TheMat.com interviews U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman head coach Dan Chandler

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
09/17/2000


TheMat.com interview with Greco-Roman head coach Dan Chandler    TheMat.com: How did things go with the training camp in Canberra?    Dan Chandler: "It went well. We had to pull the guys back. They wanted to go too hard. They were very excited to be here. We'd do one workout on the mat, then we would do one session of netball for another workout, frisbee football, other types of games. They were going so hard, their legs were tired. So now, we gave them two days off, then we will go two hard days, then they'll be on their own for workouts."    TheMat.com: Has the preparation for the Olympics gone well?    Dan Chandler: "The trip we took to Russia was huge. We saw we had the ability to beat Russians. We saw we had the conditioning to beat people. They found out that they had the attitude that they don't want to leave the result in the hands of the officials. We have to dominate and can't expect breaks from the officials. The coaches also learned a lot. We saw some mistakes that we needed to improve on."    TheMat.com: What kinds of things are you doing in workouts?    Dan Chandler: "Several things. Matches, micro-matches, technique matches. We are having short workouts with high intensity."    TheMat.com: How have things been in the Athlete's Village?    Dan Chandler: "It's crazy in here. There's too much going on. We thought it was important to come in here a little earlier rather than later. We wanted to get the distractions out of our system. Today is an off day and they can get it out of the system now. It can be overwhelming if they don't have a few days to get used to it."    TheMat.com: Has anybody looked especially good in the workouts?    Dan Chandler: "The coaches agree the guy who has progressed the most has been Lowney. He was wrestling college style until December, then he has been doing Greco-Roman full-time for only eight months. When we went to Padduby, we saw he was capable of beating anybody. His match for third was very close against a strong Russian. He expects to win whenever he steps on the mat. In Russia and in camp, we learned a lot about each guy and their capabilities."    Interview from the Athlete Village, September 16, 2000.