Matt Dixon, formerly a swimmer from England, took his prowess from the pool and transitioned to a career as the founder of Purple Patch Fitness. Matt will speak about his innovative views of training and his highly successful coaching philosophies – applicable to endurance athletes of any age, ability and background – at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference in Long Beach, California on June 5th.
Matt, widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading triathlon coaches, will discuss and explain proper metabolic health of athletes, including the role of stress and how it fits into training, and the pillars of performance readiness: training, nutrition, core strength and mobility.
Matt’s philosophy of specificity, recovery and intensity for athletes, whether they are world-class athletes who seem to flock to him or serious adult enthusiasts, is especially important and applicable in the triathlon and open water swimming world.
“Cardiovascular fitness is not the limiter. Anyone can train hard, but it takes courage to recover. Athletes need to use logic, not emotion [when training].”
Matt explains the old English saying, “Purple patches are periods of excellent performance, when everything seems to go right, work properly and is in perfect balance. Everything seems to fall into place and flows, making it seem like you can do nothing wrong.”
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.