Weekly Update: End of the Season

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for a quick swim meet on Saturday. I was a little worried about the weather but it turned out to be a perfect day for a swim meet. See the results here. 

Ribbons from the last two meets have been on backorder. We are hoping to have them tomorrow at practice but if not you can pick them up the following week. Sorry!

On Saturday the APRA meet will be at kino pool. View the meet flyer here for the address, warm up times, and other information. If you have not registered the online registration is now closed. On the flyer it does say that late registration will be from 6:30-7:00 am on Saturday the 25th. It is $45 dollars and it says spots are limited. If you really wanted to go to this meet that is an option. If you are thinking about doing this and your child is 11+ please let me know. I may be able to register your child for you in the morning so you don't have to come to the pool so early, because the 11 and over part of the meet starts at 11:00 am (warm ups 10:00 am). 

The last swim meet of the summer season is the "Summer Championship Swim Meet" at the Southwest Valley YMCA in Litchfield on August 1st. The format will be a little different...9 & 10 yr olds will not be offered 50's in all strokes.  They will also do relays which is always a fun part of a swim meet, however it does require four swimmers of the same gender and same age. The meet is $15 for YMCA Facility Members and $25 for Program/Non Members.

LOCATION: 2919 N. Litchfield Rd  Goodyear, AZ 85395
(Without traffic 57 minutes  / 40.1 miles from Ahwatukee YMCA)

If you are interested in participating please visit the www.quickscores.com/aquadawgs website and register before 12p on Friday (July 24th).

Tomorrow (July 23rd) is the last "official" day of summer swim team. For those who are attending the Summer Championship Meet combined practices will be available next week. These practices will be held at the following times:

Morning Practices (Monday- Thursday)
High School / Advanced  7:00a - 8:30a
Intermediate / Beginner  8:30a - 9:30a

Afternoon Practices (Tuesday & Thursday)
Beginner 4:30p - 5:30p
Intermediate / Advanced 5:30p - 7:00p

Registration for fall season is now open. The season begins August 11 and goes through October 3. Practice times will go back to our Tue/Thurs schedule:

• Beginner: Tue/Thurs 4:30-5:30 pm
• Intermediate: Tue/Thurs 5:30-6:30 pm
• Advanced: Tue/Thurs 6:30-8:00 pm 

Spaces are limited so don't delay! If you have question about what group your swimmer should be in for this season let me know.

Thanks!

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

Weekly Update: Swim Meet Recap

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for a great meet on Saturday. I saw a lot of swimmers improve times. I also know that I handed out a lot of DQ warning sheets. I was probably the most diligent coach, compared to the other teams, about handing these out to our swimmers. But I felt like the only way to be fair about it was to hand them out to every infraction that I saw. That being said I think our swimmers will remember that and take that into practice and out next meet. If you got a DQ sheet make sure to talk to your swimmers about it. Deb likes to always say..."if you get a DQ slip you get to go to DQ (Dairy Queen) and talk about why you got it!" It seems like a good idea to me and can be something for parents to consider.

If you have any concerns, questions, or comments about the DQ slips please let me know in an email.

The meet results can be found here.

The ribbons will be delayed because we ran out of ribbons but we have ordered more and will get them out as soon as we can.

Also it was a lot of fun to do the relay at the meet. Here is the video footage if you missed it!

YMCA Aquadawg Coaches Relay



This week we have another meet at our YMCA. This will be the last meet for the season at our home pool. The sign up sheet can be found here. Please sign up no later than Thursday July 16th with the correct information. The confusion at meets is generated by people signing up late and with the wrong information. Please help me make my job a little smoother at swim meets! :)

This week swimmers are going to be working with some face paced interval swimming as well as speed.

FYI Coach Emily is out of town this week and next so I will be running High School and Advanced practice on my own and Coach Morgan will be helping me out with intermediate and beginner.

Here is a video that talks about the science of swimming. 


Go Aquadawgs!

Coach Alisha
alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

Weekly Update: Swim Meet Saturday (Disqualification Trial Run)

Aquadawgs!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

I was on vacation for two weeks so it has been a while since I have posted.

First off, we have a swim meet this Saturday at our Ahwatukee YMCA. Please fill out the meet form by Thursday July 8th and bring the payment to practice. The link for that form can be found here. Gates open at 7:00 am, warm ups at 7:15 am, meet starts at 7:45 am.

Please also be aware that we will be running a trail of a disqualification meet. What that means is if swimmers are not abiding by swimming "rules" they will receive a slip from their coach informing them what they did incorrectly. We feel that this will inform swimmers of the rules and prepare them for meets in which disqualification might actually take place. Some rules that we will be watching for are as follows:

• False starts: after the announcer says "take your mark" swimmers must remain still until the starter goes off.
• Flutter kicking on breaststroke and butterfly: swimmers are to do the correct breaststroke kick and keep their legs together in butterfly.
• Turning over on their stomach in backstroke: swimmers are to start on their back and finish on their back during backstroke. 
• Two-hand touches on butterfly and breaststroke: swimmers are to touch every wall with two hands at the same time on butterfly and breaststroke

If you have any concerns about this please let me know in an email prior to the meet. Because this is a trial run we would love feedback. 

Also it has gotten quite hot lately (forecasted temperature of a sunny 81-102) so please bring a source of shade and plenty of water to the meet on Saturday. 

This week swimmers have been working on speed work. This means fast swimming with an adequate amount of rest. At many practices swimmers were timed in order to put emphasis on the importance of times. My hope is that this will transfer into the meet this Saturday.

T-shirts were also handed out at practices this week. If you don't think you got your shirt that you ordered please let you coach know.

Here are some articles for swim meet preparation:

3 Ways to Stay Hydrated This Summer

5 Things You'll Never Hear a Successful Swimmer Say

Go Aquadwgs!
alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

FIRST MEET RECAP

Congrats to our Aquadawgs on a great first meet!

You can find the meet results here.

For our next swim meet I would like swimmers to focus on following the correct swimming rules in their races. For example:

• Butterfly: touching with two hands and keeping legs glued together
• Backstroke: staying on their back the entire race especially finishing on their back
• Breaststroke: touching with two hands and having NO flutter kicks
• Overall: not false starting (staying still until the starter goes off), saying good job/shaking hands with competitors and cheering on our team. 

I think these simple fixes will show our knowledge of swimming, bring our team together, and create good habits for the future. 

Our next swim meet is at the Glendale/Peoria YMCA register here. This meet will begin at 12:00 pm. Please register by Wednesday June 17th. 

As some of you may know it is time for my summer vacation. I will be gone from Wednesday June 17th to Saturday June 27th. I will have very limited access to my email so if you have any questions of concerns please email Deb: djrothstein@vosymca.org

Here is an article about goal setting: Four Steps to Effective Goal Setting

And another inspirational article on the "bad days": You Are Defined By the Bad Days

and last but not least some pictures from the swim meet!

Go Aquadawgs!

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

New Season

Aquadawgs!

Welcome to our blog!

This is an exciting time as a coach because summer is here and it is the ideal time to be able to focus more attention on getting fast in the pool while staying cool and getting a tan.

Congrats to all the Aquadawgs who participated in the swim meet on May 16th. I saw lots of fast swimming but still some good room for improvement. The meet results can be found here. Ribbons will be handed out during summer season at practice. If for some reason you are not swimming during the summer contact Deb Rothstein: djrothstein@vosymca.org for a time to come pick up your ribbons.

This last week our Aquadawgs went through their first practices for the season.

• The BEGINNER group worked on lane management, basic swimming rules/terms, and freestyle.
• The INTERMEDIATE group worked on lane management, freestyle technique, backstroke technique and dives.
• The ADVANCED and HIGH SCHOOL groups worked on freestyle and backstroke technique as well as some small aerobic sets to get back into working out.

Here is an article about why drills matter! A good one to read after all the drills we did this last week. 

3 Reasons Why Drills Matter

This week at Marshalls (Ray & 48th St) they had speedo vanquisher goggles for $8. These are my favorite goggles and that is the cheapest I have ever seen them. I stocked up with a few pairs and I thought I would put it out there for anyone who is interested. 

Our first swim meet is this week Saturday June 13th at our Ahwatukee YMCA. You can sign up here. Meet entry forms are due no later than Thursday June 11th. 

T-shirt order forms are also do this week (June 11th). You can print the T-shirt form here. This will be the only T-shirt order this season so don't delay. Nothing shows our team spirit better than matching shirts!

Here is some overall information for the season...

Summer Season Dates: June 3-August 1

Morning: Mon-Thurs (Coaches Alisha & Emily)

• High School: 6:00-7:30 am

• Advanced: 7:30-9:00 am

• Intermediate: 9:00-10:00 am

• Beginner: 10:00-11:00 am

Evening: Tue/Thurs (Coaches Trey & Keeley)

• Beginner: 4:00-5:00 pm

• Intermediate: 5:00-6:00 pm

• Advanced: 6:00-7:30 pm

Where to Meet: Swimmers are to meet the coaches on the pool deck 5-10 min before practice begins.
Locker Rooms: For locker room use swimmers are to use the family locker rooms located on the North end of the pool.

Parents: Parents are asked to not interfere with practice and it is preffered that they are only on the pool deck at the beginning and end of practice to pick up their child. 

Swim Gear: Swimmers in the beginner and intermediate groups are required to have a water bottle, kickboard, fins, goggles, swim cap (girls only), and a black swim suit for meets. Swimmers in the advanced and high school groups are required to have a water bottle, kickboard, fins, pull buoy, goggles,a swim cap (girls only), and a black swim suit for meet . This swim gear is used frequently and very important for all swimmers to have. The best place to buy swim gear is swimoutlet.com/aquadawgsstore. 

Bathroom: Please have your swimmer use the bathroom before practice.

Sunscreen: Please put on sunscreen 10 min before practice. If sunscreen is put on right before jumping in the pool it washes off. 

Swim Meets: quickscores.com/aquadawgs 

• June 13th Ahwatukee YMCA

• June 20th Glendale/Peoria YMCA

• June 27th Ahwatukee YMCA

• July 11th Ahwatukee YMCA

• July 25th APRA Swimmer's Classic

• August 1st Y Champ Meet Southwest Valley YMCA 

Staying Connected:

• Aquadawg Website: information about the swim meets (entry forms and results).  quickscores.com/aquadawgs 

• Aquadawg Blog: weekly updates about whats going on, imformation about swim meets, pictures, and swimming articles. coachalishassplashpad.blogspot.com

• Facebook: facebook.com/ymcaaquadawgs

• Instagram: @ymcaaquadawgs

If you have any questions please let me know!

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org