There is another city of Edmonton workout opportunity for all swimmers in Northern Alberta being put on by Jan Bidrman Tuesday June 17.
This workout will be made available to the same swimmers that had the opportunity to do it last time. Same schedule 4:00-6:30 in the water from 4:30-6:30. Please let me know if you will be unable to attend. It was a great experience last time and our swimmers really impressed so lets go and do it again. You must be prepared to attend and complete the entire workout so please organize rides so that you can be there on time.
On a more disappointing note, it looks as though we will not be attending Far Westerns this year due to the lack of interest from the Senior group. After seeing how many swimmers supported Mel Zajac last season I was surprised to see such limited response at what would be a better meet (for the level of swimmers) at a better time in the season and a new location. I know that it is later in the year than what everyone is used to swimming but swimming is becoming much more year round and since we cannot get fully started until October you will all still receive a long well deserved break when finishing in early August. Next year we will not be able to offer this opportunity as Age group nationals are in Montreal but we will be offering a travel training camp for the senior group. We will be doing this whether it is for 3 swimmers or 23 swimmers. The next time Age group nationals are in the west we will try to make the trip to Far Westerns once again.
I know that swimming (especially high level swimming) is an expensive sport. I will do my best to get you all of the events with approximate costs as early as possible but it will be up to all the swimmers and families to do their best to find a way to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities. As it is these types of great experiences that swimmers will remember for the rest of their lives.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Success is in YOUR hands
Alas, summer is upon us. The birds are singing, the sun is shining and our other friends and the beautiful outdoors is calling our names pulling us in all different directions. This change of weather is a very powerful thing and it can really help or really hamper your performance as we head into our championship season.
This great weather will put a smile on your face and make you happy and excited but you have to use this excitement and apply it to everything. Apply it to your school, apply it to your swimming and apply it to your other extra curriculars don't let it take away from any aspect of your life, let it enrich you life. If you skip out of some areas that is your choice but remember what is important to you and what you have been working for all year. It would be a shame to throw away the last 9 months of work (in school and the pool) just before you are ready to reap it's full rewards.
As coaches there is nothing that we can do to MAKE you swim fast, like I said, success is in your hands. We have a large box of tools that when used as instructed can help you be successful. This is what we have to offer, but you have to take advange of it and follow the instructions. To do this you have to:
#1 show up
#2 believe that the tools being offered will help
#3 read the instructions (what's on the board) and figure out how to use the tools
#4 use the tools (do the sets) as instructed
By doing this to the best of your ability you will build your masterpiece and achieve everything that you have worked so hard for.
So the choice is yours, make your bed well because in the end you have to lie in it.
This great weather will put a smile on your face and make you happy and excited but you have to use this excitement and apply it to everything. Apply it to your school, apply it to your swimming and apply it to your other extra curriculars don't let it take away from any aspect of your life, let it enrich you life. If you skip out of some areas that is your choice but remember what is important to you and what you have been working for all year. It would be a shame to throw away the last 9 months of work (in school and the pool) just before you are ready to reap it's full rewards.
As coaches there is nothing that we can do to MAKE you swim fast, like I said, success is in your hands. We have a large box of tools that when used as instructed can help you be successful. This is what we have to offer, but you have to take advange of it and follow the instructions. To do this you have to:
#1 show up
#2 believe that the tools being offered will help
#3 read the instructions (what's on the board) and figure out how to use the tools
#4 use the tools (do the sets) as instructed
By doing this to the best of your ability you will build your masterpiece and achieve everything that you have worked so hard for.
So the choice is yours, make your bed well because in the end you have to lie in it.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Swim-a-thon
Swimmers turned a new leaf on swim-a-thon this year and it was really embraced with the group swimming almost 230KM for the 37 swimmer sheets that were handed in (for the couple of you who did not hand them in if you could send me the numbers that would be great). Pretty darn amazing, that is an average of over 6KM per swimmer. It is this ability to embrace new challenges that will really bring you all to a new level. It was great to watch! With a few swimmers still in need to complete the event that number will continue to climb.
Top performers from each group were:
Jenny G with 8700m
Kevin and Brendan with 8200m
Matt W with 5900m
Brooklyn with 5700m (closely followed by Halle and Olivia only 50m behind)
Jaeden with 3300m and Nicole M with 2950m
What a great performance, you almost swam all the way to Calgary and it was great to see how technically sound you were all swimming from beginning to end. Great job also goes out to all the coaches for having your swimmers prepared to do this great event.
Top performers from each group were:
Jenny G with 8700m
Kevin and Brendan with 8200m
Matt W with 5900m
Brooklyn with 5700m (closely followed by Halle and Olivia only 50m behind)
Jaeden with 3300m and Nicole M with 2950m
What a great performance, you almost swam all the way to Calgary and it was great to see how technically sound you were all swimming from beginning to end. Great job also goes out to all the coaches for having your swimmers prepared to do this great event.
Monday, May 5, 2008
EKI
We went back to back the last 2 weekends with a mentally and physically challenging double double to a fast action packed heats and finals EKI where a number of EKI records were broken along with a number of Silver Tide records too.
Leading into EKI we had some of our fastest workouts of the season with a number of best times being set during our week of training which had everyones spirits high as we headed into the meet. For some it was a bit of a streaky meet which is normal for in season meets where as others really excelled all weekend long. We could see that this meet will once again grow into one of the premier in season meets hosted in this country. This meet has a history of top Olympic athletes attend and I am sure that we will see some of the athletes who attended this meet go on to reach their own Olympic dreams.
We started off with some great distance swims where Ryan Schamber stole the show with a 20:29 to finish 4th which was one of the most amazing swims I have ever seen a 10 year old do, with 3 other STSC swimmers in the heat all leaving with best times it was a great show. Nadine and Karlyn also through down best times in the 800 with Nadine going head to head with National record holder Alexandra Gabor for the first 400 before she started to pull away. The weekend continued with great successes especially in team relays...
The 12 and under boys won all but 1 of the relays over the weekend with club records being set in the 400 FR and MR, 800 FR. The 15-17 year old girls also set a couple club records in the 400FR and MR, 800 FR. We are really putting an emphasis on fast relays this year because it really shows some depth and will go a long way in our growth to become a large team with a presence over the next couple of seasons. Swimmers of all levels are really stepping up when given the chance on relays. They have been really fun and fast all year. Swimmers seem to take even more pride and enjoyement from great relay performances than they do from individual performances.
From the Senior group we took some big steps forward this weekend with Karlyn really lighting it up in Butterfly with a 106 going head to head with Lori Kremer. Everyone walked away with some great best times and fantastic races. It was a bit of a streaky weekend which is normal but many swimmers are starting long course season ahead of where they finished long course last year which is a great way to start the season off. Keep up the great work everyone. You all have lofty goals this season and you are well on your way.
Leading into EKI we had some of our fastest workouts of the season with a number of best times being set during our week of training which had everyones spirits high as we headed into the meet. For some it was a bit of a streaky meet which is normal for in season meets where as others really excelled all weekend long. We could see that this meet will once again grow into one of the premier in season meets hosted in this country. This meet has a history of top Olympic athletes attend and I am sure that we will see some of the athletes who attended this meet go on to reach their own Olympic dreams.
We started off with some great distance swims where Ryan Schamber stole the show with a 20:29 to finish 4th which was one of the most amazing swims I have ever seen a 10 year old do, with 3 other STSC swimmers in the heat all leaving with best times it was a great show. Nadine and Karlyn also through down best times in the 800 with Nadine going head to head with National record holder Alexandra Gabor for the first 400 before she started to pull away. The weekend continued with great successes especially in team relays...
The 12 and under boys won all but 1 of the relays over the weekend with club records being set in the 400 FR and MR, 800 FR. The 15-17 year old girls also set a couple club records in the 400FR and MR, 800 FR. We are really putting an emphasis on fast relays this year because it really shows some depth and will go a long way in our growth to become a large team with a presence over the next couple of seasons. Swimmers of all levels are really stepping up when given the chance on relays. They have been really fun and fast all year. Swimmers seem to take even more pride and enjoyement from great relay performances than they do from individual performances.
From the Senior group we took some big steps forward this weekend with Karlyn really lighting it up in Butterfly with a 106 going head to head with Lori Kremer. Everyone walked away with some great best times and fantastic races. It was a bit of a streaky weekend which is normal but many swimmers are starting long course season ahead of where they finished long course last year which is a great way to start the season off. Keep up the great work everyone. You all have lofty goals this season and you are well on your way.
Double Double wrap up
This weekend was a great team building experience where swimmers got to know each other better, cheered fantastically and really noticed what kind of abilities each other have.
At double double we had 45 swimmers entered and we broke out team into 3 different groups to have the swimmers work on different skills to earn points for their team. Teams were scored on punctuality along with team support and unity. Swimmers were scored not just on how fast they swam but how strong their skills were like splitting, aggression, streamlines, breathing pattern etc. All are things that the coaches expect and see on a regular basis but we wanted to bring them to the forefront so that the swimmers understood how important these skills actually are and we saw some very good results along the way.
In the end the Yellow team took the win with the other 2 teams almost dead even fighting it out for 2nd. The Yellow team was supposed to win a doughnut each but with the limited number of swimmers back for the final session there were doughnuts for all.
The meet was highlighted by a number of first timers doing 200 fly which was a lot of fun to watch. It was great to see how well the swimmers supported their teammates. We saw some great skills and fantastic racing all weekend long, it is fun to take a step back from final times and placings and just race to the top of your ability with great skills and let the rest take care of itself. Racing is a huge skill that we can all learn a lot from and it was great to see everyone doing a great job.
At double double we had 45 swimmers entered and we broke out team into 3 different groups to have the swimmers work on different skills to earn points for their team. Teams were scored on punctuality along with team support and unity. Swimmers were scored not just on how fast they swam but how strong their skills were like splitting, aggression, streamlines, breathing pattern etc. All are things that the coaches expect and see on a regular basis but we wanted to bring them to the forefront so that the swimmers understood how important these skills actually are and we saw some very good results along the way.
In the end the Yellow team took the win with the other 2 teams almost dead even fighting it out for 2nd. The Yellow team was supposed to win a doughnut each but with the limited number of swimmers back for the final session there were doughnuts for all.
The meet was highlighted by a number of first timers doing 200 fly which was a lot of fun to watch. It was great to see how well the swimmers supported their teammates. We saw some great skills and fantastic racing all weekend long, it is fun to take a step back from final times and placings and just race to the top of your ability with great skills and let the rest take care of itself. Racing is a huge skill that we can all learn a lot from and it was great to see everyone doing a great job.
And I thought we might slow down a bit...
Well we are barely 1 month into our long course season and we have not only continued but maybe increased our record breaking ways. For some age groups it may be a bit harder to go out and break records in season but for our 12 and unders PB's seem to come every time they hit the water and Rebecca and Ryan Schamber have been on a record breaking spree so far this long course season. To date we have already broken 30 club records. Be sure to check them out. In those 31 there were a ton of relay records broken at EKI this past weekend which is a real sign that we are making the move from a small team to a large team very effectively with all of our swimmers stepping up big time when given the opportunity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
