WHAT A WEEK

 

End of our third week and looking forward to our first meet of the season next weekend to see where we all stand.  This week let’s really focus in on those little things that can make a difference in your races (should be doing this everyday anyway)

Yes that is what I feel like after practice especially those Monday and Wednesday evenings, I’ll sleep where I fall.

This past week the Sr. Prep and Junior Gold groups had their first test set of this young season.  What is a test set, you all are wondering?  It is basically a measurement to gauge where you are at a particular point in your season and how you are progressing towards your goals.  Hopefully you listened and went home and recorded how you felt as you worked through the set.  You should have recorded how many of the repeats that you hit our target time and  how many times you missed it.

Another thing we are trying to accomplish with a test set is create a competitive atmosphere within the group, similar to on you may encounter at your meets.  The emphasis for the next test will be trying to be better than your previous test.  

There are a few measurable components that we can look for within a test set and for this past one we were trying to see if you could hold the set base pace on all the 25's. How did you do?   I was very proud of one of our Sr. Prep swimmers who came to me after practice with concerns that they could not hit any of the times in the stroke portion of the test.  As we talked I encouraged them to record their thoughts on paper and not to be overly concerned at the moment.  We talked about the fact that  this swimmer was doing breaststroke and that they were the youngest in the group, and that now they have a base established that we can work with.  I just hope the rest of you looked at the test set in the same manner.

JUNIOR BLUE

You all did a great job with your ready positions and streamlines off the walls which will carry you into 5 of your seven turns.  Our backstroke turns are improving with every workout so keep up the good work.  Don't forget that in order to make your turns and streamlines better YOU MUST execute them correctly every time you leave the wall.  the sky is the limit but you have to work and reach for it.  We are there to catch you if you fall.

This weekend we will hold our first meet at The St. James Facility and our team area will be outside so make sure you plan accordingly.  

Just some reminders for all our swimmers to relieve some stress and you are prepared;

• wear you Mako cap
• wear Mako team attire 
• pack extra caps and goggles (they do break)
• pack water (you need to hydrate yourself. a lot of bad swims can be traced to lack of hydration )
• bring your chairs
• KNOW YOUR EVENTS BEFORE YOU WALK INTO THE POOL (you aren't prepared to race if you don't know your events.
• no scratching (skipping events) unless you talk to your coach. If you are in my group you better make a good argument for not swimming an event.
• have a plan for what you are trying to accomplish this weekend.  Hint it involves more than a time such as underwater's, breakout's. new events, turns, finish, how you attack the longer events and how did you feel.
• warm ups will be crowded so remember to CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL it will go a long way in the way you handle the meet
• work on what's in front of you at the time.  stay with the event that your own not the next one.

proper warm down after swims (my group at least a 200 and at the end of the day before you leave double that,  YOUR BODY WILL THANK YOU.)

Have a good week at school and prepare yourself for the meet at practice this week.