MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS

As we celebrate this weekend with our travels, visits with family, maybe even a trip to the beach 🏖️ or just stopping to check in with our summer clubs and reunite with those summertime friendships let’s take a moment and give thanks to our veterans.

We started this week talking about discipline and how if we’re disciplined in our swimming we tend to be more successful and how the lack of discipline will hinder our success.

This weekend as you travel about take time to notice the flags that are up think about why it flies and what moves it, maybe the wind you might say, but I believe it’s more about the veterans who sacrificed so much that it flies and allow us to sleep under the blanket of freedom that it allows.

“Just as you push through the water with every stroke, you honor those who push through the challenges of a military life of service.  Their courage echos with every stroke you take.”  With every breath you draw, every turn you execute it’s a reminder of their ultimate sacrifice.

With that same spirit that they demonstrated, let us show that same spirit in our swimming in their honor.  Let’s show that same discipline and start making some positive changes in our swimming.🏊 

We remember all our veterans and their families for making sacrifices so that we can participate and enjoy our swimming.

DISCIPLINE

 

The word discipline throughout history has had many meanings to every individual. The meaning that we will be referring to for our swimming is as follows; “ The conscious or unconscious motivation that directs an individual’s actions towards maintaining acceptable behavior during all aspects of their training.”

This behavior takes place during workouts, competitions, and life outside the pool.  A disciplined swimmer has extraordinary self-control, they are focused on achieving their goals, and believe they are responsible for what they can accomplish.

Discipline in swimming is your SUPERPOWER and it all starts with having goals, writing them down and coming up with a plan or road map of how to get there. Otherwise it’s just talk and a lot of noise.  

Discipline is not a mysterious art, it’s not genetic it knows no specific gender, it’s just out there freely available to whoever chooses to wield it in their swimming and life.  It’s not easy, it’s hard especially on those days that you may be down a little.

Discipline is a learned skilled and the more you exercise it, work on it, and live it, the better equipped you will become in applying it to all those little things in swimming.

The little things in swimming are black and white, such as doing your UNDERWATER KICKS OFF EVERY WALL and it’s a yes or no answer as to will and how you do them.  There is no middle ground, no wiggle room, no excuses which are only a reason to give you an out for failing.  This goes with all the “little things” in swimming that require a lot of discipline.

Until you come to the point in your swimming where discipline becomes a part of your armor, you will continue to fight those daily battles that you bring on with procrastination and excuses.  Face your hurdles head on as you continue to become that swimmer that you want to be.

RIPPLES

 

Some of us are at that point where we are starting the transition into long course and summer league  swimming.  Regardless of the transition we all probably want the same thing, and that is to swim fast.

Often through our training we are great while we are doing our surface work, but we tend to overlook some  areas that have a ripple effect on the overall race.

Ask yourself this question, what is more important in a race the start, the breakouts, the underwater’s, the turn or the finish.  The answer friends is that they are all important and the longer the event the more ripple effects it will cause in your race.   The effects that all of these areas have during short course or summer season are enormous during your races and will effect your success.

An example of this would be, how you execute your underwater’s especially during the upcoming summer season.  Your races are all 50 meters.  You dive in and execute 4 fast dolphins underwater’s.  The ripple effect is that now you have about 12.5 meters to that turn and with 3 fast underwater’s off the turn  you have about 20 meters to the finish.  That’s a big ripple as you have now shorten the amount of swimming from 50 to around 35 meters.    

Next time out at practice think about all the small things that you are executing and how they will have a huge ripple effect on RACE DAY.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 25-26

The team recommendations have gone out and if you have questions please contact myself directly.  I have not turned any in as of today.   As for the GOLD GROUP all the swimmers will stay unless they are 13.  I have met with a few parents already.   As for the BLUE GROUP. the swimmers should stay but if anyone has other thoughts or suggestions please contact me.

LOOKING BACK and MOVING FORWARD

 Hope all of you who are on spring break are enjoying your time away from school and the pool.  Those of you starting break next week enjoy your time off.

There are many different views out there on the subject of swimmers taking breaks in the “middle of the season” as we end our short course season and head into both long course and summer league season at all of your neighborhood swimming holes. 

Yes, I believe that taking a break at this time will produce many positives down the road for our age group swimmers knowing what their goals are.  First and foremost breaks allow for both physical and mental recovery which reduces the risk of burnouts down the road and can help with increased motivation and confidence when our swimmers return to the pool.

For the past month our mako swimmers have completed in championship meets from UMD to VA TECH to GEORGE MASON and finally in SAINT PETERSBURG.   All of our swimmers found themselves in a championship meet at some point during the month.  They came and put all of their hard work to the test.  

They stepped up onto the blocks and raced and made us all proud with their accomplishments.  Some of these swimmers were put to the test and raced in more events than they thought possible.  An example were a few swimmers in St. Pete who swam 8-10 events, another 6-8 finals and 4 relays.  If you do the math that’s 16-20 races over 4 days.  OUTSTANDING!

Now that our short course season is over I truly believe that it’s a perfect time for a break and to recharge, so to say and prepare for the next three and a half to four months with a new vigor and the motivation and desire for some great racing.

Swimming will always have peaks and valleys and those are lessons in both swimming and life of patience.  Sending our age group swimmers back to the pool when short course season is completed can be confusing

and it may send the wrong message which is; no matter the progress made or the time dropped, it wasn’t good enough so dive right, back in.

Enjoy the break and show up at that next workout smiling 😄and the motivation and desire to see where the next few months take us.  If your counting it’s 57 days until that first summer meet. 

                                                                       HAPPY EASTER 🐣 🐇                                                   

H

 

GETTING OUT.OF YOUR OWN WAY

 Sometimes as athletes/ swimmers we do things to sabotage our path to success.  Whether intentionally or unintentionally we get in our own way that has a direct effect on our training and more importantly our races.

To our swimmers swimming this weekend out at UMD in the 14 and under's championship.  The sky is the limit for each of you this weekend, so don't put a limit on anything as you work through your line up each day.  The more you believe that you can the more you can achieve.  Don't be afraid of setting some scary goals and then go out and chase them down.  It's always fun to chase the goals down.  It's all about you so don't compare yourself to others.  You may come up short, but at the end of the day you must have the mindset and the courage to race and that it is possible to achieve those goals.  Will there be challenges and obstacles, of course there will but they can be overcome.  The key is to stay out of your own way and not create any internal obstacles.

The University of Maryland pool is your arena this weekend.   Remember all the hours of hard work, dedication, and grit that got you here, and now comes the fun and rewards of this sport.  Embrace the moment, swim your best and no excuses leave it all in the pool with each race.  IT's RACE TIME.

SO YOU THINK THE WATER’s COLD

 Have you ever thought that the water is too cold to train or race in.  Do you know why it always feel cold or a little uncomfortable at first.  Well your body temperature is about 98.6 so most bodies of water are always going to feel cold at first but as you begin to move you start heating up your muscles and core temperature and the water becomes tolerable.   Might be the reason coaches try to keep swimmers moving.

I saw this clip about ice swimming this morning and thought of you all on those days when you tell the coaches the water is too cold.  Check it out and oh be careful the next time you tell me it’s too cold.

Crazy ice swimming race

WINNING THE DAY

 

 Swimmers at all levels usually have a goal as the step up on the block for their races.  For age group swimmers that goal usually revolves around four things;

1. Winning the race
2. Winning the heat
3. Personal best
4. Achieving a qualifying time

The order of these goals may differ amongst age group swimmers depending on the time of year or the meet itself.

The truth is that all age group swimmers want to accomplish something in every race but how many are

willing to really do what it takes?  How many are willing to get uncomfortable in order to accomplish something they desire? One thing for sure is that when a swimmer or any athlete steps out of their comfort zone and enter into the uncomfortable zone they really see who they are, what they are really made of and what is possible.  The confidence level of these athletes soars to new heights.

There’s an old saying, “talk the talk, walk the walk”.  It’s easy to say things but it takes real discipline to do what is necessary to accomplish a goal.  Having the will to accomplish any of the goals listed above is great but without a real commitment and discipline it becomes “just talk”.

In order to win that championship race at the end of the year, you must first win each day, each practice, each set, and each repeat.  To win the day you must have the right mindset and be focused the task at hand.   For example let’s take a simple set of 10x50’s free. The focus is to have 3 underwater’s off each wall and bottom arm/ no breath off each turn and no breathing flags to finish.  I’m willing to bet that all you heard was 10x50’s and then your brain went to airplane mode.  The problem is that you missed the 3 critical things that will make you better, heck I can do 10x50’s all day but am I really doing anything of substance.  The other thing that you heard was 10 and instead of focusing on the first 50 and striving for perfection you just swim and can’t wait till you get to 10.

This is where your commitment and discipline come into play.  Can you step out of your comfort zone become uncomfortable and complete the task correctly.  Do you have what it takes to “win the day”.  It begins with simple things and will require discipline.

WINING THE DAY

• Keep up with school assignments.
• Go to bed and arise each day at the same time.
• Make your bed. Your first win of the day.
• Hydrate…hydrate….hydrate. All day long. Keep sipping.
• Arrive early for workouts. Ready to go when we start.  
• Have a great attitude and mindset as you step onto the pool deck.
• Win your warmup. Win each set. 
• Absorb your coaches feedback and then work on it.
• Hold yourself accountable. 
• Spend time journaling after practice.  What worked well. What didn’t.  Where you need to focus more.