Kelly's Coaches Message - June 16, 2008
Hello Seahorses!
Pre-season has come to a conclusion and now we can look forward to the summer schedule! I’m looking forward to having more lanes (yay) and seeing more faces consistently at practice. The end of school is always a little bit crazy and I completely understand that there are many other activities going on. I also realize that kids go to camp and families go on vacation during the summer. Have fun and maybe while you are at camp or in Italy jump in some body of water so you don’t forget what it feels like.
While we are definitely off to a great start there are a few things I would like to address:
Sign Out Procedure/Meet attendance
It is extremely important for everyone to look at their schedules and sign out of meets they cannot attend. When we make meet lineups for the entire team of 200 plus swimmers, it is imperative that we know who is actually going to be there. Lineups are submitted days in advance, so we very much appreciate signing out the week before. In fact, if you know right now that there are meets you'll miss because of vacation or other conflicts, please come to the pool and sign out now, so you don't forget in the rush of trying to leave for a trip or event.
Signing out of meet is important because when you don't, and then you don't show up for a meet, it causes a ripple effect that makes things difficult for many people who are involved. When we have “no shows” at meets it places enormous stress on the coaching staff, the computer crew, the sheparding crew and the swimmers who become affected by someone not being there. Most importantly, with almost 200 swimmers on the team, we can't always get every swimmer into every meet. With a limited number of extra heats, it is frustrating when we have a no show because we could have given that spot in a lane or a relay to a swimmer who really wanted to be there! I understand that things come up that are out of our control or swimmers get sick and can’t participate but if you know you are not going to be there please sign out!!
It is also very important that swimmers get to meets (and practices) on time. I understand that people run late, it happens. What I don’t understand is when kids are at the pool 15-20 minutes early, either before practice or before a meet warm-up, and don’t make it into the pool on time. Please make every effort to have caps, goggles, suits and everything in order when it is your time to get in.
Warm up is highly recommended for all swimmers 9 and older. I have had many people approach me about how to get “that county time”… and my first comment is to warm up. Many pools do not provide the opportunity for warm-up/cool-down during the meet so the initial warm-up is very important. It is your chance to wake up your muscles and get to know a foreign pool/walls/tile/blocks/gutters/etc.
Goal Setting
We are going to start our goal talks this week. The coaches will be checking in with each swimmer regarding their summer swimming goals and going over an individualized sheet. You should have both goal times, such as Bronze, Silver, Double Silver, or Gold (County) times, as well as technique-oriented goals, such as "perfect streamline" or "fast fip-turn." We are all focused on improving technique for faster swimming in a fun, supportive environment. Thus it is essential for us, as coaches, to understand each swimmer’s specific needs and set up appropriate season expectations.
Please feel free to email me with any questions, and please be sure to copy Tripper and Dagmar on any email you send, as they may be better positioned to respond to your question. My email address is Seahorsecoach@gmail.com. Go LT!
