We are now into our 9th week of the season and with 3 meets behind us we are now getting ready for our mid-terms which are the next 3 big meets. Here is a look at what is coming up:

SWIM AND ROCK MEET: NOVEMBER 21-22-23 @OAK MARR 
This is a trails and finals meet on Saturday and Sunday and what that means is that the 11 and overs will swim prelims in the morning and the fastest 16 (13 and overs) and the fastest 8 (11-12 year olds) will return in the evening.  IF YOU MAKE THE FINALS YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP OR YOU NEED TO SCRATCH (COACHES APPROVAL) THE EVENT BEFORE LEAVING IN THE MORNING.  IF YOU DO NOT SCRATCH AND FAIL TO SHOW YOU WILL BE SCRATCHED FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE MEET.

I am aware that we have a lot of swimmers trying to get cuts for Lancaster so we are treating this as a championship meet.  This means that you may dust off those fast suits and get them ready,  shave if you need to although I know that you will swim fast because you wear that MAKO cap and Heather Shannon and I have prepared you, and now the spotlight is on you.   That being said if you have 3 events or more at Lancaster we should not be shaving or wearing that suit.  You should also not be swimming the events you are doing in Lancaster.   If you make finals we will than talk about which suit to wear.  Just make sure that the suit you wear is tight.

MAKO HOLIDAY MEET: DECEMBER 6 AND 7 @ GEORGE MASON
This is our championship meet for the first half of our season and if you are not going to Lancaster this is the meet that you should be entering.

DIPLOMAT HOLIDAY CLASSIC DECEMBER 12-13-14
All qualified swimmers should plan to attend this meet.

HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING :  We have several swimmers in our senior prep group who will be trying out for their respected High School teams next week.  All of us want to wish good luck to Helen Geddes, Audrey Hunter,  Peter Jones, Katie Karlinchak, Katie Krouse, Katie Pontzer, Caylan Roy.  Have fun and swim fast!

MEET WRAP UPS:  All of you have done an outstanding job in the last few meets.  We had a lot of you try some new events and longer events which will open more doors and hopefully give you more confidence when swimming the shorter events.  We had a lot of our Junior Gold swimmers Kai, Catherine L., Jessica B., Matthew H., open that door to the 400 IM and swim very well.  Also swimming their first 200 fly were Jessica B., Justin S., Peter M., Kent C., Kevin B., P.J., Joey D.,  all of who had great swims. Natalie F from the Gold group and Aaron W from the Blue group also swam their  first 1000 free this past Sunday and had some great splits.  Also swimming the 1000 this past week Joey D. and Jackson K. from the Prep group swam the 1000 and dropped over 50 seconds in the event.

I can see our confidence building as we progress though this season and I also see it translating into you events and races at the meet and this is fun to watch.  The result may not always be a best time, but at your stage of development I am looking at so many other things in your races that will help you down the road.

TODAY'S TOPIC  "MENTAL TOUGHNESS"

This is the time of year where your parents may take you in for your annual flu shots and as I was looking back at some of my notes over the weekend I decided that all of you also need a shot of mental toughness in your arms.  No worry NO NEEDLES just some light reading!

Athlete's coaches, peers, maybe sometimes parents refer to mental toughness as an explanation of why certain people fail under immense pressures, whereas others seem to excel during competition.  It's been said that competition is 10% physical and 90% mental.  The following is a quote from Vince Lombardi, " Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain.  It's qualities are sacrifice and self denial.  Also, most importantly it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in.  It's a state of mind you could call it character in action. "  A mental tough athlete will have complete trust in their ability, no matter how much stress they encounter, and they believe they will be SUCCESSFUL.  At the same time the mentally tough athlete will also understand that there will be those times when they will fail, and the question becomes how they handle that failure and move past it.
The following are some coping strategies to help you become a mentally tough athlete.

MENTAL IMAGERY:  How many times do you just show up at a meet, warm-up, sit down and just talk with friends, and then when it's time to swim head over, get on the blocks swim and come back.   What are you thinking as you stand behind the blocks?  Try to imagine stepping up having a great start and break out.  Feel your body and water unite as slide into that first turn and bounce off with all this speed.  Feel yourself as you increase your arm speed and drive those legs to the finish.  Imagine a great race

EFFORT EXPENDITURE:  When swimming you have to commit to your race, you can't just go through the motions.  Whatever is going on outside the pool, leave it at the door when you come in.  Regardless of your competition or the way you feel OWN YOUR SWIM and  SWIM WITH SOME HEART.

THOUGHT CONTROL:  Don't dwell on the negatives like I'm going to lose or I have to get a certain time or that swimmer is too fast.  These negatives act like extra baggage and only weigh you down both physically and mentally.  This is your race and to own it you need to focus on what you can control and that's this race and swimming fast.

RELAXATION:  Try to find time to relax during the meet, and re-energize your batteries.  Part of this is doing your proper warm-ups and warm-downs, stretching and staying hydrated.
This does not involve running around and being on your phones, and in fact if that is what you are doing your not there to swim fast.

ANALYSIS:  Analyze your performance.  Ask yourself; What were my weakness? strengths? Take that information back to practice and work on those areas so you move from a GOOD SWIM to a GREAT SWIM!

NEXT TOPIC COMFORT ZONE!     MIKE