Small Meet, Big Times

We went to a small meet this past weekend in Key West. My swimmers have had success in this pool in the past as this is the pool in which we won the County Championship for the High School season. We only took four swimmers all together, but as usual it did not seem to matter one bit. Of all the swimmers, no swimmer finished with a rank lower than 3rd in any event they swam. Of those races we had several event winners. I sometimes cant get over the fact that team are rolling in with triple or quadruple the amount of swimmers, and they still cant touch us. It reinforces the fact that we do things right here!

There was a couple more JO cuts made from two of our swimmers who are really feeling fast right now. Both of them really impress me when they get up to swim. One of those swimmers has now achieved a JO cut in every single event for her age. I was quite impressed. Also, our youngest member of the team won every event she swam for her age group. She was dropping times like a crazy person.

And as usual it was FUN FUN FUN to watch such a small team show such domination. KeyFish (Swimus fearus!)

Well, off for a long break. I will be updating quite soon for anyone interested in the January practice schedule. I will also be posting several meets under the announcement portion of the blog. Have a safe and happy holiday, and I will see you next year!

The Santa Claus Invitational

I was very pleased with the outcome of the Santa Claus Invite. First of all we went to the meet with 17 kids, most of which were below the age of 12. It is always exciting to see the future of your team get involved, and excited with swimming. We had a couple who swam in their first meet ever, and a few young ones that are starting to get used to meets. We had several top 8 finishers, so as always we were not the biggest, but we were well represented. We also had a few more JO cuts made, and I always love to see that happen.

For the most part I love it when we bring a lot of swimmers to a meet. I love to watch them laugh, play cards, eat snacks, and have fun. It reminds me of what I REALLY love about swimming... my friends. They don't know it, but they are developing confidence, and social skills that will last a long time.

Well, now we have a long break. I will be gone for a week in December so please pay attention to all practice announcements, updated blog information.

Short Course Champs

This blog is a little late in coming, but things got kinda crazy around Thanksgiving, and this post got pushed back just a bit. We had Short Course Championships about a week ago, and I will say that we had a great showing. We only had 5 swimmers qualify, we were by far the smallest team there, but of those 5 swimmers 3 of them made finals in the events that they swam. Calculated out that is about 60% success rate. For a small team we were well represented, but it only fortified my real dream for us to show up to a championship meet with 20+ kids and have the same success rate. I was still, none the less, impressed with our swimmers performances, and it will be these few who pave the way for many more!

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over we are now officially in our winter season. We have a meet coming up this weekend in Tamiami, and we will be taking about 17 kids. Most of these kids are under the age of 11, and that makes me feel good because these are the future JO, and Championship qualifiers. Check the blog for more updates soon because our practise schedule will change slightly due to college teams coming on training trips. As soon as I know the new schedule, I will post it for everyone.

The Pot Luck

Well, we had our pot luck this weekend, and I think that things went great. First the kids on my team got to see the race club guys swim a 100 FAST! And, when I say fast, I mean guys were swimming :43-:44 sec for a hundred freestyle in practice. Also, there were a couple of guys who went :54-:55 in the 100 breaststroke. Those are close to NCAA A cut times. I know for a fact that my team never saw first hand people swim that fast. I will never forget the ooo's and ahhh's from some of them.

After the race 100, my swimmers had a opportunity to work with the swimmers on their strokes in a mini clinic. It was nice to see the Race Club in the water with my club kids. My swimmers got little tips, and pointers from the best in town!

After some stroke work the Race Club guys swam a race 50. Again people were putting up very fast times. Nathan Adrian went 19.89! Even I got super pumped up for that one. The kids also got a chance to see swimmers like Gary Hall Jr. and Sabir Mohamad race. That is a once in a lifetime thing for some of them, and I hope they wont ever forget it.

At the end of the Race 50's Gary and Sabir were picked as team capt's and they split the whole group into two relays. The relay's were a mix of my club team and the world team. I was so happy to see my kids excitement when they saw they would be swimming on the same relay as a Olympian.

In the end, I don't think things could have gone better. My kids were excited by fast swimming, and it motivated them to want to swim fast. As a coach I could ask for nothing more. It opened up their mind, and it was as if someone told them YES you can be this fast one day. It helped reinforce all that I do, and I couldn't have been a happier coach.

After all the swimming we ate, and hung out together as one big team because that is what we really are. Some took pictures, and some got autographs from some of the swimmers. Everyone was smiling,my kids were running around laughing, the weather was beautiful, and I couldn't think of a place that I would have rather been at that time.

More fast swimming in Hialeah

Well, I would say the winter season has officially begun. OK i will admit it.... It was a LITTLE cold in the morning, but it warmed up a lot as the day progressed. We swam a good meet in Hialeah this past weekend. It seems like every meet we go to someone is getting a best time, or nudging a little closer. There were some very good swims in general, but also I must say a meet is a good learning tool for me. It helps re-connect me with the team, and the things we still need to work on. We are fast right now, but only in short events. I know I am a sprinter, but I would like to see better 200's of freestyle, and all strokes. Also, we need to tighten the small things: turns, breakouts, starts.

Again we took a large group, and again we had people swimming in thier first meet ever. The thing that I am most proud of is that kids are getting interested in the sport, and I am glad to be a part of making that happen. I love to sense thier exctiement as they are experiencing a race for the first time. It is pure. It is the cultivation of the competetive spirit. A intangible human trait. It is only at meets that I will ever know who will really be a swimmer, and I must say that I am pleased with the competetive spirit that I have seen from my veteran team members, as well as some of my rookies. Again... I want to make swimmers that not only want to race, but have all the tools neccecery to be confident they can swim fast in that race!

Race Club Family

The Race Club had a meeting the other night to discuss a way to jump start this new era of Florida Keys swimming. We all feel like the Race Club and FKSC is too disconnected. In all actuality The Race Club, and the Florida Keys Swim club, on all levels, is very much a family. They have a positive symbiotic relationship, and on November 10th we plan to make that a more noticeable, and tangible idea. Our idea is on the 10th to have a combined practice/pot luck with both the FKSC and Race Club. The practice will start at 12:00 at Founders, and we will combine everyone...that's right everyone. Masters, kids, high school, and world team members will all be working together in the pool. This will be followed by some fun relays and swim events, followed shortly thereafter by a pot luck lunch. We hope that this will be a big event, and that it will help glue together what is already one. If you can make it please come. Any questions please feel free to ask.

Dig A Little Deeper

Well, not every single meet is going to be breeze, and I will say that Regionals was not so easy for us...initially. In the morning we swam very flat, and unmotivated. The best thing about my team is that they are all scrappy. When it comes down to the wire they want to win. Regionals was a huge meet that we had no chance of winning. We swam slightly un-inspired. we were not ourselves.

That, however, was only they prelims. Winston Churchill said that success is the ability to move from one failure to another with enthusiasm. Well, we definitely failed in the prelims, but could we turn it into success? Could we walk back out there as a different team, a more motivated team that wasn't scared?

YES! Our finals performance was much better. We had a few personal best times, and a girls relay that CRUSHED the consolation heat. I mean they went 4 seconds faster. I believe that under adversity is when you really see yourself. Well, we were faced with a adverse situation, our real selves stepped up and rocked out!

What a awesome, and exciting season. I can't believe it is over already. Next year we will def. bring kids to States. I just want to thank everyone along the way who helped me out. I was a new coach in a new town, and without the help, and support of the school, the parents, the facilities, and the race club I don't think I could have gotten it all done.

Looking forward to next year, but as for now back to buisness as we have a age group meet coming up this weekend. Keep checking for updates!