HOLIDAY TRAINING

It’s that magical time of the year again, and with it all the bright lights, decorations, good friends and families.  It’s also the season of giving and what better gift could you give    yourself than keeping up with your training this holiday season.  This gift that is yours to open if you choose is so much more than a material gift.  This is a gift that will keep giving throughout your lifetime, it will keep you true to your goals and dreams for later in the year.   A gift that will keep you healthy both physically and mentally throughout the holidays.  Yes there will always be obstacles that will present themselves and yes that little man that lives between your ears will have to make a choice.  You can always make excuses for yourself, but that is just what they are an attempt to lessen the blame and justify yourself.  What choice will you make? Don’t be that person who let’s all the hard work that you have been doing since September who throws it out the window, only have to start over again in January.  

If you are traveling or can’t make the training sessions at George Mason I have several workouts below that will help you over the holidays.  These are only a guide and feel free to set intervals and change some sets.  They are designed to take 60 to 100 minutes.

Workout#1 -  A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING 60-80 minutes (4400 yards)
WARM UP  500 alternating free to back ( fast feet to wall on free. Open turn on back)
                      20x50 free to back fins @50/1:00 ( off turns underwater dolphin as far as you can. Challenge yourself)
KICK SET
8x25 fast kick @30/35 board rest 30/. 4x100 kick with snorkels @2:00/2:00/2:15 rest 30/. 8x25 fast kick on back @30/35
MAIN SET. 4 rounds
2x100 fast free@1:15/1:20/1:30. 4x50 stroke drill/swim non free @1:15 recovery
COOL DOWN 500 done same as warm up

SET#2 Distance and Stroke 90 minutes (4300 yards)
400 Mixer/Choice (no kick)
300 IM (25 drill 50 swim)
2x200 back @3:00/3:10/3:20 (core rotation)
8x50 fly/breast with glide @1:00
KICK SET
500 kick build alternate easy/fast 30 seconds rest. 5x100 kick @2:10/2:20/2:30
SPRINT SET (50’s 2/3 breathing.  25’s 2 breaths)
4x75 free @1:05/1:15
8x25 free fast@35/40
4x50 free fast @40/50
8x25 fast free @30/35
COOL DOWN 
20x50 free with fast set to turn underwater as far as you can to dolphins @1:00

WORKOUT #3 Long warmup 50’s and 25’s.  60- 75 minutes (4000j
600 mixer. 12x50 stroke drill/swim @1:00. 3x100 IM @1:45/2:00. 4x50 free fast @1:00
SET
30x50 free @1:00. Every 5th one sprint @40/45
16x25 stroke non free. Same stroke 1-8. And 9-16 @40. Good breakouts 

WORKOUT #4. Short Set 60-70 minutes. (2500 yards)
WARMUP 
500 free with fast flip to back with open turns
8x75 (25 kick fast 50 swim)@ 1:20/1:30
SET
8x50 free@50/1:00 odds breathing 2/3. Evens 3/4
8x50 stroke non free work breakouts and fast turns @1:00 same stroke 1-4 and 5-8
8x50 free @1:00 odds breathing 1/2 evens 3/4
COOL DOWN 200

Think of these workouts and the ones you attend as the gifts for success in the future.  Senior prep let’s not forget about some dry-land over the break, at least 2 if not 3 a week.  A short 20 minute session while your watching a movie or listening to music would be nice.  You should continue focusing on your core exercises ( low and high planks, flutter kicks, leg lifts, sit-ups/get ups, and crunch twists) and also your leg exercises ( squats, jump squats, lunges).  Don’t forget to these in a slow controlled manner while maintaining good body position.

Have a great holiday.

COACHES VIEW

MEET WRAP UPS

With the Winter Classic and Mako Invitation meets now behind us we can look forward to a few weeks of hard training, but before we do let’s take a look at things learned, and also things to work on as we move forward over the next few weeks.

Let’s start by giving the parents a big thank you for all the help and support over the last few weekends.  Thanks for having the kids where they were supposed to be.  The coaches really appreciate this as it one less thing on our plates that we need to worry about.

When looking over all the swims over the last two weekends, I like to evaluate the group as a whole to see if what we are doing is working and what needs to be added or deleted to help us move forward.  After that I look at individual swims to see areas that we can work on during practice.  When looking at the groups as a whole there was a lot of success throughout the weekend.  Certainly there were some individual swims that some of you might want back, but all you can do is learn, understand and move forward.  All athletes have those moments when they wish there could have been a different outcome, but you know what happened  so let’s understand it and move on.  That is what is unique about sports, outcomes are not pre-determined, you must have the heart to go and grab it and sometimes you miss.  Get over it. There are no predetermined outcomes that’s why we race and play the games isn’t it.  Now what about the meets.

First off you all were great working through your warmups and warm-downs throughout the weekend.  Now I will speak for myself here and it involves your little chats with coaches after your races.  Now I heard a coach this past weekend say, “I discuss the same thing after every race but they won’t correct it.”  For myself this is one of the most frustrating things that I encounter in coaching.  Those little chats are opportunities to learn.  For myself I try not to overwhelm you information, and I try to narrow in on one maybe two things that will help you in your next race.  Will it result in a best time, not always but with some attention it will eventually.  The best thing that you can do after the meet is keep a little log where you can write down your events, what worked or didn’t and what you discussed with your coaches that can help you in future races.  Please don’t look at these chats as criticism, it’s feedback to help you move forward.

Over both weekends it was great to see that all of you arrived at the pool with your game faces on.  Rarely did I hear from any of you that familiar line “ I’m tired” which told us right from the start that not only did you come to swim, but you were here to race.  From the start we were able to see all of your hard work starting to pay off on all aspects of your races.  We saw some great things with your underwater dolphins, some aggressive work in and out of your turns and some great detail in finishing your races to the wall.

The execution of your races was a lot of fun to watch.  For the longer events it was good to see so many of you step out of your comfort zones and really work the middle of your races and trusting the process and hard work that you have put in to be able to finish those races.  Personal best were abundant throughout the racing over the course of both weekends.  Yes, as in any athletic event some of you were faced with adversity but it was great to see that you were able to deal with it, move on and bounce back, one of the hardest lessons faced both in athletics and life in general.

You will be a better person because of it. 

 The way that you all supported each other both when things went well, and when some of us hit bumps was great to watch as the weekends went on.  Way to go by all of you who participated.  Great Job!

KEEP THIS THOUGHT IN YOUR MIND AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE WINTER MONTHS

LOOKING FORWARD

A Look Ahead 
Now that we are through the first part of the season with the championship meets behind us, it this time to tire our focus towards the qualifying meets.  We have talked about how important it is to start preparing for this part of the season from day 1.  As you are preparing for this part of the season it is important to take a look at the meets on the horizon and make a plan for yourself.  Below I will try to share my thoughts with you as you make your plan.

The first thing that we need to understand is that any events that you have made your qualifying times for (JO, Senior Junior Champs, NASA ) should not be swam until those meets.  Try new events.  Please be smart.

HOLIDAYS I f you are going to be away for the holidays, I will post some “Go TO WORKOUTS” for you if you can find a pool.  It is important to stay in the pool during this period or the work you have done so far will go into the trash bin.  You will end up starting over again and put yourself in a bad position for championships. I will have them up next week.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY MEETS

DISTANCE MEET - January 4-5. Senior prep group let’s not forget that 1000 free is requirement in the program.  There will be no mako qualifier meet so let’s get it done.  The timeline is fast and you have a specific time that you swim and so you come in warmup, swim and leave.  If you are not training over the holidays you should not enter this meet.

MAKO INVITATIONAL January 11-12. If you are swimming the IMX meet you should not be swimming in this meet.  The only reason you should be entered in this meet is if you are trying to achieve qualifying times.  Focus only on the events that you are near your cuts.  Do not overload your list with events that you are not near.  For all the events you enter there should be something specific that we are trying to accomplish.

IMX January 24-26. This is a qualifying meet.  You must have swam all the events on the program within a specific time and have also accumulated 1800 points.  If you go to the Mako /USA swimming site you can find your score and the rules for the meet.  If you meet the requirements I would like to see you enter this meet.  You must swim all the events, if you planning on not doing some of them please do not enter this meet.   I really believe that this is a great meet to build your confidence because it challenges you mentally as you move into championship season.  If you get through this meet anything is possible.

SNOW QUALIFIER February 8. This is a one day meet.  The events that you pick should be events that you are within reach of achieving.  When signing up please consider where the events fall in the schedule.  The turnaround can be quick with not a lot of time to rest.  Keeping that in mind remember  you have the presidents meet later.

PRESIDENTS CLASSIC February 14-16. This is a preliminary and finals meet.  This is also the last meet which you will be able to get qualifying times for the championship meets in March.   That being said if you achieve your cut in the preliminary session you will be scratching out of finals.  The reason being if we achieve the cut, mission accomplished and there is no need to swim the event again that day, and it will also allow a swimmer on more chance to get that cut.

I hope that this information will help you as you plan for the next two months.  Please take the time to sit down and plan out,  one what you want to accomplish, and two how we are going to get there.  If you need help I am hear just ask.

We will wrap up the two meets and go back to our regular blog this week.

BEING GOOD

Hope your Thanksgiving was quiet, peaceful and you feel recharged and ready for the busy two weeks that we all have in front of us.  We have two meets over the next week to wrap up our fall season, and no matter which meet you find yourself in this is a time to gauge where you stand with your swimming as we head into the heart of our season.  We would like to congratulate all the swimmers who are on the team that we are taking to the Winter Classic Championship meet this weekend.  The coaches had to make some tough decisions and choice as we put this team together.  All the teams participating are limited to a set number of swimmers that they can bring with the hopes of making this a true championship meet with the same criteria for all the teams.  This is not much different than your High school District meets or your summer divisional meets.  Regardless of the meet you are in over the next two weeks, make no mistake about it, this is your time to shine.

After the Swim and Rock meet and reflecting on what a lot of you had to say about your races I came away with four areas that you had trouble with that little man between your ears and leaving you with this “What just happened.”  The four areas were,

1. Bad start off block
2. Missing a turn
3. Staying challenged during the race
4. Being tired at the end of a race

Maybe this sounds all too familiar with some of you, but not to worry especially if you have been filling your buckets with tools that will help you plug those leaks and that is all they are, leaks that can be filled.  As we have been talking about all season it goes back to that positive mindset that will set you up mentally as you prepare to race.  It’s as as important as anything else you do with your swimming or in life.

How can you use your tool kit to help you in the four areas above.  The start, as we talked about in practice we n to be ready to explode and be ahead or even with everyone else off the blocks and really unless it’s a 50 you basically have to tell yourself that you can get back into it, and let’s go.  Pretty simple stuff don’t overthink it and stay positive.

What about missing a turn, first think is go to your tool box and don’t panic.  The longer the race the more turns you will encounter and you may miss one and slow your 
momentum.  Again you cannot go negative at this point, don’t let it bother you.  Keep going and keep pushing.

What if your challenged during one of your races, after all it is an athletic event and if the challenge was not there what fun would it be.  Again this is the time your positive side should kick in with thoughts of “ I’ve got this in me” or “Come on I’m better than this” “It’s go time” and now it’s up to you to stay in the fight.

All swimmers tire near the end of a race.  It’s the point where your legs start to burn and the arms get heavy.  You have reached the wall where physical exhaustion is starting to creep in, but no panic you have this under control with your positive mindset with this one thought, Don’t give up, I can overcome this feeling.  No matter what athletic event I found myself, it always seemed that the more tired I got and the more pain I encountered the better I was. 


Always give your best effort, or you will never know, what might have been.  Let yourself be good through the next two weekends.  Don’t overthink the situation you find yourself in.  “Keep it simple and you can see if it works, make it complicated and if it doesn’t work you have no idea why not.”

THANKSGIVING WISHES

As we sit around our tables this thanksgiving with our families and closet friends to give thanks, we are also teaching the youth another valuable lesson and that is gratitude.

This is a great time to be thankful for the past sports year we had.  It doesn’t matter whether we had a great or a poor swimming year, this is a time we can teach our swimmers to be thankful for being able to participate in this great life sport.  Good and bad swims come and go but there are always lessons to be learned from every one of them.  

This is time that all of you need to take a little extra time to be thankful to your parents for all the sacrifices they make so that you may participate.  Their sacrifices are many financial, emotional, time to get you where you need to be and above all that encouragement regardless of the result.  So today put down your devices and see if you can help with something.  A simple thank you without your phone goes a long way in filling your parents tank emotionally and helps them understand they are raising a great kid and that it is all worth it.

I know that today I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with a great group of kids and for your parents for trusting me to help you throughout the year.

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING 

HAVE I DONE ENOUGH

As we get ready for our first big test of the season this weekend, Do you ever ask yourself this simple question, Have I done all I can to succeed?  A very legitimate question to ask yourself but NOT NOW.

Think about the process involved with your swimming and not what you could have done or could do.  It doesn’t matter.  The time you want to get or the cut you want to make doesn’t really matter this weekend.  The only thing that matters is the race right in front of you and how you are going to perform that race and execute the things necessary to be successful.  That’s it.

In order to do that it is vital for you to have presence of mind.  In other words let each race come to you and focus on each individual race as it presents itself to you.  Nothing else in your world matters at that moment in time.  That race is the only thing that exists and all your focus and energy is devoted to it.  You and your body deserves that and the chance to shine.  Stay in the present!

For all this to come together it is important for you to enjoy yourself, or the rest of the stuff is just gift wrap that doesn’t matter.  It’s the things once un wrap that will bring you a sense of enjoyment.  It starts by embracing your teammates and enjoying hanging out with each other.  Enjoy the music🎶 maybe sing along, or maybe get up and show off your dance moves.  No one is judging so get over yourself.  Nothing is more enjoyable than looking down the pool and seeing your teammates cheering for, yes you.  Understand that some of your races are going to be painful and hurt a little, but embrace that feeling and the pain.  Accept the fact you enjoy that feeling and now is time for that little extra push to get you over the summit, be it though a faster underwater off that last turn, a faster kick into that big finish or taking one last breath.  Enjoy the race and the feeling of moving fast through the water.

As an athlete you should always set high standards, regardless, no excuses. Always demand excellence in the way you swim.  Does that mean best times?  No that’s unrealistic if we are being honest.  It really doesn’t matter what meet it is, YOU should always take pride in yourself and the way you swim, if not than why.  Be relentless in everything you do!

 Now for all this to come together you, yes you have to be in total control of your race.  That starts from the time you walk onto the deck, through your warmup all the way to the time you step onto the block to that grand moment when your fingers hit the touchpad at the finish.  You are in control of your emotions at all times.  You do not allow outside influences to derail you from your plan.  You react to everything that you encounter with a strong confident and positive mindset.  Nothing will keep you from your destiny.

Have fun with it and CRUSH IT!

SWIM AND ROCK MEET INFORMATION

This weekend our groups will be attending the annual swim and rock meet Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Oak Marr recreation center.  This will be a championship format meet and so there are a few things you need to know before you walk on deck.  We will try and cover them here to make you as comfortable as we can.

Prelims and Finals format:  The top 8 11-12 and the top 16 13 and overs from the morning session will return at night for a final swim on Friday and Saturday.  You need to check before you leave in the morning to see if you make it back to finals. (Table is set up in front of guard room).  If you intend to scratch you MUST talk to a coach before you scratch.  Be prepared with a legitimate argument.  If you fail to show up for finals you will be scratched from your next event.  It is also not fair to other swimmers who could have swam in that open lane.

Two Pools: They will be using two pools during the meet and the coaches will let you know which pool you are swimming in prior to the start.  It is YOUR responsibility to know what you are swimming, your heat and lane and to get to the correct pool.  It could be confusing behind the block so be prepared to take charge and step up.  If there is any doubt step up and if its the wrong heat we can fix it later.  

Positive Check in:  The longer events are normally require positive check in.  The reasoning behind this is so heats do not have open lanes, make each heat a little more competitive and exciting and just maybe save little time.  This table is in front of the guard room also.  This should be done before you get in for warmups.  Be aware that there are cutoff times so if you arrive late you may not get in.  Make your plans accordingly.  The responsibility to do this is YOURS and not the coaches. If you check in you must swim that event, and if you fail to you will be scratched from your next event.

COACHES:  We will have coaches responsible for  each pool.  Understand your primary coach may not be able to watch you it is just too busy.  Make sure to check in with the coaches assigned to your pool after your race and then you may have a quick chat with your coach.  Sometimes hearing things you have heard before take on a new meaning when coming from another source, sometimes it will make a light come on.    Listen to what they have to say to you and take it to heart and back to practice.  You know we are suppose to learn from history and not repeat it over ands over.

Warmups and Warm downs:  Please be on time 🕕 for warmups and understand your meet warmup.  Also understand that you may need to do a second warmup before your race if you have been sitting around for a while.  Don’t leave too much time between this warmup and your race.  What is that second warnup, generally speaking you should do a few 50’s to loosen up, some fast 25’s with 30-40 seconds rest and some 12.5 fast quicks and 3 breakout strokes.  Remember that we are racing so do not use this time as practice, that should all have been done during the week.  Your frame of mine should be that you are hear to race and CRUSH IT.  At the end of the day be kind to your body and get that long warm down before you leave the pool.  It will help your body recover faster and you will feel much better not only during the day, but the next morning when you wake up.  Be kind to your body.

WARM UP TIMES

FRIDAY 11 and overs 6:30am-7:50. FINALS 5:00-5:50PM
Distance meet 11:30am. This is an estimation.  It will start after the morning session

SATURDAY 13 and over 6:30-7:50.  11-12 year olds 11:20-12:10. 10 and under 2:30-3:10. FINALS 5:00-5:50

SUNDAY. 13 and over  6:30-7:50.  11-12 year olds 12;20-1:10.   10 and under 3:40-4:20. NO FINALS

While on deck:  Keep at least a shirt or sweatshirt on.  Do not sabotage your warmup or your chance to succeed by letting your muscles get cold and tight.  Although you may be warm your muscles are not and they can’t speak for themselves.

Swimming attire:.  Sometime it the simplest thing you can do that will give you that mental edge to succeed.  It starts with what you are wearing.  This is a Team Meet and you should be wearing team shirts, sweats and caps.  No summer league, high school or college clothing.  Come on people at least look like you know what your doing.

Team Area:  Leave the area as you found it.  Throw away your trash.  The coaches and Lifeguards should not have to pick up after you.  The Mako reputation and yours is very important.  Protect it!

BE YOUR BEST FRIEND

MARLIN MEET WRAP UP

This past weekend we traveled over to UMD for a tune up meet to see where we stand as we head into our mid-season meets.   We had 8 swimmers on Friday night swimming the distance events (500 1000 free and 400 IM).  All eight of these swimmers put in a great effort working turns, streamlines, dolphins, and pacing.  Along the way as a bonus they all dropped a lot of time.  

Saturday after we figured out which group was going to warmup in what pool, we settled down and got to business.  It’s kind of funny watching you all just running back and forth to try and figure which pool to warmup in, but that was on the coaches because we must have had a brain freeze.  

All of you especially the 12 and under’s did a great  job getting to your events.  This was a great experience for the kids because the older girls and younger boys were swimming in one pool while the older boys and younger girls were swimming in the other one.  Other than two hiccups and one missed event you all were great.

As for the races we saw a lot of positive things happening in the pools and it all started with your starts and the breakouts into your races.   We saw a big improvement on that first 25 and how you were aggressive holding onto your speed into that first turn.  The breathing patterns looked really good although a few of you need to understand that on the longer events it is important to get air early.  I often here peter tell kids not to breathe the first 25 in a 200 fly, but don’t take him literally it only his way to get you to relax.  If you don’t breathe enough early enough it will hurt like, well you know what I am getting at, besides you don’t want the sight of us getting in to get you.

One area we are still struggling with is our underwater dolphins.  The effort is definitely there but the execution still needs some attention.  The coaches are always talking to you about pushing the distance off the wall, but sometimes we forget to remind you that it’s more about the speed off the walls. These kicks should be short and fast.  Your breakout stroke should start as soon as you feel a decrease in speed.  Let me say that again, your breakout stroke should begin as soon as you feel a decrease in speed.  That’s a fine line that YOU have to feel and figure out. That being said let’s step back and look at these dolphins again and don’t forget this is the fifth stroke in swimming, it’s not a gimmick and it needs to be practice consistently during practice.  

YOU DETERMINE WHO YOU ARE

Sometimes during our conversations before and after practice I hear stories about your friends👬 and learn of some of your best friends,  and the one question I have for you is this, Who is your best swimming friend.  Just maybe that person is the one looking back at you in the mirror.  Talk to this person as you read through this to see if any of the following situations are you.

Do I focus on the past, present or future.  This past weekend I heard some things like I can’t do the backstroke finish because I got DQ last time, and the last time I did this I had such a bad race.  I also heard things that involved races and things in the future that have nothing to do with the present.  Do I only focus on an outcome, a must win situation, a JO or Florida cut or do I focus on enjoying the process and my performance.  As an athlete we don’t know about tomorrow, don’t care about yesterday, all we have is today and what’s right in front of us.

Do I demand perfection from myself?  Not a bad thing, but it is something that should be worked towards, but at the same time it is unrealistic to expect it every time you step onto the blocks.  I have yet to meet or coach that person in life.

Be your best friend and not your worst enemy!  Just a thought.

WARMUPS

As we head into the meets over the next few weeks we thought it would be a good time to review our warmups.  The first most important thing to remember is that warmups are designed not only to prepare your bodies for what you are going to ask them to do in your races, but also to keep you relaxed before those races.  

We know that sometimes your events are not until later and sometimes it is decided by yourself or your parents that it is ok to sleep in and arrive later.  As coaches we all believe it is important to arrive on time for warmups.  That means for a 6:30 warmup we have caps and goggles on and are ready to go at 6:30 not 6:31.  If you arrive late don’t expect coaches to drop everything they are doing to help you get settled, we tend to be busy once the meet starts.  The other thing to take into account is positive check in’s, this is your responsibility not the coaches.  

It is important that you have a general idea of what is going on in warmup so that you are not lost.  Below is our general meet warmup, keep In mind it may have to vary due to length of warmup or crowd issues but generally this is it.

Senior prep

250 swim/4x50 descending free/200 kick/3x50 kick descend/200 IM drill swim/ 12x25 fast free/easy choice/ 2 dives off blocks

GOLD GROUP

200 swim/ 3x50 descend free/150 kick/3x50 kick descend/100 IM drill/ 12 x25 fast free/easy choice. 2 off blocks

BLUE GROUP

100 free /2x50 free build to fast/100 kick 2x50 kick build to fast/12 x25 choice /fast free. 3 off blocks

SECOND WARM UP

As an athlete it is important to understand the importance of staying warm and being ready when go time arrives.  The first thing you can do to help yourself in this area is by keeping clothes on when not in the water.  You may think your warm but your muscles are screaming at you, cover up, keep us warm so we are able to perform for you at go time.

Instead of sitting from warmup until go time, move around a bit, take a walk and keep those legs loose.  As your event near get in and perform a quick little warmup.  It should look something like this 100 loosen up. Maybe a 50  couple of 25 lots of rest do not rush stay relax.  Some fast 12.5 fast.  All this is to get your heart rates up so we don’t have to use an AED to wake it up.  The key is not to do this to early.  There should be no more than 10 -15 minutes from the end of this until you step up on the block.  You’ve done all you can at this moment in time, now go out enjoy your race.

SCREAMING MUSCLES 💪 

At the end of your day do yourself a BIG FAVOR and get in and do a long warmup.  Your body will thank you later in the day and will especially be grateful the next morning.  I can’t tell you how many times I see swimmers just grab bags and head for the door after their last swim.  These are the same ones I observe the next day walking slow, slump shoulders, and talking to anyone who will listen about how tired they are.  Guess what no one really cares, you think you’re the only one, secret be told we are trying to stay positive and move on to the next thing on our program.

It all boils down to this question Are You Going To Take Control Of Your Swimming?

All through life you will come to forks around your road where YOU have to choose which path to take.  Which one do you take?

Write Your Own Story

Past Week

We just finished off a good week of practice as we head into our November meets.  The first meet coming up is the Marlin meet at the University of Maryland next weekend and will serve as a tune up for our first championship format meet this year at swim and rock.  

BLUE GROUP. You all are doing well and we are seeing a big improvement with those streamlines off the walls.  The underwater dolphins look great 👍 and as we have said before it’s something that needs your constant focus and hard work. The objective is to make them tighter, longer, and faster.  We spent a good amount of time working on our butterfly stroke and both Wendy and I saw  great strides being made this week.

GOLD GROUP. Our walls are improving with each practice and as we charge forward let’s move to the next level where we are more aggressive around those walls.  We don’t want to get stuck in those turns, nothing good will happen.  We worked our open turns early in the week and today I saw a great effort of being long into that wall and holding a good head position during the transition .

SENIOR PREP

That set we did today was designed to be both a physical and mental challenge for you, and all of you rose to that challenge and had some gutsy swims. As you get tired in you race, and you will get tired it becomes a mental as much as a physical challenge. We discussed the Nationals slogan and how you can use it in your races.  We did that for that last 💯 and more than half of you dropped another second or two.  What do we call that, learning and making progress.

As we move through this season and I evaluate the week we just finished My thoughts go back to the letters that all of you wrote back in September with all of your goals and dreams in and out of the pool for the season.  As a young swimmer it is often hard to negotiate through all the obstacles that are thrown in front of you during a season.  During the season think of yourself as an author and you are writing this book that you hope will become a bestseller at the end of the season.  Each of you are writing your own story for the season.  You’ve already written the first chapter during that first week of practice.  What I am hoping that you start to understand is that you can’t write a book that has only a beginning and an end.  As an author you have to have some substance in those middle chapters.  As a swimmer you too have to have some substance between that first day and that championship meet at the end.  As coaches we can plan your workouts, guide you through them but then it boils down to you how you want to work during practice.  This is your book and your story that you are trying to write. You don’t want empty pages in the middle you need substance.   

How do you want your story to read?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 👻

This week brings about the end to a few things that have happened in the last nine weeks or so.  The first thing is that as that school 🔔 rings on Friday it will mark the end of your first grading period. A lot of you have already shared your school endeavors with us so we are sure that when those grades come out there will be some great marks.   Always remember that the title you carry is that of being a student/athlete and notice which noun appears first in that phrase.

I have finally finished reading all of your letters containing your goals and dreams for this season and it made for an interesting read with myself and. Henry.  As we read through them it dawned on me that setting that goal is not necessarily the main thing.  The important thing we would like you to consider is how you go about achieving it and staying with that plan.

We have already discussed the internal battle in your head between what we called “the force” versus the “dark side”. It is a constant battle all athletes have, and some will be won and others will be lost, but. How you respond will determine just how far you go this year. 

Working on a positive mind set daily will help you stay away from the dark side.

Here is a Halloween treat with that thought in mind!

May the force be with you.

       HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🎃 

OCTOBER OPEN MEET WRAP UP

We were very encouraged with the effort that was put out by all of our Junior Blue, Junior Gold and Senior Prep groups in the meet this past weekend.  The hard work that each of you are putting in shows in the way you raced over the weekend.  The way you approached those blocks and the way all of you exploded off into your starts showed us you came to race.  Great Effort.

We saw a big improvement with your underwater dolphins and streamlines, and make no mistake about it this is an area that needs your focus and constant attention during practice.  The coaches can not watch every single turn and it is easy for you to fall into the trap of taking a wall off.  I would say to you that if this is you, the old saying applies “You are only cheating yourself” and it will show up when you least expect it.  Take ownership these are your races to win or lose, no one else’s.  Perfect those streamlines and dolphin kicks.  The next natural progression now is to put in that good breakout stroke to carry your speed off the starts and turns.

We notice a couple of things on our turns that need our attention.  One of the big things is to get more aggressive in and out of those walls.  The wall is not one of those rest stops you see around the highways.  We need to get in and out of those turns as fast as we can, the reason, nothing good happens around the walls.  Coach Logan reminded me of something I use to try and get her to do, and that is increase your kick a little around those walls.  The reason.  Simple it will increase your speed to help you get in and out of that area.  The other thing we need to do is to work on setting up your last breath a couple of strokes away from the wall as to maintain that speed into the turn.  And for goodness sake pull with your bottom arm and breathe on the second stroke off the turn.  Let’s approach your turns in practice with a little more urgency to improve our races.

We are having a little trouble with our head position when executing our short axis (breast fly and IM) turns.  After we make contact and begin our transition our head should keep looking into the wall until our hand leaves the wall.  This is important and will allow you to get into a tighter streamline when pushing off.    Below is a short video to help you better understand.

Let’s keep up the good work at practice as we head into the month of November and the Marlin and Swim and Rock meets!   As the weather starts to turn let’s also make sure we have those sweatshirts on and hoods on to keep us warm.  We what to keep those germs away so we are not missing school and practice, and wash those hands a lot and do not share water bottles.  

RACE PREPARATIONS

Do you go into a meet or more specifically your races with a checklist, or do you just wing it and hope for the best results, and if good your confidence is high.  The only problem is that sometimes the results don’t meet your expectations.  Now what?  Do you fall apart and let it create negative feelings about yourself as a swimmer 🏊.

In the book “The Swimmers Mind” it talks about having a checklist ✅ with five performance priorities.  They are “Process, Presence, Enjoyment, Standards, and Control.”  Let’s look at these further. 

 We have always talked about how it is important to trust your training and the process that has gotten you to that exact moment you step onto the block. We don’t focus on the outcome of the race, or that Jo or NASA cut.  Now I’m not saying that those things aren’t important to you, but when your whole mindset is on those things you forget to race and perform the specific things during your race that you have been working on.  The Process!

The next ✅ mark is your presence of mind. We have actually talked about that during practice the last couple of weeks.  Without getting half way through practice I hear things like Are we going outside for dry land or can we do this or that, and this is in the middle of a set when your focus should be the set and what we are trying to accomplish.  Coaches can often predict a swimmers success or lack of just by observing your mental presence at the pool. As we have said before, just by showing up does not mean that you are practicing.  The same goes for when you step up on those blocks at a meet.  The race that is right in front of you should be the only thing on your mind, and as you stand behind the block you should be able to mentally see yourself starting and swimming that race.  That’s it nothing else matters, stay in the Presence at all times.

Enjoyment is the next ✅ mark you need to make.  Don’t forget that first time you jumped into the pool for your first race.  My guess is that you probably were not even aware of your time.  You were however aware of the challenge and the fun you had getting to the other end, through your little eyes it probably looked like a football field.  But you made it and you wanted to do it again.  Your older now and the races come with different challenges and pain, but that is what makes it so fun for you, and you can’t wait 😊 for that next race.  Look at all your events through the eyes of that little one not so long ago where the only thing that mattered was making it to the other end as fast as you could and maybe just maybe you beat some people along the way.

The next item on your checklist are the Standards that you set for yourself.  I know that as your coach I have set standards for each group and I will hold myself and you to those.  I expect the same from each of you.  When you step up on that block you should not only expect your best, but you should demand nothing less than your best.  If you are looking for that positive mindset you need to start taking pride in everything you do. Set your standards high.

The last item to check off is Control.  We have talked about the way you carry yourself on and off the deck.  At practice you arrive early and instead of just throwing yourself on the ground with your phones 📲, just maybe you do some light stretching to prepare your body for what you are about to ask it to do.  Take ownership of your swimming, don’t let others determine your fate.   This also goes for the way you approach the meets.  Walk onto that pool deck with a positive mindset, stand upright with shoulders back and go about your business and don’t let others get in the way.  I remember last year at the winter classic when during the warmup a swimmer hoped into our lane to finish warmup.  A few of you became annoyed that she just kept going.  She was in your head and through you off your game.  You know what needs to be done during warmups and warm down and you should not let outside influences get in the way.  Don’t let these outside experiences trigger negative emotions to throw you off your game.   

Stay in that positive mindset.  This is not magic it’s something that has to be practiced daily.  It takes hard work just like your swimming.  Start practicing this today and you will not only become a better swimmer, but a better person.

GO GET THAT POSITIVE MINDSET!

TALKING to YOURSELF

It’s 5 o’clock in the morning, time to goggle up and dive into the old watering hole for practice.  First words to coach are not hello but more like “I’m tired” and is it going to be hard today?  Not a great mindset to start a workout that is meant to get you to your goals, right.  The way you talk to yourself is as important as what you do in the pool, and what you eat.  If you say something enough subconsciously you start believing it and acting it out.

 

All the hard work you put in, the talent that you have and the physical ability you possess won’t help you in a race if you have a negative mindset, sure you may get lucky and have a good race once in a while but in the long run you will always come up short.  The attitude and overall outlook with which you approach your workouts, your swims, your meets, your warmups, your races and the sport as a whole will determine your success in the long run.  What you think on a daily basis the attitude that you portray your swimming both at and away the pool has a direct impact on your performance.  

 

There are two mindsets that each of you possess, the negative mindset which is when “confidence is low, the desire to compete isn’t quite there, you’re not really enjoying yourself, and you’re not focused on your race."  Then we have the positive mindset where “ confidence is high, you have the desire to compete, you’re really enjoying yourself, and you’re completely focused on your race.”  Like in Star Wars it’s the struggle of “the force or the dark side.”   The inner struggle between the two is real and difficult but the more you can stay with the force and feel good about yourself the better the better your performances will be.  Stay with Chewbacca and the force!

 

Think about this, you have a really bad swim and you don’t understand why.  One of the hardest thing as coaches we have to do is talk you off the cliff and get you to understand that as athletes this happens all the time only in swimming its much more in your face because of the 0:00::00.  Just because you had a bad swim does not mean that you did something wrong or all of a sudden you’ve become a bad swimmer, but unfortunately that’s the way we often look at it, and as a direct result we start drifting towards the “dark side.”  The key is having a positive mindset not only when workouts and races are going well, but learning to control that inner struggle with ourselves and staying in a positive mindset when things don’t go your way, and they will from time to time.  Now there are those times where you will have those races accompanied by less than desired results and it could be from missing practice, coming back from illness, lack of race strategy, or your technique was off.  Maybe you have been working on something different in practice and this is the first time you used it in a race and the result was below your expectations.  This will happen, but your mindset and the way work through it will determine how fast you are able to bounce back.  

 

Let’s face it, staying in a positive mindset when things are going well and you're dropping time is easy.  Like a birthday it’s your day with cake and ice cream after every race.  It’s when things go wrong that the hard work begins when there is a bad time, no cake and ice cream not even a present to unwrap.  If you have worked on the way that you talk to yourself getting through these times will be easy. The first step in all of this is not to let yourself get to high or sink so low.  Think of your emotions as a scale from 0-5. (0__1___2__3__4__5).  The more you can keep your emotions in check between the 3 and the 4 the easier it will be to stay in a positive mindset.

 

FILL THE BUCKET

PLUG THE LEAKS!

Now that we have our first meet of this young season in our bags, it’s time to look forward and see where we go from here.  That meet is done and we saw some great things from you all with the areas that we have been working on.

One area that I really wanted to see you buy into is that of becoming more of a process oriented swimmers as oppose to a results only swimmer.  We had talked about taking more of an approach of looking at the place you came in as opposed to your time in the race.  This was the first step in trying to change your mindset to help you become a better swimmer.  In the coming days and weeks we will delve further into this area.

In the first step I want you to think of your swimming as a bucket that contains everything that
contains everything you need to be successful in your swimming endeavors.  The fuller you can keep
your bucket the more you are able to draw from during your races.  The things that you should be
filling your buckets with might include the following;

OUTSIDE THE POOl                                                

• Proper sleep
• Proper hydration 
• Proper diet
• Keep up with school work
• Stay in a positive mind set

AT THE POOl

• Show up for practice
• Have the right mindset
• Have your water and DRINK IT
• Focus in on the sets
• Finish every set
• Streamline off every wall
• Dolphin off every wall fast
• Stop breathing on breakout stroke

What in the world does this have to do with a bucket.  Let’s use your imagination here and think of this bucket as something that you carry with you not only to practice but also to every meet.  The 

more of these things, or others that you may think of that you can add to this bucket the more chances  you will have to be successful as a swimmer.

The trick here is to try and keep the bucket filled because undoubtedly leaks are going to occur such as a missed practice, an illness, a negative thought and the list goes on, but you have to keep plugging those leaks in the bucket.  The more you can keep those leaks to a minimum the better your chances are and by all means DON’T open the faucet at the bottom where you let everything we have worked on fall apart!

PRISONERS OF THE MOMENT

With the first meet of the young season it’s time take what we’ve learned and move on.  As I be already told you I’m not a big fan of watching the score board this early in the season and although it can be a good read at times it doesn’t always give the entire story.  At this time of the year I take more enjoyment in watching you do the things well that we have been working on in practice, that is true progress no matter how the scoreboard reads.  

Two of the things we have tried to hammer the first few weeks of practice are the way we work our streamlines and underwater dolphins off the wall and the way we finish our races.  I saw a lot of great effort being put forth in these areas and believe are making some real progress that will carry us to some amazing results in March and April.

An area that I see we all have to work on and be better at is the way we talk to ourselves.  We need to have a lot more positive self talk and less negative self talk.  We talk about this all the time and have pointed out that the way you talk to yourself has more to do with your confidence or lack of than anything else you do.  This is as important if not more important than anything you do at practice.  Your first thought after getting a bad time is that was terrible, I did awful and I heard this over the weekend.  Make no mistake about it times do matter especially in the world we live, it provides instant gratification,.  But we have to dive deeper into this story because it is just important to focus and prioritize the quality of the race as it is the final results.  If you have accomplished everything that you have been working on in practice and are making progress then that should have been an awesome experience..   Understand this simple fact as coaches we can pretty well write your story line by the way you talk, and the way you walk as you walk onto a pool deck.  We can also write the second chapter watching you work though your warmup.  The biggest opponent that you will always face is the one “ between your ears” and it’s how we talk to that opponent that will go a long way in determining success or failure.

At this point of the season we should be taking more enjoyment from the quality of your races and not become a “prisoner of the results.”  As we talked about last week you are going to experience a wide range of emotions in swimming 🏊 as in life ranging from moments of pure joy all the way to those of pure agony.   My most memorable moment from playing rugby🏉 in college during a championship tournament. After three days and 5 games we had made it to the championship game and after 80 minutes we were headed to extended time.  Towards the end after a scrum I picked up the ball and headed for the try line and after diving realized I had come up about a foot short and would lose a few minutes later.  The bottom line is that although devastated I realized both teams played hard and I actually had more fun in that losing effort than any other game from the realization that I was exhausted and had left everything that day between the white lines.

Your always going to have those races that despite losing, or not getting your best time, the race itself was just an awesome experience to be part of.  It could have been one of those races that you and your opponent were head to head all the way to the finish but you ended up losing by .001.  It may have been a race that after your opponent got out to a huge lead you ran them down at the wall.  Maybe you had a great start,

                                                                                                                                                                                                  followed by a not so great turn only to have a great finish.  

Think about how challenging your races and other events are instead of what the outcome may be.  This is when swimming becomes fun and exciting instead of always being consumed by the end result, the time.  That can be boring and believe me you will fail often if all you worry about is the time.

In the end it comes down to this simple phrase “Trust your training” and believe in yourselves and it starts with the way you talk to yourself.

MEET CHECK LIST

So our first meet of our journey this season has arrived, AKUMA MATATA.   No problems, no worries this weekend.  We understand that all swimmers are looking for a best time, a lofty goal indeed.  Let’ s look at that a little closer.  Depending on your age and the level you are at, the last Big meet you were in, we may need to manage our expectations a bit.  

For a lot of our 12 and under’s those fast swim seem like they will never end, like the energizer  bunny🐰 they just keep coming. For the  Senior Prep group we know what’s around the corner just waiting for us.  All I am saying is that remember the “process” that is the 🔐 key to unlocking those goals and dreams.

The things I will be watching for at this meet are 

1. How you approach and handle warmup and warm down
2. How you handle that second warmup
3. How well you keep warm waiting for your race
4. Do you know your events, or do you have to ask
5. Can you find your name, heat and lane on meet sheet, do you know your name (you’d be surprised kids who can’t find their name
6. How are your underwater dolphins off the walls
7. How is your breathing in and off your turns
8. Are you aggressive into your turns

These are the things that we have worked on for the first few weeks, and are the areas that will help you get to your goal when crunch time is staring you in the face.  Here are some reactions that you may face this weekend or for that matter at any swim meet or just everyday events.

Let’s start with the 🐘 elephant in the room, the one reaction no one likes to talk about and that is DISAPPOINTMENT.  Your fingers hit that touch pad and you look up and realize that all your effort was wasted and immediately you may feel that you failed and let everyone down.  I would say to you that the only way you fail is if you don’t get back up and get right back to it. Period

Along that thought is the ANNOYED  😑 reaction and I see this a lot.  This is where you may have won the race or heat but did not get that goal or best time.  Or maybe you get that goal time but don’ t win the race or heat.  In this situation I would say to you take the victory no matter how small it is and move on.  The one constant in this sport is the longer you get to do it the less victories you will experience, and again enjoy the process of the sport.  

Staying in the same mindset the next reaction is being ANGRY😡. This is the one that bothers me the most as a coach.  It’s the one is that you move past being disappointed and annoyed and become visibly angry and may say something or throw your goggles, your cap or maybe even slap the water and get the timers all wet. As a coach my first thought is great how am i going to deal with this and get them to understand that they were wrong and that’s unacceptable.  Those poor goggles and cap or even the officials had nothing to do with your swim.  The only person in that lane between those lane lines was YOU.   Take ownership accept the results, grow as a person and move on.  

The next reaction is the swimmer who may be EMOTIONLESS.  That stone cold 🥶 swimmer look. This is a hard one and can be both funny 😄 and frustrating at the same time.  It’s hard to know we’re this swimmer is mentally, do they just don’t care 🤷🏻‍♂️ or are they ready to explode and are just holding it in.  Again let’s talk and let me know either way and we can deal with it together, learn and move on.

The next reaction that you may encounter is that of EXHAUSTION.  Regardless of your performance and the outcome, you know you left it all in the  pool.  Your tank is empty.  This should be a good feeling regardless of the result.

As you see we are progress through a wide range of emotions that can occur and the next one is that of SHOCK.  You know the one where you have that race that came out of nowhere.  The one that you didn’t think you had in you.  I remember a few years ago when we were in Lancaster and at finals this 12 year old had a breaststroke race that was crazy and she looked back and you could see she was thinking, What just happened?  They use different sayings for this such as being in a zone, or more appropriately for you all being the GOAT for that one race at that moment..

The next emotion that you may experience is just being SATISFIED.   All of us have experienced that feeling of hitting simple little goals and the little  wink 😉 of the eye standing tall with our shoulders up and our chest pumped out a little.  We’re making progress and we know it.  This is an emotion we need to have more often understanding  that even in failure there are victories and we need to look for them and grow with them into better athletes and people.

The last emotion that you may encounter and one of the sweetest is of PURE JOY.  You know that one where you get that cut to the big meet, you qualify for finals, you break that final barrier and get to the  awards 🥇 🥈🥉 podiums and everything has paid off

As an athlete you are going to come face to face with this wide spectrum of emotions and not only in the pool but in your every day lives and I put it to you, the most important thing you can do it keep getting up and move forward both in the pool and your daily lives.  There is always another challenge to be faced and another door  🚪 to be opened.  

WILL YOU BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO OPEN IT AN GO THROUGH,  That’s the challenge in life

LANGUAGE

This past week as we were working through our workouts in the pool in both the Gold and the Prep group I heard this language come out of some of you, WHAT IF I CAN’T?  Think about that for a second.  I read and article recently by Oliver Leroy and so what I will attempt to do here is paraphrase what he was trying to get across for our purposes.  Think about this You are asked by a group of friends to go hang out but immediately you respond by saying, I can’t I have to go to practice.  Instead of looking at this situation in the concept of “I Have To” and understanding  that you don’t have to go to practice and work hard and that this is something that “You Get To Do”, your training will not only get better but you will also have more fun doing it.

 

  Whatever you’re doing daily the language that you use can have a direct impact on your mindset in all your activities.  When you use the phrase I have to it, it has the connotation that a bit of effort will be involved that is going to cause a bit of unpleasantness .“I have to do my homework. I have to go to bed early tonight.  I have to walk the dog.  I have to eat dinner. I have to go to practice. I have to work harder.  I have to swim faster today.  I have to win the race.  I have to be more motivated.  When you have to do something, it’s clear you don’t want to do it.”  Wait before you respond, think about it You like that dog, you love swimming and hanging out with your buddies and listening to me, okay maybe not that last part so much.  The language that you use and I hear often tells a whole different story.  The language that I hear causes unpleasantness and stress that has a direct relationship on your effort and motivation.  It makes things harder then they have to be.  When you have to the "context is clear, you don’t want to do it."

 

Listen we know that swimming and for that matter any sport that you participate in can be hard and get’s harder at every level. There are always things in any sport that athletes  do not want to do day to day. Going to morning practice, giving up a weekend for a long meet, attending finals to support your teammates/friends even though your not swimming.  But oh, how you do love it and always have since you first jumped in as a little girl/boy and had that glorious first swim and smell of chlorine.  Sometimes the way we talk to ourselves we unintentionally make the situation harder than it has to be.

          

 

This language becomes so normal in your every day thought process that it starts to “pepper down into how you talk to yourself in swimming.”   Using the words “I have to” is is being forced to do the thing you love working hard and swimming fast. We've talked before about mental toughness and taking control of the language you use and the way you talk to yourself.  We talked about word replacements when talking to ourselves and I want you to stop and think about the possibilities if instead of saying I have to, you change one simple word and say “I get to.”  That one little word change not only takes away unnecessary stress but also opens doors and creates a lot of opportunities and makes things a little more interesting.  

 

Not everybody is given the opportunity to do something that they love to do, and what I would like to do is challenge you to change your mindset.

• “I get to do this sport"
• “I get to challenge myself daily"
• “I get to see what I am made of"
• “I get to swim fast today"
• I get to bond with my teammates 

 

I get to will remind you that you could be " somewhere else doing something else, but no you Choose to be here in this moment taking things to the limits.”  Saying I get to reminds you how lucky you are to be able to have a pool you can use and participate in a sport you love that allows you to step up and race.  No one is making you do this.  Don’t fight the  voices between your ears, remember who you are, and how strong you are. Take everything you have and do something with it.  It starts with believing in yourself and changing your mindset with the language you use.