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From Instinct Magazine, January 2008

Don't Ask; Do Tell

The Army refused his request to support this book, but this gay swim coach still went the distance.

by Terrance Griep

Lou Tharp, West Point's first out gay coach, is a World Masters and Gay Games medalist and the author of a new book, Overachiever's Diary: How the Army Triathlon Became World Contenders. It's a how-to for competitive and fitness swimmers that details Tharp's champion-making training methods...and his own, more personal, journey.

INSTINCT: What's the connection between overachieving and swimming?

LOU THARP: West Point's swimmers don't understand what "stop" means. I told one of the other coaches, "If you give them something, they'll overachieve at it." And I thought, There's something there.

INSTINCT: What's so unorthodox about your coaching style?

THARP: It's time for the smart people to take sports back from the dumb people. Sports are 90 percent brain and 10 percent body...especially if you're over 35. Sports are about improving the quality of your life.

INSTINCT: You found your sport at 45. Why then, and why swimming?

THARP: I always just liked the water. When I was 45 and overweight, I had all of these creeping diseases that most fat-assed Americans have, so I just decided, "I really don't want to get old this way." So I said it's going to be swimming, and that was it. Oh, and I suck at ball sports.

INSTINCT: How can non-competitive swimmers benefit from the book?

THARP: Everybody knows that swimming is very good for you. I mean, you could drown, but that's about it. [Laughs] But most people get in the pool, and they're bored to death. This book allows readers to get a peek into how we train -- the mental and physical issues and some of the cues you need.

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