Short Swimmer’s Quiz

1 - Which is more important?

A) genes        B) hard work            C) feel for the water

2 – A swimmer benefits most by the coach yelling out during a race          

A) kick            B) race           C) tempo       D) all of the above   E) none of the above

3 – Which is more important to a successful outcome?

A) tempo        B) distance per stroke                    C) all of the above

4 – In preparing for the big meet, in descending order which is most important?           

A) rest                        B) shave        C) tech suit   D) the breakfast burrito

5 – Thinking about underwater dolphin kicks, which is most important?

A) how far you go     B) how many kicks you take          C) the tempo of your kicks

6 – In a 100 free race which is the most critical for breath holding?

A) lap 1          B) lap 2          C) lap 3          D) lap 4          E) laps 1&4

7 – You are racing outdoors. Which parts of your body lose the most heat?

A) legs           B) arms         C) torso         D) hands, head, feet

8 – Name the swimmer who most inspires you and say why

9 – What is your BIG racing goal for the next 6 months?

10 – What sacrifice will you make to reach that goal?

Keep It Simple

At the US Open in August we saw this brilliant T-Shirt on a man from Texas (UT)…

THE MAIN THING

IS TO KEEP THE MAIN THING

THE MAIN THING

Whoever put that together should win a medal. The first person who sends me a shirt (I wear extra-large – Don 36 Montego Key, Novato, CA 94949) I’ll send you a $100 bill.

It got us to thinking about simplicity. We have a youngster on our team, an 8^th grader named Sydney B, who has some pop in her game. We asked her the other day if she knew she had some skill in our sport. She smiled sheepishly and nodded her head “affirmatively”. We then asked her if she had any “will”.

We said SKILL+WILL = WHAT YOU WANT. In our attempt to keep it simple we reaffirmed that skill is acquired through repetition of correct swimming. The will part comes from each person/swimmer deciding that they want something they don’t have.

This is called a goal…again keeping it simple.

We had a girl this weekend who swam an awesome 500 free. She has tons of skill and is working on the will component. We asked her how come Katie Ledecky swims so fast; there are many skilled swimmers. We asked her to consider Ledecky’s “will” component.

Would really love that T-Shirt J

Talking Today

Had a chance today to talk with the brothers DeMont – Ken and Rick; as always a fascinating, liberating time. We were free to talk about kids and time and coaching…three topics of main interest in my (Don’s) life.

What happened to free time? Where did it go and why? How come everyone – includes adults as well young ones – has every minute scheduled? Who decided that this was a good idea…and why?

I am of the opinion that when you do not have free time you have no time to touch your wandering mind; the mind that often comes up with really good ideas; the mind that invigorates you; the mind that provides solutions to challenges you face…the list is perhaps endless.

So today and tomorrow and every day after this one I am going to set aside some time – even if only 10 minutes (I am certain I can carve out more) – to allow myself the privilege to “free wheel”…

I am betting it will feel awesome…oh yeah, and be productive since that seems to matter as well J

A Plug for Process

This sounds like a broken record in many ways but still is worth stating; trust the process and the results will come to you. There are so many examples of this in life. One of the great benefits of sports, particularly our sport of swimming, is that often when you least expect it, success pops up right in front of your eyes.

Swimming is especially blessed since it rewards individual effort with success. Ours is a team sport, make no mistake. The right culture on a team allows all who wish to reap rewards a chance to do that. But as an individual it is YOU who decide if you want to move forward; it is YOU who decides to plug ahead despite adversity; it is YOU who chooses the “harder” path even when others seem to have it “easier” than you do.

Today at the pool we were doing this drill…you all know it well…or some version of it. We call it the 3 second drill. While wearing a snorkel (so you have perfect body position while breathing) you leave your hands extended, one behind you and one in the catch position for 3 seconds. This gives you the opportunity to make certain you have completely finished with the trailing hand while having the leading hand in the correct position – in front of your shoulder with fingertips lower than wrist which is lower than your elbow.

Mia, a younger swimmer and thus certainly not the fastest swimmer in the pool, was doing this very precisely. We had all our kids – 50+ of them – watch as Mia swam a 25 demonstrating proper fingertip position. They loved it and she was beaming. We made the comment that Mia just became a faster swimmer because she is now a better swimmer.

Process = Results - as Steve Bultman, Texas A&M Women’s Coach says - you cannot predict when but the work does pay off.

Buzzer Beater

The other day TK observed this about the proverbial buzzer beater; “If the person or team who needs the buzzer beater spent a little extra time/effort earlier in the game then perhaps the last minute shot to tie or win wouldn’t be necessary.” Who says those of us who are a little older cannot learn from those who are younger?

In basketball (pro season just opened and Kevin Durant missed a game winning buzzer beater at the end of game one – Warriors open their season at 0 and 1) the phrase was coined long ago since those games typically end with a real “buzzer” sounding.

In football we have the last minute field goal attempt as time expires; or a “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone. In baseball it is the “walk off” RBI or homer; in hockey it is pulling the goalie putting six offensive players on the ice leaving your goal exposed; in soccer it is perhaps the penalty kicks…the list goes on in every sport.

In swimming it is the “last chance” meet; the time trial between heats and finals; the swim off; or “Coach, can I lead off the relay?”

As TK observed, if the swimmer had put forth more effort earlier in the season then just maybe the last ditch attempt to get that cut would not be necessary. Perhaps a good phrase in workout might be, “OK, let’s all make this next repeat (which of course wouldn’t be the last one in the set!) today’s “buzzer beater”.

Whadda ya think?

Community

The word "community" derives from the Old French comuneté, which comes from the Latin communitas "community", "public spirit" (from Latin communis, "shared in common").^[4]

Human communities may share intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks in common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness

In the United States swimming world we have large and small communities. From the larger USA Swimming organization to the smaller local LSC to the even smaller local swim club we all take some measure of solace knowing we are linked together through a common purpose.

Often we get overly absorbed in our self-importance. This is natural and understandable given the pursuit of achievement our activity engenders: best times, “cuts”, making finals, touching the pad first, being recruited, getting accepted, committing to the college of our (and their) choice. The list is endless, or at least seemingly so most times.

However, often lost in the fray is the humanness of the community in which we reside. Now and then we are acutely reminded that the most important aspect of community is indeed the human connection.

This last week here in Northern California we have received a jolt of reality; swimming is not actually the most important item in our life – let alone how fast we swim. The communities of Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Napa, Calistoga – the list is nearly endless – burned to the ground: Literally.

So many of our swim community have been affected. Loved ones have been lost. Homes and business burned to the ground. It is an ongoing tragedy.

We have not had swim practice for a week. Tough for us but not really. The pools will reopen and the air will be breathable again, sooner than later.

Those who have had their lives turned upside down by the fires are changed forever. We have responded as a larger swim community to those in need. Our hope is that the giving – and the receiving – will remind us that the community is once again – and always – more important than any one of us.

Tough life lesson.

Mom is Making Eggs

A mom is making eggs for her teenage boy for breakfast. As he walks in, “Mom, don’t burn them. Careful! Careful! Don’t mess up, don’t let them burn. You are going to mess up. Be careful! Be careful!”

Finally the Mom snaps. “I know what to do. I’ve cooked eggs before!”

“I know Mom. I was just trying to show you what it’s like when I’m playing soccer”.

We overheard at a meet this weekend a Mom saying, “She added a second” using a tone that you might have thought belonged in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

And the beat goes on…

3 Sets

Here are 3 main sets we have done. Our warmups are usually about 1000 yards or so then some sort of warmup set before what is usually a main set. Sometimes there are multiple rounds of the main set. These are ideas you can riff off of to your heart’s content J

Mill Valley Mile – we did 1 round of this short course in the afternoon last summer after long course in the morning

2x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

4x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

6x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

8x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

10x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

8x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

6x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

4x25/.25 fast then 2x25/.45 smooth

2x25/.25 fast…1650 total…a Ken speed set; lots of group energy on this one

IM Round Robin – we did 4 rounds of this last summer in our long course pool which is 40 meters; each round is 20 laps or 800 meters; the interval is 45 seconds per lap

1 lap fly then 4 laps free

2 laps fly to back then 3 laps free

3 laps fly – back – breast then 2 laps free

4 laps IM then 1 lap free…took one hour to do 3200 meters…awesome set from Ken

500 freestylers rule the world – done this fall for our 200/500 group

500/6:30 negative split

300/4 each 100 gets faster

2x100/1:15 progressive (many of you say descend)

2x50/.35 one fast; one faster

300/4 As Above

2x100/1:15 As Above

2x50/.35 As Above

2x100/1:15 As Above

2x50/.35 As Above…2000 yards in @ 27 minutes; we did 3 rounds with a minute rest between rounds…Don prefers things that have descending intervals while swimming faster as you get deeper into the set

Got a favorite set that worked? Share it with us and we’ll push it out for the rest of our sport’s community to benefit from your experience.

Let’s Make Sure Everybody Can Do…

Most coaches seem to have a formula; you know, a way to get everyone into shape so that each swimmer can do the work required to be great…or at least some version of great.

The question still remains, what if everyone is different? How do we then approach our developmental paradigms? Take breaststroke for instance. It has so many various ways that it is nearly impossible to have everyone swim it the same way. Certainly there are some basic “musts” but beyond that the wise coach figures out how to take what the swimmer has and work with that.

Same with conditioning; if your race takes 2 minutes then you need to get in good enough “shape” to be able to deliver the goods for the entire 2 minutes, without a smidgen of let up. Then you need to get control over your brain’s desire to keep you from killing yourself. It wants you to ease up a bit, here and there. You need to control those very real, very natural responses…for the last parts (different amount of time for each swimmer) of those 2 minutes.

When we saw the image below it resonated with us. Perhaps it will for you as well. Have a great workout, a bunch of them, this week!

Bono & Ali

“It’s almost impossible to be great. That’s why we call it great. And that’s our drug of choice. Very good is the enemy of great — there’s lots of that. But who wants to be in a very good band at this point? Whatever you think of our oeuvre, or whatever you think of the U2 group, we’re still attempting to get beyond ourselves.”

You pick the specifics but you get the idea…

Making Winter Juniors is really very good. What’s great is getting a nighttime swim…even greater is making Summer Juniors at the meet.

I’m a pretty good kicker, maybe even very good since I can kick on the 1:30 interval. Great would be going on the 1:20 and even greater would be on the 1:15.

But when I kick on the 1:30 I am so much better than those who are on the 1:40; so all is good…but not actually great.

Go back to the first sentence and look at the use of the word “impossible”. Now go to the link below and see what you think about “impossible”.

Muhammad Ali: Impossible Is Nothing

Thanks to Madeline for the Bono quote and to Theo for the Ali quote.

WHAT KIND OF INVESTOR ARE YOU??

A.   Art----goes to the bank sporadically...deposits some $$ here and there....things always seem to come up to keep Art from going to the bank as often as he would like.

Vacation--- one week at the Raisin Festival in Fresno. Wishes he had a better vacation and vows next year to do a better job of investing.

B.    Betty---always goes to the bank, but when there won't deposit much as it is not worth it to her to give up that $$. Sometimes she will go to the bank and just sit in the lobby because they have a nice flat screen TV to watch.

Vacation----attends rodeo in Vacaville while staying at the Embassy Suites because they have a good breakfast. She can't understand why she can't have a better vacation because after all, she did go to the bank all the time.

C.    Carney---banks somewhat sporadically, but when he does go to the bank, he really puts a whole lot of $$ away. He tends to put more away as vacation time looms.

Vacation---weekend splitting time at Disneyland and California Adventure . . . He really digs the fact that they are now playing Red Hot Chili Peppers music when going on Space Mountain. He wonders what  his vacation would be like if he went to the bank more often as he sure has a pretty nice vacation for the amount of time he puts into it.

D.   Donna---always goes to the bank and when there, is willing to deposit some hard earned cash into her account. Because of her great abilities and thoughtfulness of planning her life, she has enough left over to still live a great and balanced life throughout the year. There are some sacrifices that have to be made, but not as much as you would think and the payoff is worth it.

Vacation---a week at a fancy resort in the Hawaiian Islands. She is able to sit on the beach while being served pupus and having tropical drinks served in glasses with teeny umbrellas in them. She is living the dream.

E.    Ebenezer---spends way too much time at the bank. Invests most of his $$ while denying himself the day to day fun that life can bring. Eats Saltines and peanut butter everyday to save money and then wonders why his cholesterol is so darn high.

Vacation---doesn't go on vacation because he has no friends and needs the money to visit a therapist. Eventually he stars in a Christmas story where 3 ghosts visit him, sending him back the therapist once again.

SO WHAT KIND OF INVESTOR DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN (With one being dangerous to being in a pool unassisted and ten being Phelpsian in your talent), WHERE WOULD YOU RANK YOURSELF IN TALENT?

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN (With one sending your teammates screaming at the site of you to ten being Miguel Mattox), WHERE WOULD YOU RANK YOURSELF AS A TEAMMATE?

Note: Ken told Miguel before his freshman year in college that he could go a 1:47 200 back. Miguelwas skeptical to say the least. In Miguel’s final conference meet he won the 200 back going away, blowing the field off on the last 2 walls and went a 1:47…

"EXCELLENCE IS NOT AN ACT, BUT A HABIT"

Aristotle

It’s Been A While

We’ve been on sabbatical…poolside of course and missing the opportunity to share what’s on our mind so here goes…

We have had 6 workouts of a pre-season style, getting wet and looking around to see who is missing (the graduated seniors) and who is going to take their places (and it is fun to watch them look around and see who it will be that takes up leaderships roles).

Anyway, tomorrow we begin again in earnest, chasing some more dreams. It is a momentous time of year and we look forward to it annually. Here is our first workout, the first real one in nearly a month or so…way back in taper time J

9-5-17 youth             Goals: work works

Short team meeting…1 – hand out blue print for our fall training block  2 – discuss having training partners for accountability purposes

Wmp 4x50/.45 then 900 IM set [4x25/.30 fly back br fr then 8x25/27.5 then 12x25/.25 then 8 x 25/.22.5 then 4x25/.20……20 mins 1100 [ have someone good at math lead ]

15x200 all negative split with # 5, 10, and 15 at RACE point (like a race where it counts)

1-5 swim/2:45  6-10 pull/3  11-15 swim w fins/2:30

15x150 progressive (many of you say descend) 1-5 all on 2:10       1-5 swim, 6-10 pull, 11-15 swim w fins

In each 150 make the 50’s get faster within the 150………..110 mins/ 6350

10x50/1 choice, fast as you can……….120 mins/ 6850