Efficiency

At both events camps over the weekend efficiency was the main theme. This is the time of the season where fine tuning is the focus. The ability to do this with short rest and strong efforts is what will hard wire those techniques into the swimmers mind. This is very easy for a swimmer to control and monitor with stroke counts and times. Once they start to monitor this it is also up to the swimmers to ask the coaches how they can improve upon different things. It is easy to notice if you are swimming faster and more efficiently in your workout as you monitor this. By monitoring those things you begin to own your own swimming and it is this skill that will allow you to reach your dreams.

Swim AB events camps

After a run of illnesses we had 6 swimmers represent us at Swim Alberta events this past weekend and they all represented very well. There was lots of learning to be done over the weekend and Nadine, Karlyn, Brayden, Jolene, Sarah and Sydney are all very lucky to have been able to attend the camps. It was a great experience for both the coaches and swimmers that were involved in the camp. In Lethbridge at the AB vs BC dual meet and camp the swimmers were stressed in many different ways and then expected to perform their best during the dual meet. There were some great presentations throughout the weekend and I hope to receive some of the information and pass it on to the rest of the club. At the meet the AB Girls narrowly beat the BC Girls in what was a very competitive battle but the AB boys were a little outclassed over the weekend. The coaches were all very happy with how the swimmers performed. They made great strides over the weekend to continue to progress to new levels. And we all left happy with where we are at as a province but we also realize how much better we can be. There is a lot of talent in Alberta and our swimmers are some of the best. How far they will go in this sport is completely up to them.
Up in Grande Prairie there was a similar message and the swimmers seem very excited to come back and use their new skills. Our swimmers made other coaches take notice, all were very coachable and eager to learn. It was a great setting for the swimmers to work and learn. It should be a very exciting long course season.

We hit a milestone!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.