Ft. Lauderdale International Age Group Competition

This past weekend we took a small group of swimmers to a meet in Ft. Lauderdale. To make the time standard for this meet the swimmer had to at least have an A time standard or better. Normally an A time standard is also considered a Junior Olympic time standard. So in essence this meet was a lot like JO's with the exception that it is bigger, faster, and not limited to only swimmers in the Florida Gold Coast. To put it all in perspective there are about 1,000 kids at this meet from all over the country and the world and in some cases a AA time standard did not make the finals!

I point those facts out because when noting the success we had at the meet it is important to realize the scale of competition. And success is something we tasted much of. That is no small feat! In fact, since my time here I have gone to this meet three times and we have never had as much success as we did this year. In the past 2 years I have only had 2 finals qualifications. This year our swimmers combined for a total of 20 finals qualifications. A final qualification means that you not only scored points for the team but also placed in the top 10. Of those finals we left with a gold, a silver, and three bronzes.

The success at this meet only reinforced the fact that although we do things differently down here we are still doing things right. There were times when I would look around at other coaches yelling at their swimmers during a warm up, or watched swimmers sit around and complain during rain delays. During the rain delays we didn't complain. We controlled the things we could and our team did active stretching and visualisation. During warm up we as coaches trusted the swimmers to act professionally and warm themselves up. They did just that! The thing that makes the success of these swimmers so sweet is that the success is truly theirs. They know what they needed to do to get the job done and they did it...all by themselves. Nothing is more dangerous than a smart, fast, self actualized, self sustained and self motivated swimmer. Well, we brought 7 of those so I cant say I'm surprised with the results.

There is still much to improve, however, and perhaps that is the best part. We are achieving so much and we still have so much to learn. This meet has gotten us really excited for the upcoming DII Championships and Junior Olympics. Keep checking for updates! Until then...Back to work!

View meet results at: http://www.flaswim.com/realtime/2009iagi/

Evin is a happy baby

Despite the weather we had some great swims this weekend, recap coming soon, but wanted to share this picture of the correct way to do the happy baby stretch with the club. Evin truly is a happy baby...

Lean To Swim Session 2

Here are some pictures from the second session of the learn to swim.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Elyse.Corwin/Session2LearnToSwim?feat=email

Great Swims at Metro Meet!

Aside from the random weather in Tamiami, we had some great swims this past weekend at the Metro Meet! Every swimmer had at least 1 personal best and aside from the rain on the Saturday afternoon session everything went great. FKSC once again dominated by putting up an unprecedented 18 first place finishes with only 10 athletes attending! Congrats to the swimmers who did make the trip up to the meet, and a special congratulations to Jade Bascilius on her first JO cut. Im sure more will follow. The FL International meet is looming on the horizon, and it is more important now than ever that we push into long course training so we are ready when the time comes to perform.

"Hard work always beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." (John Wooden)

Swimmers; take the time everyday to think about what you are swimming, why you are swimming it, and how your body is reacting to training. TALK TO THE COACHES! We cannot help you with problems if you do not address them first.

Parents; keep your kids healthy, lots of food and lots of rest. Try to get a snack to each swimmer no more than 20 minutes after practice. Even if it is a granola bar, it will go a long way in replenishing the nutrients that are consumed during training.

With championship season looming overhead attendance is more crucial than ever. We have 5 weeks to get the kids in shape before Sub-JOs, which will be the summer highlight for many of our swimmers, lets focus on getting to practice, getting the work in, and getting lots of rest!

-Coach Dan

Wave Makers Session 1

The first of four sessions of the Learn to Swim program ended today. Congrats to all the swimmers as everyone graduated with honors! Each swimmer showed improvement every day and came excited and ready to learn to each lesson. We all learned from each other and most importantly we all had a lot of fun doing it. If these kids can enjoy swimming now it will become a sport that they can use for the rest of their lives. Also, thank you to all the parents who shuttle their kids around so that their kids can lead healthy lives.

If you would like to view pictures from the first session please click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Elyse.Corwin/Session1LearnToSwim?feat=email

Spots are almost full for the session starting June 8th. Please make sure you call to reserve a sport as soon as possible. Keep checking for updates.

LC Meet at FIU

So we had our first long course meet of the season and I would say that it was a great success. Of the first 24 events swum we had 14 first place finishes! And that doesn't even include the swimmers that placed in the top 8. I would say that every swimmer that we had placed in the top 8 in their respective events. It just goes to show that even thought we are a small team most teams would rather we stayed home... and I love it!

Congrats to all the swimmers that participated in the last meet. Aside from individual placement ALL the swimmers did personal best times in the races that they swam. It was great to see because I didn't rest or prepare for this meet at all. All of the kids that swim in this meet have been swimming really hard for the last 2 months with very little rest. In fact on the first day of the meet I had 3 swimmers who swam both the 400IM AND the 1500 Free. Tough kids!

After seeing that success I am excited to get into the summer. We have a new coach Dan Sorenson who just arrived and I am sure that Dan will contribute to make our team even stronger. I am excited for the bigger meets coming up because I think we are ready for the competition.

Keep checking for updates!

All Star Meet

We had three swimmers attend the All Star Meet. I was excited to have the kids experience a meet that goes beyond a Junior Olympics. They learned a lot about continuing a taper and racing hard week after week. Sometimes a swimmer can get stuck thinking that Junior Olympics is the fastest meet. It IS fast but now we are seeing that JO's is important but it is only part of the path leading to bigger and better things.

I was also glad to hear that our swimmers got to experience things like swimming on fast relays. We are a small team and don't necessarily have enough kids to swim a relay and I think it is important for kids to view swimming as a team sport as well as a individual sport.

I would also like to report that one of our swimmer was voted captain of their age group. This was quite an honor for him to bring back to the team.

Congratulations to ALL swimmers who competed in ANY meet over the last season. We now move to Long Course Season. Keep Checking for updates.