“WIN”. What’s Important Now

This being the last week of the year it is natural to feel reflective on the year that was.  Giving yourself some alone time to reflect can make a big difference.  As you reflect here are a few things to consider;  10 Highlights (accomplishments, best memories personal, chool, swimming)  5 Disappointments  (failures, missed opportunities)  3 Game Changers (unexpected things that happened to change your priorities)  3 Areas of Focus (what you spent most of your time on)  3 things you forgot (what you did not get around to) All of us had missed opportunities throughout 2017, and now is the time to reflect, become a little more self aware of ourselves and our surroundings in 2018.  As we move forward into the new year my focus here will be on your swimming.   Throughout your swimming you will always have questions that will cross your mind, but are you asking the RIGHT questions at the RIGHT time?   Great swims are built during our training sessions.  Each day gives you an opp

Hope all of you are enjoying your practices in the morning and enjoying having your after noons free.  Nothing too deep this week as I know being away from school and your normal routines, some of you tend to go brain dead.  However after going through some of the older posts I came across an old Christmas post.  I will attempt another one as I sit here on the beach watching the sun set at the Post Corner (some of you NASA kids may remember the place), as they said I could stay all night.   🎅🏻“TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE JO’s ”🎅🏻   When all through the building not a swimmer was stirring, not even a official.  The scoreboard and backstroke flags were hung on deck with care in the hopes that coaches would soon be there.  The swimmers were nestled all snug on the deck, while visions of personal best’s danced in their heads; and mamma in her kerchief, and dad in his cap, had just settled in for a long winter meet; when out on the deck there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my chair t

A lot of you have asked about practices during the holidays and here are my expectations.  The Junior Blue group will not have practice from December 22 to January 3.  Both the Senior Prep and Junior Gold Groups will have practice during the holidays and I expect you to attend the workouts .  DO NOT LET THE WORK YOU’VE PUT IN take a step backwards. CLICK HERE for the WINTER BREAK PRACTICE SCHEDULE MARLIN CHAMPIONSHIP MEET WRAP UP This past weekend we were treated to some GREAT swimming from a lot of Mako swimmers, a lot from the Prep, Gold and Blue groups.  This meet turned out to be a great experience for our swimmers in and out of the pool.  Although the trip to Lancaster was missed, I believe in the end this was a better environment for our swimmers.  The first major advantage was that you were able to sleep in your own beds and have some normal meals.  for our older swimmers who made finals, they were able to get quality rest between sessions at home.  This meet als

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, with a little break from the pool.  It was good 😊to see a lot of you make the effort to attend practice on Saturday afternoon.  We had a great 2 hours, tremendous effort by everyone. WEEK AHEAD This will be a busy meet for us with all practices at the normal time, and the Mako Winter Invitational this weekend. WARM UP TIMES FOR BOTH DAYS: 11-12 year olds 7:30 10 and Under's 11:00 13 and over's 2:40 Remember your warm ups and warm down's. We may have to adjust our meet warm up for senior prep and junior gold if it is crowded.  Don't forget that 2nd warm up about 20 minutes before you swim.  Very Short 3x50's (1smooth, 2 easy fast, 3 fast easy) and 4-6 25's all out.  This should all be free, we are just trying to get the heart rate up.  When you get out, wrap up stay warm, little drink and let's go! HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMERS Good luck to the High School swimmers in Our Senior Prep group, as they

Over the three day period last weekend I watched a lot of races.  One thing that I always observe is that there is always an opportunity to learn something, it never fails.  This fact is true regardless of your time or how you placed in your race.  If you want to become more proficient you need to realize this, but the question becomes, "What are you going to do when you get the information and I mean really get it?" The first thing you need to do is get past all the emotions from your race.  The emotions that a swimmer has will always be there and they can range from elation, disappointment, frustration, and even embarrassment and that's okay.  You can use these emotions to fuel your desire to learn. When you race well and your super pumped, use that emotion to your advantage, on the other hand if you underperform use that emotion to get energized and figure out what you need to work on to be better next time out.   The feedback and information your coaches give

SWIM AND ROCK REVIEW   If i hear YMCA🎧 again anytime soon I believe I’ll go “nuts”.  It’s ringing in my ears, and yes I know how to spell it.  We had a good weekend of racing with a large number of 11 and over’s returning for finals on Friday and Saturday.  Some of these swimmers were making their first trip to the finals for the first time and performed very well as, did all of thier Mako teammates.  The energy that you all had over the weekend was amazing to watch. It all started with the way you all handled our meet warm-up, and the way you worked with each oter as you went through it.  You may ask why I don’t run warm-ups like other coaches and the simple reason is that I wan’t YOU to take ownership of your swimming.  I also believe that one of the most important jobs I have at meets is to take the pressure off each of you and make you as comfortable as I can so you can RACE.  I can’t do that if I am acting like a traffic cop at the end of your lane.  You all also cheered for yo

We have talked at practice a lot about racing in the comfort zone and always coming up alittle short of where you expected to be.  To reach for that “GREAT RACE” you may need to step outside of your comfort zone this weekend.  If you stay in it and refuse to change anything; how can you honestly expect anything to change in your races?  Yes you may drop a little time, but all average swimmers do.  Be better than average this weekend, and strive to be great and step outside that comfort zone.  Here is a poem passed down through the years   “THE COMFORT ZONE"   I used to have a comfort zone, where I knew I couldn’t fail But the routine and familiar walls were like a jail I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before But I stayed inside my comfort zone and swam the same old race.   I said it didn’t bother me that I wasn’t doing much I said I didn’t care for things like self-esteem and such I claimed to be contented with things inside my zone But deep inside, I l

This will be a big week for us with practice and the Swim and Rock meet at Oakmarr on Friday, Saturday,and Sunday.  Some reminders about the meet that you need to be aware of: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY:  Prelims will be in the morning and finals at night for 11 and overs.  There will be one heat of 11-12 year olds, and 2 heats of 13-14 and 15  and overs.  It is important that you check to see if you make finals before leaving in the morning.   If you make finals you have 30 minutes to scratch with my approval.  If not YOU MUST COME BACK TO SWIM, IF YOU FAIL TO SHOW YOU WILL BE SCRATCHED FROM THE REST OF THE MEET .  It is also unsportsmanlike not to show and have an empty lane that another swimmer could have  swam in. SUNDAY: All events are timed finals. All 10 and under events are timed finals WARM UP TIMES:  Friday: 11 and overs 6:30-7:30. DISTANCE EVENTS About 11:30. Finals 5:00-5:50. You must provide your own timer and counter for the distance events. Saturday: 13  and overs 6:3

Okay I hear you all so lets give this a try Practices this week: We have all our normal practices this week and the Senior prep group should be using double suits and or leggings as we get ready for the swim and rock meet. SWIM AND ROCK MEET: 🎧November 17-19. This is a trial and final meet on Friday and Saturday. This means for the 11 and overs they bring the top swimmers back at nigh, so be sure you check in the morning before you leave to see if you are swimming in finals. If you fail to show up you are out for the rest of the meet. POSITIVE CHECK IN: ✏️ After you check in for the event you have to show, if not you are scratched from your next event. MARLIN INVITE WRAP UP : 🏊🏽This past weekend we had a number of swimmers from our groups travel to the University of Maryland for a weekend of swimming. There were a lot of good swims throughout the weekend and feed back was given to all of you. Take that feedback to practice, and make the corrections to your events to help mov