TUESDAY  NOVEMBER 5, 2013

We hope that those of you who are out of school are enjoying your time off, and that all your teacher/parent conferences have gone well.   As you may have notice is getting dark earlier and with it comes the colder weathering .  Please make sure that you are dressed warm when leaving practice, we do not want to get sick and have to miss time from school and practice.  Also it is always important to be washing your hands, but it is critical during the winter months.  It is also critical that we keep drinking water during this time even though you may not be thirsty, as this will help your body fight off germs.  Also DO NOT SHARE BOTTLES!!  You all have worked hard up to now let's take care of ourselves so we do not suffer any set back

MAKO/OCCS  DUAL MEET WRAP UP:

This past weekend we traveled out to Warrenton for the first time to get in some racing.  Overall we think the meet was a success with many Mako swimmers achieving personnel best.  Thanks to all the parents who made that trip out especially early in the morning.  A special thanks to all of our parents who volunteered to work as officials during the meet.  Trophy winners from our groups for the Pentathlon and Quadathlon on Saturday were  Isabella Manzione, Alex Aung, Kevin Carchia (JUNIOR GOLD), Alexa Cuomo, Julia Young, Lauren Young (SENIOR PREP), Caroline Murphy, Sofia Krstolic (JUNIOR BLUE).  Congratulations to all of you!!  (If I missed anyone, SORRY and please let me know as i am sure you will HA!).
HIGHLIGHTS THAT WE CAN RECALL: One of the best lines of the meet was were Ella Dahlberg who is 11 from our Junior Gold who put me in my place.  Upon helping with her cap and saying something she informed me that putting on a cap is "Swimming 101"  I missed that in college Ella! 
We had several swimmers from our group step up and swim events for the first time, Merdith  Millard (100 back and 100 fly), Yolani Ponce (100 breast,100 fly), Theresa Boyd, Mattie Rose Cuomo (100 Breast).  Julia Young and Kenta Deegan (200 Breast),  Elizabeth Williams (100 fly) Anthony Grimm (200 fly) Angelina Bolivar (100 free) Andrew Hale (200IM), Jacob Robinette, Catherine Krouse (500 Free).
Some areas that we need to go back to practice and work on are:

•  faster reactions on start. explode off the blocks.
•  work your speed under water off walls.
•  faster and tighter turns.
•  explode off those walls.

  These things do not just happen during a race, you need to repeat it over and over in practice so that your body commits it to memory.  Another area is that after warm up and your races it is important to cover up and keep your body warm.  Even though you are warm your muscles become very tight and will not respond to whaou are going to ask of them.  Cover them up.  Pack your bags with an extra shirt and sweat shirt.

WEEK AHEAD:  All practices this week will be held at normal times.  Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and maybe Monday  you will have a guest coach and I expect things to go as if I am there.  Please be respectful during the workouts.

WEEKS TOPIC: "RACING"

What makes an athlete competitive?  As coaches we talk about our athletes or teams as being competitive, but is there a proven method?  I wish there was because we would bottle it and sprinkle it on the heads of our swimmers as they put on their caps.  I do know that in order to be competitive there needs to be a mental and emotional toughness, which is defined as "the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of the competitive circumstances."  Mentally tough athletes know that they have put in the hard work and DO NOT ALLOW DISTRACTIONS THAT MAY KEEP THEM FROM WINNING to enter their minds.  They look at the situation in front of them as a challenge that is to be conquered and not feared, regardless!   They will talk tough, they will feel confident, they will be energized and looking for a fight and they will take this into the race with them.

Does this sound like you?  Or are you the athlete that allows all the distractions at a meet to affect you?  You know the one that I am talking about, I'm tired! I don't want to be here! I'm going out tonight!  I have to swim against so and so !  What  If I don't do this time?  Which athlete are you?  Do you look at your races as challenges or do you allow the fear factor to creep in?

You know most top athletes have said it is  not the winning, but "hating to lose" that fuels their competitive drive, that their ambition to be successful is based on not wanting to fail more than enjoying the fruits of success.

How can you improve your competitive ability?  The one word is ATTITUDE and the best place to start working on that is at practice.  Are you spending your time socializing and thinking about a millon different things, or are you committed to this practice, this set, this repeat, this turn.  Just like a meet if you let distractions creep in at practice than you are fooling yourself if you think that you will be ready for a meet or race.  Practice is your class room, your study time, USE IT WISELY.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK     MIKE AND SHANNON