Thursday, April 3, 2008
Morning wake up call!
We are coming up to the halfway point of the meet and it is just information overload! Lots has happened over the first 2.5 days of the meet and we have learnt a ton from our own experiences and those of others. We have watched stars miss the final because they were not prepared in the morning to swim to their potential and the % of PB's being set in the morning is really low, showing the importance of a great warm-up and being ready to swim FAST in the morning. It is a different feeling and thought process for some when they are only warming up for 1 event. Some think that they can shorten up their warm-ups and change it to more of a 'finals' warm up. This simply isn't the case. At night the body is awake and has already done a ton of work so it may not need as much prep but in the morning when getting ready to swim fast you need a full proper warm up whether you are getting ready for a 50 free or 200 fly, 200 IM and 100 free. You need to get the body ready to go essentially the same way. DON'T CHANGE WHAT WORKS! The girls also found out today how important it is to do a fair bit of pace and speed work within their warm up as they swam strong swims but looked even better in the warm down tank after their races finished warming them up. These are great learning experiences and the sooner you can learn them the better.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Age Group Champs report
We took big step towards winning back the small team championship banner this season; after a top 5 finish at Age Group Champs we have a 500+ point lead over the next closest small team. This is Silver Tides highest finish since Alberta separated provincials into 14 and under and 15 and over as well as their second highest finish ever. Along with the 5th place finish we also had 8 swimmers qualify for 2 different Swim Alberta tour teams. Our 11-12 year old boys of Kevin Labonte, James Janzen, Brendan Elford and Connor Rawson qualified and represented Silver Tide at the North South dual meet/camp very well Easter weekend at NAIT. Coach Kellie was also nominated as one of the Boys coaches. Connor was recognized by the staff for his outstanding performance at the meet and Kevin was awarded for his wonderful team spirit. We also had Karlyn (IM), Erin (Fly), Nadine (Mid Free), Brayden (Distance Free) qualify for the Alberta vs BC dual meet in Lethbridge April 18-20. We are still waiting to hear about the coaching selection for this meet but it looks as though I should be selected for that meet as well. We have the 2nd most swimmers attending the Alberta/BC Dual meet with 4.
As a club we scortched the record book once again with 13 more club records bringing our seasonal total up to 59 club records!! WOW!!!! Congratulations to all Silver Tide swimmers who have taken part in this record breaking spree this season. Keep it up.
We had 100% best times from Jasmin who attended her first Age Group Champs and had 2 scoring swims, Sarah L, Josie who scored in all of her events and Rebecca and Ryan who both rewrote the record book in the process with Ryan coming home his weight in medals. We also had Connor, Brendan, James and Brayden with all but one best time. There were tons of huge best times, too many to catch them all but Brayden stuck out with a fantastic performance making a few second swims and showing that he can qualify for age group nationals in EVERY freestyle distance by the end of the year. Connor, Brendan and Kevin also showed that age group nationals is just around the corner for them. And the 13-14 year old girls made other around the province take notice 2 or more girls in many of the A final events including 1-2 finishes from Erin and Karlyn in 100 and 200 fly while inching closer and closer to their first senior national cuts. With only 1 swimmer aging themselves out of the meet for long course season we should be ready for another fantastic season.
As a club we scortched the record book once again with 13 more club records bringing our seasonal total up to 59 club records!! WOW!!!! Congratulations to all Silver Tide swimmers who have taken part in this record breaking spree this season. Keep it up.
We had 100% best times from Jasmin who attended her first Age Group Champs and had 2 scoring swims, Sarah L, Josie who scored in all of her events and Rebecca and Ryan who both rewrote the record book in the process with Ryan coming home his weight in medals. We also had Connor, Brendan, James and Brayden with all but one best time. There were tons of huge best times, too many to catch them all but Brayden stuck out with a fantastic performance making a few second swims and showing that he can qualify for age group nationals in EVERY freestyle distance by the end of the year. Connor, Brendan and Kevin also showed that age group nationals is just around the corner for them. And the 13-14 year old girls made other around the province take notice 2 or more girls in many of the A final events including 1-2 finishes from Erin and Karlyn in 100 and 200 fly while inching closer and closer to their first senior national cuts. With only 1 swimmer aging themselves out of the meet for long course season we should be ready for another fantastic season.
At last... it is your Senior Champs recap
With swimmers being entered with their short course converted times this was a tough meet to judge as their first long course meet of the season but once you analyze it compared to last years best you see how great a meet it actually was for the swimmers. It was highlighted with a couple of very impressive Freestyle sprints by Julie who achieved her CIAU qualifying time in 50 free thus securing her a spot on the U of A swim team. This also showed that she is definitely ready to make the jump to senior nationals this summer in Winnipeg. All but one of the swimmers walked away from the meet with some good best times including 100% long course bests from: Delaney, Linnea, Greg, Kam and Max with Meagan missing only one PB.
That first long course meet is always a big challenge and these swimmers, though a little unknowling, stepped up really well with some fantastic swims. Health was a bit of an issue during the meet but all in all the swimmers did a really good job. It is a good sign as we head into our long course season full force in April. The relays were a lot of fun and it was great to see a group of 16 swimmers who attended the meet you can really see that the club is going in the right direction with only 2 graduating swimmers this season we will be that much bigger and better next year.
That first long course meet is always a big challenge and these swimmers, though a little unknowling, stepped up really well with some fantastic swims. Health was a bit of an issue during the meet but all in all the swimmers did a really good job. It is a good sign as we head into our long course season full force in April. The relays were a lot of fun and it was great to see a group of 16 swimmers who attended the meet you can really see that the club is going in the right direction with only 2 graduating swimmers this season we will be that much bigger and better next year.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
2 New Age Group Champs qualifiers
Congratulations to Brooklyn and Jasmin who both won an event at Age Group Trials this weekend qualifying them for Age Group Champs. Great job girls!!!
There were a number of other fantastic swims, be sure to check out Ryan and Kellie's blogs for full meet recaps.
There were a number of other fantastic swims, be sure to check out Ryan and Kellie's blogs for full meet recaps.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Westerns recap
Wednesday Feb 13th
We arrived in Victoria with high spirits and expectations around 8:30am. We checked into the hotel and headed off for a walk along the ocean for some added inspiration. It was a beautiful day and a great way to start the trip. Later that afternoon we went to the pool for our final preparations. The swimmers look great and energetic. I am very excited to see what comes of the weekend.
Thursday Feb 14th, Day 1
We all had a bit of a sleep in today with warm-ups not starting till noon. With it only being the stroke 50’s and the off distance events not everyone swam but all who did were very successful. We had Sydney kick us off with a great 50 breast taking off more than 1 second. That was followed by Rachelle also taking off a full second and qualifying for the B final of the 50 fly. It is our first of many scoring swims at the meet. Next up, came Julie with a blistering 50 back. Karlyn and Nadine followed up with very strong 1500’s. Karlyn set a great pace out in a best time to the 800 by 10 seconds. Nadine also started strong breaking her club record by 4 seconds to finish 8th overall.
Friday Feb 15th, Day 2
It is the first full day of the meet and we are looking for some big swims to step up into finals. It started with the 50 free where Julie officially breaks the 28 second barrier for the first time. Rachelle followed up with a PB of her own narrowly missing her Olympic Trials cut. This time of 27.10 got her into a swim off later that morning where she was narrowly out touched but snuck under the 27 second barrier to qualify for Olympic Trials and break the club record. Karlyn looked very good in her 200 IM with a good best time and another club record which has her very excited for her 400 IM Sunday. And Nadine qualified for the C final in the 400 free with a club record swim in the morning.
Later that night in Finals Nadine swam a very aggressive race and had a great last 50 in her 400 free to get Silver Tide their second Olympic trials qualifier in a time of 4:23.81 to come second in the C final and Rachelle came back with a great 50 fly in a time of 29.30 good for 14th place. To finish off the night the 400 Free Relay team of Rachelle, Julie, Karlyn and Nadine broke the club record in a time of 4:01.33.
Saturday Feb 16th, Day 3
This should be our hardest day to meet our goal of at least 1 scoring swim each day. That being said we had a couple of surprising results in the morning. This was started off by Erin’s 200 fly in a club record time of 2:26.35 snuck her into the C final which was a big lift and a club record. This was followed by Sarah’s 200 breast in a time of 2:42.00 which also secured her a spot in the C final. Sydney narrowly missed a spot too taking off 2 full seconds in the same race. Other highlights that morning came in the 200 back where Karlyn took off over 7 seconds and Sarah took off almost 4 seconds.
In finals both Sarah and Erin showed very few jitters and swam some great races at night. We also had the girls 800 Free Relay team of Karlyn, Rachelle, Nadine and Sydney break the 15-17 and senior club record by almost 20 seconds in a time of 8:38.56.
Sunday Feb 17th, Day 4
This morning we started off a little sluggish but finished off very strong. Kyle started us off with his first 200 free best time in over 2 years. Next came Sarah and Sydney in the 100 breast, both achieved best times and both missed making the final by less than 1 second. We were a little scared with no one qualified for finals yet but then came the 400 IM one of our signature events where we saw Sarah, Sydney, Erin and Karlyn achieve best times with Karlyn qualifying for the C final in a club record time of 5:08.39. The morning continued with Rachelle narrowly missing the final in her 100 fly with a big best time by almost 3 seconds. Then Nadine stepped up in the 800 free with her second Olympic Trials qualifying time, top 10 finish, and club record with a time of 9:05.16.
In Finals, Karlyn dropped another 1.5 seconds for a 5:06.88 putting her well within range of making her Olympic Trials cut in the event and then we finished off with a fantastic relay record in the 400 Medley Relay where the team of Julie, Sarah, Erin and Rachelle swam a great race in 4:27.48 where each of the 4 swimmers were more than 1 second under their best time. It was a great way to finish off a fantastic meet.
In other Silver Tide news; Mike Clarke, who was representing Simon Fraser University on a scholarship, also had a great meet qualifying for Senior Nationals in the 800 free and breaking club records in the 400, 800 and 1500 free races. He will be back to represent his home club after the school year.
All in all we broke 12 individual club records plus Mikes 3 club records and 3 relay records. Overall it was a wonderful representation of Silver Tide on the National swim scene finishing 30th overall with the girls finishing 24th overall.
We arrived in Victoria with high spirits and expectations around 8:30am. We checked into the hotel and headed off for a walk along the ocean for some added inspiration. It was a beautiful day and a great way to start the trip. Later that afternoon we went to the pool for our final preparations. The swimmers look great and energetic. I am very excited to see what comes of the weekend.
Thursday Feb 14th, Day 1
We all had a bit of a sleep in today with warm-ups not starting till noon. With it only being the stroke 50’s and the off distance events not everyone swam but all who did were very successful. We had Sydney kick us off with a great 50 breast taking off more than 1 second. That was followed by Rachelle also taking off a full second and qualifying for the B final of the 50 fly. It is our first of many scoring swims at the meet. Next up, came Julie with a blistering 50 back. Karlyn and Nadine followed up with very strong 1500’s. Karlyn set a great pace out in a best time to the 800 by 10 seconds. Nadine also started strong breaking her club record by 4 seconds to finish 8th overall.
Friday Feb 15th, Day 2
It is the first full day of the meet and we are looking for some big swims to step up into finals. It started with the 50 free where Julie officially breaks the 28 second barrier for the first time. Rachelle followed up with a PB of her own narrowly missing her Olympic Trials cut. This time of 27.10 got her into a swim off later that morning where she was narrowly out touched but snuck under the 27 second barrier to qualify for Olympic Trials and break the club record. Karlyn looked very good in her 200 IM with a good best time and another club record which has her very excited for her 400 IM Sunday. And Nadine qualified for the C final in the 400 free with a club record swim in the morning.
Later that night in Finals Nadine swam a very aggressive race and had a great last 50 in her 400 free to get Silver Tide their second Olympic trials qualifier in a time of 4:23.81 to come second in the C final and Rachelle came back with a great 50 fly in a time of 29.30 good for 14th place. To finish off the night the 400 Free Relay team of Rachelle, Julie, Karlyn and Nadine broke the club record in a time of 4:01.33.
Saturday Feb 16th, Day 3
This should be our hardest day to meet our goal of at least 1 scoring swim each day. That being said we had a couple of surprising results in the morning. This was started off by Erin’s 200 fly in a club record time of 2:26.35 snuck her into the C final which was a big lift and a club record. This was followed by Sarah’s 200 breast in a time of 2:42.00 which also secured her a spot in the C final. Sydney narrowly missed a spot too taking off 2 full seconds in the same race. Other highlights that morning came in the 200 back where Karlyn took off over 7 seconds and Sarah took off almost 4 seconds.
In finals both Sarah and Erin showed very few jitters and swam some great races at night. We also had the girls 800 Free Relay team of Karlyn, Rachelle, Nadine and Sydney break the 15-17 and senior club record by almost 20 seconds in a time of 8:38.56.
Sunday Feb 17th, Day 4
This morning we started off a little sluggish but finished off very strong. Kyle started us off with his first 200 free best time in over 2 years. Next came Sarah and Sydney in the 100 breast, both achieved best times and both missed making the final by less than 1 second. We were a little scared with no one qualified for finals yet but then came the 400 IM one of our signature events where we saw Sarah, Sydney, Erin and Karlyn achieve best times with Karlyn qualifying for the C final in a club record time of 5:08.39. The morning continued with Rachelle narrowly missing the final in her 100 fly with a big best time by almost 3 seconds. Then Nadine stepped up in the 800 free with her second Olympic Trials qualifying time, top 10 finish, and club record with a time of 9:05.16.
In Finals, Karlyn dropped another 1.5 seconds for a 5:06.88 putting her well within range of making her Olympic Trials cut in the event and then we finished off with a fantastic relay record in the 400 Medley Relay where the team of Julie, Sarah, Erin and Rachelle swam a great race in 4:27.48 where each of the 4 swimmers were more than 1 second under their best time. It was a great way to finish off a fantastic meet.
In other Silver Tide news; Mike Clarke, who was representing Simon Fraser University on a scholarship, also had a great meet qualifying for Senior Nationals in the 800 free and breaking club records in the 400, 800 and 1500 free races. He will be back to represent his home club after the school year.
All in all we broke 12 individual club records plus Mikes 3 club records and 3 relay records. Overall it was a wonderful representation of Silver Tide on the National swim scene finishing 30th overall with the girls finishing 24th overall.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Jumping Gee Willakers!
We had another typical Silver Tide weekend. Congratulations go out to Brooklyn who achieved her QT this weekend at 10 and under series which now gives us a 10 and under relay team at Age Group Trials and the more swimmers we have there the better chance we have at qualifying more 10 year olds for Age Group Champs. Also up in Grande Prairie we had 3 club records broken by the Schamber family, Rebecca broke the 50 and 200 free 8 and under club records and Ryan broke the 400 IM club record for 9-10 year old boys in his first attempt of the event. Robyn also swam her first 400 IM in a time that would have won Age Group Trials last year, Age Group Champs here we come...
Stay tuned to Kellie's blog for a complete GP wrap up and to Ryan and Chelby's for more details on 10 and under series.
Keep up the great work everyone!!!
Stay tuned to Kellie's blog for a complete GP wrap up and to Ryan and Chelby's for more details on 10 and under series.
Keep up the great work everyone!!!
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