This week we want to pass on some interesting insights from Shawn Klosterman.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE IN TEXTILE
As always, let us know your thoughts. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label swim suit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swim suit. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Nike is Out...And So Are We
Bad news for the free market of swimming came this week as Nike declared itself "out of the elite swim wear market". It stated that they are no longer going to be in the business of providing high tech suits to the sport. They said something about it not being in their corporate business model...sounds like another politician speaking.
From here it looks as if the 800lb gorilla in swimming named Speedo won this round so clearly and financially devastatingly that Nike was unwilling to keep after the lucrative swim market. We know nothing about either companies' business plans or their financial interests. We only know what we see poolside.
We know that the high tech suits from Speedo are in the $500 range and those from blueseventy are only slightly less expensive. Speedo suits are reportedly good for a handful or so of races while blueseventy are good for a few dozen (we haven't used ours that long to know for certain).
We know that with one less major manufacturer in the game all consumers suffer. We suffer from a lack of choices. We suffer from a lack of competition which helps the product get better and cheaper over time. We know that athletes suffer from a smaller range of corporate sponsors. Aaron Piersol, Branden Hansen and all former Nike suit athletes now can try to get a deal with a field that is significantly smaller. And the teams that counted on their relationship with Nike are also left to ponder "What next?"
We have seen what happens to our country when there are only two choices at the top. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to our sport.
From here it looks as if the 800lb gorilla in swimming named Speedo won this round so clearly and financially devastatingly that Nike was unwilling to keep after the lucrative swim market. We know nothing about either companies' business plans or their financial interests. We only know what we see poolside.
We know that the high tech suits from Speedo are in the $500 range and those from blueseventy are only slightly less expensive. Speedo suits are reportedly good for a handful or so of races while blueseventy are good for a few dozen (we haven't used ours that long to know for certain).
We know that with one less major manufacturer in the game all consumers suffer. We suffer from a lack of choices. We suffer from a lack of competition which helps the product get better and cheaper over time. We know that athletes suffer from a smaller range of corporate sponsors. Aaron Piersol, Branden Hansen and all former Nike suit athletes now can try to get a deal with a field that is significantly smaller. And the teams that counted on their relationship with Nike are also left to ponder "What next?"
We have seen what happens to our country when there are only two choices at the top. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to our sport.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Power of One Human Mind
This is simply too good. We had to share with all of you. Devon DeMont is the 16 year old daughter of Swim Coach Direct founder Ken DeMont. The Western Zone Gold Sectional meet is next week in Bakersfield. This is a high end US Swimming Senior competition, one that most older swimmers in California and surrounding states strive to attend. Getting "cuts" (qualifying times) is a major season's goal for many swimmers. Devon trains with North Bay Aquatics in northern California. She is in the Senior training group. She made it a goal this year to achieve at least one Sectional cut. The event she was aiming for was the 50 freestyle. And an interesting thing happened on the way to achieving this goal.
Thursday, at the summer Junior Olympic Swim Championships in Concord, CA, Devon swam 100 meters of freestyle in 1:02.15 seconds, improving an impressive 2.8 seconds from her previous best time of 1:04.9...and in the process got her first ever Sectional Qualifying time standard.
Four items of interest in this story are:
1 - Devon was shaved and partially rested for the meet
2 - Devon did swim in a BlueSeventy high tech swim suit
3 - Devon did some visualizing the night before her swim. She wanted to work on her race, keep calm and give herself the best chance to race well. She also used a stopwatch in her visualization. This is a skill we teach, one we have used for 30+ years with our swimmers. She closed her eyes and swam her race and when she hit the touchpad in her personal "movie" she stopped the watch. The time on the face read 1:02.11, a mere .04 (that's four one hundredths!) of a second off her actual swim time. Does visualization work? You will have a very hard time convincing Devon that it doesn't!
4 - At the end of the day, the meet, the season, it is the swimmer in the suit, not the suit the swimmer is in, that matters. Devon has had her eye firmly on the target - getting a Sectional cut - for 5 weeks now. She has been training for years but for the last 5 weeks all of her actions have supported her goal.
We had several swimmers this weekend achieve goals similar to Devon's. I (Don Swartz) chose to highlight her in this instance because of her visualization drill. We are proud of all our swimmers. They are attempting to do something special. They are not willing to be "one of the gang". Average is not something they settle for. Swimming fast doesn't make you a better person. It simply makes you a faster person in the water.
Striving for excellence - your own brand of that - is what makes you special, what sets you apart from the crowd. We are fortunate to have a pool full of special people who happen to be swimmers.
Thursday, at the summer Junior Olympic Swim Championships in Concord, CA, Devon swam 100 meters of freestyle in 1:02.15 seconds, improving an impressive 2.8 seconds from her previous best time of 1:04.9...and in the process got her first ever Sectional Qualifying time standard.
Four items of interest in this story are:
1 - Devon was shaved and partially rested for the meet
2 - Devon did swim in a BlueSeventy high tech swim suit
3 - Devon did some visualizing the night before her swim. She wanted to work on her race, keep calm and give herself the best chance to race well. She also used a stopwatch in her visualization. This is a skill we teach, one we have used for 30+ years with our swimmers. She closed her eyes and swam her race and when she hit the touchpad in her personal "movie" she stopped the watch. The time on the face read 1:02.11, a mere .04 (that's four one hundredths!) of a second off her actual swim time. Does visualization work? You will have a very hard time convincing Devon that it doesn't!
4 - At the end of the day, the meet, the season, it is the swimmer in the suit, not the suit the swimmer is in, that matters. Devon has had her eye firmly on the target - getting a Sectional cut - for 5 weeks now. She has been training for years but for the last 5 weeks all of her actions have supported her goal.
We had several swimmers this weekend achieve goals similar to Devon's. I (Don Swartz) chose to highlight her in this instance because of her visualization drill. We are proud of all our swimmers. They are attempting to do something special. They are not willing to be "one of the gang". Average is not something they settle for. Swimming fast doesn't make you a better person. It simply makes you a faster person in the water.
Striving for excellence - your own brand of that - is what makes you special, what sets you apart from the crowd. We are fortunate to have a pool full of special people who happen to be swimmers.
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