“WIN”. What’s Important Now

So last we checked in on the girls they had just experienced their first swimming trip at the ripe old age of 3 months. Almost  4 years to the day they would return to the Caribbean only this time they wanted to swim and race.  The only roadblock to that was this time around the meet was going to be a long course meet, so without explaining that to them I gave in and agreed to it.  we will get back to that in a moment. Before that could happen the girls had to start in our swim school under the guidance of coaches Joe Adams andHeather Tomasek who took them under their wing and guided them into who they are today.  Upon wall;king onto the deck here is this 70 year old retired postman standing at there side of the pool and in his hand was this 10 foot bamboo stick and fasten to the end was your normal 🎾.  Yes people thats how we rolled back in the day. Joe produced some of the most talented young swimmers in  the Falls Church and Arlington communities.  First day they saw Coach Joe an

Here is your routine for this week. Your challenge is Day 1 preform 3 rounds, Day 2 try 4 rounds and on the third Day challenge yourself to preform 5 rounds.  Rest 2 minutes between rounds.  The warm up is only done at the beginning WARM UP 1)Arm swings 30 seconds forward/ 30 seconds backwards 2) Two arm swing with pull buoy 30 seconds 3). World’s greatest stretch 8 each side 4). 30 second butt kicks WORKOUT ROUTINE .   1) BURPEE WITH PUSH UP X10. 2) 30 SECOND MOUNTAIN CLIMBER. 3). RUSSIAN TWISTS WITH PULL BUOYS X10. 3) 30 SECOND BICYCLE CRUNCHES. 4) SQUATS HOLDI NG A BALL OR PULL BUOY.  5). 30 second shadow boxing ( don’t get hit by your shadow.)   REST 2 MINUTES AND REPEAT. Here is a extra treat for you to watch, my Daughter sent this to me over the weekend.  She informed me that you don't need a pool to practice your swimming.  

When last we talked I had asked each of you to write down the why,  and either plac e them in your buckets or swimming box, and to send me some of them as a group.  Someone from our group sent this, I just have a true passion for being in the water and working hard, very honest and well thought out.  This individual worries on occasion that there is not a good balance with the passion. After a little prying we got this response, “When swimming is going well my life outside of swimming is great, but when swimming is going bad it will affect my personal life, and the opposite is often the case also.” There is nothing wrong with having passion for anything you do, but there needs to be balance between the two and you need to be able to control that balance.  It is important that the passion that you have doesn’t become your identity as a person. I would say that when the results of your races become all consuming to the point that it starts to affect you emotionally which then carries

It was nice to see the senior prep swimmers yesterday and to hear what you have been up to.  We are trying to set something up for the gold group now.  For the next few weeks I thought I would share the story of my girls introduction into swimming both club and summer as a distraction from everything going on.  This is through my eyes with some help from the girls. THE TWINS It was an early day in June at the summer pool and the twin girls were a little over 6 months old.  Now you would think that their parents would know were they were but those were different times.  We come to find out that the baby pool was full to capacity but when we glanced over they seemed to be all of my older kids from the team playing.  Upon a closer look we were amazed to see the twins 👯‍♂️ in the middle of the pool floating on their backs.  After questioning some of the more “ responsible” girls we soon found out that they were attempting to teach the girls breath control, hence   Mom and dad real

Our Mako swimmer of the week last week had to be Tony who either was so committed to getting his bike ride in or maybe just didn’t have the sense to come in out of the rain.  Either way he was being safe with his helmet securely fasten to his head. With that grin you’d think he was biking up Mount Everest With all of you headed back to virtual schooling on Tuesday, let’s settle in to a routine as if you were also going to swim practice, oh boy.  The gold group should to dryland on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.   The blue group on Monday and Wednesday.  The senior pep group should be doing their workout on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  These are your normal practice days and should help you settle into a nice routine with your school work.  Remember it’s your choice is you want to come out of this a better YOU. With the routines we are going to put in some weight bearing exercises but do not go crazy with it.  Boys and you know who I am talking about, I know you are e

So this morning the Mako swimmers rose from their deep slumber for one more day of competition at there North shore Aquatic Pool in Saint Petersburg.  As in previous years Saturdays event began with the 400 IM which always takes over an hour on both courses.  Because of that a lot of teams arrived later for warm up but for us taking a page out of coach Peter's book let's stick to our schedule and get a good warmup followed by some stretching. This year we also had Makos very own Emerson Wilson swimming the 400 Im. We got to spread out and use 4 lanes for our general warmup which was quite nice.  I always enjoy Saturday and not because it's the last day but it provides the swimmers and coaches extra time to just hang with each other. Last years group As was mentioned the meet started with the IM events and our first 2 swimmers were Sadie in the 200 and Emerson in the 400.  Both girls had great swims Sadie attacking the back half of each 50 with a strong backstroke

MAKOS HOTEL Here we go into day 3, with clear skies and a little cooler for the start of warmups.  The kids stayed in a little longer this morning to really help them get those legs stretched out and because the meet was going to start with the 1650.  Speaking of the 1650 Kitty got some good news she moved up from 13 to 10th in the event which means she is not swimming this morning, but will be first up at finals.  because of this we decided that she would scratch the 100 free and get out of here earlier to rest for tonight. Our first event this morning was the 100 back for everyone and we had a lot of swimmers, and first into the pool was Sadie and Cally.  Cally would win her heat with a PB while Sadie came in third in her heat with her same time but would win the event later at finals with a PB.  Sadie is starting to understand the sport and that it's ok to be a little slow in the morning as long as you make finals, and return to take care of business. Anna, Jacob and Reb

Day 2 of the competition started out a little chilly and windy for our warmup call, but the kids went through it and were prepared for some good racing.  Ben and Adrian seemed to be deep in thought about their races. As the☀ broke from behind the clouds Coach Wendy and Alyson had our IM swimmers ready to go and first end was Sadie, Lyla, Claire, and Blake.  As they exploded off of the blocks they headed into that first turn leading their respective heats.  Blake and Sadie dropped a little time but posted times to get hem into finals.  Claire and Lyla dropped over 2 seconds placing 2nd and third in their heats. Adrian, Kitty, Charlotte Prunty and Skylar took to the pool for their 200IM.  Kitty led her heat though the fly and back but then had that breast stroke staring her in the face.  After falling behind she made that turn to free picked up some steam and finished 2nd in the heat with a PB. The next event was the 10 and under 50 fly the signature event for Cally and Lexi.  Cal

Well I thought that even though we are not be in Saint Petersburg to swim we could run a virtual meet from our perspective, so here we go.  The sun rose very early on Dy. Of competition an d the Mako swimmers answered the early wake up call and arrived at the pool at 6:30 and proceeded to get to The backstrokers would b the first one to show their talents and to take on that bright Florida sunlight.  First up were our 10 and under girls Sadie, Cally and Lexi.  The three of them turned in incredible performances Sadie breaking a 31 and going to finals seeded first. Cally won her heat and Lexi swam into finals as a 9 year old. Now it was time for the distance backstrokers to take to the pool for the 200.  Charlotte Prunty, and Riley Miller had some of their best turns and underwater's of the season posting PB with Prunty going under 2:22. Kitty would post a sub 2:16 to gain a spot at finals.  Sophia Cloutier and Charlotte Dixon wound end up swimming in the same heat with Dixon

Let’s play a little game, and we will call it get your MOJO on.  Senior Prep let’s get out our cute little buckets out, some of you will probably have to do some digging to find them. Can’t find them check the bottom of your swim bags you rascals.  For the Gold and Blue groups make a small treasure box, use your imagination and decorate it after all it’s Easter 🐣 time.  All set let’ s dive into this. This is a good time to reconnect with your why.  What drives you to keep showing up and don’t put your parents drive you that’s a given.  Is it how the water makes you feel, maybe you love the smell of chlorine in the morning.  Is it a way to relax and deuce the stress you have in your lives, although some of you think of stress as what am I going to wear or is my hair in place.  It might even be to increase the stress in Coach Mike’s world.  Or it could be as simple as Jim McKay opening statement on Wide World of Sports Whatever your reasons write them on an index card read them, u

Hope everyone made the best of the past week.  I really hope you are settling into a somewhat normal schedule and routine.  Although you all are young and may feel it’s not that important, it is.  When you establish a regular routine for yourself it will help you feel more organized and in control, and you will feel like you had a good day and got something accomplished when your head hits the pillow.  As for myself I start the day with some dry land at the pool since I can be there by myself. I’ll take some pictures later this week with my workout stations and post them.  Breakfast and then I set up 2 tasks to get done at the pool.  This morning we got one of the pools up and running so at least I have something to look at.  The afternoon is spent doing some work on the blog, looking through old workout books. This week I know they are pushing for everyone to stay inside more, so I changed a few things in the event you can’t get out. For the warmups just do 1 round, for the wor

When you use your imagination anything is possible.  You can swim anywhere even on your driveway as Mackenzie is demonstrating, although I hope she remembers to enter feet first, because I believe it may be a little shallow.  Notice the uses for duck tape. As for myself I got to be at the pool watching over construction and preparing our competition pool for a new plaster job this weekend.  I decided to swim 4x500 walking and let me tell you walking up from a 13 foot pool is a lot different than swimming it. The burn in the legs feels like it does for you 200 backstroker’s.  Oh and notice I had no ladders to use to get out, that hurt the most. Have a great weekend   Talk to you Sunday