Adrian Radulescu, the man who trains Romanian Olympic swimming champion David Popovici since he was 10, spoke in an interview with Edupedu.ro about situations where parents and coaches fix children into templates and, when margins are broken, they panic, leading to a whole array of consequences which affect the life path of the child. Radulescu, who has a PhD in physical education and sports, explains his own educational path and how he chose to become a swimming coach.
And he tells coaches who want to become more in their own education: „Be curious, diligent and patient”.
Speaking of „genius children”, Radulescu said he ”did not believe there was any professional sports person at the age of 10, or at the age of 12. That is why we are tempted to build a narrative around the child, which I believe is not beneficial on the long term”. People, he said, „hurry up, try to see results as soon as possible, to see that things are on the path we ourselves imagine, because we want to have results as fast as possible in any field we follow”.
- Radulescu, who specialised in pedagogy in Denmark, has learned a concept he tries to apply in his activities with children: ”An idea, a concept that surely had an impact was that the pedagogue should be able to place himself in three instances related to the children:the first would be that of a leader – meaning to stand before the child, who should follow him. The second – to be by the child and share tasks as equally as possible with him. And third – to place himself behind the child, to let the child lead the activity”, he said.
Adrian Radulescu had his PhD in physical education in 2020, at the Romanian national physical education university in Bucharest. He worked on his PhD while also working as a coach, a job he’s held since 2012. He is the main coach at the National Olympic Centre for Youth and was the main coach for the Senior Olympic teams for Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024. David Popovici, whom he trains since Radulescu had just finished bachelor studies, won two gold medals in the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
He described his view of parents – or teachers – trying to force their own expectations into their children, when it comes to sports: ”When we take a child to swimming, we already see him a champion, if we take him to football, we already see him a Messi. And we live under the impression that pay or other efforts should surely provide the returns we search for – and sometimes the returns we’re promised. That, I believe, is not a healthy perspectives, because we come to place children into templates and, when paths change, we panic and things lead to a whole array of consequences, from dropping out to a forced regimen of training which, obviously, will have its own echo in the life of the child”.
- He said coaches should ”make an effort to be more flexible and try to offer children the opportunity to develop through sports. I often heard or met situations in which students are criticised for practicing a performance sport and dedicate much of their spare time to this passion. There is little understanding, when it comes to teachers, over the choices of the children and this only discourages children from both directions”.
According to Radulescu, ”a child whose dream you take apart constantly will not appreciate you as a teacher, no matter your subject. But he would also be unable to follow that dream without resentments, and so you only create a state of perpetual confusion. In these circumstances, he would also fail to excel academically unless he pays huge efforts and a harsh regimen, but he would also fail to reach his potential in sports. (…) I had a student who has become a national champion and when to school to show the medals to his teacher and she said: ‘What is this nonsense, what is it good for? Learning is important, nobody cares about you going to the pool’. I don’t believe this is the way to approach things. At that point, the child will not listen to you, but he would also lose some interest in sport.”
People, he said, ”should not see swimming as a privilege, we should consider it a right. As one should know how to run, to jump, one should also know how to swim. As I see thinks, that is how we can integrate more. One should know skiing, skating, maybe even rowing or kayaking. There are many things we could integrate in the educational system when it comes to physical education.”
- But, he said, sport for the sake of performance should not be pursued in any circumstances or for any price and people should take care of sports practicing youth both physically and psychologically / emotionally.
On the problems he faces as a high level swimming coach in Romania, he pointed out that Romania is a small country lacking a tradition comparable to that of the USA or Australia. And, he said, many countries consider swimming a life competence. Romania, according to Radulescu might complain about the lack of infrastructure or of coherence in practicing sports.
But, above all, he said the main difficulty is related to culture: ”I do not believe we managed to cover the distance from organising sport in the manner of pre-1990 (the Communist era – editor’s note) to a safer, freer sport which is more balanced from a social and economic perspective”.