CLOSING THE BOOK ON 2021

 

I am sure that most of you who have been making practices over the holidays did not mind missing todays workout with all the gloomy weather.  Now I on the other hand was there ready for our last workout of the year.  There was one advantage which was I had the pool at the gym to myself for over an hour and although I attempted your plan workout, I could not finish it in the hour and 45 minutes. I did however win 3 out of the 4 sets so that was positive.  Thank you to all you swimmers who made the effort to attend workouts over the last 2 weeks.  It will go a long way in how you swim in February thru April.

As we look back over the year and everything that has occurred.  Some good.  Some not so good. Let's not spend time on the not so good or the what if's or what wasn't in 2021.  Instead let's build off what we were able to accomplish and do during the year.  Things such as a IMX meet in February, a fantastic championship season during March, some outstanding long course meets in June and a return to our summer team competition.  Lastly we were able to return to our little larger training groups at the same ends of the pool which always is easier us but more importantly brings the groups together more which is always more fun and in the end fosters FAST SWIMMING.

As we head into 2022 and we have a few days before our first workouts it's a good time to take stock of where you are in your swimming.  Some questions that come to mind as a coach;

• hows my attitude?
• are my turns getting better?
• am I improving my underwater's?  
• am I putting in a good effort every day?
• are you closing in on some of your goals?
• what cuts do you have for JO's?
• what cuts are within reach?
• what cuts do you have for Florida?
• what cuts are within reach?

Unlike the new Spiderman movie there are no trailers for 2022 so as we head into the new year we do so with eyes wide open.  It's a new book for each of you, with blank pages and it will be up to each of you on how that book will read on December 31, 2022.  Let's fill those pages with great workouts, great effort, positive attitudes, great sportsmanship and above all some FAST SWIMMING.

Ready to pick up that pen?

HOLIDAY MESSAGE

Senior Prep, Junior Gold/Blue groups, I wanted to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your amazing efforts throughout this past year.  We worked through a lot over the past year and had an outstanding  effort and showing at our JO’s back in March with an abundance of personal best swims throughout the meet.

Throughout the summer as you all found your way back to your summer teams you continued your excellence in the water scoring points week after week culminating with Divisionals and All Stars ⭐️.

This fall as we arrived back to the pool to start a new season, your hard work continued and you reaped the awards during the Swim and Rock meet culminating at the Winter Classic to wrap up our fall season.

I couldn’t feel any more proud when I look back at what everyone of you achieved throughout the year and consider it to be the best part of the day to come in and work with all of you.  To be able to work with such a great group of talented kids with so many different personalities truly makes it easy to show up for practice each day.  I can’t really call it work really because it’s more a passion where the enjoyment comes   from working with swimmers  of all talents trying to be the best that they can be.  Whether it be a swimmer getting a personal best, finishing the 500 for the first time, executing a perfect turn or pacing the race exactly the way we talked about.  It’s the small things that each of you do that makes it so rewarding.

Cherish every moment in this sport, because as we have learned in the past two years, it's hard when it is taken away.  Enjoy every moment at practice, during the meets because the day will come when you hang up the goggles for the last time.  It will be the friendships and memories created that you have forever to cherish through your journey in life.

I also would like to thank all your parents who support you in your swimming and who sacrifice so much to get you where your suppose to be day after day.

As we look forward to the new year I leave you with this “ You’re not obligated to win.  You’re obligated to keep trying to the best you can every day.”

OUT!

PRACTICE WITH PURPOSE

 

"Practice does not make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect." Vince Lombardi

I know in the past I've posted how perfection is hard if not impossible to attain, but it does have a place in personal growth as long as you don't take it literally.

As we strive to be perfect, we as athletes must remember that true perfection is not the end all.  The bigger picture that you as a swimmer should be looking at is that as your practice should be done at a level of respect for how you see yourself performing/racing in reality at all times. Instead of striving for perfect, strive for excellence during practice.  After all excellence is perfection at it's core.

Perfection says I want to never mess up.  Excellence says I'm going to work on this in the best possible way to the best of my ability and become very good at it.

Let's take Tom Brady for example.  There is no dispute that he was born with some level of natural athleticism and that he has been blessed with some great athletes around him.  To be able to play at a high level year after year into his 40's takes not only a lot of practice but practice with a purpose.

Last week we did a lot of breaststroke work and most of it involved getting a stroke count (minus 1) and swimming all our 25's, 50's and 100's committed to holding that count. Some of us were very focused during these set, others not so much.  We started to understand how hard it was to maintain that count as we continued through the workout and fatigue started to set in.  Not much different then what happens in your races.  

Some of us put in a good effort and they were not dragging their feet, they were really doing it.  They were pretending that it was the real thing all the way.  They were practicing perfectly.  Practice may not actually make you prefect, but without it you have no choice and at the best only a 50/50 chance which are terrible odds.  Doing things correctly over and over again is what we your coaches call muscle memory.  That's important because you can't think of every little detail while your trying to race.  You have to trust the process and have confidence in your training, without it your lost.  This may sound funny but you can't just start a race over because you missed a turn.  You can’t have a do over because you think you could have gone faster.

So what can we offer to each of you to help with practice.  

• Simulate real events.  Practice as close to the real thing as possible, down to the smallest detail if you need to.  You can't start a race late so why would you start practice late.
• Make training harder than the race.  A big confidence builder. When you approach it like this, the next time you race you know you've been there already.
• Get over your fear.  Stop making excuses and projecting the worst that could happen all the time.  Prepare for the worst and the next time you step on the blocks you'll know your ready

The only way to swim to your maximum performance potential is to train your body and mind  to do so over and over...and over.  Before you jump in at the next practice go to a quite spot in the house and have a honest conversation with your self about how you view practice, after all this sport and the races are yours.

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

 

Okay so we are done with our meets in December and I have had many questions about meets in January.  No, you don’t have to be a psychic to figure this out although it does seem hectic for sure..

Let's take a look at the meets coming up in January.  First up in the first week of the year is the January Distance meet on the 8th and 9th.  Saturday we will be swimming the 1000 and Sunday the 1650.  This meet will take place at St.James.  I would like to see all of the Senior prep and Junior Gold swimmers to swim in one of these events.  Please read the announcement carefully to make sure you qualify for this meet. If you have not done the 1000 then that will be the event you sign up for.  -.

If you have already done the 1000 it's time to try the mile. You may ask yourself, "Why should I swim these two events?"  I could give you my standard because you can but I think I look at it from this view.  It's a rite of passage.  Okay it's a very long rite of passage but still a rite of passage all the same.  Just like the 200 fly these are events that should be done once, just like distance swimmers should swim the 50 free once.  If that doesn't convince you here are a few other reasons;

• so I stop bugging you about it
• face the fear. remember we have talked about facing your fears and your ghosts disappear 
• opens a new door and takes you in a room you might like
• gives you mountains of confidence for those 100's and 200's

Also if you ever run into a shark you know you can go the distance 

Or not!

This is an easy meet where you know whattime you swim, so you come in warmup, race, go home.  Fast and quick.

MAKO POLAR BEAR MEET. January  15-16. This meet is open for everyone so let’s take a closer look at it and use our heads before signing up.  All our high school swimmers who are in the Senior Prep group should only swim on Sunday.  DO NOT SIGN UP FOR SATURDAY EVENTS.  Also swim ONLY YOUR OFF EVENTS/DISTANCES.  Stay alway from the events that you have been doing a lot at your high school meets.

If you have qualified for the IMX meet and are going to enter you should not swim in this meet.  If you do choose to swim please only pick one day and you too should swim off events.  DO NOT SWIM EVENTS YOU SWAM IN DECEMBER.  It also looks like entries for IMX meet are due on Tuesday the 18th so if you need an event to qualify you might want to take a look.  

IMX MEET.  (Remember 1800 points are needed). January 28-29-30 @ University of Maryland. (Not for high school swimmers in senior prep. You will be at district meets). For our swimmers who qualify you will do all of the events.  Friday events 13-14 and 11-12 500 free. Saturday events 13-14 200 fly-200 IM-200 breast.  11-12 100 fly and 100 breast. 9-10 200 free-100 fly-100 breast). Sunday events  13-14 200 back and 400 IM. 12 and unders 100 back-200 IM

Both the distance meet and the IMX meets are a good change of pace meets as we head into the qualifiers in February, the championships in March and finally our Florida meet in April.  These meet will give you tons of experience and confidence as we move though those tough winter training sessions.

WE HAD A GOOD WEEKEND

 

Hey kiddos, we had a good weekend in the pool.  It was nice to get back to a meet format like last weekend.  You all found the strength to power through a grueling weekend of races.  A lot of you swam over 10 (some had 13 or more) races throughout the four days of competition.  We were awfully proud of each of you with your ability to stay focus on what was in front of you, your ability to move from one race to the next.  Apparently our talks on keeping everything in front of you is starting to sink in.    

I usually don't put names out there for fear of missing someone, but we do have to shout out to Sadie

Buckley for her new team record int he 400 IM, 100 IM and the 100 back.  Our 11-12 girls relay won the 400 free, 200, free, 200 medley and the 11-12 boys placed 2nd in the same 3 relays. Due to the short turn around on Sunday we scratched the 400 medley relay to give our kids time to recover for finals.

It was great to watch all of you supporting each other throughout the weekend, hose will be the memories that you take forward in life.

I am fully aware that most of you had expectations for a particular time this past weekend maybe a Junior/Senior cut, a JO cut or even possibly that Florida cut.

It's fun to watch you all develop in this area where that clocks becomes more and more relevant over the years.  One season your clueless about times, but then you become aware of the meaning and then you discover those motivational time standards, meet qualifying times and then your swimming takes on a new meaning. This new meaning is very healthful but....only up to a point.  Time standards or qualifying times while motivating can also become an obsession.  Have I lost my mind with this? No.  what I am trying to point out and what I saw more then once over the weekend is this, swimmers judging their performance solely on whether they achieved a cut, refusing to accept the fact they've inched closer to that goal with a personal best (PR).  Your mind is so set on that result/expectation that you slowly begin to lose sight of everything else.

Something to think about, as you get closer to a qualifying time your margin begins to narrow.  While you may be able to achieve a "B" time while having sloppy turns or weak underwater's it will take some fine tuning to go from a B-A-AA-AAA time standard.  If you want the same results, do the same thing.  If you want to move on you need to change something.  A swimmer got out after one of her races and said "I think I could have gone faster". My response was, Then why didn't you?  I took my watch out and asked her what are all the numbers, "they are all 0's". Until you finish a race with those numbers you will always be able to go faster.

Always aim High, but at the same time stop and accept your small victories at the same time.

THURSDAY DISTANCE WRAP

 

You guys nailed it tonight both with your warmups and those of you who had a distance event.  Let’s make sure we bring that same energy tomorrow for your events.

Thanks to all of you who showed up to get a swim in to loosen up and also to all the parents who made the effort to get the kids to the pool.  It’s much appreciated.  Thanks to all the kids who took care of their teammates and pitched in to count the swimmers laps.

Our 12 and understand did a great job swimming their 500’s wit many best times.  What is really incredible is that a lot of these kids just dropped a ton of time two weeks ago at the swim and rock and did it again tonight.

Something that I did notice is that some of us let outside noise get to us. Remember as you work through this weekend control what you can control and put your earmuffs on to shut out those other noises.

Bring it tomorrow.

SPORTS FAIR UPDATES

 

Hello Senior Prep and Junior Gold swimmers who will be swimming in the Sports Fair Championship meet starting tomorrow evening at GMU.

Let’s go over a few specifics that we talked about this week so that we are all on the same page.  

First off please be on time for warmups as all the teams have been assigned to lanes. We will have two warmup periods during the 13 and over sessions with one lane in the big pool and one lane in the back pool so arrive focus and ready to rock your warmup so that you are in a position to be successful.  The 11- and 12 warmups will have more room but the back pool will not be open for that session or during finals.  

While we are on the subject of warmups please remember to get in for your warmups for your events and remember it’s just to get your heart rate elevated.  Remember to warm down immediately after your event.  The longer you wait the longer it will take to get warmed up for that next event.  At the end of the day give your body the present that will keep giving all weekend and that is to do a long warm down. For our Senior Prep group a minimum of 400 more if needed.  The Junior Gold a minimum of 300 more if needed.

This is a preliminary/finals meet.  This means YOU are not allowed to scratch without talking to a coach.  We are swimming all of our events and I don’t want to hear that your scratching because your tired.  It’s time to swim like big girls and boys.  If you fail to show up for finals you are scratched from the rest of the meet.  Not showing up is disrespectful to the sport, coaches and other swimmers.

This meet will have relays in it and they are at the end of the sessions so please check to see if your in a relay before you leave.  If you are selected for a relay you will wait in it.

As we talked about this week there have been some changes to the meet particularly in the 11-12 sessions. We will now be swimming boys/ girls in one pool.  This will add 1 hour to the time line but it will also allow more recovery time for the swimmers.  It is still a very short session and a quick turnaround for finals so stay focused and stay positive. The other change is that they are bring back 2 heats, yes that’s 16 swimmers.  Let’s swim into finals so we can have some great nights. 

Above all remember we are all one group and we expect you to take care of each other.  If you see someone’s down go over and picked them up after a swim.  Someone has a great swim go over and congratulate them.

This is the time to face whatever fear 😧 you have in competition.  Meet it head on face it and your ghosts will disappear.