Wow, what a great month for Junior D!
SWIM MEETS
Novice series was a great success with lots of best times! All the swimmers did very well and did a good job showing off the improvements they've made in every stroke. We now have a big break between meets as we don't have another official one until April 18th, which is the next Novice Series. For this reason, Coach Braden and I will be running a fun meet on Saturday, March 21st. I need everyone to let me know if they will or will not be coming. This will make it easier to plan for how many swimmers there will be and how many races they will be able to swim. For this meet I'm hoping to pick a couple races for the swimmers, and also allow them to pick a couple for themselves. At the end, I'm also planning on having the kids try a relay because most were not able to do one at Mayflower because of the technical difficulties. More info should be coming out via email from Coach Matt in the next couple of weeks. Please be sure to check your emails from the club regularly.
PRACTICE IN FEBRUARY
Over the course of this month, I believe JD has made some huge improvements. Every one's butterfly is coming along well. Towards the end of the month we've been doing some freestyle work, specifically on swimming with high elbows. I've already seen a great change with this work. All the swimmers showed a lot of independence this month when it came to using the clock and starting themselves. The work we've done on streamlines is starting to pay off as I see swimmers doing it without me having to constantly remind them! Our 200 timed kicks were a huge success as we had almost 100% best times. Many swimmers took off 10, 20, or 30 seconds just from last month! Tristan even took off a whole minute! I am very proud of the swimming that everyone has done this past month! :)
MARCH...
The month of March will see us continuing with the work we've done so far on all four strokes. I'm going to try and emphasize doing good quality swimming, but on shorter rest. As well, we will be continuing to do more 50's and even 100's as many swimmers will be starting to do 200m events at swim meets as we move into the last part of the season. As well, I'm going to try something new in March. It's going to be called "Stars of Practice". It will be a chart where the swimmers will earn stars for doing "good" things. I have asked the swimmers to come up with ideas for things they believe would deserve earning a star. I gave them examples of supporting team mates, streamlining every time, and being a good listener. Once the swimmers help me come up with a list I will put it up on my blog.
If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to email me or talk to me at the pool!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Novice Series: Feb 14
No practice Saturday morning because of the swim meet.
Please be on deck at the U of A pool at 11:30.
The pool is on the corner of 114th St and 87 Ave.
Link to google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=university+of+alberta+butterdome&sll=53.523141,-113.518896&sspn=0.019313,0.055618&ie=UTF8&ll=53.522579,-113.528166&spn=0.009657,0.027809&z=16
Please be on deck at the U of A pool at 11:30.
The pool is on the corner of 114th St and 87 Ave.
Link to google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=university+of+alberta+butterdome&sll=53.523141,-113.518896&sspn=0.019313,0.055618&ie=UTF8&ll=53.522579,-113.528166&spn=0.009657,0.027809&z=16
Monday, February 2, 2009
January!
WELCOME
The new year brought some new additions to Junior Development. Ben, Ivo, Lauren, and Tristan all moved up from I can swim into the competitive program. They all have fit in very well have either already attended or are planning to attend a swim meet! As well, there were some JD swimmers who decided to try meets this January. Anders, Ayden, Evan, and Teya G participated in their first 10 and under series this past month. It is very exciting because almost all JD swimmers have swam at a swim meet... After 10 and under series, a couple of the swimmers new to meets told me that it was "awesome" and "so much fun", which was great to hear!
DQs
In competitive swimming, there are some rules that swimmers need to follow during races. If these rules aren't followed, it is considered a disqualification (DQ). DQs shouldn't ever be viewed as a negative experience. Rather, they should be taken as a learning oppertunity that is beneficial to helping the swimmer improve. I am always more than willing to discuss why a swimmer got a DQ with parents. I make a point of letting swimmers know what they did after their race if I see it, and if I don't see it I will do my best to find out from the meet referee. The following are some of the more reasons DQs are given:
The new year brought some new additions to Junior Development. Ben, Ivo, Lauren, and Tristan all moved up from I can swim into the competitive program. They all have fit in very well have either already attended or are planning to attend a swim meet! As well, there were some JD swimmers who decided to try meets this January. Anders, Ayden, Evan, and Teya G participated in their first 10 and under series this past month. It is very exciting because almost all JD swimmers have swam at a swim meet... After 10 and under series, a couple of the swimmers new to meets told me that it was "awesome" and "so much fun", which was great to hear!
DQs
In competitive swimming, there are some rules that swimmers need to follow during races. If these rules aren't followed, it is considered a disqualification (DQ). DQs shouldn't ever be viewed as a negative experience. Rather, they should be taken as a learning oppertunity that is beneficial to helping the swimmer improve. I am always more than willing to discuss why a swimmer got a DQ with parents. I make a point of letting swimmers know what they did after their race if I see it, and if I don't see it I will do my best to find out from the meet referee. The following are some of the more reasons DQs are given:
- touching with one hand in breaststroke and butterfly
- touching on your front or being on your front at any time in backstroke
- doing the wrong type of kick in your streamlines or at any point during the race (especially in breast and fly)
PRACTICE IN JANUARY
This month we have continued to work on those streamlines! I'm sure all the swimmers are getting very tired of me saying the word "streamline" 100 times a day...but I won't stop until you ALL do it EVERY time!! As well, in the new year we have begun to do more 50s and towards the end of the month we started trying to do them on faster intervals. As always, we had our timed 200 flutter kick and all the swimmers did very well. We had almost 100% best times, and those that weren't quite there missed it only by a few seconds. The timed 200 is something we do around the same time every month. I feel that it's a great way for the swimmers to see their improvement in their kick and endurance. Lastly, a big focus of a number of practices was on working on our butterfly. Everyone has showed big improvement in their dolphin kick.
WHATS TO COME..
As we move into February, we only have 1 meet which is the Novice Series on Saturday, Feb. 14th. This meet is similar to the 10 and under series in that the swimmers get the opportunity to swim one race of each stroke. Additionally, they will get so swim an IM event (which is 1 or 2 lengths of each stroke, depending on the distance they are entered in). Novice series is another great meet for beginner swimmers.
In February, we will continue to work on our streamlines and turns. As well, we are going to continually work on developing our endurance by swimming 50s and some 100s. We will keep working on our butterfly, specifically on our breath timing.
See you at the pool! :)
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