HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

"Good, better, best.  Never let it rest, until your good is better and your better is best."

As we start off the new year I'm not going to tell you all to make "New Year Resolutions" because most of the time they end up broken as soon as you make them.  What I will ask you is to continue to do the things that you are already doing well and do them better.  The areas that are weak and need work let's make a commitment now that we are going to focus and improve in those areas to have future success.

THE LIST

OUT WITH 2022                                   IN WITH 2023

fear of failure                                  everything you want is on the other side of failure

focusing on the uncontrollable      recognizing what I can control

dwelling on a bad swim.                 why keep something you don't want. let it go.

getting in late                                          caps on and ready to go

not having my water.                             always having my water at hand

not understanding purpose of set        understanding and performing set properly

Excuses                                                  Stopping myself before excuse leaves my lips 

Negative self talk.                                  Turning negatives to positive thoughts

self imposed limitations.                       swim past the breakers

DQ's.                                                      benefit goes to swimmer

always fiddling with goggles                get them on and stop fidgeting with them

delays during meets                              swim meets with no delays 

coach who drives into  hotel                coaches who can drive

Things from the past will either help you or hurt you.  If you dwell too long on things from the past it will eventually hurt you.  If you take those things from the past and learn from them they can propel you into a better 2023.

Something to think about today. It is my choice to "do as much or as little as I want" but what ever I decide I will have to accept the results at the end of the day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

CHRISTMAS EVE 2022 set

            

 

DEAR SANTA

 

I want to thank all of you for your best wishes and thoughts this holiday season.  They are very much appreciated.  

What a swimmers letter to Santa might look like.

Dear Santa,

I would like to get off to a great start in 2023 and will need a few things

to help me so if you could fill my stocking with any of the items below I would be very grateful.  Hopefully you and your elves will have the correct tools laying around the North Pole to help me in my journey.

First off I will need a positive attitude going into the new year.  With school, swimming and life all coming at me I know I will have to keep a positive attitude especially when things get tough and things don't necessarily go my way.

Next there will be times in the coming year when I will need an extra shot of motivation.  I like to work hard to reach my dreams and goals but times do arise when I am not motivated and allow those times to affect my work habits.  When those times arise I will need that extra kick to get started because I know that once I start I'll be okay and will work hard.

I want to ask that my swim group/buddies all find a way to get along.  They are my second family and

while I understand that there will be drama it's at those times it is important that we come together as a family find some patience and as the song goes "Let it go! Let it go!"   This will allow us to train and help each other towards our dreams and goals.

This year I would like to see some fast times.   I know that fast times aren't always possible and in those moments all I'm asking is a good competitive race with my opponents and when the big meets arrive on my schedule just the opportunity to be in the best possible position to achieve a personal best.

My coach has been working hard on our UWDK to give us an advantage off our walls in our races.  Give me the confidence to understand that it may be hard and uncomfortable but if I continue to work hard my efforts will show up on race day.

Santa all of these things will help as I continue to swim and race this year but if you could squeeze one more item in your bag it would be neat to have some great finishes in 2023.

P.S.Have a safe trip Santa

Hope all of you and your family have Joyful Holiday Season.

HOLIDAY WORKOUTS

 

Today’s topic we will go over some pool workouts that you can do on your own if you’re out of town and can’t make our schedule workouts.   Although it is entirely okay to be out of the pool and enjoy a little break, you do not want to stack too many days out of the pool at this time of year.

Here are three workouts for you to choose from. Set your own CHALLENGING intervals.  You can pick and choose and mix up a workout that works for you.

Warmups for all three workouts (1000)

• 300 swim 
• 6x50 kick swim
• 200 mix swim (free/back)
• 4x50 free descend (each one 1 second faster than previous one)

main sets( pick one)

#1 (1200) IM

6x

  1x75 (25 fly/ 50 back

  1x125 (25 breast wide press fast hands forward to glide/ 100 free

#2 (1200) IM

4x

1x50 fly to back

1x50 back

1x50 back to breast

1x50 breast

1x100 free build to fast PINK/ RED/ BLUE/ PURPLE by 25

#3  (1200) FREE

3x

3x100 free (PINK/ RED/ BLUE)

2x50 kick 1 with board/ 1 no board

wrap it up

our usual UWK set with fins (800)

6x 

4x25 @30 (gold 2-4-6-8) (prep 3-5-7-9-) PURPLE FAST  when surface old rounds IMO.  even rounds RIMO

1x50 @1:15 back push your UW near the 15M mark

swim down 50 double arm back

EMOTIONS and SWIMMING

 

It’s race day and as you step onto the block your starting to feel a little anxiety which is not a bad thing, after all you’ve put in all the hard work made the sacrifices and now it’s your time to shine.  How do your emotions play into this scenario?  If you don’t have your emotions in check they can sabotage all of your hard work.

"I am not going to allow myself not to perform well just because I don't feel well.  I am bulletproof to the extent that a lot of things can be thrown at me, but it's about how much I am prepared to let them affect me." Ian Thorpe

Emotions can run the gamut from the positive to the negative and includes everything that falls in between.  The positive emotions will serve you well giving you strength and that quite confidence whereas those negative emotions serve as a weakness in your chink of armor.  Swimmers have always and will continue to react in different ways emotionally.  You need to develop a strategy on how to control your emotions when your race or workout does not go according to the plan.  Positive emotions need to be controlled as much as the negative ones.  Lets say you have a 3 day meet with a lineup of 6 events and you win your first event dropping a substantial amount of time.  The next event you raise your expectations based on that result only to fall short but still dropping some time.  You have now jumped on that roller coaster, and this is why I have always encouraged you to stay somewhere near the middle because I truly believes that puts you in the best position to be successful over the long haul.

So what are some ways that might be of benefit when trying to control your engine and emotions:

1. Check your heart rate (HR) several times a day.  Take it as soon as you wake up as this will give you a resting rate.  Take it at school a few times when your stressed and also when your not stressed.  Take it during practice several times.  by doing so you will learn to manage different situations.
2. Music listen to music as I think all of you know the positive effects it has on you.  
3. Breathe. learn how to do it and I don't mean while swimming.  Learn how to take a deep breath and hold it for several seconds then exhale very slowly.  Put a hand on your core and the other on the small of your back and press when you do it.  You can feel yourself go into a state of relaxation. 
4. surround yourself with people who have positive energy.

Bottom line, is that being an athlete especially a swimmer comes with a lot of emotional baggage.  You

and I need to find a way to not let emotions overwhelm you when you step up onto that block.  Let's work on a way to channel that emotional energy into a positive way when you race.  Don't ever give up, swim in the moment with every thing you have at that moment, that will be your victory always.    No matter what the outcome is, it does not define you as a person. You are the same person you saw in the mirror when you left the house.

THE LETTER “J”

Is the following statement true, “ swimming takes so much of my time I have no time for anything else.”   How do you juggle everything such as swimming, school, rest, homework, family, friends and everything else that comes at you every day.  It’s a lot but manageable if you have a positive mindset that allows you to let things go when they smack you in the face.

Finding balance is about planning in advance.  Let's break down your week and Ill fill in the hours that I can and you can do the rest.

• the day has 24 hours
  
  
  
• the week has 7 days
• the week has 168 hours
• swimming takes up depending on your group or amount of workouts 3 hours/4 hours/6 hours/7.5. (figure out where you fall)  that leaves about 160.5 hours at a minimum.  Thats about 5% of your week.   Interesting fact
• school takes up about 6.5 hours of the day, totaling 32.5 hours of your week (about 19% of your week)
• home work takes an average of________ hours per day.  You need to fill that one out.
• Breakfast and dinner takes an average of ________ hours per day.  You need to fill that one out also.
• sleep could differ but I'm guessing a minimum of  9 hours (63 hours a week) (about 38% of the week)
• How many hours of the week are left?_______________

When your trying to plan your week to find that balance I have some advice for you that may or may not be of value and I will dispense that advice now

1. HYDRATE YOURSELF
2. use a calendar or your diary ( take a few moments on Sunday and make plans for the week, this is when I make the general plan for your workouts for the week.)
3. do not procrastinate (stay clutter and baggage free)
4. stay on a consistent sleep schedule ( you can't maker up for lost sleep) If it's not consistent you'll be on that roller coaster with all the ups and downs and your life, school, swimming will all suffer in the end.
5. prioritize practice.  this is crucial to your success.  when your there BE there in total.  work is work don't look for excuses not to do something

Believe me on the HYDRATION! 

You're a swimmer, we all know that and see your commitment to your sport and that's a good thing.  However you need to understand that you have a life outside of the pool and you need to allow yourself to enjoy that life to it's fullest.  When you find that balance it's when all the things in your life seem to be better.

If your always occupying yourself with swimming and make little room for anything else in life, two things may occur.  "First, it's very easy to become physically and mentally burnt out.  Secondly, it can make swimming seem very monotonous and somewhat of a grind."  Both of these factors can quickly take the fun out of anything even swimming.  

Enjoying other things outside of swimming will go a long way to keep you motivated in swimming.  It will keep you fresh and allow you to keep working towards your goal.  

Now don't get me wrong I am NOT telling you to skip a bunch of practices in a row as that would be a determent to your progress and that is where the planning comes into the picture.  For example coming off a big three day meet the best thing we can do for you is to allow you to skip a practice and allow to hit the reset button.  Our jobs as coaches is to educate you to the fact that's it's okay to take that day away from the pool.  You just need to be smart about it and plan ahead.

In closing I would say that in order to stay balance focus on the now.  worrying about the task at hand.  At practice in the middle of sets I hear "Can we do this or can we do 4 rounds instead of 6?"  Your head is somewhere else b ut definitely not on the task if front of you.  That will make that task be it swimming, homework or anything you're doing seem all the more impossible.  This leads to anxiety and leave you feeling stressed out.  Everything suffers.

Finding that balance will lead to a happier  life at home, at school and in the pool.  Don't forget to reward yourself from time to time because you are important and you deserve it.

Next topic-- The Letter E

A SWIMMERS 🏊‍♀️ ALPHABET

Although your first thought might have been, “Oh no school work” but no after reading an article I thought it might be fun to put the alphabet in a swimmers framework.  As much time you put into the pool with all the hard physical work we sometimes forget about the mental side of the sport.  Let’s shine a light on the “swimmers alphabet”,  we will keep it brief and come back to the letters that you want to dive into, so here we go;

A- is for anxiety 😣

B- building a mindset👍

C- confidence 😎

D- dedication 

E- emotional control 🥲 '

F- fear ☠️

G- goals🏊‍♀️

H- having fun 🤩 

I- injuries and understanding them🚑

J- juggling 🤹‍♀️ everything

K- keeping the peace👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

L- leadership 

M- motivation

N- negative self-talk 🤮

O- overtraining 

P- perfectionist 🧖🏼‍♂️

Q- quality practice 🏊🏻‍♂️🏊‍♀️

R- resiliency 🧗🏼‍♀️

S- stress management 

T- team building 

U- underperforming 

V-  visualization 🪞

W- winning 🥇 

X- X factor ( the variable needed to obtain a successful outcome) 

Y- young athletes 🏊🏊‍♀️

Z- zen thinking (rising above to attain the absolute) 🥇

As you can see we have already discussed a few of these topics and how it may relate to your swimming.  If you had to come up with an alphabet for your personal swimming, what would it look like?  Pull out those journals and put on your thinking  🧐 caps.

LOOKING AHEAD

 

With the last meet of 2022 taking place this weekend I urge each of you to look at your goals and tweak them if you need to.  Look at your event to see if you need any for qualification purposes.  Following is the schedule of meets through FEBRUARY for your planning purposes.  Figure out what you need and please don’t wait until the last moment.  Do it now before the holidays get busy.  Your swimming is just that, yours.  TAKE OWNERSHIP.  Excuses are only a reason for failure.  Don’t go down that hole where you can’t climb out.  You have questions, write them down, bring them in and ask?  We are here to help you but you need to ask.  Just so you know my objective is to qualify as many swimmers for 14 and under champs and the national meet in Florida.

JANUARY DISTANCE MEET

January  7 1650 (mile)

January 8 1000

This is a great opportunity to come in and knock one of these events off our list.  You have an estimated time to come in warmup swim and go home.  Start the new year off by doing one thing that is scary 😧 .

In order to do this you need to be swimming during the holidays or need our permission.

JUMP START TRAVEL MEET (No qualifying times)

January 13-16

It's been a while since we have had a travel meet and this meet offers a great opportunity to race at a new facility with new competition.  It's a prelims finals meet on Saturday and Sunday and timed finals on Monday to allow travel back home and prepare for school on Tuesday.  This meet allows you to have a total of 10 individual events and yes I know you're thinking it's a lot, but that's a good thing.  We are going to use this as a training meet which is going to involve a lot of swimming which will get us ready as we charge into championship season.  Let's sign up for a full schedule for this meet.

POLAR PLUNGE MEET

January 14-15

This meet is our Mako meet and if you are not going to the travel meet you should be signing up for this meet.

IMX CHALLENGE (University of MD.)

January 27-29

This meet is a qualifying meet and one that I think is a good experience for our swimmers.  The swimmers will get both a regional and national ranking at the conclusion of swimming all events.  In order  to qualify a swimmer needs to have a minimum of 1800 points in the following events;

9-10 year olds

200 free

100 fly

100 breast

100 back

200 IM

11-12

500 free

100 fly

100 breast

100 back

200 IM

13-14

500 free

200 fly

200 IM

200 breast

200 back

400 IM

You will sign up for all three days (9-10 Saturday  and Sunday) and swim ALL THE EVENTS.  It's not the type of meet where you are only swimming events you like.  Understand that as you sign up 

MAKO QUALIFIER 

February 4-5 

This meet is for swimmers who are still trying to achieve qualifying times for any of the championship meets in March.  I f you have all your events set for the March meet you should NOT enter this meet.  If you are still trying for qualifying times for Florida you should swim those events.  Focus on the events that you have a chance for qualifying times and focus on them instead of swimming a bunch of events.

We are aware that after this meet we have about 4-5 weeks before the championship meets.  With this we are working on trying to get a meet in mid February as a last chance meet to achieve qualifying times.

SUMMARY

This is what your swimming schedule looks light through the month of February.  Take the time now to figure out which events you need so that you can plan accordingly.  Do not wait until it's to late.

Take note that if you are swimming the IMX meet you will be swimming all your long events suited up so plan for that when looking at the other meets.   Another detail to pay attention to are those events that you have qualifying times in now.  Those are the events that we want to put away until Championship season unless we do a few of them at the travel meet.  An example is that if you are 11-12 and you have a lot of the 50 times already it might be wise to just focus on 100's and 200's. Your 50 times are hard to drop coming off of this past weekend.  Just my thoughts.

Again if you have questions, need help or need to talk just ask.

RESILIENCY

Hope that you all are enjoying the little break after a long weekend of swimming.  We were all witnessed to some exciting races with a lot of personal bests being posted from all of our Mako swimmers.  First off we would like to thank all the parents for volunteering throughout a long challenging weekend and for getting your swimmers back and forth to the pool on time and safely each day.  We could not have had the success without your support and we know your swimmers appreciate it even though they sometimes forget to say it.

Parents, have you ever wondered what coaches and swimmers talk about

after a race?  Some of it is very interesting and can pretty much cover A-Z and everything in between.  Some are short, sweet and to the point and then we have the ones who want to present their graduate thesis where your eyes start bugging out and when your done you look up and you've missed several swimmers.   To give you a better glimpse of how a coach has to become a psychologist with no degree or experience other than being a coach, here is the quote of the meet.  We had this 13 year old swimmer doing a 200 fly (prelims and finals) and at every turn she just floated to the wall almost as if she was waiting for someone to bring the bulkhead to her and then move it back.  As we worked through our post race conversation and without missing a beat she just smiled and said "That's my favorite part of the race".  Oh Cally I can't beat that one!

The Mako 12 and under's showed a great amount of resiliency throughout this meet, and they would need it.  It seemed like they couldn't buy

a break over the weekend.  Each day something would happen to alter the time line and change a short session into a very long day.  On Friday we had a mishap in the pool that would shut both pools down for over two hours.  Upon returning the Mako swimmers continued to rule the pool with some amazing races with both 11 and 12 girls finishing the day going 1-2 in the 400 free relays and the 9-10 boys and girls finishing in the top 3.  It was now time for a very quick nap, and I literally mean quick as final warmups began as soon as they got out of the pool.  Needless to say we were going to skip normal warmup and just do our 2nd quick warm up and get up and race again.

Saturday would bring another adventure for our Mako swimmers.  In the middle of the 200 breaststroke when the fire alarm went off.  With everyone moving towards the exits the swimmers kept swimming determined to finish this race, which they did.  Can you imagine the timing of all this?  Breaststroke,  the one race where your head is out of there water watching and hearing all of this with every cycle and not missing a beat and determined to finish the task at hand.  After moving outside we had most of the kids gathered on the hill but were missing some of our boys.  Of course they are all up hanging out with the firemen and their big shiny trucks.  Boys and their toys.

Would Sunday bring back a sense of normalcy, yes and no.  Time line was going to be off as we had to finish the 200 breast and 100 back from Saturday and only then could we work on Sunday's list of events.  This is where our 12 and under really showed amazing stamina and character.  With a lot of them moving onto finals their day look like a unsurmountable mountain that they were going have to find a way to climb.  Picture this list of events: 

prelims 

• 200 breast 
• 100 back 
• 50 free (relay) 
• 200 IM 
• 100 free 
• 50 breast
• 200 back 
• 100 fly
• 100 (relay) 

Finals :

• 200 breast
• 100 back
• 200 IM
• 100 free
• 50 breast
• 200 back
• 100 fly

A lot of Mako swimmers had 6 races during prelims only to return and have 3 more races at finals.  Thats 9 races (long events) from 1:30 in the afternoon to 8:30 in the evening.  Needless to say at this point we were swimming on sheer exhaustion but we were able to gather ourselves and some how rise to the occasion and have some great races.

Every once in a while and when you least expect it LIFE will sometimes reach out and smack you down and it is at that moment you find out who you really are.  Will you stay down or will you pick yourselves up and keep moving forward.

Sometimes in life you have to find the courage to get up no matter what face your fears and keep moving forward.  Here is a little clip from channel 9 news that you may find interesting.

 All of you were truly amazing this weekend.