Westerns was a fast and stressful meet. With many teams from Ontario deciding to make the trip west to Edmonton rather than to Eastern's out in the snow filled Maritimes this meet had many highlights with numerous provincial and national records set both at the age group and open levels.
It was quality over quantity for the Silver Tide swimmers this weekend with only 5 swimmers in attendance but all looking at second swim opportunities. Rachelle, Sydney, Karlyn and Nadine all held true to form making second swims in the competitive meet and Amanda at her first ever Westerns also had a very strong showing with best times in all of her swims, relays included.
The girls performed exceptionally well on their relays racing really well. There were a number of ups and downs throughout the weekend but when the pressure was on in Finals all of the girls found a way to move up and perform very well.
It was a great weekend but there is little time to reflect with Senior Champs right around the corner where we will be looking for even more success.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
January review
Keep it up everyone, the drugery of January is over and it's all smiles for the forseable future. Parents thank you for dealing with your swimmers through these challenges your support is always appreciated. For those that find ways to fit everything in, January tends to be a very hard time and there are not a lot of smiles. This is normal and those that pushed to do this will reap huge rewards as long as they believe that their struggles were worth it. Please take the time to congratulate your swimmer for all they achieved at school and in the pool in the first half of the year. It is one thing to hear it from the coach but it is even more important that they hear it from home.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Junior Pan Pacs
Nadine will be on her way home shortly after just over 2 weeks away from home for Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam. Where she competed against the top 18 and unders from Canada, USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PR of China, China, Mongolia and Guam.
She competed in the 400, 800, 1500 freestyles and 10km open water event. She had a great competition and learnt a lot from the experience. With this being her first international tour it was very exciting and positive for her.
Her first race was the 800 free and there were definitely a few jitters not to mention that it was her first long course race since Age Group Nationals last July. She had a strong consistant race finishing 5 seconds over her best time but then she took off from there. She swam on the girls 800 Free Relay B team and as anchor went a blistering 2:06, 4 seconds under her best time. The following day she built on that momentum with a great 400 free where she made the B final taking almost 4 seconds off of her personal best and then went even faster at night 4:24. 34. On the final day in the water she swam the 1500 taking off just over 10 seconds to finish in 8th place her top finish in the pool.
Finally on the last day came the open water. The event that qualified her to attend this competition and she performed admirally in her first ever 10 km race. She was unable to stay with the lead pack but lead the second group to finish in 6th place, a great performance.
‘’I was pleased that I finished the race and I finished strong,’’ said Williams, 15. ‘’I wasn’t struggling at the end.’’
A good sign as she looks to get more involved in open water events. The pool events also make her a front runner for a spot on the Alberta Canada Games team as the mid distance and distance freestyler. Trials for this take place at Westerns in February here in Edmonton and it March at Spring Nationals in Toronto. There she will also compete in the 5km pool championships where the top 2 finishers will go on to represent Canada at World Championships in Rome this summer.
She competed in the 400, 800, 1500 freestyles and 10km open water event. She had a great competition and learnt a lot from the experience. With this being her first international tour it was very exciting and positive for her.
Her first race was the 800 free and there were definitely a few jitters not to mention that it was her first long course race since Age Group Nationals last July. She had a strong consistant race finishing 5 seconds over her best time but then she took off from there. She swam on the girls 800 Free Relay B team and as anchor went a blistering 2:06, 4 seconds under her best time. The following day she built on that momentum with a great 400 free where she made the B final taking almost 4 seconds off of her personal best and then went even faster at night 4:24. 34. On the final day in the water she swam the 1500 taking off just over 10 seconds to finish in 8th place her top finish in the pool.
Finally on the last day came the open water. The event that qualified her to attend this competition and she performed admirally in her first ever 10 km race. She was unable to stay with the lead pack but lead the second group to finish in 6th place, a great performance.
‘’I was pleased that I finished the race and I finished strong,’’ said Williams, 15. ‘’I wasn’t struggling at the end.’’
A good sign as she looks to get more involved in open water events. The pool events also make her a front runner for a spot on the Alberta Canada Games team as the mid distance and distance freestyler. Trials for this take place at Westerns in February here in Edmonton and it March at Spring Nationals in Toronto. There she will also compete in the 5km pool championships where the top 2 finishers will go on to represent Canada at World Championships in Rome this summer.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Happy New Year!
We had a very strong Christmas camp for all that were able to attend all the workouts and have been building even more this week as we go through our final push before we start fine tuning into out season ending competitions. This is always a busy time for all people and for swimmers this is compounded even more. With High School exams and Junior High mid terms trying to suck away all of your energy you need to remember to make time for everything and budget accordingly.
Be Proactive and start to study now so that you are confident going into your exams and there is no need for the last minute craming. That type of studying may produce ok results but you will not remember much of it after your exam and this also is a big strain on you mentally and physically so you risk the chance of getting sick.
By staying on top of your studying now there should be no need to miss a workout. Maybe you choose not to stay for dryland so that you can get to bed earlier or you may decide to get out of morning workout at 7:00am so that you can do a quick review before that 9:00am exam. This is always much better than skipping a workout all together. A light swim can be a nice break from the stresses of school and a morning swim may just be the wake up you need for your mind to be firing on all cylinders. Not having to think about school even if it is just for 1.5 hours can go a long way to helping you succeed.
Scheduling in the things that are important for you: Family and friends, school, swimming will go a long way to making sure that you are successful in all aspects of your life. It will keep you healthy and confident so that you can enjoy every minute of it. Remember always put first things first and then you can find the time to be successful in way more that you could have imagined.
Be Proactive and start to study now so that you are confident going into your exams and there is no need for the last minute craming. That type of studying may produce ok results but you will not remember much of it after your exam and this also is a big strain on you mentally and physically so you risk the chance of getting sick.
By staying on top of your studying now there should be no need to miss a workout. Maybe you choose not to stay for dryland so that you can get to bed earlier or you may decide to get out of morning workout at 7:00am so that you can do a quick review before that 9:00am exam. This is always much better than skipping a workout all together. A light swim can be a nice break from the stresses of school and a morning swim may just be the wake up you need for your mind to be firing on all cylinders. Not having to think about school even if it is just for 1.5 hours can go a long way to helping you succeed.
Scheduling in the things that are important for you: Family and friends, school, swimming will go a long way to making sure that you are successful in all aspects of your life. It will keep you healthy and confident so that you can enjoy every minute of it. Remember always put first things first and then you can find the time to be successful in way more that you could have imagined.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Christmas training
Hello all,
Senior, step up and select senior D training camp had to be moved to NAIT for the majority of practices as what I initially understood to be available was not. I will send out the schedule on Tuesday December 9th. This may also slightly affect the Senior D training but that will remain at Millennium.
I appologize for the change.
Senior, step up and select senior D training camp had to be moved to NAIT for the majority of practices as what I initially understood to be available was not. I will send out the schedule on Tuesday December 9th. This may also slightly affect the Senior D training but that will remain at Millennium.
I appologize for the change.
Qualifiers Galore!
We had swimmers making new qualifying standards all weekend long at the JP Fiset Christmas Classic at the Kinsmen Sports center at every level except the Senior National level. I hope I don't miss anyone!
First of all a big congratulations to Amanda Madsen, this first year Silver Tide swimmer achieved her first Western time in the 50 freestyle on Sunday tying the standard to the one hundreth of a second. This is an even bigger feat when you think that she only achieved her first ever B time in June of this year.
Matt Whiteside achieved his first A time in the 50 meter breastroke and narrowly missed his A times in the other 2 breast stroke races this weekend. Matt attended Age Group Champs last year after winning the 200 breast at Age Group Trials but is now officially an A swimmer.
Liam Strocher, Emma Funk and Allison Hender each earned their QT's this weekend as well. Liam achieve both his 200 IM and his 400 Free time standards this weekend and Emma had a great last 50 in her 400 free to slide just under her first ever QT. Allison also achieved her first ever QT in the 400 free on Sunday, this was her first 400 free as a member of the Silver Tide Swim Club. It has been a great year for Ali and this is only another step to great achievements.
Other swimmers got QT standards a little early as they age up before long course season too which is fantastic. Sierra Weatherby achieved her 14 year old 400 free QT this weekend with a 15 second best time. Sarah Peddie and Haley Wirachowski both earned their 11 year old QT's with great 400 freestyles on the weekend and both also narrowly missed 10 year old A times on the weekend. Haley just missed her 100 back A time and Sarah is becoming more and more well rounded now within 2 seconds of her A time in Backstroke, Freestyle, Butterfly and IM. You just know that they will be coming soon. Aaron Vanderleek in his first year of year round swimming narrowly missed his QT's in both the 200 IM and 400 freestyle this weekend.
It was a fantastic weekend with tons of best times and great swims right throughout the weekend. After I was at the pool for 40 hours over the weekend I can honestly say there was never a dull moment when we had a swimmer in the water (and that was most of the time with more than 50 Silver Tide athletes in the meet).
Great Job Everyone!
First of all a big congratulations to Amanda Madsen, this first year Silver Tide swimmer achieved her first Western time in the 50 freestyle on Sunday tying the standard to the one hundreth of a second. This is an even bigger feat when you think that she only achieved her first ever B time in June of this year.
Matt Whiteside achieved his first A time in the 50 meter breastroke and narrowly missed his A times in the other 2 breast stroke races this weekend. Matt attended Age Group Champs last year after winning the 200 breast at Age Group Trials but is now officially an A swimmer.
Liam Strocher, Emma Funk and Allison Hender each earned their QT's this weekend as well. Liam achieve both his 200 IM and his 400 Free time standards this weekend and Emma had a great last 50 in her 400 free to slide just under her first ever QT. Allison also achieved her first ever QT in the 400 free on Sunday, this was her first 400 free as a member of the Silver Tide Swim Club. It has been a great year for Ali and this is only another step to great achievements.
Other swimmers got QT standards a little early as they age up before long course season too which is fantastic. Sierra Weatherby achieved her 14 year old 400 free QT this weekend with a 15 second best time. Sarah Peddie and Haley Wirachowski both earned their 11 year old QT's with great 400 freestyles on the weekend and both also narrowly missed 10 year old A times on the weekend. Haley just missed her 100 back A time and Sarah is becoming more and more well rounded now within 2 seconds of her A time in Backstroke, Freestyle, Butterfly and IM. You just know that they will be coming soon. Aaron Vanderleek in his first year of year round swimming narrowly missed his QT's in both the 200 IM and 400 freestyle this weekend.
It was a fantastic weekend with tons of best times and great swims right throughout the weekend. After I was at the pool for 40 hours over the weekend I can honestly say there was never a dull moment when we had a swimmer in the water (and that was most of the time with more than 50 Silver Tide athletes in the meet).
Great Job Everyone!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
JP Fiset.
It is going to be a long FAST weekend. There are 890 swimmers entered into the JP Fiset meet so make sure that you are prepared for a long but fast weekend. Top swimmers from Alberta and beyone are going to be up for a fantastic meet. Make sure your water bottle is always on you and that you have plenty of good snacks: fruit, veggies, sandwiches, yogurt but save the bigger items like sandwiches for when you have at least 1 hour before you swim next.
With so many swimmers at the meet and the length of the sessions we will not be enforcing that swimmers return each night for finals if they have not qualified however your support will be very much appreciated.
Some swimmers had to be removed from the 200IM and or 400 free and were not given the opportunity to add other events which is too bad. Those swimmers have been notified. There will be other changes to the meet layout to ensure that swimmers are given the best chance at success but I am not sure what they will be doing. Please stay posted for further details.
With so many swimmers at the meet and the length of the sessions we will not be enforcing that swimmers return each night for finals if they have not qualified however your support will be very much appreciated.
Some swimmers had to be removed from the 200IM and or 400 free and were not given the opportunity to add other events which is too bad. Those swimmers have been notified. There will be other changes to the meet layout to ensure that swimmers are given the best chance at success but I am not sure what they will be doing. Please stay posted for further details.
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