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.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
5km pool championships
November is half over and we almost let this one slip by but not quite. Saturday November 29th the Senior and Senior Development groups will be taking part in the 5km pool championships. This is a great opportunity to compete in a national championship without leaving the comfort of your own pool. Parents we will need you assistance in counting we hope to have at least one counter for every 2 swimmers. Swimmers, please e-mail me if you know that you will not be around that day or if any parent are available to count laps please let me know.
Should be a great event.
Should be a great event.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Poppy
Poppy was another success this year! Great job to everyone. Lots of best times and for many it was their first meet or first full weekend meet with the club and it was great to see you all racing so well. Keep posted to your group blogs for further updates. Provincial Elite there should be a blog up and running for you shortly. I will send out the link when it is available.
Once again I would like to honor the senior swimmers with their meet awards:
I would like to honor Amanda who swam her first full weekend meet with the club and did a great job getting best times in her best events narrowly missing getting under the 29 second barrier in 50 free while swimming a number of new events as well all with very good performances. Congratulations and here's to plenty more success to come.
For swimmers in the senior group this was an opportunity to swim some off or different events then they would normally compete in at the regular heats and finals meets that are a higher level so I would like to award Zac King with the swim of the meet for his 100 breast stroke. After a bit of a rough competition he stepped up and had some fun in his 100 breast surprising himself taking off 5 seconds and showing a lot of speed.
I think this was a great meet and swimmers had very good attitudes and energy level throughout the competition so at first thought I had a hard time picking an OOPS award for the meet and then I quickly remembered a couple of things that need to be brought up so I will actually award 2 oops awards:
OOPS number 1 goes out to your own coach Matt who forgot about the group swim down that everyone in the Senior group was supposed to do together while the 400's finished up. We were supposed to do this in lieu of Monday morning practice.
OOPS number 2 however goes out to everyone!!! for the horrible state we left our team area in both days. We were the dirtiest club there and we are the ones that should be setting the example. I talked to everyone about this after Saturday and then Sunday it was even worse! Thank goodness some of the swimmers stayed to help clean up the area, those who didn't owe them and the parents involved a big thank you for cleaning up your pigsty.
Once again I would like to honor the senior swimmers with their meet awards:
I would like to honor Amanda who swam her first full weekend meet with the club and did a great job getting best times in her best events narrowly missing getting under the 29 second barrier in 50 free while swimming a number of new events as well all with very good performances. Congratulations and here's to plenty more success to come.
For swimmers in the senior group this was an opportunity to swim some off or different events then they would normally compete in at the regular heats and finals meets that are a higher level so I would like to award Zac King with the swim of the meet for his 100 breast stroke. After a bit of a rough competition he stepped up and had some fun in his 100 breast surprising himself taking off 5 seconds and showing a lot of speed.
I think this was a great meet and swimmers had very good attitudes and energy level throughout the competition so at first thought I had a hard time picking an OOPS award for the meet and then I quickly remembered a couple of things that need to be brought up so I will actually award 2 oops awards:
OOPS number 1 goes out to your own coach Matt who forgot about the group swim down that everyone in the Senior group was supposed to do together while the 400's finished up. We were supposed to do this in lieu of Monday morning practice.
OOPS number 2 however goes out to everyone!!! for the horrible state we left our team area in both days. We were the dirtiest club there and we are the ones that should be setting the example. I talked to everyone about this after Saturday and then Sunday it was even worse! Thank goodness some of the swimmers stayed to help clean up the area, those who didn't owe them and the parents involved a big thank you for cleaning up your pigsty.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Silver Tide in the news
If you didn't see the article in the newspaper check out this link http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1280618 or go to the sports section of www.sherwoodparknews.com
Monday, November 3, 2008
video, dream to WIN!!!!
Check out the Ryan Cochran video on the Swimming Canada home page, www.swimming.ca under headline news. If it is not there you can find it under the title more news. He did not look up to National team members when he was growing up, nor did he look up to the likes of the world record holder in his event Grant Hackett, he just thought, What do I have to do to beat them at the trials in the future to make an international team and then what do I have to do to beat the best once I am there.
Some may call this cocky, I call it confident and necessary if you truly want to be the best.
Some may call this cocky, I call it confident and necessary if you truly want to be the best.
Friday, October 31, 2008
November 11th practice change
On November 11th only Senior and Senior Development swimmers will be swimming all others have the day off.
Our AM practice is at the regular scheduled time for Senior and Step up swimmers. I will open it to all senior swimmers as it is a holiday. I would encourage you to set up some kind of team/group event for during the day, maybe a post practice breakfast or afternoon movie prior to the start of afternoon practice but this is up to you.
In the afternoon both groups will have dryland starting at 4:15 and will swim from 5:15-7:00pm.
BE THERE!
Our AM practice is at the regular scheduled time for Senior and Step up swimmers. I will open it to all senior swimmers as it is a holiday. I would encourage you to set up some kind of team/group event for during the day, maybe a post practice breakfast or afternoon movie prior to the start of afternoon practice but this is up to you.
In the afternoon both groups will have dryland starting at 4:15 and will swim from 5:15-7:00pm.
BE THERE!
Owning your swimming
Take pride in your swimming and care about what you are doing. The more you care about what you are doing the more the coaches will care and the better you will perform.
With Silver Tide we pride ourselves in developing better people through swimming and instilling the life skills that are necessary to be successful in all aspects of your life. Time management, a desire to succeed and do your best along with self responsibility top the list of skills that we want you to have when you leave our program. This message is about self responsibility.
As a student, especially in highschool when you have too many unexcused absences you receive a suspension and if you miss a test or assignment on one of those days more often then not you will also receive a zero for that test or assignment (this will vary by school). When you have a job if you just decide not to show up one day or send a message with a co worker to the boss that you will not be coming into work today you may get a warning or maybe not and then you will be fired. This is life and I want all of you to use this skill in all aspects of it. As members of the senior group, YOU need to be equally responsible towards your swimming (not your parents). There are many means of letting me know, e-mail, text etc all you have to do is use them.
By doing this you show that you are responsible and have thought out your decision not to attend. This demonstrates how much you care and value your swimming and as a result tells me how much the coaches and your parents should care about your swimming.
With proper time management skills little if anything will get in the way of your swimming if you truly value it and if something does come up odds are it did not happen just before practice.
To hold you all to this starting in November I will be publishing monthly attendance and will seperate the informed and uninformed absenses. This is simply to hold you accountable for your swimming and to help you understand how much you have actually missed or how dedicated you actually are.
Most if not all of you are already training as fast as you ever have. This is a great sign as we head into our first year as a large club with Westerns and Age group trials in our own back yard this swim season it is time to really keep the Tide on the rise!
With Silver Tide we pride ourselves in developing better people through swimming and instilling the life skills that are necessary to be successful in all aspects of your life. Time management, a desire to succeed and do your best along with self responsibility top the list of skills that we want you to have when you leave our program. This message is about self responsibility.
As a student, especially in highschool when you have too many unexcused absences you receive a suspension and if you miss a test or assignment on one of those days more often then not you will also receive a zero for that test or assignment (this will vary by school). When you have a job if you just decide not to show up one day or send a message with a co worker to the boss that you will not be coming into work today you may get a warning or maybe not and then you will be fired. This is life and I want all of you to use this skill in all aspects of it. As members of the senior group, YOU need to be equally responsible towards your swimming (not your parents). There are many means of letting me know, e-mail, text etc all you have to do is use them.
By doing this you show that you are responsible and have thought out your decision not to attend. This demonstrates how much you care and value your swimming and as a result tells me how much the coaches and your parents should care about your swimming.
With proper time management skills little if anything will get in the way of your swimming if you truly value it and if something does come up odds are it did not happen just before practice.
To hold you all to this starting in November I will be publishing monthly attendance and will seperate the informed and uninformed absenses. This is simply to hold you accountable for your swimming and to help you understand how much you have actually missed or how dedicated you actually are.
Most if not all of you are already training as fast as you ever have. This is a great sign as we head into our first year as a large club with Westerns and Age group trials in our own back yard this swim season it is time to really keep the Tide on the rise!
It has been way too long
Hello all, it has been much too long but you will be seeing weekly updates from here on out so keep posted.
I would like to start by awarding the senior group swimmeet awards from our last 2 competitions. I will be awarding the swim of the meet award, swimmer of the meet award and the opps card.
For the Octoberfest at Kinsmen the boys both shone and faltered. Nathan had a fantastic meet with all huge best times in the 100 free by over a second, the 50 back and the 200 IM by over 6 seconds to earn swimmer of the meet.
Greg also had a very strong showing including a 50 breast stroke that puts him within striking distance of age group nationals. A very big feat considering he did not have an B time in the event last year.
Then there was the ever reliable Zac. Ever the social butterfly, after 2 solid swims himself he let the girls distract him and missed his 100 freestyle, OOPS!
The Goldfins meet was our first real test of the swim season and it came only 3.5 weeks in and after only 1.5 weeks of morning training but the swimmers all still did very well and walked away with some great swims.
Swimmer of the meet hands down goes to Greg, 100% best times and second swims in all possible races. Not being used to the busy evening schedule and with it being so early in the season there were some ups and downs but all in all a fantastic performance at anytime in the year.
For swim of the meet I would like to award Rachelle, she had a great start to the meet with a huge best time in 200 IM taking off over 3 seconds for her first best time in the event short course since March of 2007.
The OOPS goes to a particular 100 free. It wasn't a bad swim or a bad time but this individual found a way to swim drastically different on each of his 4 25's, breathing every 3 one way, breathing every 2 another way, using a combination of the 2 styles on another 25 and then resorting to straight are plowing on the final 25. Earning the OOPS, Brayden McCaul.
Be sure to keep posted.
I would like to start by awarding the senior group swimmeet awards from our last 2 competitions. I will be awarding the swim of the meet award, swimmer of the meet award and the opps card.
For the Octoberfest at Kinsmen the boys both shone and faltered. Nathan had a fantastic meet with all huge best times in the 100 free by over a second, the 50 back and the 200 IM by over 6 seconds to earn swimmer of the meet.
Greg also had a very strong showing including a 50 breast stroke that puts him within striking distance of age group nationals. A very big feat considering he did not have an B time in the event last year.
Then there was the ever reliable Zac. Ever the social butterfly, after 2 solid swims himself he let the girls distract him and missed his 100 freestyle, OOPS!
The Goldfins meet was our first real test of the swim season and it came only 3.5 weeks in and after only 1.5 weeks of morning training but the swimmers all still did very well and walked away with some great swims.
Swimmer of the meet hands down goes to Greg, 100% best times and second swims in all possible races. Not being used to the busy evening schedule and with it being so early in the season there were some ups and downs but all in all a fantastic performance at anytime in the year.
For swim of the meet I would like to award Rachelle, she had a great start to the meet with a huge best time in 200 IM taking off over 3 seconds for her first best time in the event short course since March of 2007.
The OOPS goes to a particular 100 free. It wasn't a bad swim or a bad time but this individual found a way to swim drastically different on each of his 4 25's, breathing every 3 one way, breathing every 2 another way, using a combination of the 2 styles on another 25 and then resorting to straight are plowing on the final 25. Earning the OOPS, Brayden McCaul.
Be sure to keep posted.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Parents meeting
I will be hosting a parents meeting up the stairs in the lobby at Millennium on Wednesday Oct 8th from 5:45-6:15pm. All families should be represented.
Monday, September 29, 2008
e-mails
Hello all swimmers and anyone else who is interested.
Senior swimmers I need all of your personal e-mail accounts. Please send me an e-mail to coach_matt@silvertide.ca. Don't worry, I won't spam you all. I am just going to register you to my blog and the entries and results blogs so that you receive an e-mail every time that something is added and pass on any relevant swimming information. This is the first step in you all becoming more responsible for your swimming.
Please send me your e-mails by the end of the week, no message needed.
Senior swimmers I need all of your personal e-mail accounts. Please send me an e-mail to coach_matt@silvertide.ca. Don't worry, I won't spam you all. I am just going to register you to my blog and the entries and results blogs so that you receive an e-mail every time that something is added and pass on any relevant swimming information. This is the first step in you all becoming more responsible for your swimming.
Please send me your e-mails by the end of the week, no message needed.
goal setting retreat
Well, it was a great weekend out at Birch Bay Ranch and everyone looks to be really excited for the start of the swim season. Here's to a great season or team bonding and great racing.
See you all at the pool.
If any of you have pictures I would love to have copies, if you don't mind please e-mail them or make a cd.
Much appreciated,
Matt
See you all at the pool.
If any of you have pictures I would love to have copies, if you don't mind please e-mail them or make a cd.
Much appreciated,
Matt
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
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