Weekly Quote

I hated every minute of training, but I

said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live

the rest of your life as a champion."

Muhammad Ali (a.k.a. Cassius Clay)

Weekly Quote

Fact is, God drops gifts in your lap all

the time. You just have to be ready

and willing to recognize them as such.

Sela Ann Ward

Aussie Synchro Divers

Improving Finishes

We had thirty (30) new season top ten swims in last night's meet. The new lists are posted in the locker rooms.

Our girls defeated Arlington 94-75. The boys won a much closer meet by a score of 85-82.

While they're getting better, we still need to work on our finishes. Here are a few reminders:

Don't breathe in the last five (5) yards of a freestyle or butterfly finish. Focus on the wall and try to finish with a full stroke.

Keep your kick going all the way into the wall on backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle. Even if you've taken your last stroke, don't stop kicking!

Finish on your side for freestyle. Extend your arm and roll onto your side to finish a few hundredths sooner.

Get your head down on butterfly and breaststroke finishes. You'll be able to fully extend your arms and finish a few hundredths quicker that way.

Here are a couple of videos that might help.

The first is of the women's 50 m freestyle from the 2009 Duel in the Pool. Some good finishes in this one. The best, I think, was at the bottom of the screen. She didn't finish in the top three, but Marieke Guehrer extended and rolled into her finish and kept that kick going.



The next video is from 2009 summer nationals. Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale tied in prelims for the second spot on the USA World Championship team. They needed a swim-off to decide who'd get to swim the even in Rome.

Look at their pre-race preparations. Big-time sprinters usually have a little routine they go through between their warm-up and the actual race. Jumping up and down, swinging arms, drying off starting block, etc. are often part of this.

Even though he had a nice lead going into the wall, Jones still had a great finish.

Weekly Quote

If what you did yesterday seems big,
you haven't done anything today.

Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz

MISD Invite

Our girls finished 18th and the boys were 10th.

New school records:

Girls' 400 free relay - Alyssa L., Lindsey S., Melyssa T., Kirsten B. - 4:02.44 (old record 4:04.62)

Boys' 400 free relay - Freddie O., Bobby B., Osnar P., Stephan C. - 3:21.53 (old record 3:23.95)

Boys' 200 free - Bobby B. - 1:43.18 (old record 1:44.99)

Complete results (prelims, finals, splits, team scores) are here.

Weekly Quote

The achievements of an organization are the

results of the combined effort of each individual.

Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi

Best Times

We've got several swimmers who've been on a "plateau" lately. Time drops haven't been coming and it can be very frustrating - especially when you're used to dropping time at every meet!

Swimming workout bests (whether it's a best-ever interval, breathing pattern, or repeat time) often leads to meet bests.

If you aren't improving your practice times and/or technique, you can't expect to improve in meets.

We've hammered the point home this week about technique. It will take another week of this focus before you begin to see the results, so continue to work on it.

Also, remember to get a good warm-up in before your races. Going to the warm-up lanes and swimming an easy 200 doesn't get you ready for a peak performance, does it?

1) Go some easy yardage to loosen up.
2) Do some build-up/speed-play work to get your motor running.
3) Do some pace work if you're swimming the 500 free.
4) Stop when you're ready - don't leave your best in warm-up.
5) Dry off and stay warm while waiting for your event.
6) Take a towel to the blocks in case there's a delay.

If you take care of these six items, you'll have a big advantage over swimmers that don't do these things.

Improve Your Freestyle Turns

1) Push off wall on side
2) Streamline & kick underwater
3) Pull first with bottom arm and break out
4) Breathe on second - or later - stroke