The Hardest Part of Coaching Starts After Practice Ends.
Part I of a Three-Part Series on the Future of Swim Coaching Software.
In this first article, we look at why more coaches are rethinking the patchwork of tools they use every day.
“I don’t want to be stuck behind a computer doing something that should take 10 minutes but ends up taking two hours.
I want every minute possible on the pool deck.”
— Eric Anderson
Olympic Coach & MAKO Co-Founder
If there’s one thing every swim coach wants more of, it’s time.
Time on the pool deck.
Time with athletes.
Time thinking about performance instead of spreadsheets.
For years, most programs have relied on a patchwork system: one tool for communication, another for attendance, a separate video platform, and spreadsheets for tracking volume and load. Most of those systems were adapted for swimming.
A few coaches decided to make a new app that kills lost time.
MAKO was built differently. It combines planning, video analysis, wellness, and performance context into one swim-specific ecosystem so coaches can spend less time managing tools and more time coaching. The app features an athlete side for sharing video, feedback and Journaling:
MAKO makes coaching easier from every angle
Built by Coaches, for Coaches
Rather than asking coaches to change the way they work, MAKO was designed around the language, rhythms, and realities of competitive swimming. Coaches use their own terminology, their own zones, and their own structure. The system adapts to them.
That matters because one of the biggest barriers to adopting any new tool is the fear that it will add work instead of reduce it.
As Eric explains, “Most tools are built for generalization. We built this specifically for swimming. If it doesn’t serve the swim coach, we won’t build it.”
One Ecosystem Instead of Five Platforms
“You don’t need five logins anymore. You need one. Everything is connected.”
— Mark Stoops
MAKO, Sales & Marketing Director
At its core, MAKO brings together four performance pillars into one connected environment:
- Workout planning and tracking: Write workouts the way you already write them. Attendance connects athletes to session data, and volume, intensity, and load are tracked without exporting to spreadsheets.
- Video and race analysis: Tag races and training efforts with swim-specific metrics such as reaction time, breakout distance, time to 15, stroke rate, distance per stroke, velocity charts, and World Aquatics points.
- Athlete wellness monitoring: Simple daily check-ins track sleep, mood, energy, and recovery so coaches can spot trends and address issues early.
- Performance dashboards and benchmarking: Compare athletes, groups, seasons, and training cycles in one place and see the relationship between workload and outcomes without digging through notebooks.
MAKO is built for coaches and swimmers
From Training to Racing…and Back Again
Where MAKO becomes especially interesting is in the feedback loop.
When an athlete drops a personal best, a coach can go back and look at the training block that led into that swim and ask smarter questions. What changed? What did front-end speed work look like? What was the training load? What patterns were developing before the breakthrough?
Even training sets can be tagged and compared directly to race efforts. A coach can film a short speed effort in practice and evaluate it against race performance, giving more programs access to a much higher level of insight.
“It’s the closest thing to having a full performance team in one app,” one MAKO coach shared.
If you’re a coach — or a parent or club leader helping evaluate tools and budget — and you’re looking for a swim-specific performance platform built around your workflow, MAKO is worth exploring.
A Light Lift, Not a Heavy Overhaul
Coaches resist change for good reason. They do not have extra time. They do not want to relearn their craft, or blow up a system that already works well enough just to chase technology.
MAKO was built with that in mind.
The core workflow stays familiar. Coaches keep their terminology and structure. The day-to-day ask is simple: write workouts and take attendance. The rest builds from there.
Write workouts. Take attendance. The rest connects from there.
“All you have to do is write your workouts and take attendance. You already do those things. The data builds itself and gives you great insight into your coaching program.”
— Lachlan Reed
MAKO Co-Founder
Performance Is About People
The platform is not only about tracking times and training load.
Wellness check-ins give athletes a way to report honestly before practice, helping coaches spot trends and start better conversations at the right time. A pattern of low energy, poor sleep, or elevated stress becomes visible before it turns into a bigger problem.
There is also a deeper value here: ownership.
When athletes can engage with their own check-ins, video, and progress over time, they become more active participants in their development rather than simply showing up and swimming laps.
Plans That Scale With Your Program
Coaches who want to start smaller can begin with a streamlined workouts-focused option and expand into race analysis and dashboards over time.
Book a demo, start a trial, or explore plan options at makoswim.io. MAKO offers flexible plans designed to grow with teams:
| Plan | Who it fits | Monthly price (USD) |
| Solo Coach | Up to 30 athletes, 1 team, 1 coach | $69 |
| Small Club | Up to 100 athletes, up to 4 teams, up to 4 coaches | $149 |
| Large Club | Up to 300 athletes, up to 10 teams, up to 10 coaches | $249 |
| College / Federation | Custom plan designed for your program | Custom |
Technology should not replace the coach
It should cut down on scattered data, repetitive admin work, and disconnected systems. Make it easier to see what is happening, what is changing, and what is working.
Most of all, it should give coaches more time where they are most valuable: on deck.
If you are a coach, or part of a leadership team evaluating tools and budget for your program, MAKO is worth a look.
Coming in Part 2: what it actually feels like to coach inside MAKO, from writing workouts and taking attendance to sharing video, tracking wellness, and building a more connected program.