It All Starts With a Vision: The Story Behind SPEED FORCE

When people talk about innovation in swimming, they usually imagine new equipment, new training tools, or new methods on deck. But true innovation doesn’t start with resources — it starts with a vision, followed by action, and sustained by people who believe in that vision enough to help bring it to life.

That’s exactly how Speed Force was born at Wolfpack Elite in 2024.

In the Summer of 2024, I sat down with Mary Holloway and Kevin Happ to discuss a single question:

“What can we create that is new, disruptive, and genuinely valuable for swimmers in North Carolina?”

We weren’t interested in building another generic clinic, or another traditional training group.

We wanted something sharper — something with an identity — something where athletes would walk in and instantly understand:

“We are here to get FAST.”

That question sparked a whiteboard session that became weeks of brainstorming. Could a once-a-week group truly make a difference? Could pure speed training be delivered in a way that was structured, intentional, and impactful for club swimmers who already had full weekly training loads?

The more we talked, the more we saw the opportunity. The more we planned, the more we believed in it.

And that’s how the Speed Force began.

The Vision: A Pure Speed Group Built for Modern Swimming

The concept was simple on paper, but unconventional in practice:

• One session per week

• Laser-focused on pure speed development

• Designed for club swimmers who needed high-quality sprint attention

• Driven by research, intention, precision, and elite-level coaching

The vision for SpeedForce was straightforward on paper but unconventional in practice: a once-a-week training group built exclusively around pure speed development for club swimmers who needed high-quality sprint attention.

The program was driven by research, intention, precision, and elite-level coaching, modeled after the same standards that power Wolfpack Elite and NC State’s sprint success — technical precision, race-speed exposure, neuromuscular activation, rhythm and tempo training, sprint-specific mechanics, individualized feedback, and a true culture of fast swimming.

The Uncertainty: “Will Anyone Buy Into This?”

We launched the first Speed Force group with optimism… and a lot of uncertainty.

Would swimmers show up after a full week of training? Would coaches support the idea?

Would parents understand the value of a once-a-week sprint group? Would athletes actually get faster?

There was no guarantee.

But we decided to move forward anyway because the vision was too strong not to try.

By the end of the first semester, the breakthrough was undeniable: athletes were getting faster, learning how to move fast rather than simply work hard, and showing noticeable improvements in confidence, explosiveness, and race execution.

Parents saw the difference, and coaches recognized that Speed Force wasn’t competing with their programs but complementing them — filling a gap traditional club schedules simply couldn’t address. Speed Force proved itself, and from that moment on, it continued to grow season after season.

The Result:

Over the following cycles, we saw achievements that confirmed everything we believed in from the beginning:

🏆 Swimmers qualified and finaled at major meets, including Junior Nationals.

🏆 Athletes committed to universities across multiple divisions.

🏆 Clubs began to recognize that pure-speed training is not a luxury — it is a necessity.

🏆 Local North Carolina swimmers gained access to high-performance sprint training built from Wolfpack Elite principles.

Speed Force Became More Than a Program

It evolved into a model of what’s possible when elite sprint methodology is brought to the age-group level with true intentionality.

It served as a proof of concept that young swimmers can thrive when they’re given structured access to high-performance speed work, not just volume or traditional training.

The group demonstrated that with a clear vision, a thoughtful system, and a belief in the athletes’ ability to rise to a higher standard, sprint development can be both transformative and sustainable.

What started as an experiment became a blueprint for how modern speed training can elevate an entire community of swimmers.

Special thank you to Mary Holloway, Kevin Happ, Ethan Cooke, Coleman Stewart, and Sam Hoover, for believing and supporting me and heIping me grow that vision.