ABOUT PETER
About Peter
Born and raised in South Africa, Peter Andrew became a member of the Naval Operational Dive Team with the South African Naval Defense Force before earning his business management degree from Natal Technicon. Peter’s professional resume includes a well-rounded background in a variety of businesses such as pest control, agriculture, and home restoration in addition to coaching.
Peter’s swim journey started when the Andrew family established their own swim club, the Aberdeen Aquaholics in South Dakota. The team wound up moving to Lawrence, Kansas and evolved into Indie Swimming, then into Race Pace Club, the home of none other than World Champion swimmer and Peter’s son, Michael. Peter and his family recently relocated to CA so their daughter Michaela could pursue her passion for surfing. The Andrew family resides in Coronado, California.
Through Peter’s guidance, Michael’s has produced impressive performances on the U.S. domestic stage, becoming the country’s most successful national age group swimmer with over 100 National Age Group (NAG) records. His breakout year came in 2021, when Andrew qualified for the Olympic Team and won Gold in a world record time as a member of the men’s mixed medley relay.
Internationally, Michael has earned numerous World Junior Championship titles, a 2016 World Championship title in the 100m IM and multiple World Cup medals and appearances. As such, Peter’s influence within the swim coaching community has been continually gaining notice. So much so, that Peter was selected as a coach for the 2021 US Olympic Team where he helped his son Michael clench his first ever Olympic relay gold.
Peter has been invited to speak at several international conferences on the topic of Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USRPT), the training methodology he believes in and applies to the Race Pace Team. It was evident at a young age that Michael was a natural talent in the pool and Peter wanted to cultivate his son’s gift as effectively as possible. After exploring coaching options and not finding the support and instruction believed to be the best fit for his young prodigy, Peter decided to take on the task of coaching his son personally.
Being met with resistance at various facilities, the Andrew family decided to take on the task of building their own pool to have Michael train in an environment that was conducive to both his physical talents, as well as his spiritual well-being. The Andrew family’s relationship/walk with God is at the forefront of everything they undertake, including swimming. Throughout the roles of father, coach, supporter, speaker, Peter seeks in all ways to glorify God and be faithful to His call.
Having attended a conference where Dr. Rushall, considered the pioneer of modern USRPT, was speaking, Peter determined that the against-the-grain training method was indeed the right recipe for Michael to excel within the sport, both physically and mentally.
After immersing himself in all things USRPT, Peter armed himself with the knowledge and science behind the training to coach his son Michael in a supportive, balanced environment. The overall goal was to create and maintain surroundings in which Michael could enjoy practicing, maintain his enthusiasm for the sport and avoid burning out.
In his coaching role, Peter carries out USRPT as a complete training method for MA Swim Academy; not just as a component of a larger program. Peter approaches USRPT as a four-stemmed entity, with roots in nutrition, conditioning, technique, and mental health.
As a result of his implementation of the disciplined, science-based training methodology successfully through MA Swim Academy, Peter is a highly sought-after clinician and speaker, visiting clubs across the nation. Peter maintains an open-door policy, in that any coach who wants to observe how Michael practice is more than welcome to visit the Andrew’s practices.
The Andrew family is launching this online swimming academy to share, to equip and to support the swimming community with the necessary knowledge, tools and planning devices to understand and successfully implement Ultra-Short, Race-Pace Training on their own and swim faster faster.
