Special Sets: The Training of Rising 11-Year-Old Standout Millie Conner
It’s early yet. Still, that doesn’t stop 11-year-old Millie Conner from plotting her swimming career. It is mapped out in the 30-40 swimming journals she keeps “filled with words, time and personal goals, charts, graphs and thoughts about each meet she swims,” says her father, Nick. One aspiration is to swim at the University of Virginia, another is to be an Olympian.
Lofty thinking? Sure, but as of mid-December, she has the bona fides to entertain those ideas. Consider: she is currently the fastest 11-year-old in the United States in the SCY 50 fly (27.20). She ranks second in the 50 free (25.35) and the 50 back (28.63), fourth in the 100 back (1:02.26) and fifth in the 200 back (2:15.17), eighth in the 200 IM (2:19.53) and ninth in the 100 fly (1:02.56). Millie also possesses six other top-15 times as well as 15 Team Greenville records.
To top it off, she leads the nation for 11-year-olds in USA Swimming’s combined IMX and IMR scores with 7,962 points through its 10 designated events.
Something Special
Courtesy: Nick Conner
Millie is home-schooled and also falls on the autistic spectrum which, in part, accounts for her singular focus. “She sees that as her super power rather than a stumbling block and is fully embracing the challenges that come with that,” says her father. “Physically she has a unique body build atypical for a girl her age and has very long, larger athletic arms and short legs that enable her to be very explosive like an NFL linebacker. Her kicks are fast, twitchy and she can hold her breath extremely well,” he says.
“Millie is an exceptional athlete possessing strength, endurance and agility,” says Team Greenville head coach Karl Kozicki. “Her commitment to her talent is driven with internal passion to be her best. As a competitor she thrives on racing the best and to push herself to the limit in her performance. She has been a part of Team Greenville for almost six years beginning with our developmental group level. She now trains and competes well in our high track performance program. Our system is based upon proper stroke mechanics and age appropriate aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. Athletes are also taught character building skills like dedication and resilience to handle the pressures of competing,” he says.
Aside from her internal drive, Millie has benefitted from her U-10 years with Team Greenville coach Danyelle Parker and an earlier association with her present coach Lorin Collins. “Millie operates on a different wavelength than everyone else,” says Collins. “She understands the full picture of what we are asking whereas most kids are focused on one thing. She also has an awesome, intrinsic feel for the water and is more sensitive to details and little tweaks to strokes. Millie has a comprehension concerning physical feedback that many don’t develop until their mid-teen years.
“She is just one of those kids who really enjoys swimming. It is her peaceful part of the day,” says Collins. “It’s ‘I put my face in the water, turn off my brain and noise and just focus on swimming for two hours.’ Millie is just passionate about swimming, focused on process and enjoying what she is doing.”
The Extra Mile
Far from just logging laps Millie buttresses her pool time with dryland and several developmental strength programs. This year at Team Greenville her group has begun a concentrated dryland program with SwimStrong. “My training group has been focused on developing core strength, coordination and learning basic foundational strength training. Those elements include: pushups, pullups, balance, jumping and bounding exercises and various core exercises. Millie has responded well to this so far. Her form and strength have improved considerably and are translating well into the pool,” says Collins.
“This season we are focusing on perfecting the small race strategy details, i.e.: when to breathe, head down for the finish, optimal number of kicks off the walls for specific races and so on. The idea is to build these habits into her races so they become instinctive.
“Millie excels at communicating and applying feedback to her races. Her intensity during difficult sets and in races is a big reason for her achievements,” says Collins. And that success is considerable, including winning seven of seven individual (and two relay) races while winning nine of nine firsts in February’s South Carolina Age Group Championships.
In addition to dryland at Team Greenville, Millie works four days a week with Tanner Pittman at 11.11 Elite Athlete Training. There, the emphasis is on strength, explosive movement development and injury prevention. She also visits Greenville Spine for other specific core work.
Another Conner hallmark is her embrace of hard work. “Swimming and racing is what she loves and would do anything asked of her to continue on her upward path,” says Collins. “We often joke that Millie does so well because she is Millie. The way she is as a person, is the reason why she finds success. Swimming is a grueling sport to love and often unforgiving. It takes a special athlete to rise to one’s coach expectations, have the consistency and concentration/effort asked for at practice.”
Select Millie Conner Sets
Saturday, October 12
Warmup
12 x 75 scull/drill/build @ 1:30. IMO 3x
16 x 50 fins; 8 kicks each wall. Good break. Odd – free; even alternate fly/back
Main set
1 x 75 – 50 swim off block; 25 all out kick with board
25 easy kick
100 easy
4 x 50 fly smooth on :60
3 x 100: 25 fly blast 75 back smooth on 2:00
2 x 150 back: build kick on 2:45
3 x 100: 50 back/50 breast on 2:00
2 x 150 breast: build tempo on 3:00
2 x 175 – 50 breast/75 free build/ 50 breast on 3:00
1:00 rest fins and paddles
6 x 25 free blast @ :30
100 easy
6x 50 DD/DA back on 1:10
Wednesday, October 16
8 x 100 on 1:45 with snorkel
Right fin, left paddle
Left fin, right paddle
Both
None
8 x 75 drill/build/kick on 1:30 – 2 of each
Kick pyramid
AB
50 :50 1:00
100 1:45 2:00
150 2:35 3:00
200 3:30 4:00
100 Easy
4 x 200 on 3:00/3:15 (IM) b; done 150 at 80%; 50 blast — held 2:35
4 x 150 on 2:30 (free); done 150 at 80%; 50 blast — held 1:45
4 x 100 on 1:00; 1:50 if IM;50 done 90%; 50 blast — held 1:10
4 x 50 on 1:10, all blast P1 Butterfly — held :32
Saturday, October 26
Warmup
12 x 50 fins/paddles on 1:00; done 25 scull/25 swim all choice flutter kick breast
8 x 100 on 1:50; done 25 kick/25 swim/25 drill/25 swim; 2 of each
Main set
16 x 50 kick
4 on :60; 4 on :55; 4 on :50; 4 on :45
100 easy
4 x 200 free on 3:15 maintain 1 and 2; descend 3 and 4
1 x 50 all out kick on :60
4 x 200; maintain 75 free/build 50 IMO/maintain 75 free on 3:15
1 50 all out kick on :60
4 x 200 IM on 3:15 negative split concentrating on walls and underwaters
1 x 50 all out kick on :60
100 rest
200 IM all out off the block in heats
200 warmdown
Monday, November 11
Warmup
300 mix
16 x 50 drill/swim on :60 (4 0f each)
Turn work
Main set
12 x 75 on 1:30 done 50 build swim/25 blast kick; odd free, even choice
100 easy
3 x 200 on 3:00/3:15/3:30 held 2:20
2 x 300 on 4:30/4:50/5:20 held 3:30
1 x 500 on 7:30/8:05/8:45 held 5:59
500 rest/recover
1000 for time — went 12:06
Warmdown – swim by feel
“I am proud of Millie because she has shown the ability to overcome challenges and adversity to reach her current level. Her potential is bright. We will be patient, as we are with others, and progress her through our system maximizing development within each stage,” says Kozicki. “Millie enjoys her teammates and understands that encouraging them makes her better as well.. Her parents have been supportive of the process, and understand that the coaching staff has her best interest in mind. This triangle of athlete, coach, and parent has produced a level headed fierce competitor,” he says.