Congratulations Silver Tide Swim Club you have now broken 60 club records for short course season after Rebecca broke the 50 free club record at Novice series on the weekend. Great job.
Now the fun of Long Course record breaking begins: After Olympic trials we have already broken a few. You have set high standards, but with less long course meets lets see how close we can get!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
lucky bunch
After my first spin class I am so jealous of all of you. It hurt so much and it felt soooo good. You are one lucky bunch to be able to workout like that in the water and with dryland on a daily basis. It just makes you feel good! Keep it up and continue to push yourselves to new heights. Follow the path of hard work and you will get to your desired destination.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Seeing success through a meet
There are different challenges at different meets to swim well from start to finish. To get through any meet of any length, you need to be in great shape! But what you do at the meet varies greatly depending on the meet. In a 3 day meet where you might swim 7 events, relays and finals in every event it is all about RECOVERY, RECOVERY, REFUELING AND RECOVERY! You have to do everything you can to help the body rest and get ready for its next events. This all starts with being in great shape both physically and mentally. In a 6 day meet where you might swim 4 or 5 events and not make a second swim you have to swim and train through the meet. If all you did was race 1 event and warm down each day you would actually fall out of shape by the end of the meet especially if you are fully rested and ready to swim fast from Day 1. Don't change what your body is used to. If it is normal for it to do a certain amount of work or meters each day don't let yourself drop below that at meet. Keep yourself in shape ready to perform each day. If that means doing a little workout after your heats or during finals if you don't make second swims do that!
Always give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Know your own body and give it what it needs every day.
Always give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Know your own body and give it what it needs every day.
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
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About Me
- Coach Matt
- • Involved with swimming in Alberta for 16 years • Swam with Leduc Otters, Keyano Swim Club and the Olympian Swim Club • Coached on Vancouver Island with Summer Club Then came back to Alberta to be head coach of the Leduc Otters where I was named Head Coach for 3 years. • Completed my NCCP level 2 and have begun my level 3 • Graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education with a Math major and Physical Education minor • Substitute teacher with the Black Gold School Division. See you around the pool