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?