Shawn Barber - Early Years

By Adam Schneider on August 22, 2015

This young (just turned 21) vaulter has done something very rare in a technical event (pole vault, triple jump, discus throw, hammer throw, decathlon), and put himself in a position to medal as a collegian. The big question is why. Through interviews with him and some side questions with his coach since he was in high school, his father, George Barber I feel his story is helpful for young athletes. I hope this interview gives some insight that may change this event much like Dick Fosbury did in the high jump. He is in this position due to his incredibly fast development. This year he has cleared 19 feet (5.80m) 22 times (16 including indoors through the NCAA meet).  Before this year the cumulative total of collegiate 19 foot clearances was 9! He has cleared 5.93m, and has only lost to indoor world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (cleared 5.93m pr in loss).  He has cleared 5.90 three times and 5.82 seven times outdoors. 

 

Adam Schneider (AS)

Tell me where and when you were born and a little about your parents and how they met.

 

Shawn Barber (SB)

I was born in Las Cruces New Mexico on May 27 1994. My parents are Ann and George Barber. My father amd mother met when she was lost looking for an appartment at the complex he was at. They are divorced now. 

 

AS

Your dad (George) vaulted at UTEP, competed in two Canadian Olympic Trials and competed internationally (pr 17-10 3/4). Does the rest of your father's family and mother and her family have an athletic background?

 

SB

Yes my father's nephew, my cousin, has traveled and competed for the US in swimming events through high school and university. Many athletes come from my father's side of the family actually. Primarily swimming and soccer on my father's side. The showing is not quite as strong on my mother's side however.

 

 

AS

What is your cousin's name?

 

SB

Matt Barber, also from Kingwood Tx.

(Matt Barber was named Houston swimmer of the year in his senior year, he has recently competed in US finals in a few different events that would qualify him for world or Olympic championships, and he has competed internationally for the United States)

 

AS

When and why did you and your father move to Texas?  

 

SB

We moved to texas to be closer to relatives. My father's brother and sister live in Texas.

 

AS

Was it to help take care of you while your father worked?

 

SB

Yes partially. My father spent some time working in west Texas and it was easier for my mother to have help with 2 hormonal teenage boys at times i suppose.

 

AS

So did you spend a lot of time with your cousins?

 

SB

I spent a lot more time with my uncle's sons than my aunt's sons and daughters because they lived just down the road. My aunt's family lived several hours away. Although now i have some cousins on my aunt's side that go to grad school and work in downtown Houston so i am able to see them when I go home for Xmas, etc.

 

AS

What sports did you play growing up?

 

SB

I was a club soccer player for a very long time. Actually I probably started soccer around the same time as I did pole vault. I only quit my junior year of high school when I started to face more and more injuries in the sport and wanted to focus more on the vault. I was also a 4-year varsity diver on the swim team in high school.

 

AS

Please be thorough in describing your athletic background - goal scorer, defender, goalie.  How good of a soccer player, diver were you? Did you win trophies, championships?

 

SB

For the majority of my soccer career I was a midfielder and my job was to be everywhere on the field. I was the one the coaches could count on to be up for attacking and then hustle back to defend. I was definitely in love with the sport and I was sad to see it go. Honestly, diving for me was a way to get out of off-season track and field. I did not like the idea of the monotonous running in off-season track and if you weren't in another fall sport you had to be there.

 

AS

Did you explore the fun of diving, what excited you about the sport?  What did you learn from the sport?

 

SB

I learned to be fearless from diving and it showed me I could do anything with a bit of practice. Before we moved to Kingwood (I was probably 6 or7) we went to visit these same relatives and they still had 3 meter diving boards at the community pools. Well, I made it my mission to do a front dive from this board. So I start diving and every time I jumped. I would go too far over and land square on my back or not make it far enough over and flop on my belly. Then I would get out of the pool and cry for a couple seconds and try again. Eventually I got to the point where I could land the dive but it was still a 50/50 chance of flopping.

 

AS

Did you and cousin Matt hang out in the pool and swim and/or dive?

 

SB

We did. We have community pools in our neighborhood and we used to go play Sharks and Minos or other games

 

AS

Why did you dive and not swim? Was it competition with your cousin or did you just enjoy diving more?

 

SB

I've always been a technical athlete. So diving became more of an enjoyable sport for me than swimming or running for instance which is more power/strength/endurance based

 

AS

Why did you stop diving?

 

SB

 I stopped diving after I got out of high school. 4 years was enough for me.

 

AS

When and why did you start vaulting?

 

SB

I started pole vaulting when I was about 5 years old because my father was out jumping and I needed to blow off some energy. I took time off here and there growing up because he was very good about not forcing the sport on me. I remember when we were growing up I had to beg my father to let me come with him and jump at some of the bigger meets.

 

AS

When did you regularly start to vault?  Your dad has mentioned that you started at 11' and got to 18' in three years.  Can you break down when he started coaching you and how you started seriously vaulting?

 

SB

I took a couple years off when we moved to Houston. Then he started coaching me the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. That first meet I jumped 11'2 I think. By the end of sophomore year I was up to 14'6. Then in my junior year I jumped 16'6. Senior year, 18'3.5

 

AS

You typically had pr performances early in the season of your high school years and then you would struggle with vaulting as well by the end of the season.  Were you changing things during the year? Was having more people vaulting at the same heights in championships meets making it harder (more vaults, thinking about strategy, not being able to just go to a hard height)?

 

SB

I had pr's early in the season, then a midseason slump then more pr's at the end of the season

 

AS

What would change for you between seasons?  What do you think you were improving ?

 

SB

I think early in the season you use up all the benefits from offseason training, then you have to work really hard to increase strength and technique midseason to continue improving later that season

 

AS

Any technical or physical (speed or jumping improvements) breakthroughs you can think of? You have had significant improvements from year to year.  Not everyone does, why do you think you did?

 

SB

My dad is a good technician I guess. That's a big part of the reason I improved so much in high school. And he believed 100% that I could do the things that I'm doing now which not many other people believed. Actually no one. So he was able to keep pushing me in the right direction to keep improving each year.

 

AS

Also, what changed mentally for you and if there was a moment that caused some change?  How you looked at training, competition, watching other elite vaulters.

 

SB

There were thousands of mental changes along the way and I believe that you can learn something from everyone. If I see someone doing something that makes sense or they say something that makes sense then I'll pick that information up and it subsequently changes how I view the vault.

 

AS

Did you ever question yourself once you cleared 18-3 in high school? (how much confidence did it give you?)

 

SB

Yes I question myself all the time. Like whether or not I'll keep improving or fear of injury or whatever.

 

Adam Schneider

Did losing state in 2011, or New Balance Indoor in 2012, drive you to prepare you for the big marks of outdoor 2012?

 

SB

I am a competitor but first and foremost I compete with myself. Nothing makes me dig deep and improve more than not performing at the level I expect of myself

 

AS

Did those high school losses then drive you because you had not performed as well as you had earlier in the year?  It would also seem that you would have been happy with World Junior and National JOs at the same time.

 

SB

Yes I knew I could jump higher but I physically couldn't which was very frustrating.

 

AS

What the World Junior bronze meant to you?  Competing that well, medalling for Canada

 

SB

It meant quite a deal to me to do so well at world juniors. It helped me feel like I earned my spot on the team even being an outsider at the time. Also, it's a very reassuring feeling to do well in the new setting. I felt like I belonged on the world stage.

 

AS

Why did you choose to represent Canada when you had a choice to pick the United States or Canada?

 

SB

The decision was influenced by my dad. I was following in his footsteps so to say. That and I was looking forward to the opportunities Canada could offer me and the support they gave me

 

AS

Why did you choose Akron, was there fear about leaving your dad as your coach?

 

SB

I picked Akron because I knew that I would still be able to work at an some level with my father and Mitchell at the university is a completely different style coach from my father. I knew I could learn a lot from Mitchell because he he had a completely different coaching skill set

 

AS

Were you afraid it would wreck you? Was there a possibility that you would stay at home with your dad and be coached by him since he had done so well with you?

 

SB

I think I was ready for a change at the end of highschool. Yes I knew I could jump higher but I physically couldn't which was very frustrating.

 

AS

So when Coach Mitchell started having you do weight training were you pleased to have picked up from where you left off in 2012? Also, what improved right away for you? Where were you holding? How fast were you now?

 

SB

I weight trained in highschool as well but focused more on free weights. Mitchell focused more on Olympic lifts. I was hesitant to try the new lifts but they proved successfulI have been improving speed power and handgrip steadily since I started jumping years ago

 

AS

Olympic lifting improves explosion activities, running, jumping etc.  I am guessing your physical limits were speed and explosion?  Did your dad not want you to do those because of injury potential?  Also when did you stop growing?

 

SB

Apparently I'm still not done growing. He was worried about lifting too heavy too early so it was all high reps

 

AS

Also about your first year at Akron, were you relieved to not have dropped off your first year and the fact you pr'd your first meet.

 

SB

It was good to pr coming into the first meets in Akron. It kinda confirmed that Akron was a good choice for me

 

Adam Schneider

How did it feel to win your first NCAA title?  You started that year and you did not improve on your previous indoor best until the Akron Invitational.  What happened?

SB

 It was great to win an NCAA title. It was one of the best competitions I've been in. Those really close tough meets are the reason we are in the sport.

 

AS

What has changed this season, speed, holding spot on the pole, please be specific.  

 

SB

I moved my grip on the pole up 10cm or so. That and I'm jumping on stiffer poles than I was last year. You can't do all that without getting bigger-faster-stronger

 

The next part of the interview will be about Shawn's emergence on the world stage