50.0 seconds in the 400m and 22.0 in
the 200m on a cinder track in 1967. I believe I
made every mistake possible as an athlete, which

most certainly made me a better coach. I overtrained and ran huge amounts of mileage in the
snow, and I was a sprinter. I was a three season
high school athlete who found success at most
sports I tried provincial finalist in track, two
USA scholarship offers in football, provincial
basketball team finalist, all-star lacrosse, all-star
softball catcher, and outstanding graduate
athlete of my high school SCITS (Sarnia). This
wealth of competitive and athletic experiences
would prove to be an asset in setting the
foundations for much of what I call the art of
coaching.
RS Many coaches become involved in athletics
because of their childrens sporting activities,
but your two children, Chris and Andrea,
would have grown up while your international
coaching career was unfolding, Did any of your
talent rub off on them?
BM I was fortunate to have coached both my
children in athletics. Chris was an age-class
national champion in the 110m and 300m
hurdles. Andrea started out in hurdles but, with
her extensive high-level background in
gymnastics was recruited in a new event at the
time womens pole vault, where she excelled.
We all benefited personally and athletically from
this unique dual relationship. Often, they were
much better behaved children on the track, than
off the track or at home.
RS What role has Vicki, your wife, played in
your career?
BM Behind every great man there is a woman: a
wife, a mother, or a grandmother. My dreams,
and those of many athletes were fulfilled
because I was allowed to be the best I could be.
I loved what I did, and it was no sacrifice! I cant
thank Vicki enough for being there for me for 35
years. She has been my silent supporter for over
three decades, as well as my strength, providing
an unconditional love and true friendship for life.
RS For more than 30 years, you have coached
and been influential at the highest levels of our

sport, including the Olympics, World

Championships and Commonwealth Games.
What does the future hold for you and where
does your next challenges lie?
BM The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games marked
my eighth year of living with Parkinsons
Disease, a progressive, chronic and degenerative
neuro disorder with no cure. In 1992, I began
losing the feeling in my left hand and leg after
severely severing a finger on my left hand. In
Sydney, each day with Parkinsons became either
a struggle or a mission. My struggle was to
overcome the daily onslaught of Parkinsons
while carrying out my head coach
responsibilities. My mission was to defy the
disease in order to provide proactive leadership
to meet each athletes needs. Vicki was my
inspiration and strength that whole time. I am
currently writing a book on how to deal with
and fight Parkinsons. Since speaking out for
change in Athletics Canada over my Sydney
experience, and writing a book about it called
Standing Alone, I have not been considered for
any of their current programmes or team
coaching assignments in four years.
RS What interests do you have, other than
athletics?
BM Babysitting my two awesome grandchildren,
Bryce, aged five, and Samuel, aged six months.
I still coach track and do specialised coaching
consultations with professional athletes in
hockey, football and baseball.
RS Thanks for your time, Brent, I enjoyed the
chat.
BM Its been a pleasure.
Robin Saunders is a Level 4 Coach in the 100m,

200m and 4x100m relay.

Editors note: In Robin Saunderss interview in the
last issue of The Coach a typo appeared on page
30. It stated that Kimberley Crow was doing 14sec
to the sixth when, in fact, it should have read she
was doing 14 strides to the sixth.
The COACH 27