NOVEMBER 28

Hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving with your families.  I am sure you enjoyed getting away from the pool, and the smell of chlorine for a day.  It is now time to get back in the pool and have that last push for our meets in December.

SWIM AND ROCK MEET WRAP UP

Although it was a very long weekend, our Senior Prep and Junior Gold and Junior Blue groups had an outstanding weekend of swimming. Both Friday and Saturday we had 40 swimmers who made finals later in the evening.  We had some Pa. cuts achieved and a lot of JO cuts attained and a lot of personal best throughout the weekend.   Over the weekend I had many swimmers come to me after their races and I ask, "So how was that?" and the answers ranged from "Good", "Not So Good", "Bad" or "Terrible".  My first thought is to ask them if they are talking about the time or the race. 

Don't get me wrong as a coach I know how important that time is to the athlete especially in today's society where instant gratifications seems to be so important.  That being said it never ceases to amaze me the misunderstanding that the swimmer has between the result and the execution of the race.  On the one hand you may have dropped 2 seconds in a race with sloppy turns and finishes.  On the other hand you may have done your same time but with perfect turns and a great finish and a lot of effort.  Looking through my eyes who will I be happier with as a coach.

As an athlete gets bigger and stronger they will always get faster, but one day that will stop and when that day arises that athlete with great technique will rise to the top.

Bottom line is that if you swam fast usually the time is representative of where you are in your training cycle and how you approached  the race both physically and mentally.  If you swam slowly the time is similarly representative of how you applied yourself during your training and how you approached the race physically and mentally.   Don't fool yourself with other excuses.  RESULTS COME FROM HARD WORK , and HARD WORK COMES FROM PERFECT PRACTICE, not just practice.

TOPIC:  TIMES

 We have posted many times now from the fall meet schedule and these times mean many things and are also affected by many things.  What do these posted times mean;  how much stronger we are getting, how much fitter we are becoming, all those important things.  What affects them;  the meet, the pool, water and air conditions, where we are in  the training cycle.
However there are other important things taking place and those are more significant.  That list includes: confidence, skill set, understanding race strategies, keeping stroke together when fatigue sets in, managing failures and its twin impostor success.  This list gets stronger from PERFECT PRACTICE.  

Leading up to meets especially important ones there are things that you can do to put yourself in a better position to succeed.  I no particular order are hydration, nutrition, proper sleep, staying up with your school work, visualize success, practice days in and day out the things that will make you go faster,not slower.

Try to leave the things that can hurt you in a box locked up.  This list includes; worrying about the outcome, focus on times that you want to swim, get caught up in meet hype, looking at psych sheets too much and getting caught up in where you are seeded.  WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE IT DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING, IT TELLS US WHERE OUR TIMES PUT US IN THE PAST, IT WILL CHANGE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT IT TO LOOK LIKE AT THE END OF THE CURRENT MEET.   

What I will do for each of you is work the process when putting together your training program, and during this process give you each some little things to help you in the process.  What I want each of you to do is keep your heads up always, uncringe your jaw, relax your tongues, take a deep breath and work the process every day you walk on the deck for practice.

ENJOY THE LEFT OVERS AND GIRLS STAY AWAY FROM THE MALLS.   MIKE