November 12^th, 2008 Weekly Update-

 

Practice Updates:

 

Schedule updates for week of November 10^th to November 16^th:

 

Regular Practice schedule throughout the remainder of the week… National Squad will have a double on Saturday, November 15^th:  7-10am ; then 4-5:30pm.  On Sunday, November 16^th there will be a Power Practice for All Varsity, Sectional, and National Squad swimmers from 3-4:30pm.

 

Schedule updates for week of November 17^th to November 23^rd:

 

Regular Practice schedule throughout this week… however there will be NO Saturday Practice due to the Eugene Tri-Meet and the High Desert Classic.

 

New Team Records:

 

Set at the Marie DeHoog Invite:

 

9-10 Girls:

 

Ellie Thornbrue

2008

6:16.73

500 Free

 

15-16 Boys:

 

200 Free Relay	1:33.06	2008	Tomas Mendez-Beck Connor McDonald Will Gunderson Austin Ringquist
200 Medley Relay	1:42.55	2008	Connor McDonald Tomas Mendez-Beck Will Gunderson Austin Ringquist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set at the Artman Invitational:

 

8-Under Girls:

 

Jasmine Johnson Emma Li Liza Lunina Sarah Krueger	2008	2:52.57	200 Free Relay
Liza Lunina Jasmine Johnson Emma Li Emery Miller	2008	3:27.66	200 Medley Relay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9-10 Girls:

 

Ellie Thornbrue	2008	28.59	50 Free
Ellie Thornbrue	2008	2:36.00	200 IM

 

 

 

 

From the USA Swimming Website:

 

Dan Madwed: Smart Swimming Moves

BY MIKE WATKINS//Special Correspondent

Like many 10-year-olds, Dan Madwed wanted to spend his summer lounging around and decompressing from a busy, stressful school year.

 

His mom, Ilene, however, had other plans that didn't involve him bumming through the summer.

 

She made sure he spent his break in the pool instead of on the couch.

 

“I was actually forced by my mom to start swimming at a local swim club,” said Madwed, a native of Stamford, Conn., and whose dad, Bert, swam at the University of Pennsylvania. “I enjoyed it, but I didn't start swimming year-round for another year. I just swam because I enjoyed it, and then my times started to drop the more fun I had.”

 

As he started to get faster and faster, Madwed and his family decided that to truly reach his potential, he needed to relocate to a new environment with top-caliber coaching and training.

 

To accomplish this, he uprooted his life from Stamford to Baltimore to work with Paul Yetter at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, one of the most well-respected and successful clubs in the country and the developmental home of superstars Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, among others.

 

“Moving to Baltimore was definitely the best decision I could have made for my swimming career at the time,” Madwed said. “What really attracted me there was Paul and his coaching style. When I visited, I saw the kind of practices he ran, and I knew I needed to be there. He really knows how to make you step up in practice when you think you have nothing left in the tank.”

 

This summer, Madwed took a positive step toward placing his name alongside other NBAC greats by putting in stellar performances at the Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

           

In Omaha, he finished sixth in the final of the 100 butterfly and won the 200 fly at the Swimvitational, just three weeks before Trials, and finished fifth in the 200 fly and sixth in the 200 individual medley at Trials.

 

And even though he missed making his first Olympic team, Madwed insists his Trials experience was everything he imagined it would and could be.

 

“Trials was definitely what I wanted,” said Madwed, who was named to the 2008-09 U.S. National Team based on his times at 2008 Trials (200 fly) and U.S. Open (200 IM). “I didn't make the (Olympic) team, but I learned a lot about the process of a big meet. I learned how to use the system and structure of a meet like Trials to help me swim fast.”

 

Olympic Trials, however, weren't Madwed's first big meet that came with high expectations. At age 17, he swam on the 2006 Pan Pacific Championship Team, and in 2007, he won a bronze medal in the 200 fly and silver as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team at World University Games, an opportunity that gave him a new perspective on his potential in the sport.

 

“The highlight of my swimming career so far has to be swimming on the prelims of the 800 freestyle relay at the World University Games,” Madwed said. “I wasn't supposed to swim anything but the 200 fly, so it was a welcomed surprise. It also was my first National Team relay. All of the guys on the relay realized the opportunity we had in front of us, and we ended up breaking the meet record in prelims. It was pretty cool even if it was smashed at finals.”

 

For Madwed, swimming at international meets makes all the hard work he puts in during training – which entails between 18,000 and 20,000 meters per day, two to four hours each day, seven days a week – worth the time and sacrifice.

 

“Representing your country in a meet is something hard to explain,” said Madwed, who experienced his first taste of big competition as a 13-year-old at the 2003 U.S. Open, where he finished sixth in the 200 fly. “You realize you represent something much bigger and more important than you. That just helps you swim at a much higher level than you usually do.”

 

With his first NCAA season underway at the University of Michigan, Madwed knows the most successful years of his swimming career are still in front of him. He realizes that, despite his strong summer, he still has much to prove – to himself and the rest of the swimming world.

 

He believes he's up to the challenge – in and out of the pool.

 

“I definitely want to help the team with the NCAA season, but the best part about this team is that we know NCAAs aren't the end of swimming,” said Madwed, who enrolled in Michigan's engineering program this fall after taking the 2007-2008 school year off from school to focus on training for Trials. “We all have aspirations to make it onto national teams and show the world what Michigan swimming can do.

 

“Swimming fast is great, but to help other people and succeed outside the pool will define who you area and will make you feel good about yourself. And when you feel good, you will succeed in the pool as well, so it all works together.”

 

 

From Your Head Coach:

 

To the Membership-

 

First of all, great job to all of the HEAT athletes at the recent St. Helen’s meet.  I was very proud of our older athletes who took on the responsibility of mentoring and looking after our younger athletes.  In the end I believe this meet overwhelmingly served it’s purpose of fostering a great team environment for all ages and ability levels.  The older swimmers will now be setting their sights on a meet (November 22^nd) aimed at providing a high level of competition in preparation for our December mid season meets.

 

Thanks, as well, goes to all the parents that stepped forward to help time; and to all of our officials that made the St. Helen’s meet possible.  Nice work to the entire HEAT organization.

 

If you haven’t seen Coach Mark’s email to the membership, the Forest Grove Swim Club will not be able to accept our large number of swimmers into their Invitational meet the beginning of December.  Therefore, our Novice, Developmental, and Age Group Squads will be traveling to Lake Oswego for their invitational meet.  Their meet runs on the same days (December 5-7^th), has a similar format, and more importantly, will be able to accommodate all 124 swimmers that signed up from these respective squads.  The one thing that may be slightly different then the schedule at Forest Grove, is Lake Oswego may be changing their overall meet format to a 10 and Under morning session and a 11-Over Senior Session.  They are doing this to provide more opportunities for more athletes… such as ours!

 

Overall I believe this meet will be very competitive, and will be a great showcase for all of our HEAT athletes in attendance.  When we arrive, please thank the Lake Oswego organization for helping to accommodate all of our athletes.

 

For future seasons, the coaching staff will be switching as often as possible to a three tier meet plan…. Novice and Developmental will attend one specific meet; Age Group I, II, III will attend another; and our Sectional and National squads another… versus the two tier plan that we have been going on up to this point.  I will ALWAYS make it a point however to try to find one meet a season where all of our athletes can be in attendance at the same time (such as the St. Helens meet) for team building purposes.

 

 

National Notes:

 

I’ve talked about it in workout, but I want to reiterate again, that as National Squad athletes, each and every one of you should own a plain black SPEEDO for all competitions. Other company suits with the logo scratched off is not acceptable.  In workout, as old training suits start to wear out, replacements should as well be SPEEDO… color choice, in regard to practice, is up to you.

 

Upon writing this we are now 28 days out from the USA Swimming Junior National Meet, and 29 days out from the Oregon Swimming Senior Open.  As the days get closer and closer, many of you have noticed that the intensity of dryland and swim practice has gotten tougher and tougher, and the yardage has continued to inch onward as well.  It is imperative that if you wish to perform at your best a little more than a month from now, you come mentally and physically prepared to do battle with your squad mates each day.

 

Two swimmers that I want to recognize this week that have been drastically stepping up their overall intensity and work ethic are:  Connor McDonald and Chelsea Garza.  Whether it is IM, FR, FL, or even Breaststroke training now (!!!!) Connor has been stepping up his game and putting himself in the thick of things day after day.  I have not seen a set in quite some time now where Connor was okay with fading back and letting someone else take the glory.  If we are doing something, Connor is trying to win it.  This wasn’t always the case... nice work.  Chelsea basically just decided one day that she was tired of the boys winning everything, and has been on a mission ever since to push the newly minted National squad ladies up to their level. Whether it is 400’s FR where she is going on the toughest interval, or 50’s All-out BK where she is not afraid to take on the National qualifiers, Chelsea is leading by example out there. Keep it up.

 

 

Novice III/IV News:

 

Meet Report:

 

Karl- took on 50 FL. First ever SCY yard meet.  Free looking MUCH improved.

Jonathan- scored in 100 BK (8^th), took on 50 FL, broke a minute in first 50 FR!

Hailey- Breaststroke super kicker!  Scored points in 50 BK and 100 FR!

Madeline- First ever meet, ALL legal times!  Scored points in all events!

Donovan- huge improvements, especially in BK and FR; scored points in these events!

Bryttney- swam so great didn’t recognize her!  Legal in everything but BR… almost

Kaylie- AWESOME!  Broke 30 in 25 BK, and nearly 50 in first 50y FR!

Jacob- Super job in FR and BK!  FL and BR almost legal, keep working it!

Max- First legal 100 IM! Dropped 10 seconds in 50 BK, in route to first B time!

Aiden- First legal 50 BR J  Dropped 7 seconds in 100 IM; broke 29 in 25 FL!

Jordan- Huge time drops in all events; highlighted by a 19 second drop 100 IM!

Sarah- 100% bests; A time in 25 BK, along with a 1^st place finish! Team record in relay!

Walker- First meet, looked like has been doing it for awhile. Scored points in 3 events!

Emery- Great drops in 25 FL and 50 FR; helped set a new Team Record in a relay!

Corbin- Most improved award overall for Novice III.  Barely recognized him!

Luke- First time A times in 50 BK and 25 FL.  First place finishes in 25 FL and 25 FR!

Nathan- First ever meet!  Scored points in 100y BK.  Amazing first 50 FR!

Carson- First place finish in 25 BR!  First meet ever!  Scored points in all events!

 

 

From Coach Mark:

 

For the parents: Properly equipped?

 

We are now two months into the new swim season and I am surprised to find that many swimmers still do not have ANY equipment that is REQUIRED of the group.  Do not assume that it is an accepted practice for Age-Group and Sectional swimmers to use the equipment left in the lost-and-found or the equipment that is provided for patrons of the SHARC that this is an accepted practice.  Each swimmer should have his or her own gear!

 

 Here is what is expected with regard to your swimmer and swimming equipment:

• Each swimmer’s first and last name must be on each piece of gear.
• Each swimmer needs to be responsible for his or her equipment before practice (bring ALL of your equipment to your lane before practice begins).
• Each swimmer needs to be responsible for his or her equipment after practice (you may hang your bag on the wall or bring it home…do not leave it by the pool and do not leave it at home). 

 

It is common for swimmers to mistake equipment for their own when it isn’t marked with any distinguishing character.  I recommend that each piece (each paddle, each fin, each piece of the snorkel) of equipment be marked with your swimmer’s first and last name in black Sharpie (maybe even add initials with nail polish).  Swimmers are also encouraged to decorate their equipment. Equipment that is completely personalized is hard to mistake and less likely to be desired by those who are looking into a “long term lease” of any equipment they find lying around. 

 

The coaching staff knows that it is frustrating when equipment goes missing.  We recommend that when it does that the swimmer shows responsibility by initiating the search.  If your swimmer still can not find his or her own equipment, it is truly a matter of parenting style that will teach your child to respect and value equipment and property. 

 

The equipment we ask our swimmers to provide is important.  The coaches ask swimmers to use it whenever appropriate, but are less likely to ask when many swimmers are still going without.  Please make sure your swimmer has all the gear required of his or her group, so that practice can run smoothly and according to the coaches’ season planning.  

 

SECTIONAL

 

Great weekend of racing.  Great weekend of teamwork!  I’m impressed at the attitudes of those who showed up ready to race, last weekend and even more impressed at the unselfishness with which members of this group shared their time and effort in directing their “buddies” in helping individuals find their way in their early swimming careers.

 

This brings me to this week’s topic:  TEAM SWIMMING!  It is tough to view swimming as a team sport.  You swim by yourself.  You even swim on relays, one at a time.  However, it important to have the team aspect to make the individuals become the best that they can be. 

 

Right now, we have 30 swimmers in the “Senior” portion of our team.  That means that we have, roughly, 170 swimmers that look up to you guys.  Where will you lead this team in the upcoming years?  The choices you make and the example you set will shape the culture of the team to come.  You will decide what is and isn’t acceptable with the way you think, act, and do. Regardless of what any coach has to say about it, the culture comes from the leading individuals and not just from the coach. 

 

The biggest change we can make right now lies in the area of UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT.  You have to be there for your teammates when they swim well! You have to be just as excited as they are.  You have to want it as badly for them as you do for yourself.  You also have to be there for your teammates when they aren’t swimming well!  You have to be the one to pick them up, wake them up, and shake them up.  Let them know that you care about the way they are swimming (or behaving).  Let them know that you want to help.  Let them know that you are there to make swimming fun, NO MATTER WHAT! 

 

You guys are the leaders of the future.  Find that common ground on which to train and compete and make sure that you are consistently pushing this attitude of excellence every day in every way! 

 

Here are some swimmers who are leading by example: 

• Taylor Frank and Tommy Nuthman were top 2 in our 1200IM, while Megan Tienken made the biggest improvement from her previous best (47 seconds).
• Taylor Frank and Kevin Rhodes proved to be our top 2 in the 500 kick, while it was Christi Wanzenried with the most improvement from previous best (1:23).
• Honorable mention this week to Sam Ellis and Andrew Rogers for making new intervals and doing some things they had never done before!

 

AGE GROUP

 

This week we talked a little about TEAM!  I think that everyone wants to be a part of a great team environment, but isn’t sure how each individual fits into the picture.  Every day you come to practice or a meet, you should be thinking, “how can I make the team better today?” 

 

The first way you can do it is with UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT of your teammates.  Praise your teammates when they are up (even when you are down). Help your teammates when they are down (even when you are up).  You don’t have to be best friends with everyone on the team, but you do have to be willing to step outside your little circle sometimes to help out a struggling individual.

 

The next way you can help is by BEING A GOOD LEADER.  Some people lead by example.  That means they do the right thing every time, without being asked or prompted by the coach.  Some people lead by voice.  That means that they keep others on task, informed, inspired by the way they are able to tell the group what is going on.

 

The next way you can help is by BEING A GOOD FOLLOWER.  You do a lot of following in swimming:  follow direction, follow the swimmer in front of you, follow the guidelines of a set, etc. A good follower is someone who recognizes who is doing the right thing and who isn’t and makes the decision to do it right, no matter what. 

 

Finally, the way you can make our team great is to COMPETE!  Competition translates from Latin to mean, “strive WITH each other.”  It has nothing to do with opposition or “swimming against” anyone.  When swimmers are competitive in practice, everyone gets better.  When you put in a lot of effort in competing with your teammates, a lot emotion often follows suit.  Sometimes, people get upset or disappointed when a swimmer comes out of nowhere to beat a more experienced swimmer, in practice.  This will happen to you, eventually.  The key is to make sure that you are supporting that individuals efforts, wholeheartedly, and if you are upset about it, leave it in the pool (Etch-a-sketch, remember?).

 

I know that we have the pieces and individuals to have a great TEAM for years to come.  The decisions made by those individuals will prove it, when they think of the team’s needs before their own.

 

Here are some swimmers who helped out the team this last week:

 

AG III

• Logan Neal and Yuliya Lunina had the top 2 averages in the 5x100IM test set.  Most improved was Sam Coven.
• Michelle Benedict and Ellie Thornbrue had our top 2 times in the 500 free pull, while Marisa Jack took most improved honors.
• Honorable mention this week goes to Tori Graf who really made some big improvements on her weak areas this week!

 

AG II

• Hannah Eakin and Anton Loncar had the top 2 averages on the 5x100IM test set.  Anton was also the most improved on the set.
• Emily Ellis and Emily Donalson had the top 2 swims in our 500 pull for time, and Logan Frank proved to be the most improved.
• Honorable mention this week goes to Haley Leitner and Hannah Eakin who are consistently brining all their sets to another level!

 

AG I

• Mikayla Fisher and Shaelie Handley were the top 2 300 pullers this week, while Jonathan Napier finished as the most improved.
• Honorable mention goes out to Garreth Orrick and Mycah Ellis who are clearly putting the extra effort into everything they are doing on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

 

SLST South Columbia Artman Invite: What a great meet for our side! I’m proud of our older swimmers for doing such a great job of taking the ball and running away with it in terms of being the best big buddies they can be.  Much thanks to Coach Kaitlin, who put together the lists and put a lot of time and effort into seeing that everything worked out about as smoothly as it could have.  Oh-ya…other than all the great team interaction, we also had a competitive swim meet! 

 

Even thought we had the great majority of my squads there…I feel it important to point out the individual efforts that made the team look great!

 

Sectional

Kaitlyn:  personal best 100 fly…great races throughout…great relay efforts, too

Sam:  new A in the 200 fly…dropped a second in the 50 free…strokes looked great

Taylor:  personal best 100 back…right on best times otherwise…aggressive racing

Jane:  dropped 4 seconds 100 breast…highlight was a great 200 free race

Mitchell:  personal bests 200fr and 100br…nearly won the 100 fly!

Tommy:  100% best times…dropped 10 seconds in the 200 fly…hard work paying off

Kevin:  new Senior State time in the 200br…swam his first ever 200 fly

Andrew:  a few new personal bests, including a 2+ second drop in the 100 breast

Logan:  best time in her best event, 200 fly…learning to swim fast and relaxed

Aron:  big drop in the 100 breast, closing in on his first Senior State cut

Megan:  nearly all best times, including her first ever 200 fly

Christina:  best times in the breastrokes…winner in the 100 free

Anni:  nearly 4 second drop in the 200IM…turns and kicking are definitely improving

Christi:  100% best times…nearly 10 second drop in the 200 breast

 

AG III

Michelle:  triple event winner…first ever 200 back and 200 fly…big drop in the 100 fly

Sam:  big improvement and new B time in the 100 fly…first ever 200 back

Jonathan:  dropped 17 seconds in the 100 fly…inching closer to his first A in the breast

Tori:  huge drops from last season…100% best times…new B time in the 100 breast

Marisa:  new A in the 200 IM…100% best times…event winner in the 100 back

Christian:  nice time drop in the 200 back…first ever 200 fly...good meet, considering the circumstances

Megan:  100% personal bests…all new B times for 12-year-olds…very close to the A’s

Yuliya:  new A times in the IM’s…won the 50 back…first ever 200 fly

Logan:  triple event winner…big drops in the 200’s from last year…50 free time is starting to make the National groupers sweat a little bit

Malia:  100% best times…dropped more than 2 seconds in every event

Ellie:  100% best times…2 new team records...finally ages up to 11 this week

 

AG II

Tori:  first B time with the HEAT…100% best times…40 second drop in the 200IM

Ryan:  100% personal bests…new B time in the 50 free…legal butterfly

Emily D:  all best times…big time drops in the 100 back and breast…first ever 200 bk

Hannah:  huge drop in the 200 IM…new B times in the 200 IM, 100 IM, and 200 breast

Maddy:  big time drops in the 100 breast and IM…starts and turns are much improved

Emily E:  new B times in the 200 IM and 100 br…dropped 30 seconds in the IM

Logan:  new B times in 3 events…25 second drop in the 200 IM…won 200 IM and 50 br

Haley:  huge time improvement in the 100 fly…first ever 200 breast…great relay efforts

Lauren:  first ever 200 back…big 3 second drop in the 100 IM…big attitude adjustment!

Noah:  event winner 100 back and 100 fly…good 3 second drop in the 100 IM

Attila:  crazy 40 second drop in the 200 IM…new A time and event winner in the 100 bk

 

AG I

Hannah:  first ever A time in the 50 fly…great racing…need to breathe every 3^rd in free

Maya:  100% best times…first ever B time in the 100 breast…huge time drops

Cade:  big 28 second time improvement in the 200 IM…also dropped in the 100 IM

Kyle:  15 second drop in the 100 back…picked up the A time in the 100 breast

Janelle:  first ever club meet…swam legal in each swim…really great turns and kicking

Mycah:  first meet as a 10-year-old…100% best times…new B in the 200 IM and 50 free

Craig:  first time 200 IM and 100 br…finished 2^nd in the breast

Mitchell:  big time drop in the 100 fly…new A time in the 50 breast

Mikayla:  great competitive effort…looked very comfortable in first ever 100 breast

Josh:  first meet…event winner 100 free…more confident racer as the meet progressed

Shaelie:  good time drops in the 200 IM, 50 free, and 50 back…winner of the 50 back

Matthew:  awesome first ever 100 fly…new B time in the 100 free

Abby:  raced like never before…dropped 8 seconds in the 100 breast and 9 in the 100 IM

Nicole:  first meet ever…raced well…must learn to put those flip turns to good use

Daniel:  3 swims, 3 new events…real good looking 100 breastroke

Jonathan:  starts certainly improved…winner of the 100 back…good time drops overall

Gareth:  first meet as a 14-year-old…competed well in the 50 free…work those turns!

Lucy:  nearly all best times, including 5 second drop in the 100 IM and 2 in the 50 free

Max:  100% best times…23 second drop in the 200 IM…triple winner

Christina:  100% best times, including 7 second drop in the 50 free…first ever 200IM

Flloyd:  put together 3 very good races…big 3 second drop in the 50 fly

 

 

 

 

From Coach Caitlin:

 

Novice I

We had a crowded pool on Monday, but you did a very good job staying with our group and listening.  Matthew and Tessa are doing a wonderful job keeping their heads above the water when the coaches are talking.  On Monday you practiced your streamline pushoffs to get ready for the next streamline contest.  I wonder who will win!  Everyone is improving!  You also practiced butterfly/dolphin kicks.  Some have done this one before, and for others it was new.  Kimberly and Ellie had really nice kicks.  And Logan did a great job remembering to keep his legs together.  Some of you will work on those dolphin kicks again this week!

 

Novice II

Congratulations to everyone who swam at the St. Helens swim meet!  I had a great time watching you swim!  For many of you it was your first swim meet.  You did a good job getting to your lane on time.  For your next swim meet I want you to come talk to me before and after each of your races.  Before you swim I can give you reminders.  And after your race I can tell you what was good and what needs more work.  Jasmine did the best job of coming to talk to me every time.

On Tuesday you swam 2 x 25 backstroke.  You did the same swim on October 2nd.  Here is your fastest time from this Tuesday and in parentheses is how many seconds you added or dropped from the times I recorded a month ago:

Tayliah :35 (+3)

John :36 (-23)

Carson :34 (N/A)

Kyra :34 (N/A)

Catherine :34 (-7)

Jordan :28 (-8)

Leslie :36 (N/A)

Dylan :34 (-3)

Ian :35 (-10)

Jennie :30 (-1)

Anabel :57 (-18)

Jasmine :32 (0)

Mikayla :37 (-10)

Kyle :40 (N/A)

Monique :36 (-8)

David :35 (-1)

Marek :27 (0)

 

 

Devy

Nice job at the meet last weekend!  I gave prizes to the swimmers who did a legal backstroke flipturn.  Amy, Elijah, Olivia, Julia, Dylan, Hannah G., Damon, Emma H., J.J., Megan, Liza, Mitchell, Shane, and Liam all received some goodies!  And Hannah G. got a mega prize because she had a 100 AND 50 backstroke over the weekend.  Something for everyone to keep in mind for the next swim meet - come talk to me before and after your race.  I shouldn't have to remind you every meet.  Amy did the best job at this.  She is the only one who gave herself enough time to talk to me before each race so she didn't have to rush getting to her lane.  And she came right over to me when she finished swimming.  If I'm not around you can always go to another coach.

After seeing your races at the meet, this week and next week we're going to spend extra time on breaststroke pullouts, breaststroke and butterfly turns ("open turns"), and long freestyle armstrokes. 

On Tuesday you used sticks for the first time to do a freestyle drill, to make those armstrokes nice and long.  It's like catch-up drill, but you have to hold a stick out in front of you.  Everyone looked awesome!  I thought you looked better than the Age Group swimmers!!!  Felix and Brant had wonderful freestyle - long, smooth armstrokes with a strong kick.  On Tuesday you also swam a 100 breaststroke fast.  Remember to take your time on you pullout!  Count inbetween each step of the pullout.  Here are your times:

Amy 2:10

Olivia 2:18

Neha 2:44

Ben 3:28

Julia 2:05

Brant 2:23

Ari 2:33

Dylan 2:15

Hannah G. 2:37

Damon 2:15

J.J. 2:05

Emma L. 2:13

Megan 2:43

Liza 2:16

Shane 2:17

Netianah 2:25

Hannah T. 1:56 (50 meters)

Felix 2:11

Lane 2:26

McKenna 2:32

 

Age Group I

I hope you all smiled for your pictures!  Because of picture day we had a shortened practice on Monday.  But we still had time for relays!  We had girls vs. boys.  The girls won 3 out of 4 relays!  Relay starts are improving.  Keep your eyes on the person swimming in, follow them in with your hands, swing your arms forward, and dive in.  I loved everyone's cheering and enthusiasm.  I want that level of excitement every relay Monday.

Last Friday you did some 25's underwater dolphin kicks on your back in a streamline with fins.  At the end we had a contest to see how far you could go doing those underwater dolphin kicks on your back.  Hannah did a whole 25 without breathing!  And she maintained a tight streamline!  No matter how awesome your dolphin kicks are, if you don't have a tight streamline it will never help you.

 

 

 

From Coach Andrew:

 

Hey Novice III Swimmers,

 

The report from last weekend’s St. Helens meet was excellent! Great job everyone!  Meets are a wonderful opportunity to see all our hard work pay off.  Meets also give us a really good idea of what needs work.  We’ve got a little less than a month before our next meet in Lake Oswego, so let’s get hit the water the next couple of weeks with excitement and determination to improve. 

 

First, streamlines: it’s probably the simplest and sure way to improve on all your races.  Push off the wall with your arms tightly squeezing your head, every time.  You won’t see a single Olympian push off the wall (whether in practice or a meet) without one.

 

Next, turns: any extra time spent on the wall is time you’re not spending swimming to the finish. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to work on executing legal, fast, and effective turns; and yes, that includes flip-turns.

  

Next, kick: many Novice swimmers believe the majority of speed is generated from your arms. Though this may be close to true, the problem is that these swimmers spend their races powering through the water with their arms without emphasizing a strong kick.  Your legs are strong!  We’re going to spend a couple of weeks intensifying our kick in all four strokes.

 

Finally, breathing: believe it or not, learning to control and correctly incorporate your breathing is a very important skill in swimming.  For example, the timing of your breath in both butterfly and breaststroke are so crucial, that if you wait too long to lift your head it will interfere with the rest of the stroke.  In freestyle, the way in which you breathe can really affect proper body position and many other factors.

 

So let’s hit the water the next couple of weeks with excitement and determination to improve.

 

 

From Coach Kaitlin:

 

Novice I

 

This week we will be starting to work on our butterfly arms and continuing our work on butterfly and breaststroke kick.  On Monday everyone worked on dolphin kick together and it looked great!  A few things to remember...feet together, head down and bottom up.  Be like Ariel or Ariel's best merman friend!

 

As Caitlin mentioned last week, high school swimming has started this week and there are many more people in the pool.  Please do your best to keep your head above the water when either one of us is talking and have your best listening skills everyday.  Its going to be very loud in there and we need to keep working hard even though we have new distractions.

 

Great job to Kimberly and Ellie who had great dolphin kicks and were able to demonstrate for us on Monday.  Thank you ladies!!

 

 

Novice IV

 

This week we will continue our work on freestyle, backstroke and streamlines.  Yesterday we really hammered our streamlines and they looked awesome!  We just need to remember to do them EVERY time we push off a wall...and remember to keep your head down inbetween your arms.  With our freestyle we have been working on side breathing, specifically keeping the whole side of our face in the water when we get a breath.  It looked tons better at the end of practice.  We are also working on having long arms, like we are eight feet tall.  Keep reaching out in front of you.

 

Be ready for some backstroke work tonight :)

 

 

Devy's

 

Great job to everyone that participated in the St. Helens meet.  It was an awesome meet and I hope everyone had fun with it!  A few things I noticed that we need to keep working on are: streamline dolphin kicks off EVERY wall.  Most people did them great off the start, but forgot them off the turns.  Kicking in backstroke and freestlye for the whole race.  Again people did great at the beginning but then thier legs died at the end of the race.  We do a ton of kicking at practice so we need to carry that over to our races.  The third thing was gliding in breaststroke.  Many of you just kept your arms moving as fast as you could the whole time.  Remember that when you glide, you are still moving forward and it takes less effort to do so!

 

Some things that I think we improved on were: our finishes...I did not see many people gliding into the wall, I saw racing into the wall...and our breaststroke and dolphin kicks...everyone did a great job of squeezing their legs together on breaststroke and having 2 dolphin kicks in thier butterfly stroke.  And, great job to everyone that tried thier backstroke flipturns!!!!

 

Some standout swims came from:

 

Liza & Emma H.- both had awesome dolphin kicks off their starts...Mark even commented on Emma's!

 

Hannah G.- did a fantastic job of keeping her strokes together

 

Shane- did a great job of racing the people around him

 

 

From Coach Matt:

 

Novice 1

Last week we did some kicking races in practice.  Everyone did a great job trying to race the swimmers next to them and trying to improve their freestyle kick.  The swimmers also worked with me on diving under water to pick up different color dive rings.  Ivy did an awesome job and was able to dive all the way to the bottom of the deep end to pick up her ring!  Keep up the great job!

 

Novice 2

Last week we did more work on breastroke.  Some swimmers are having a little bit of trouble but most are improving greatly. Remember that for breastroke we use the “frog” kick and for butterfly we use the “dolphin” kick.  Also, on breastroke arms we want to remember that we cannot pull our arms all the way down to our hips.  We also need to remember to take a breath on every stroke we take in breastroke.  Lastly, on both butterfly and breastroke, remember to touch all walls with both hands at the same time!

We also had many swimmers participate in the St. Helens meet over the weekend.  Great job to all the swimmers who this was their first real meet!  Everyone swam fast and looked like they were trying to race the swimmers next to them.  Don’t worry if you were disqualified.  This gives us a chance to know what we need to work on and can fix it before the next meet!

 

Age Group

Swimmers have been working hard in dryland on the new exercises we are doing.  Most people have also been telling me that they are having fun, which I enjoy hearing.  Swimmers remember to work hard on the jumping drills we are doing because it will help you in the water while you are swimming!  Great job also to all the swimmers who swam at the meet over the weekend!