Hey kiddos 👶 I know that some of you who were going to be swimming at JO’s or the spring champs have been riding a roller coaster with it’s ups and downs all week. With every sunrise 🌄 it seems like there are new developments which can sometimes seem like a lot, but always remember what we tell each other, slow down take a deep breath and move forward.
As young athletes, the disappointment that you have felt can seem enormous through your eyes and that’s okay, even natural. Your coaches are dealing with that same disappointment but also have that life experience to understand that things will get better and life will get better. Because of the precautions being taken now, that normalcy will arrive sooner than later.
For those of you who were swimming JO’s, the feeling is one of something being yanked away which is a far cry from having that last swim of the season, but your safety, the safety of your family, your coaches, officials and facilities staff who support you is far more important than a race. It is also important to understand that people had to take the emotions out of it and make a decision that might not be popular but was the hard decision. Understand that not only are your disappointments real but all the athletes across the country are going through the same process in different degrees.
The disappointment will affect each of you differently perhaps from the 14 year old swimming their last JO meet to the swimmer who has made their first cut ever. All you can do now is listen to your teammates when they talk to you and understand their feelings may differ from your own. Listen, talk and support each other like you have all season and this will all pass.
For those of you who might question if all your work and sacrifice was worth it, I am sure all the coaches will tell you yes it was. As coaches we have all watched the Mako swimmers work really hard up to now and we were also looking forward to the next two weeks of racing. All the coaches believed that we were going to see some incredible races from the Mako swimmers and that is a testimony to each and everyone of you for all your sacrifices and hard work throughout the year.
Now that we know we’re out of the water for a while there are some things that you can do. First off, if by chance there is a pool that remains open I will post a couple of go to workouts that you can use. I will also put some dry land exercises up there after talking to a few trainers I know this weekend. It is important that you not sit around doing nothing during this period. Everyone needs some type of exercise daily to help relieve anxiety and stress, so please stay active. I will get those up early next week.
In closing, I would say that for most of you, your living through your very first historical moment. Your parents have experienced these from the 80’s with the nuclear threat, 9/11 and maybe the beltway sniper, all events that altered people’s daily life. Overtime things got under control and life got back to some kind of normalcy, and this will be the case in your world too.
Again, thanks for all your hard work up to this point in our season.
Here is something to read and just maybe it has a little more impact on you in today’s world.
For those of you who were swimming JO’s, the feeling is one of something being yanked away which is a far cry from having that last swim of the season, but your safety, the safety of your family, your coaches, officials and facilities staff who support you is far more important than a race. It is also important to understand that people had to take the emotions out of it and make a decision that might not be popular but was the hard decision. Understand that not only are your disappointments real but all the athletes across the country are going through the same process in different degrees.
The disappointment will affect each of you differently perhaps from the 14 year old swimming their last JO meet to the swimmer who has made their first cut ever. All you can do now is listen to your teammates when they talk to you and understand their feelings may differ from your own. Listen, talk and support each other like you have all season and this will all pass.
For those of you who might question if all your work and sacrifice was worth it, I am sure all the coaches will tell you yes it was. As coaches we have all watched the Mako swimmers work really hard up to now and we were also looking forward to the next two weeks of racing. All the coaches believed that we were going to see some incredible races from the Mako swimmers and that is a testimony to each and everyone of you for all your sacrifices and hard work throughout the year.
Now that we know we’re out of the water for a while there are some things that you can do. First off, if by chance there is a pool that remains open I will post a couple of go to workouts that you can use. I will also put some dry land exercises up there after talking to a few trainers I know this weekend. It is important that you not sit around doing nothing during this period. Everyone needs some type of exercise daily to help relieve anxiety and stress, so please stay active. I will get those up early next week.
In closing, I would say that for most of you, your living through your very first historical moment. Your parents have experienced these from the 80’s with the nuclear threat, 9/11 and maybe the beltway sniper, all events that altered people’s daily life. Overtime things got under control and life got back to some kind of normalcy, and this will be the case in your world too.
Again, thanks for all your hard work up to this point in our season.
Here is something to read and just maybe it has a little more impact on you in today’s world.
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