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BULLETIN: For Immediate Release
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| Dr. Sergei Beliaev brings his |
| conditioning expertise to the |
| JMU staff. |
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DR. SERGEI
BELIAEV NAMED ASSISTANT SWIM
COACH
HARRISONBURG, Va. (7/1/04) –
Dr. Sergei Beliaev has been named assistant coach for the men's
and women's swimming and diving programs at James Madison
University. Beliaev has worked with some of the world’s elite
athletes and brings an extensive background in international
sports and high-performance training and conditioning methods to
JMU.
Beliaev’s appointment is part of the
coaching restructuring of the JMU swimming and diving program. He
joins the staff of Matt Barany, who has been named the Director of
JMU Swimming and Diving after serving as the head coach of the men’s
program the past three seasons. Samantha Smith has joined the
staff as the co-head coach of swimming, and Warrick Mann remains
the program’s head diving coach.
His background is in exercise physiology
and he’s going to help us plan our season in terms of how we are
going to develop conditioning-wise,” stated Barany. “Everything
we do we gear toward February and the CAA championships; we begin
the season with the end in mind. Beliaev’s going to bring his
many years of experience and knowledge to our staff and will keep
reminding us that what we do today is with the end in mind. |
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“He’s created an on-line training model that I’ve used the
past two years,” said Barany. “Instead of just using the model
as a reference tool for how we are going to train, we have him at
our school. He has amazing ways of being able to test the athletes
to see what their conditioning levels are. Ways which we haven’t
had access to in the past.”
Beliaev owns an impressive professional
and education resume that begins with his earning of a master’s
of science degree in coaching science/endurance sports from the
State Central Institute of Physical Education in Moscow, Russia in
1977. He remained at the institution to complete his doctoral
degree in exercise physiology/human performance science in 1982.
From 1982 to 1990, he worked with the
USSR Ministry of Sports as the official representative in Moscow
and St. Petersburg. He was responsible for provision of support to
local and international coaches, sports teams and delegations, and
served as an adviser to the head coach of the Russian National
cycling team. He was the assistant coach for the Tour DuPont
Russian National team in 1991-92 and has been a visiting professor
at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1990-98. In 1998-99, he
was the Director of International Sports Marketing at the VCU
Sports Center. Also in 1998, he launched Super Sports Systems,
LLC, and the development of coaching TOPä software (Training
Optimization Methods), an internet-based coaches’ support tools
and personal coaching service.
The Dukes are members of the NCAA
Division I Colonial Athletic Association. JMU has won nine CAA men’s
titles and five CAA women’s crowns. GO
DUKES!!! |
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Dateline,
Richmond… Dec 17, 2002
Russian to Capitalize
Soviets'
training methods hawked by entrepreneur
BY MCGREGOR MCCANCE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
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Dr.
Sergei Beliaev recently started Super Sport Systems LLC, a
computer-based training program for professional athletes
and for others with exercise and fitness goals.
(ALEXA WELCH EDLUND)
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Even
the weekend warrior now can train like a Russian super-athlete.
Using years of data amassed during the former Soviet Union's
Olympic-training research, a Richmond entrepreneur has developed
a computer-based method of improving athletic performance.
Broadly
defined, Sergei Beliaev's business represents
"commercialization of Russian sports knowledge to the
world."
More narrowly defined, and a sharper marketing approach, is that
Super Sport Systems LLC aims to make people run faster, swim
better and compete at a higher level.
"We
optimize the ability of each individual body to achieve its best
performance," said Beliaev, a former member of the
all-Russia junior cycling team.
Sounds
like a cable-TV infomercial. But Super Sport Systems and Beliaev
already have their fans, including University of Richmond
women's swimming coach Matt Kredich. Check
Kredich success>
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Resume
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Born: May 8, 1956, in Essentuki, Russia
Career: 1999 to present, president and founder,
Super Sport Systems LLC; 1990-1998, visiting professor,
Virginia Commonwealth University; 1995-1996, head coach,
CYCOR professional cycling team, Richmond; 1995-1997, head
coach, Ukrainian National Cycling Team in United States;
1987-1990, executive, National Marketing and Sports
Industry Ministry, Leningrad; 1987-1989, head, Department
of Foreign Economic Relations, Leningrad Sports Committee;
1982-1987, international events manager, State Committee
for Physical Culture and Sport, Moscow
Education: master's degree, 1977, doctorate in
human performance science and sports education, 1982,
State Central Institute of Physical Education, Moscow;
MBA, 2001, VCU
Sports activities: former assistant coach to
Tour DuPont Russian national cycling team; former head
coach, Moldova Olympic Reserve Training Center in Cycling;
official USSR Ministry of Sport representative to 1986
Goodwill Games
Family: wife, Olga; daughter, Julie, 22; son,
Peter, 17
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"He's
got a tremendous product," Kredich said. "While he's
confident of that, he's also never forced it on anybody."
Beliaev's
story is one of capitalism and entrepreneurialism in action -
and a love of competition.
Putting his new business in context requires a review of Russian
training methods of the past few decades.
According to Beliaev and his mentor, Dr. Sergei Gordon of the
Moscow State Institute of Sports, the former Soviet Union
established research centers in the 1950s and'60s to develop a
scientific approach to training Olympic athletes.
Beliaev said the institutes operated on a simple mandate:
"Create a dominant athlete."
Instead
of becoming a dominant athlete himself, Beliaev moved toward the
field of sports science.
He came to the United States in 1990 as a nine-month visiting
professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, focusing in
international sports administration.
Beliaev decided to stay much longer.
"This nine months has lasted 12 years," he said,
grinning.
The United States would provide him a chance to find out if his
innate business sense is on target.
"It
was clear to me that there was a tremendous product," he
said. "But Russia itself did not represent the market.
Russia was not able to consume what it had created."
During the 1990s, Beliaev and his former mentor led the
development of the software that would become the Super Sport
Systems product. Russian skiing, speed-skating and cycling teams
used the approach the same way UR, James Madison University and
other U.S. athletes use it today.
UR
swimmers began using the system last fall. By midseason, Kredich
could see better times he attributed, in part, to Beliaev's
programs.
"They're swimming faster, and since there are very specific
goals for them every week, there's always a benchmark against
which I can measure their progress," Kredich said.
JMU
men's swimming coach Matt Barany used the system last fall and
also saw times improve faster than normal during the season.
"I like it because so much of swimming is science, but
there is no hard database that anybody can resource and
reference," he said. "[Beliaev] has given me all the
research to support what I've known. But he does it in much more
detail."
Barany describes Beliaev as a savvy entrepreneur who is willing
to incorporate suggestions from customers into the program.
"He clearly knows the language of sport."
While
anyone can use the system, the company's clients tend to be
amateur coaches and athletes in endurance sports: running,
cycling, rowing, swimming, triathlons.
In simple terms, here's how it works:
An
athlete enters personal information, including age, gender,
height, weight, heart rate and personal best times in his event
or sport. He also enters performance goals and decides when he
would like to reach those goals.
That's when the database, algorithms and former Soviet research
take over.
Beliaev's
program produces a tailored training regimen designed to reach
the goals in the selected time frame.
"You get your training workout for every day of the year or
season you select," he said.
The whole system is Internet-based, through Beliaev's Web site.
Beliaev's
experience as an entrepreneur quickly taught him the hard knocks
of trying to build a startup business.
"It's not an easy pass. There's a lot of uncertainty in
what you are doing," he said. "But there's much more
joy in terms of pride in what you do and how you do it."
Beliaev
holds a green card, allowing him to work in the United States.
For now, he continues to maintain citizenship in Russia. But he
said the United States, whether it is Richmond or the many
cities he visits for his company, feels like home.
"Regardless of what city, I feel like I am a free man. I am
free to make my decisions, to rent a car, take a plane," he
said. "It's great feeling."
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