Life at University of Pittsburgh Johnstown: Campus Beauty, Close‑Knit Community, and Opportunities for Athletes

Get a behind‑the‑scenes look at Coach Kyle Zeller's first year building a D‑II men's & women's swim program at UPJ— from historic PSAC meet wins to the next‑gen recruiting playbook. Watch how he turns a modest pool into a squad where the person comes first. He is keeping student‑athletes front of mind.

What's Covered:

• Building a competitive PSAC program and historic meet qualification
• Recruiting tactics: internal talent, high‑school stars & value propositions
• Marketing & outreach: podcasts, local media, coach networking
• Campus & facility snapshot: 25‑yard pool, Appalachian views, small‑school perks
• Break‑time training, student‑athlete balance & growth roadmap for 2026 / 2027

Some mentions in this, part one of three, episode, #64 of Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide:

• The PSAC is fast – our UPJ swimmers just made history with our first PSAC qualifier, Mark DePalma, who smashed the cut by two seconds.

• Recruiting started late April 2025, but we've already secured the valedictorian of Marion Center High, a 4.8‑GPA swimmer, as our inaugural college recruit.

• We're promoting the men's and women's teams across PA, hitting high‑school meets, club events, and even a Fox 8 interview to spread the word.

• Our facility is a basic six‑lane, 25‑yard pool with stunning Appalachian Mountain views, fresh tiling, and a million‑dollar recent renovation.

• Campus life: 729 acres of woods, ski‑chalet dorms, top engineering and nursing programs, and a close‑knit community where the AD knows every student's name.

Elite coaching isn't a myth. It's a choice and science built on relentless work, crystal‑clear goals, and total alignment of mind, heart, and body. In this episode of Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide, #63, we break down some of the bits of what it takes to train like the world's top athletes.

• What "elite" really means and why it's a whole different universe from ordinary competition
• The brutal training load: 12 sessions/week, 6 hours/day, 24,000 m of swimming daily
• The three‑key framework: mind (goal clarity), heart (inner drive), body (smart recovery)
• The seven pillars of elite coaching—from active listening to adaptive programming
• The deeper motivators beyond money: honor, legacy, and self‑mastery

The Brutal (and Beautiful) Truth About What It Really Takes to Be Elite in Sport

Also see the full seminar called Elite Coaching, level 1, from Dennis Antonio Cordova in the course at WAFSU.org.

• From Vision to Victory: Craft Crystal‑Clear Goals for High‑Performance Success

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Swimming Mechanics: Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide

Drawing on expert analysis, we examine the fundamental characteristics of water flow, classifying water as a semi-solid whose density is over 800 times greater than air. Learn how competitive swimmers battle resistive drag—including form drag (profile drag) and lateral form drag—by maintaining laminar flow and optimal horizontal alignment.

This analysis confronts common misconceptions in stroke mechanics:

• Is Hip Rotation Propulsive? We challenge the popular notion that hip rotation is a source of propulsion in long-axis strokes (like the front crawl), arguing instead that it primarily serves to reduce water resistance and increase the effectiveness of arm and leg propulsion.

• The Best Arm Stroke: Compare the controversial deep-catch, straight-back pull (which some researchers suggest is superior for generating propulsive thrust) with the widely preferred curvilinear stroking and shoulder adduction used by the majority of elite swimmers in all four competitive strokes. We explore why the shoulder-adducting style may be universally used in longer events, while the deep catch may be superior for sprints (50m/yd).

Discover the true sources of speed:

• Vortex Theory: Understand how swimmers create vortices and a pressure differential to propel themselves forward. Propulsive thrust is generated because the pressure on the palm side of the hand is higher relative to the dorsal side, where pressure decreases due to vortex formation.

• The Catch: Learn why elite swimmers intentionally decelerate their hand speed to near zero during the crucial catch phase, positioning the arm backward before applying propulsive force.

• Wave Propulsion: Investigate unique propulsive concepts like wave propulsion (or "body wave") and the importance of undulation in short-axis strokes (butterfly and breaststroke). See how breaststrokers like Mike Barrowman utilize streamlined positioning during the arm recovery to benefit from this wave phase, accelerating continuously for a short time.

The analysis in the ebook uses visualizations, including actual photographs of elite swimmers like Grant Hackett, Martin Lopez-Zubero, Mary T. Meagher, and video simulations/CFD renderings of water flow around limbs.

Get the ebook from the link at SwimISCA.com.