Swim Fast

COUNTDOWN TIMER WIDGET

WEDNESDAY  OCTOBER 30 HALLOWEEN  PRACTICE:  Senior Prep, Junior Gold, Junior Blue groups will all have practice from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.   Junior Gold swimmers remember there is no practice on Friday due to a college meet, so let's plan. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY:  November 1st and November 2nd there will be no practice due to a college meet. OCCS/ MAKO MEET:  Saturday November 2nd and Sunday November 3rd. SATURDAY WARM-UP  11 AND OVER 7:00AM // 10 AND UNDER   12:00PM DON'T FORGET TO MOVE YOUR CLOCKS BACK FOR SUNDAY  OR YOU WILL BE AN HOUR EARLY! SUNDAY: ALL AGES: 7:00 AM  ALL EVENTS WILL BE POSITIVE CHECK IN MARLIN/ MAKO MEET WRAP UP: This past weekend our groups swam a little distance meet with 200 backstroke, 1000 free, and 500 free. Swimming their first 200 backstroke were Jacob R., Ryan M., and William H.  All three had some good turns and what we were really happy to see was the longer underwater swimming off the turns.  Some other good swims were turned in by Alex A., Lauren Y., Julia Y., Faith A., Gillian G., and Alexa C.  What we would like to see in this event is a little more aggressiveness in that 3rd 50, that last one should take care of itself with a little heart. Swimming their first 1000 free were Sophia R., Katie P., Philip B..  All three of these swimmers swam well, with some of them understanding that they need to trust themselves and go out a little stronger.   Also swimming a 1000 was Gabby K. who is working very hard to get back to that swimming shape The 500 free also had some Mako first timers swimming.  The following swimmers turned in a great effort in their first 500 free Katherine H., Justin S., Rylie K., Ella D., William H., Ryan M., Kenta D., Pierce B., and Anthony G.  It was funny talking to each of theme after their races, it ranged from Katherine who really enjoyed the event, to Anthony who's response was "I like sprinting".  Well Anthony just sprint the 500. Ha!  Also swimming the 500 were Conrad P., Hope A., (improving her time by 20 seconds) and Jackson K., who improved his time by 22 seconds. This was an excellent meet for getting some times in these events.  At this time We are planning another one on November 16  when we are planning to offer the 200 fly and the 400 Im.  Decide now to go outside your comfort zone and swim these 2 events. TOPIC FOR THE WEEK:  "TAKING CARE OF YOUR HOUSE" If you took the time to think about it, we are for the most part very comfortable in our own houses, room or whatever other term you choose to use.  It takes a lot of extra energy to also take care of a neighbors house also.  In swimming terms one must "own their race" and control their own house if they want to be in a position to succeed.  The conditions that you race in are not always perfect, but for the most part they are acceptable.  If your looking for perfect you may not find them and you take the chance of getting rattled if things don't go right.  When racing focus on beating swimmers immediately to your right and left, they are the ones who may come in to your house and take your dog.   Once that is done than focus on the rest of the neighborhood, and try to own it, but take care of your house first. If something does happen don't take it personally, I know it's hard but try.  There will be times that your hard work will simply not pay off.  Something beyond our control will knock us off our pedestal and we will start to tumble away from reaching our goals. How far you tumble is up to you, all it means is that success will have to wait another turn.  Mistakes can distract and defeat you if YOU let them, or they can be the springboard to taking to the next level.  Failure should motivate YOU!  Experience the failure, absorb it, take it in and remind yourself how it feels, and now go back to practice with this thought, "I WILL PRACTICE BETTER AND FIX MY BAD HABITS BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN!"  It's your house not the coaches, OWN IT!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  BE SAFE!!  SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND IF YOU MISS PRACTICE ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, DO SOME STRETCHING AND GO FOR A BRISK WALK ON FRIDAY,  PLEASE DO NOT GET LAZY AND JUST SIT AROUND EATING CANDY. "JUNK IN THE BODY=JUNK OUT THE BODY MIKE

Monday October 14, 2014 

Let's see if we can get this thing started.  As we enter into our 6th week of practice it's time to take a breath and see how we are doing.  The first few weeks were spent on getting back into SWIMMING shape, and reviewing basic techniques.  The things that we worked on and that you need to keep practicing as we move forward are:

• leaving wall from ready position every time
• holding a long wall off turns(can we make the flags)
• breathing on second stroke off walls in free and fly
• not breathing flags in at finishes
• breaststroke pull outs on EVERY turn
• explosive dives

You need to do these things at every practice, during every set, and on every repeat  to be in a good position to be successful on race day.

MAKO MEET WRAP UP

On October 5th and 6th we had a chance to race and take stock of where we are early in the season.  We had a lot of swimmers who took advantage of this meet and enter some new events for the first time.  We had a lot of good times, but more important than that was the fact that we saw a lot of sound  racing technique early in the season.  We had a few DQ's and I hope that we talked to everyone about them, if not please see us and we will try to figure it out.  During our meeting last Monday we went over both positives and negatives that each of us can take as we move forward during the season.  One of the major items was warming down right after you swim, and than seeing a coach. 
Every meet, every race you hear the same thing from your coach GO WARM DOWN!! and you say to yourself WHY ?  I swim again in a while, or WHY?  I don't feel any different whether I do or don't.  But you need to listen to us it comes from years of training and personal experiences.  According to SPLASH magazine, "Warm down gives hard-worked muscles the chance to prepare for the next race."  You don't want your muscles to tighten up on you, and this is especially true if you have another event.  "Tighter muscles make it harder for your body to flush the lactate which builds up during a race."  Hydrate with water after your done as this will aid in recovery.  It may take a good 300 to 1000 to warm down, and it will differ from person to person.
After your swim please see a coach for some tips that you can take back to practice and work on.  The important thing here is to go home write down the tips and make an honest attempt to work on them during practice.  if you don't fix them you will repeat them during your next race.
PARENTS YOU NEED TO HELP YOUR SWIMMER AND THE COACHES HERE.  do NOT ENCOURAGE THEM TO COME SEE YOU RIGHT AFTER THEY SWIM.  YOU ARE ONLY PUTTING THEM AT A DISADVANTAGE!!

 UPCOMING MEETS:

OCTOBER OPEN 10/19 and 10/20  The time line on Friday went past midnight  so we pulled our swimmers from that night.  The other time lines look good.  Our entry list will not be that large so we will be able to get some good racing and feed back during this meet.  Parents we need to provide some timers and if we take turns no one is stuck for the entire meet.  THANKS!

OCCS DUAL MEET: 11/2 AND 11/3  We should be entering this meet and we should be entering the maximum events.  Parents please do not worry about your swimmer swimming tired, we want them swimming tired at this point in the season.  Coaches will put together the relays so please do not enter your swimmers in those events.

SWIM AND AND ROCK  11/22 TO 11/24  This meet is where we should get some of our best events in.  If you are going to Lancaster   it might be better to skip Friday and attend school so we don't miss 2 days, and your better rested.

TOPIC FOR THE WEEK: " WORD POWER"  As a coach I always listen to swimmers using words that are negative during practice and even at meets.  "When swimmers state they will try to accomplish a specific task or goal it means they w  ill make an attempt to achieve it.  When swimmers state they will accomplish a specific task or goal it means they will achieve it.  All too often swimmers spend their time trying trying to achieve rather than achieving.  Choosing the  right words or train of thought  is a powerful beginning that makes that makes all the difference in the final result".  For practice it may be as simple as replacing "I don't want to practice today with it's a great day for practice."  Here are 14 affirmations to use for the next 14 days:

1. NO MATTER WHAT OTHERS SAY OR DO---MY SUCCESS IS UP TO WHAT I DO!
2. MISTAKES WILL NOT PUT YOU BEHIND, HOWEVER IGNORING THEM WILL.  LET'S GO AND FOCUS ON THE NEXT SET OR EVENT!
3. I HAVE THE ABILITY AND DESERVE TO BE IN THIS EVENT. MY RECENT TIMES PROVE I AM COMPETITIVE!
4. I AM IN CONTROL OF MY EMOTIONS AND WHAT I CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON!
5. MY PERFORMANCE TODAY WILL BE THE BEST I CAN GIVE REGARDLESS OF THE SURROUNDINGS!
6. I CHOOSE TO SEE MYSELF PERFORMING EFFORTLESSLY AS I GLIDE THROUGH THE WATER WITH CONFIDENCE AND FOCUS.!
7. I CHOOSE TO "PARK" DISTRACTIONS BY PUTTING THEM IN A SMALL BOX AND PLACE THE BOX ON A SHELF AT HOME FOR TODAY.  DISTRACTIONS HAVE NO PLACE AND WILL HAVE NO EFFECT ON MY PERFORMANCE TODAY!
8. BY SWIMMING MY OWN RACE AND STICKING TO THE PLAN THERE IS SUCCESS WITHOUT JUDGEMENT!
9. I CHOOSE TO TAKE THE SUCCESS FROM PRACTICE IN TO THE RACE WITH CONFIDENCE AND TRUST MY ABILITY TO BE A WINNER!
10. TODAY I CHOOSE TO FOCUS ONLY ON EXECUTING PERFECT TURNS DURING EACH AND EVERY REPEAT!
11. WHEN THE "STITCH"  GETS TO ME, I WILL "STOP", BREATHE DEEPLY AND RELEASE CALMLY AND CONTINUE ON!
12. MY GAME PLAN TODAY IS DESIGNED TO KEEP ME IN THE PRESENT, IN EMOTIONAL CONTROL, AND NOT LET  DISTRACTIONS GET IN THE WAY OF MY SUCCESS!
13. AS YOU SWIM YOUR RACE, REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING AND THE TRUST YOU HAVE GAINED FROM EACH AND EVERY DAYS SUCCESS!
14. WALK WITH YOUR HEAD HIGH--REMAIN SILENT--PERFORM WITH INTENSITY, COMMITMENT AND SHOW COMPETITIVE SPIRIT  

PARENTS:  I know that at times it may look  like we are only doing laps in the pool, but on most sets the swimmers have been given one or two things to work on during the set.  You also may want  your swimmer  to go faster during practice, while I am getting them to slow down to focus on what we are trying to accomplish.  If you must sit right above the lanes I ask you to please refrain from communicating with your swimmer as it will   confuse them and undermine what we are trying  to accomplish in the pool.

LET'S HAVE A GOOD WEEK IN THE POOL   MIKE