SWAT Summer Team Registration Now Open
SWAT’s Summer Program is open for 2012! We will practicing again this year at the Sackville Sports Stadium. The team will be coached by SWAT’s Heidi Miller. The program starts Monday, July 2, 2012 and runs for 8 weeks.
Lane 7 – May 13th, 2012
We Need Your Feedback
Congratulations to the Novatech swimmers on an excellent year! See Coach Kevin’s message for some results from the Novatech Explosion this weekend.
You may have been receiving some e-mails from SWAT about a survey. Please fill it out. The survey is your way of giving the team feedback on what you think of SWAT and if there are any ways the team can improve. The link is listed below in this issue of Lane 7 as well as information on the team banquet and the coach’s message.
SWAT Surveys
From Daisy Karasek – SWAT TreasurerPlease use the link below to complete our year end SWAT survey, IF you haven’t already done so.
It only takes a few minutes and can be completed by swimmers and/or parents, as we appreciate both points of view.
Thank you for your time.
End of Year Banquet
As the year end approaches, we are gearing up for a great evening at our annual SWAT Banquet. All swimmers and their families are invited to attend. Be prepared for an evening of laughter, appreciation and recognition as several speeches and presentations are made. Every swimmer will be recognized for their accomplishments during the year. Don’t forget your cameras! Dress is semi formal.
When: Thursday, June 14th, 6-8 pm
Where: Sackville Legion
Menu: Turkey Dinner with potatoes, veggies (Drink & Desert)
Cost: $15 per person
* In exceptional cases (very young children, vegetarian, for example), a limited amount of pizza will be made available. Cost is $12.50 per person, includes drink and dessert.
Tickets are now being sold. Please get your tickets before May 28th, because after that, it will be too late! Please contact Daisy or Nicole to get your tickets.
Nicole: swatequipment@eastlink.ca
Daisy: swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com
Please. Please, Please, if you wish to pay in cash, provide the exact change as Nicole and Daisy won’t always have change. Payment can also be made by cheque (written to SWAT) or using your cost recovery funds.
Coaches’ Notebook
The first Championship meets are over and I am very proud of the results. The Nova Tech swimmers rose to the challenge in Port Hawkesbury and completed a large number of best times. Special congratulations to Maggie During on graduating to Age Group swimming. Also Veronica Woodrow moving to Level 2. The participation swimmers Rebecca Tomlik and Caitlyn Gannon both graduated to Level 1. Natalie Inamura, Robin Butler and Caleigh Clements all got the freestyle portion of the final graduation. SWAT had one of the highest best time percentages at the meet and the results will be coming shortly.
We looked awesome in the pool but really sharp in our new t-shirts. No problem for this group to show their pride in their team.
I know a long weekend is coming up but due to the major meets we will have regular practices all weekend.
The week following is the Junior Provincial swimmers opportunity to show what they are made of in Wolfville. They will be starting their taper with the other groups still working on endurance.
The awards from the top three meets are held back to be presented at the banquet so you need to make sure you get your tickets. The banquet is on June 14th but we need to know our numbers quickly so read this Lane 7 to get the banquet info.
If you haven’t been to one of our banquets please think again as it is one of the most enjoyable and fun evenings of your life. Talk to Senior members of the team and get their opinions.
Thank you Nova Tech swimmers for making the coaches look good. You did SWAT good.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight – Swimmer Tips
The link below is a pdf file from Australia with some swimming tips for kids. Thanks to Gary Karasek for bringing it to our attention.
Lane 7 – May 6th, 2012
A Week for an Explosion
This weekend was the Halifax Trojans’ Spring Invitational meet at Dal for our Age Group swimmers. SWAT swimmers put in quite the effort! Swimming long course can be a challenge but SWAT was up to it.
This coming weekend is the Novatech Explosion in Port Hawkesbury. The big ending to the season for our younger swimmers. Best of Luck to all attending. Let’s be sure to end the Novatech years with a big SWAT bang!
Also in this week’s Lane 7; some open positions for SWAT volunteers, information on the year end banquet, some nutritional information in the spotlight and of course, the Coach’s message.
Volunteers Positions for Cost Recovery 2012/13
From Joanne Hylkema – Cost Recovery Co-ordinator
We have several volunteer positions open in Cost Recovery going forward into the 2012/13. It is important to fill a few key roles early in order to pass on information and put together a plan for the next season. I have broken down the roles into hopefully manageable bits which when we work together will create a great season. Take a look….
Member of the Executive
- oversight of cost recovery activites
- attend monthly executive meetings
- collect updates and report to board
Administrative Support
- maintain cost recovery spreadsheet
- make bank deposits
Communication/Group Laison
- update and maintain current cost recovery e-mail contact list
- host/attend cost recovery meetings when necessary to convey information
Activity Leaders (some activities require more than one leader)
- plan/co-ordinate/advertise cost recovery activity
- wrap up event, ie. collect proceeds, prepare statement and pass on to admin. support.
- activites ie. lotto tree, pies, swim-a-thon, etc.
If interested in helping out, contact Joanne Hylkema (swatcr@hotmail.com).
Questions/comments welcome.
Other Vacancies Needing Volunteers
From Gary Karasek – SWAT President
Please take note that the Executive will be looking for new members this year. If anyone thinks that they might be able to help with the day-to-day running of SWAT, please let anyone on the Executive know (all contact info is on our website). My email is gkarasek@webactionhero.com to contact me directly.
Current vacancies include: Secretary and Cost Recovery Chair. As well, both Nicole Inamura (Equipment Manager) and Daisy Karasek (Treasurer) require someone to help out with their duties. Even if you can just help out with a small task, that would be welcomed too!
SWAT Surveys
To all parents and swimmers, please watch your email in the next week for “The Annual SWAT Survey” which will this year be coming to you via SurveyMonkey. This survey should be completed as soon as possible after receiving the link and is a very important tool that the Executive uses to help make the changes, if any, that YOU want and need.
Please let us know what is on your mind so we can help make SWAT the best that it can be! Your feed back is the best tool we have to make that happen.
End of Year Banquet
As the year end approaches, we are gearing up for a great evening at our annual SWAT Banquet. All swimmers and their families are invited to attend. Be prepared for an evening of laughter, appreciation and recognition as several speeches and presentations are made. Every swimmer will be recognized for their accomplishments during the year. Don’t forget your cameras! Dress is semi formal.
When: Thursday, June 14th, 6-8 pm
Where: Sackville Legion
Menu: Turkey Dinner with potatoes, veggies (Drink & Desert)
Cost: $15 per person
* In exceptional cases (very young children, vegetarian, for example), a limited amount of pizza will be made available. Cost is $12.50 per person, includes drink and dessert.
Tickets are now being sold. Please get your tickets before May 28th, because after that, it will be too late! Nicole Inamura will be selling tickets mainly to the swimmers in Nova Tech and their families. She will have them at the meet in Port Hawkesbury this coming weekend. Daisy will be at the Junior Provincial meet, so the age group swimmers can get tickets from her at that time. If you miss them at the meets, you can contact them to get tickets.
Nicole: swatequipment@eastlink.ca
Daisy: swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com
Please. Please, Please, if you wish to pay in cash, provide the exact change as Nicole and Daisy won’t always have change. Payment can also be made by cheque (written to SWAT) or using your cost recovery funds.
Coaches’ Notebook
We had pretty tiring days at Dalplex this weekend. Overall I was quite pleased with the results for an early long course meet. I was especially pleased with Grace Butler making her East Coast standard in the 50 free, congrats.
It is very difficult to get long course training time for our team at a reasonable time. We use the first couple of swim meets to get the extra time in the longer pool. It is important that the swimmers arrive on time and get in the water especially during split warm ups. This morning the older swimmers did a very poor job of taking advantage of the opportunity. Long course is not difficult it just takes time to get used to it. Every time someone stops before the end wall means a lost opportunity to practice the distance. I had a talk with the swimmers involved this morning and hope I got through. I was very pleased with the team cheer and I believe this helps motivate each other when you stand up proud and tell everyone you are proud of your team. Although we are an individual sport there is a major team component and it means everyone must be part of the team items. The swimmers need to ask themselves are they doing all they can do to be the best they can be or are they trying to bring others down to a lower level. Many times I hear well so and so is doing something else so why can’t I. The answer is that everyone has different goals and desires. If you lower your standards you are only trying to attain someone else’s goals not yours.
May and June are very busy months. We have 5 swim meets in 6 weeks. Now that mostly involves different swimmers at each meet but the team will be very active. Make sure you help your teammates attain their best at their top meets.
This week we are choosing events for Junior Provincials May 26 to 28th in Wolfville. This meet is for all swimmers who have not qualified for East Coast and have graduated from Nova Tech. We always have a strong team so make sure your schedule includes this competition.
Saturday morning will have a regular practice with 200 free being the time trial.
The most important thing happening this week is the Explosion Nova Tech Championships being held in Port Hawkesbury Saturday and Sunday. We have about forty swimmers attending this meet and I expect to present lots of medals and ribbons to those moving through the Levels. To help motivate these swimmers we will have a little pep rally after their practices on Thursday and Friday. There will be a treat and a special gift for all the swimmers. Practice the team cheer and be ready to show you are proud of our team.
A little sad story is Zachary Laustsen may have swum his last event as a SWAT age Group swimmer. He has had a long career with the Team but will be training straight though the season. We wish him luck at UPEI next year.
Remember you swim for you and the results are yours we are just there to help you attain your goals.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight – Nutrition Q&A
from Coaching Association of Canada
Question: Should swimmers have dairy products and peanut butter the day before, and the day of, the competition?
Answer: Pre-competition nutrition is a tricky topic, since what one athlete can tolerate to eat or drink before competing (or training) can be very different from another athlete. That being said, it is fairly common, especially for swimmers, to potentially find that consuming too much dairy (e.g. cereal with milk, plus yogurt and/or cheese, etc.) can cause a phlegmy sensation in their throat with a feeling of having too much mucus. However, other athletes may have no trouble with dairy before training or competing AND some swimmers may tolerate small amounts of dairy, yet a large, milky, power-shake may be too much. Therefore, pre-competition nutrition should be personalized, rather than everyone on the team following specific food restrictions. As for the peanut butter (P.B.), it would be rare to find that P.B. causes mucus, but rather, it might be too high in fat for some athletes if eaten too close to their training or competition session. Again, the choice to eat P.B. before exercising should be individualized.
Question: My athletes have practice very early in the morning – what are some good options for things they could eat pre-practice so they have enough energy, but so that they don’t get cramps?
Answer: Early morning practices can be tricky. But athletes should not go to practice on an empty stomach (technically through the night one is fasting), new nourishment is needed to energize practice. Timing is important – most athletes want to get as much sleep as they can and so time before practice will probably be limited. But with 1-2 hours before, a snack mostly of carbohydrate with a little protein and next to no fat, with lots of fluid is important.
A few examples are:
1. Toast/with a little peanut butter, juice and some water too!
2. Cereal with low fat milk and a few raisins and dried cranberries and some water.
3. Low fat yogurt with some fresh berries and a sprinkle of granola with a Sports drink.
4. Several dry cereals mixed with dried fruit and some cut up low fat cheese with a juice pack and water or a Sport Drink.
Since this is just the start of the day, instruct your athletes to eat more snacks and drink more fluids.
Have a full a breakfast after practice as well.
Saturday Morning Practice Note
Please note that practice tomorrow morning is for Novatech swimmers only. Any age group swimmers not attending the meet this weekend do not have a practice tomorrow. As a reminder, the Novatech practice tomorrow morning is 7:30 to 8:30 and there will be no time trial.
Lane 7 – April 30th, 2012
April Showers bring May Swim Meets
As we move out of April, we look forward to May and hopefully some nice spring weather. May also brings the second long course meet and the Novatech Explosion. See Coach Kevin’s note for more details.
This coming weekend is the Halifax Trojans’ Spring Invitational meet at Dal for our Age Group swimmers. Good Luck SWAT!
Also in this week’s Lane 7; a reminder for those going to Junior Provincials and in the spotlight, some questions parents ask.
Junior Provincial Shirt Orders
From Faye Brennan – SWAT Team Manager
Any swimmer going to the Junior Provincial meet who wants to order a Junior Provincial t-shirt, please let Faye know what size, whether you want short or long sleeve, and how you would like to pay (chq, cash, or cost recovery).
The deadline for order is May 5th.
Coaches’ Notebook
Thank you to the Bronze group for the great treats at Saturday morning live.
I do not have any results from the Defi meet but will include them next week.
This week we will be working on endurance for the longer swims getting ready for the Championship meets.
The Age Groups swimmers will have a team of 43 going to Dalplex for The Trojan Invitational. Therefore we will only have a practice on Saturday morning 7:30 to 8:30 for those swimmers not attending the swim meet.
We are selecting events for the Nova Tech Explosion being held in Port Hawkesbury next weekend. This is the Championship meet for those swimmers and I expect great results.
We are in the middle of Spring Fever and as such swimmers want to just stay outside and play. Remember you made a commitment to belong to the team and you have to work very hard to stay motivated. I have heard several swimmers say this is their last year of swimming. Please check the reality of the situation and make sure you have something else to do. I understand that swimming is not for everyone. Make sure you end your season with a bang and not a whimper. Hang tough the rest of the year it does gets better and you will be pleased with yourself.
You have great skills now lets put them into practice.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight – Questions Parents Ask
from Swim Australia website
1. How much training should my child do?
There is no magic number of training sessions for every swimmer. Even at elite level, some swimmers swim 7 sessions a week, some do nine, others 11…there is no magic number. It all comes down to the FLAG principle:
Fatigue – if a swimmer is swimming 3 practices a week and as a result is irritable and their grades are falling, then doing more swimming does not make sense. So the optimal number of sessions for any individual swimmer is largely based on their ability to adapt to and recover from their training load.
Level of performance – training session should be based on the level of performance being targeted. Chances are swimming two sessions a week will not get you selected on the next Olympic team and similarly 14 sessions a week is a little too much just to achieve a PB time at the under 9 championships meet. As a broad benchmark, world class swimmers spend one day per week, i.e. 24 hours per week training and the rest of the time eating and sleeping so the higher you want to go, the harder you have to work.
Available time – if your child is in Junior High, playing basketball, learning piano, doing special projects on weekends for extra credits, playing tennis and in the school choir…and……swimming five sessions each week, then it is safe to say, adding more swimming sessions is not going to do anything other than make them tired and fatigued.
Keep in mind your child’s total commitments across all areas of their life before adding more training time. And – never, ever forget that some days they need to just hang out with their friends, play and enjoy life. They are only kids once!
Goals – if your child sets high swimming goals, then naturally the time, effort and energy to achieve them must also be high. As a general rule, as kids progress through each level of swimming they need to add an extra pool session or gym workout to learn the skills, develop the fitness and build the technical abilities to be successful at the next level.
2. My child is 10 and is a great freestyler. What does she have to do to make it to the top?
The first thing to accept is there is no such thing as a champion ten year old freestyler. Swimmers who experience success pre-teenage years generally do so because of accelerated growth, i.e. they are bigger and stronger than the other kids! Another common situation is that as kids grow, change and develop, their ability to swim the competitive swimming strokes also changes – this year’s backstroker could be next year’s freestyler and then the following year they are great at swimming fly.
In the long term, the factors which determine success as a senior swimmer are the 5 Ps:
Perseverance -the ability to try and try and try – and to never give up
Patience -it takes time to become a great swimmer – about ten years of consistent hard work
Physical training -great swimmers are usually the best prepared. It takes a high level of physical fitness, technical development and skills refinement to make it to the top
Personality -world class swimmers demonstrate some common personality traits – none the least being deermination, commitment, the ability to overcome adversity and the capacity for accelerated learning
Passion – Swimming is like anything else in lif: you have to love it to do it well!
3. When should my child specialise in a stroke?
Kids need to grow intotheir specialist stroke. That is, when swimmers grow and develop physically and mentally, they will be naturally drawn to a particular stroke. It is common for a child’s best stroke to change from year to year but once they hit middle to late teens, the nature of specific events will become more appealing.
Real talent in any one stroke is harder to hide than it is to find!
4. Do swimmers need a special diet?
No. Not unless they have a medical problem or diet related condition that has been diagnosed by a nutrition professional. As a general rule, top swimmers follow a “ 4 MORE 4 LESS, 4 ME” diet:
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More – complex carbohydrates like rice, bread, pasta
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More – lean quality protein like chicken, meat, fish.
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More – water, fresh juices.
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More – fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables.
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Less – take away food.
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Less – saturated fats and oils.
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Less – processed and pre packaged foods.
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Less – pop.
Lots of parents want to know about supplements like vitamins, minerals and special substances like Creatine, Glucose and so on.
The five golden rules about these products are:
A. They may be of some use to some swimmers in some situations and on some occasions but consult a sports nutrition professional to help determine what might work for your child;
B. Nothing takes the place of consistent hard work, good technique and a great attitude;
C. If something sounds too good to be true, “Miracle Sports Performance Powder – Improves Endurance by up to 60%…” it probably is too good to be true!
D. Never introduce a new product – no matter what it is promising – within 7 days of an important meet. Many parents have fallen for the trap of giving kids a “special” breakfast or all new “miracle” supplement on the morning of a big meet only to find their kids spend more time in the toilet than in the pool.
E. Read rule B again – no supplement can turn mediocrity into magnificence. Teach kids to believe in themselves and to take responsibility for their own swimming performances rather than to rely on the promises of a supplement advertising campaign.
5. School, swimming, social life…..what’s the right balance for my child?
Your child is not a swimmer they are a child first and foremost: a child sho just happens to swim. But they are also a student, a brother or sister, a son or daughter, a member of a youth group, maybe someone who players another sport – they are a young person who has the potential to be anything they choose to be.
Kids are drawn to the things that:
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They enjoy;
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They have friends;
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They are learning by because their hearts and minds are engaged in the activity.
So if your kids are having fun with their friends and love what they are doing, chances are the balance is right. If your kids start finding excuses not to train, don’t want to get out of bed to go to the pool, show poor training habits and want to avoid going to meets, they are telling you, “mom and dad – the balance is not right and I want to change it”. Listen to your kids.
6. What should I expect in terms of results at Meets?
You should expect to see:
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Your child enjoying swimming with his/her friends
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Your child learning to lave challenging him/herself and taking pleasure in competition
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Your child demonstrating all they have learned in terms of swimming, dives, starts, turns, finishes, underwater kicking
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Your child showing some self responsibility in their warm up, recovery, meet day nutrition and personal management
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Your child showing a sense of “team” by cheering for team mates and supporting other members of the squad.
In terms of results…expect nothing. Where kids are concerned….
Medals are meaningless and times are tedious unless they are accompanied by – a love of sport, learning new skills and life lessons
7. What can I do to be the best swimming parent I can be?
Give your child that which only you can give! Unconditional love, total support, compassion and unwavering belief in them as human beings. In the long term, whether your kids become world record holders in swimming, lawyers, doctors, teachers…it is not their talent that defines them or makes them successful – it is who they are. And no one helps kids to develop values, virtues and characteristics like their family. 6 feet tall 12 year old kids with large feet and strong muscles are great, but give me intelligent, honest, hard working kids with a real sense of self belief, courage and integrity any day!
Develop the person first – then the swimming power!
8. My son is 11 years old and wants to play basketball two afternoons a week? Is playing other sports ok?
Yep! Pre teen kids should be out enjoying life, being fit, learning skills and being active. Sure – once they get to mid – late teens and make the commitment to be a great swimmer, then some of their other activities will need to be cut back but at 11 the “more the merrier”. A lot of sports have several cross over effects on swimming including:
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Basketball – leg power, co-ordination, speed, endurance
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Gymnastices – balance, timing, flexibility, power, co-ordination
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Martial Arts – balance, timing, flexibility, power, co-ordination, self-confidence
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Running – aerobic fitness, leg strength
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Soccer – aerobic fitness, leg strength, co-ordination, speed
Look at the obesity epidemic in kids in all developed nations. It would be great to have every kid in the world swimming laps, but just having them outside playing sport and moving their bodies instead of seeing them inside eating junk food while watching tv has got to be good!
Lane 7 – April 23rd, 2012
Novatech Shines!
Our SWAT Novatech swimmers had another successful meet last weekend. See Coach Kevin’s message for some of our more impressive results! Great job!
SCHEDULE CHANGE NOTICE: For the Platinum group. Friday practice April 27th will be held 4:00 to 6:00pm at the Sackville Sports Stadium not the Canada Games Center.
Also in this week’s Lane 7 some openings for SWAT volunteer positions, some fall lawn assistance and in the spotlight – keys to success
Volunteer Openings on SWAT
Banquet Coordinator
We are still in need a volunteer to take on the role of Banquet Coordinator. The event usually takes place in early June of each year and to date no one has stepped forward. In order to proceed with any planning for the banquet, this role will need to be filled; until that time plans are on hold. It is a great way to help the team, without committing to a full year long role. Please consider looking into helping out. Please let Daisy know at swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions.
Venue Booking Specialist – Cost Recovery
Silvana will be stepping down as the Venue Booking Specialist for the Cost Recovery group. Responsibilities include: booking venues for fundraising events (ie. ticket sales in malls, etc), sanctioning the event with Swim Nova Scotia, obtaining insurance documentation from Swim Nova Scotia and scheduling participants for a campaign. Hourly commitment is dependent upon the campaign. Booking venues for the Christmas Lotto Tree should be started by June, so anyone interested in this position should contact Silvana soon.
This role could be divided up across a few volunteers. Perhaps you are interested in only obtaining sanctioning and the insurance from Swim NS (hourly commitment is minimal for this task). Maybe booking venues strictly for the Christmas Lotto Tree appeals to you. Regardless of your interest level, she will meet with whomever takes over the role to transfer all contact information and review the aspects of the job. Forward your interest to: schedswat@eastlink.ca
Lawn Aerating
Get your lawn ready for the summer. Have it aerated – and by doing so help out our SWAT swimmers on the Halifax 2012 International Children’s Games Team.
Date: April 28th
Place: Sackville and surrounding area
Cost: $40 per lawn or $50 per large lawn
Contact Linda Plummer to book ahead at: lplummer@eastlink.ca or 444-3445 and provide your complete address.
Coaches’ Notebook
We had a pretty busy weekend with lots of things going on. First, just after practice on Saturday our Nova Tech swimmers were in Dartmouth for their last regular meet before the Championships. We had lots of best times with many swimmers preparing to move along at the Championships. Special congratulations to Max Butler who graduated from Participation, Masyn Ettinger, Natalie Inamura and Josee Leger who all graduated Level 1 into Level 2. Also Jamie Watton, Dawson Peachey and Maggie During who achieved their Freestyle standards to move into the Age Group program. Their next meet is in Port Hawkesbury in a couple of weeks where I know they all will be successful.
A couple of things about being part of a team, we are not American Eagle or big teeth or gogglily eye team, we are SWAT. The expectation is that the swimmers wear team uniform at swim meets. The other stuff is for training. Nicole Inamura will be at Saturday Morning Live this week so make sure you purchase your team gear.
Following the swim meet we had two swimmers invited to the High Performance Camp. This was an opportunity for those swimmers who wish to move through National and International competitions to be part of the plan to move forward. There was lots of interesting information.
I did not make it, but I understand the team had two fundraisers running on Saturday with the big one being a yard sale. I hope everyone had fun.
The 2013 Nova Scotia Canada Games Core Swim Team was announced this week and SWAT has two swimmers selected. Thomas Swinkels and Zachary Laustsen are part of the Core team that will have several camps and get togethers. To make the Core Team you need to achieve the highest age group standard for Age Nationals. We have several swimmers looking to attain this standard this year.
SWAT has four swimmers attending the Defi Sportif competition inMontrealthis weekend. Chioma Ogbanufe, Christine Riley, Claire McNally, Holly Doucette and Heidi Miller will be part of a National initiative to get Paraswimmers involved at a National level. It should be fun but lots of hard work.
We are holding a special event for the older female swimmers. It will be held Thursday April 25th in the conference room at the Stadium 6:00 to 8:00pm. Supper will be provided after Yoga. The guest speaker will be discussing ways to take care of the female body when training and competing. I feel this is a very important session as it will be usefull as a life skill to carry forward even if you are not swimming. All females in the Platinum,Atlantic and National squads should be in attendance. If other parents would like their child to attend especially if they are developing physically quickly please contact me. It may be a little graphic.
This Saturday is a Muffin Morning with the Bronze swimmers providing the treats. The males will bring juice and the females bring goodies. The time trial is 50 choice other than freestyle.
We are starting to get ready for the championship season for all swimmers but those who have qualified for East Coast. Make sure you are attending practice and fine tuning your skills.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight – Some Keys to Success
by Mike Alexandrov – US Olympian – reprinted from Swim US website
1. Aim higher than you intuitively think you can go. That’s important because the mind is stronger than the body. If you think you can do something, you can push your body to certain limits beyond what you are capable of doing physically. Your mind can mentally override what the body can do. It’s the same thing with training and with racing.
2. Be able to concentrate. You have to be able to isolate your thoughts and focus on your race. Focus on the moment. Do not worry about the future beyond the absolute immediate future. Concentrate on the here and now. If you make a mistake, worry about it later. You have to be able to concentrate because so many things will go wrong. You will never have a perfect race. You just focus on doing your best in that moment.
3. Effectively prioritize. You have to be able to do this with your life, and your lifestyle. You have to know what you have to do and when to do it, and what is required to do it. You have to be a good planner. Prioritizing the way you eat, the times of day you eat, the diet you have and making sure you have enough time to rest is a big part of how your workout is going to go. Everything you do is centered around pursuing your goal. Ask yourself when you take your next bite of food, “Is this going to help me accomplish my goal?” You have to know your priorities, and then actually do what you need to do.
4. Surround yourself with the right people and the right atmosphere. You have to choose the right kind of friends and have a good set of influences around you. Your friends are going to have a big influence on your life, who you are and what you do. In fact, who your friends are says a lot about who you are as person. Tell me who your friends are, and if I know them, I can l tell you who you are as a person.
5. Take on the biggest challenge. When the stakes are higher, your performance is better. The road to glory, the road to a record, the road to success – and it could be a best time or making a team – is about achieving a goal. Whenever I win a race or a medal, I very rarely remember the race itself or the feeling afterward. It all comes back to the road it took to get there – the journey, and demanding the most from myself. The gold medal is Christmas. The podium finish is really neat. But what got you there is what you remember. And what got you there is what will take you onto greatness in the rest of your life, too.
Saturday Morning Practice – Schedule Update
Saturday’s age group practice will be from 6:00 to 7:30 and there will be no time trial. This practice is only for swimmers that are NOT participating in the Novatech meet that day.
The Novatech meet has an early start and Kevin and Heidi both need to be there.
Lane 7 – April 16th, 2012
SWAT Does it Again!
As usual SWAT put on a fantastic meet. This past weekend, our Swim in the Tub meet was a rousing success. Congratulations and many thanks to the organizers and volunteers who made the whole thing work! And need I mention the fantastic job our swimmers did at representing our team in the pool! Have a look at the note from the Meet Manager for more details.
Also in this week’s Lane 7 has the Coaches’ message, an update on equipment, information on official’s clinics – and in the Spotlight; updates to the team records.
Next weekend it is our Novatech swimmers turn to shine again. Saturday, the Dartmouth Crusaders will host the fifth Novatech meet of the season. Good Luck to all our swimmers.
Swim in the Tub Meet Report
From Jacqueline Fitzgerald
Great Big Thanks from Meet Manager!
Every time I get to this part of running a meet, I want to come up with something eloquent and unique to say to thank everybody. But just like every other part of organizing a meet, it seems like you are always frantically juggling so many tasks while trying to fit it all in with your everyday life.
So, here’s my thanks in as quick and as efficient way as I can, so that I can get back to the mountain of laundry that has been piling up the whole week that I was getting ready for this meet.
Kim Fleming – our chief official and by far most experienced meet manager on the team. Each session was filled with lots of officials. The meet was run fairly, smoothly and most importantly, on time!
Daisy Karasek – another great job at catering the food and beverages for our officials and volunteers. Very well organized and all of the officials were extremely pleased with how well we took care of them.
Faye Brennan – super help in the office. Faye helped out in so many ways – chief finish, entering scratches, posting results, etc. Someday, Faye, you’ll be running the show.
Joanne Hylkema – your canteen was awesome once again. Some of the items were too awesome apparently and sold out this year! Thank you so much for providing that service to the swimmers and their families.
Meet runners – to all of the kids that came out to help, thank you for giving up your Saturday!
Parent officials and volunteers – Anyone that gave up time on this beautiful weekend to work the deck, officials room, canteen – a special thanks. I appreciate that everybody is busy and how few and far between these great weekends are.
Swimmer families – Thank you for your donations of food for the officials room and the canteen. It all went to great use.
Thanks to everybody for pulling everything together last week to put on this great meet. The kids had a great time and I had lots of positive feedback from the coaches and officials!
Officials Clinics
If anyone is interested in participating in a Level 1 timer’s clinic or in a Level 2 Stroke and Turn clinic, please let Andrew Henneberry know – henneba@student.ednet.ns.ca - and he will work on arranging clinics if there is sufficient interest.
Equipment Update
From Nicole Inamura – SWAT Equipment Manager
The track jackets are in. Those of you who ordered them, please contact me so you can get yours. You can also wait and get them at next muffin morning at the end of this month.
I have ordered a couple additional types of goggles in limited quantities to see if any of you would be interested. In addition to the regular Vanquishers and Swedes, I have Socket Rocket Metallic, Velocity Metallic, Speed Sockets. Come by next muffin morning and check them out!
Coaches’ Notebook
Well, SWAT does it again by running a great development swim meet. It is not a gigantic swim meet but still over 300 swimmers attended the competition.
Thank you to our co-meet managers Kim Flemming and Jackie Fitzgerald. It is a whole team event with the cost recovery running a canteen in big demand and Daisy Karasek making sure the officials and coaches were well hydrated and fed. I was really pleased to see our younger swimmers working their butts off for us.
How did our swimmers do? Well, I would say very well. Last week we did some goal setting on strategies and technique for this meet with the older swimmers. I was pleased with the discussion and saw some major efforts to do things better. The first long course meet is difficult to compare with the last short course meet. It is best to compare with how you swam at this meet last year. Almost all the swimmers were able to see major improvements to how they swam a year ago.
Special congratulations to Evan Germana and Jade Hannah who both achieved their East Coast standards at the first long course meet of the year; that is very special. Another special congratulation to Danielle Ouellette and Zachary Laustsen who added great excitement to the meet by participating in the eliminator. Danielle placed third in the females with outstanding swimming and Zachary becomes our first ever eliminator winner in the males. Thank you for the fun.
Again, thank you SWAT for doing a great job from swimmers to parents to officials and our little ones. A big hug.
This week we have 35 swimmers attending the Nova Tech swim meet at the Dartmouth Sports Stadium. The day was changed from the Sunday to the Saturday so make sure you have it on your calendar. I am ordering extra medals and ribbons as I know we will have lots of swimmers moving up a level because they look very prepared.
The following week we have four swimmers attending the Defi Sports Festival inMontrealwith over 5000Paraathletes in 10 different sports. Holly, Christine, Choima and Claire are getting ready for a great Swimming Canada camp and swim meet.
Training for this week will be working on Butterfly. The most important part of fly is to swim with the hips at the surface. To accomplish this you need a good kick and your head facing down. We will work on the technique of being an awesome butterflier.
All swimmers attending the Nova Tech meet on Saturday will not have morning practice and the others will do 200 IM as a time trial.
Now with a little bit of sad news for SWAT. The good news is Coach Ryan is graduating from Dalhousie University
and starting his life career. So the bad news is this is his last week with us. So wish him luck and hopefully he will come back to us. Heidi and Kevin will be taking over his coaching duties.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight - SWAT Records Broken
from Jeff Fitzgerald – SWAT Historian and Archivist
SWAT hosted the Swim in the Tub, the first long course meet of the season, at Centennial Pool this weekend and seven team records were broken.
Laura MacKinnon set a first long course team record in the 200 Breast of 4:02.63. The team data we have goes back to January 2003, and in that entire time it seems Laura was the first Female 10 and Under swimmer to take on the 200 Breast. Congratulations Laura.
Also in the Female 10 and Under category, Jade Hannah put on an especially impressive performance. She went six for six, setting a long course team record in every race she swam this weekend.
Jade got things started on Saturday morning by trimming almost 15 seconds off Sydney Archer’s 200 Free time of 2:59.77, set in 2010, with a new mark of 2:44.94. She kept up the assault on Sydney’s records (all set in 2010) by besting her time in the 50 Back of 44.32 with a new mark of 43.38, beating Sydney’s 50 Free record 36.21 with a new record of 35.59, and trimmed almost 12 seconds off Sydney’s 200 IM record of 3:24.32 with a new team best of 3:12.73. In the 50 Breast, Jade took more than 3 seconds off her own record of 53.89, dropping her time to 50.53.
Jade was the first female 10 and Under swimmer on our team since at least 2003 to take on the 200 Fly, and she set the bar pretty “high” with a time of 3:21.09. Congratulations Jade on your record setting weekend!
Lane 7 – April 9th, 2012
Time to Step Up!
Hope everyone had a nice long weekend – because it’s time to get back to business. The swimmers will be back in the pool and next weekend SWAT hosts the Swim in The Tub. It’s time for the SWAT family to put on another great meet.
To do that we need volunteers. Please see the notes below on how you can help out with the meet.
Also in Lane 7, the spotlight has pictures of SWAT at the Olympic and Paralympic trials.
Volunteers Needed
URGENT MESSAGE TO PARENTS – SWAT MEET
SWAT’s hosted long course meet is this Saturday and we still have many areas that require your help.
To date, we have only 2 parents signed up for timing/chief timing and none for stroke and turn. There are 3 sessions, each requiring, ideally 18 timers, 1 chief timer, 2 turn judges and 2 stroke judges.
We have about 15% of the donations requested for official’s food committed. We realize that families have the option of just donating the $10 from their meet fee account. However, that leaves a significant amount of work for the 2 or 3 parents that are already committing a significant amount of time to put this meet together.
We realize that the last week or so have been very busy for everybody. But with the upcoming week being a short one, there is not a lot of time left to chase around parents with emails and phone calls.
So, here is a list of the areas that we still need help:
ON DECK:
Timers
Stroke and Turn judges
Helpers (water, snacks, ribbons, etc.)
Head Official – Kim Fleming pfleming@eastlink.ca
OFFICIALS FOOD DONATIONS:
Saturday morning – Breakfast items – muffins, croissants, fruit trays, yogurt parfait ingredients (large tubs of yogurt, frozen berries, granola)
Saturday lunch – sandwiches, pasta salad, spinach salad, vegetable tray, fruit tray, cookies, loaf or squares
Sunday morning – bagels and cream cheese, fruit trays
Sunday snacks – cookies and muffins
Cases of water – we will need many cases of water. If a few parents could plan to bring along 2 or 3 cases that would be great.
Officials food contact Daisy Karasek swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com
CANTEEN:
Joanne posted a list on the bulletin board of items that we need for the canteen. If there is something that you can help with, please let her know.
Canteen contact Joanne Hylkema macdonalddjd5@yahoo.ca
OTHER ITEMS:
We will require a few coolers filled with ice to help keep water and salads cool. If you have one to lend, please let us know.
Thanks,
Jacqueline Fitzgerald – Meet Manager
Kim Fleming – Head Official
Daisy Karasek – Officials Food Coordinator
Joanne Hylkema – Canteen Coordinator
Coaches’ Notebook
I trust everyone enjoyed their little break from swimming. But now is the time to get back to work. We are still working on stroke technique with this week being breastroke. The emphasis will be the kick and the head position.
Our yoga instructor is on vacation, so we are having different educational opportunities during that time. Last Thursday, we had an excellent nutritionist who gave us some very valuable information. I do have some copies of the handouts so check the upstairs display case for copies.
On Thursday, I will be running a goal setting session for the National, Atlantic and Platinum groups at 4:30pm. Remember to bring a pencil as there will be some work to do.
The big event this week is we are hosting the first long course meet of the season. As this is a big event we need lots of help from volunteers, so please offer your assistance.
The goals for this meet will be discussed at the goal setting session on Thursday. The plan is to improve skills while under the stress of racing. Due to the whole team being involved in the swim meet there will be no practices for any group this Saturday.
Now you are rested get excited to race well and train smart.
Coach Kevin
This Week’s Spotlight - SWAT at the Olympic and Paralympic Trials
Have a look here for some pictures of SWAT at the Olympic and Paralympic trials
Lane 7 – April 2nd, 2012
Incredible Swimming!
Wow, not sure if any of you have been watching the Olympic and Paralympic Trials on Sportsnet this week, but it showcased some amazing swimming by some of Canada’s best swimmers. While we didn’t get any coverage of our SWAT swimmers, it was a treat to see some great races. If you didn’t see the 200m Butterfly on Tuesday, you missed a great race with a great result for Nova Scotia and Halifax!
Lane 7 is overflowing with information this week; preparations for the SWAT sponsored Swim in the Tub meet, the Coach’s message, information on swimmer seminars, Novatech Explosion information and a request for volunteers
Volunteers Needed
We are currently seeking several volunteers for upcoming positions at SWAT.
Help Wanted
1) 2012 June Banquet Coordinator:
This is a position that is short term. As a growing club, we need to find a venue that will accommodate 180-220+ people for our banquet in early June. As well, help coordinate tickets sales and the food for the evening. Many aspects of the evening such as scheduling and program will be done and you will have help and support from EXEC members.
2) SWAT Treasurer or Assistant:
This position can be as job shadowing, job sharing or if interested, training to take this role on for next year. This is ultimately a position within the SWAT executive and would be best for someone comfortable with Google Docs, spreadsheets, banking and QuickBooks. Any candidate for taking over the position will have to be voted in at the annual AGM at the end of the swim year. If the person prefers to job shadow or assist, please contact to discuss further. The prospective person will also have to sign a confidentiality agreement.
3) 2012-2013 Travel Coordinator:
This position would involve helping various groups within SWAT travel for meets. Accommodations, group dinner bookings, flights, trains, and cost estimating for chaperoned meets will be a major part of this position. For most years this would primarily be for East Coast short and long course meets and the Quebec Meet in December.
4) 2012-2013 Chaperones:
Volunteers and applicants are not committing to anything only having the paperwork already in place for the next year if they think they might be interested. The paperwork usually takes some time to complete at you local police station and though Govt of Nova Scotia. So if interested please let us know. If you have completed this paperwork for us recently, you do not need to complete it again at this time.
Please contact Daisy Karasek SWAT treasurer at swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com to volunteer, discuss or if you have any questions.
Swim In The Tub Information
Meet Update
Plans for the Swim in the Tub are up and running. Our meet is booked for Centennial Pool. We will be running 2 sessions – Saturday all day and Sunday morning.
We are expecting 300+ swimmers which requires many hands and many hours to organize and run the meet. SWAT takes hosting our swim meets very seriously and we do our best to take care of the volunteers that help out with the meet. That means that families will be asked to help out in the form of donations of food items/water as well as their time. It takes approximately 700 volunteer hours to put together this meet so the more we can divide up the work, the better.
Officials sign up
Kim Fleming is the chief official for the meet. Please let her know ASAP what position you would like to volunteer. We need timers, stroke and turn judges as well as senior officials.
If there is a position that you would like to shadow or be evaluated, this is a great opportunity.
Kim’s email is pfleming@eastlink.ca
Family contribution of Officials food and / or Canteen items
Similar to the Novatech meet, you have the choice of either contributing something to the meet in the form of food or water. Or you can have $10 taken from your meet fee account and we will use that money to purchase supplies. If you decide to donate, please make every effort to make it fair and contribute either items that cost $10 or if it’s good for the canteen, items that we can resell for $10.
Officials Food
Please note this is the last week for you to sign up for officials food donations. After that deductions will be taken from meet fee accounts. Please see note below from last weeks lane 7 on how to sign up.
Daisy Karasek is the volunteer for Officials Food this year and she has placed a sheet on our bulletin board at the stadium. Should you prefer not to donate food items we can take $10 from your meet fee account to purchase items in lieu of donations. This sheet will be available at the pool this week, or if you would prefer, please email Daisy with your selections.
The final day for letting Daisy know what you plan to bring or donate will be April 7th. This will allow her time to purchase the items not donated. After that date if Daisy hasn’t heard from you, she will assume you would prefer the money be deducted from your meet fee account (with many thanks) and will use that amount to purchase the required items.
If you have any questions, please let Daisy know. She can be reached by email at swatswim.treasurer@gmail.com OR 832-5483.
Canteen Items
DONATIONS NEEDED FOR SWIM IN THE TUB CANTEEN
Now there are two lists in the SWAT display case in the lobby at the Sackville Stadium. The second list added is for donations for the CANTEEN at Swim in the Tub to be held April 14 and 15. Please take a look at the list this week and choose an item to donate. If you won’t be attending the meet, choose a non-perishable item and I would be happy to meet you at the pool before the meet to collect your donation. If you have any questions or would like to sign up for an item via e-mail, please contact me (Joanne) at swatcr@hotmail.com or 576-2501.
Click here to view the canteen list 2012
Other helpers
We would really appreciate help on deck from some of our Novatech swimmers. There are always little jobs to do during the meet – label ribbons, collect timer sheets, post results, pass out food and water, collect garbage from the deck, help sell 50/50 tickets, help sell freezies up in the stands. It will be very warm at Centennial so I would advise to limit the amount of time the little ones spend on deck helping out. I don’t want anyone to get sick or nauseous from spending too much time in the heat at the pool.
If your swimmer is available to help for a few hours on either of the days, please let me know. To help with scheduling, let me know what day and time they will be coming by to help out. Email jmf@valuecanuck.com
Nutrition Seminar Reminder
Just a reminder we will be hosting a nutrition Seminar at the Sackville Sports Stadium for all swimmers who are interested in attending on April 5th at 4:30 in the afternoon. It will run for about an hour.
The speaker will be Angela Dufour who is owner and operator of Nutrition in Action.
She will be primarily focusing on nutrition in developing athletes and we are really hoping that the swimmers will take advantage of this very worthwhile seminar.
Girls Seminar
Thursday, April 26 – 6:00 to 8:00pm
The girls seminar on adolescence with Dr. Barb Parish has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 26 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. The seminar will be held in the conference room at the stadium. Please email me and let me know if you plan to attend. Thanks! jmf@valuecanuck.com
Accomodations for Novatech Explosion in Port Hawkesbury
Rooms are filling up quickly in Port Hawkesbury for the Novatech meet. The two largest hotels in the area are the Maritime Inn and the Hearthstone Inn. In the past, some families have stayed in Antigonish which has cheaper accommodations and they just drove in each day.
The meet package isn’t out yet but assuming it follows the same format as last year, there will be a session on Saturday starting around noon and a session on Sunday morning. So you may or may not want to book a room on Friday night. It’s about a 3 to 4 hour drive to Port Hawkesbury.
Coaches’ Notebook
It is one of the most exciting events every four years and the 2012 Olympic/Paralympic SwimmingTrials was no exception.
This is the third trials that SWAT was well represented. The swimming was fast with SWAT swimmers achieving 82% best times under a great deal of stress.
The big problem is the World governing body will not release untill the middle of June how many swimmers Canada can send to the Paralympics and Olympics so we have done our best and now have to sit and wait to see if SWAT will have their 1st Olympian. There were lots of cheers and lots of tears on the deck but Canada will be well represented in London.
This was Thomas Swinkels first trials and he did 100% best times. he truely smashed his previous best times. He shows great future in the sport and is looking at 2016 as his Games.
Danial had great swims winning the 50 back but also knocked 5 seconds off of his Canadian record in the 200 free. This places him 13th in the world and has him nominated for the Paralympic team.
All final swims were based on percentage points for the medals but Danial was first in his class in all his events. We do have pictures which I cannot get to the editor so they may be in next weeks’ Lane 7.
SWAT also had its’ first official at the trials. Congratualtions to Andrew Henneberry for showing our face on the deck. He also had a great time andwill use this experience back home.
Now we have to get back to normal life. This week there are no practices on Friday or Saturday for any group. We will be back in the water on Monday April 9th.
In this Lane 7 there is information concerning nutrition (see above). We will have a speaker to help us all eat properly to fuel the engine to train and race better. Parents are also invited to learn how to clean out your cupboards of the evil stuff. So far we have 40 people saying they will attend, I expect higher numbers so make sure you inform Faye that you plan to attend.
We are into the long course season and the first meet is in two weeks. The host of that meet is SWAT and we need lots of volunteers. Step up and help the club show the rest of the Province how to run a swim meet. I will be choosing events with the swimmers when I return. So be ready to challenge yourself.
Coach Kevin
