How They Train: A Look At Brooks Curry and Ian Grum At Dynamo Swim Club
Before Brooks Curry and Ian Grum became standouts at LSU and Georgia, respectively, they rose up the ranks as members of the Dynamo Swim Club, where Ian Murray oversaw their training. Here is a look at the work logged by Curry and Grum during their Dynamo days.
BROOKS CURRY
LSU senior Brooks Curry, who recently was selected as a member of USA Swimming’s National Team for next year in the 50 and 100 free, is a six-time CSCAA All-America freestyler and Olympic and world champion (4 x 100 meter free relay). He won two NCAA titles in March in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles (18.56, 40.84) while finishing sixth in the 200 free (1:31.45). But he wasn’t always that fast.
“Brooks was very much a late bloomer,” says his age group coach, Ian Murray. “While he grew up in the Dynamo (Ga.) program, he spent a lot of time in our developmental path. During his sophomore year, he started figuring things out and coming into his own. Fun guy, always cheerful, always upbeat and always optimistic. That is the source of his confidence.
“He is very tall and gangly, but I think our work with GAIN dryland really helped get him connected in and out of the water. Very raw with exciting raw speed. He’s also very in tune with his body and work. He could articulate very detailed feedback on how he felt in the water and what was going on with his stroke. Brooks developed consistency because he was surrounded by guys like Ian Grum. And he was fun to work with because he is always up for a challenge. He was very easy going and a great teammate.
“Fun story on Brooks: He had a very good high school year as a junior and was improving quickly. Although he had gotten a lot faster, he still wasn’t catching too many eyes on the recruiting side. We had won the 4 x 100 free relay at Winter Junior Nationals in December of 2018 and then went even faster at the 2019 Southern Premier.
“The four boys came to the coaches and said, ‘We want to break the NAG (record) this summer at junior nationals in Palo Alto.’ I honestly think that was a major catalyst for Brooks. He was all-in for the team goal, and didn’t even realize how much better he was getting,” says Murray.
Come summer, the Junior Dynamo boys broke two NAG records. In the 4 x 100 meter free, Curry, Nicholas Goudie, Cam Auerbach and Grum posted a 3:23.01. The 4 x 100 medley quartet (Grum, Quinn Herron, Auerbach and Curry) clocked a 3:44.00. In two individual events, Curry was third in the 50 (23.14) and 100 (50.08) frees. “Had he made a national cut in the 100 earlier that year, he might have made the World Junior Team,” says Murray.
“A few weeks out of Junior Nationals in 2019, I remember Brooks doing the following set (see below). It was a Friday afternoon session in the summer, and we were swimming short course yards. Dryland was a power endurance session with about 15 minutes of warm-up, 15 minutes of a power endurance circuit, some core work and stretching. We loosened up in the water and then did:
5x:
• 4 x 25 kick (sox) AFAP @ :45
• 50 easy
• 100 scull progression (low buoy + snorkel)
• 5 x 25 (pulley or power tower) @ 1:00
• 3) descend SWOLF score 1-3
• 2) holding low SWOLF score
• 50 easy
• 50 dive for time
• 100 easy
Brooks started at 20.8 and worked down to 20.4.”
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IAN GRUM
Now a senior at the University of Georgia, Ian Grum continues to display his prowess in the backstroke and IMs. On the Georgia top times list, he stands second in the 200 yard back (1:40.01), fourth in the 400 IM (3:39.01) and sixth in the 100 back (46.00). He also is a three-time CSCAA All-American and a two-time honorable mention recipient.
As an age grouper, he was a terrific performer. At the 2019 summer nationals, he won the 200 meter back in a meet record 1:58.49 and anchored Dynamo’s 17-18 NAG record-setting team, going 50.92 (3:23.01). At the 2022 summer nationals, he finished second in the 200 back (1:57.59.)
“Ian is a great person from a great family,” says Coach Murray. “When I took over at Dynamo after Jason Turcotte’s passing, the team was very welcoming, and I felt Ian and I developed a pretty quick connection. He has always shown great commitment and a positive attitude, and his best efforts were the norm. He had a strong background after spending time at another local club and then Dynamo.
“Like many teenagers, his confidence needed development, but his work was so good and so consistent, that he couldn’t help but gain confidence from it. We talk a lot about mind-numbing consistency, and Ian defined that. He’s a dream to work with and train. He was also a great teammate and good leader. He led by example each and every day.”
Ian was the second-ranked male swimmer from Georgia in the 2019 recruiting class (Curry was fifth) as well as a national junior team member. He represented Team USA at the Mel Zajac International and won the 200 meter backstroke at that meet.
“One of my favorite Ian sets was in the fall of 2018 at a Friday morning SCY practice,” says Murray:
Round One
• 100 free @ 1:10
• 100 back @ 1:10
Round Two
• 100 free @ 1:11
• 100 back @ 1:09
“You went until you missed the interval. Ian missed on :50 or :51 for backstroke. I would have been thrilled to have freestylers make it that far. It was really impressive.”
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There hard worker’s