Weekly Update #7: Season Wrap Up

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for another great week of practice! We are nearing the end of our season...can you believe this is our last week of practice!

As we come to the conclusion of our season don't forget:

1. SIGN UPS: sign ups for our next season (October 14-December 21) are going on NOW! There are limited spots so sign up ASAP...and I promise THE POOL IS HEATED! :)
2. SWIM MEET: October 4th is our final meet of the season. Bring your meet form to me (Coach Alisha) by Thursdays practice. Remember you can only swim 4 events. 

This last week at practice was probably our toughest one yet. I really pushed a lot of our swimmers this week. During this week I was looking out for swimmers who were excelling as I pushed them. I also introduced swimmers to stuff they might learn in the group above them to see how they handled it. I did this because I wanted to see what swimmers might be ready to move up a group. This last week gave me a great feel for where all our swimmers are at. Feel free to ask me if your child should stay in the same group or move up for next season. But do keep in mind, swim team is not swim lessons. Children are expected to be in the same group for multiple seasons and possibly a few years. That is normal. Moving up usually happens with not only improvement but also age. 

Beginner group worked on Backstroke and introductory flip turn work.

Intermediate group worked on IMs and did some harder more challenging sets with intervals.

Advanced group did some intense freestyle workouts. A special shout out to this group, they endured some of the most challenging workouts I have ever written for the Aquadawgs. They handled it well and felt very accomplished, tired, hungry and sore after...as they should have. GREAT JOB to this group I was very impressed. 

Also thanks to Ingelise & Katie for attending the high school swim meet this week. It was fun to watch the high school swimmers and talk about swimming. 

Here are some pictures from the high school meet this week to show just how much fun we had. (Most of these pictures were posted on Instagram follow us @ymcaaquadwags)

There is another DV meet on Wednesday against Hamilton. It is at the Nozomi Aquatic Center from 4-6pm.

Lastly, here is an article Coach Deb posted on my Facebook this week. It is a good read especially going into our final meet! Read it here. 

Coach Alisha 

Star Swimmers of The Week #5

Congrats to these swimmers on their outstanding efforts!

3:30- Grant & Michael
4:30- Eleni
5:30- Maggie & Eddie
6:30- Alyssa & Kinsey

FISH BOWL!

The Fish Bowl is tomorrow. For those of you that don't know what the Fish Bowl is...our two Ahwatukee high schools (Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista) are competing in their dual swim meet. The swim meet is at the Nozomi Aquatic Center from 4-6pm. I encourage all Aquadawgs to try to attend the meet. We have some (past and present) Aquadwags that swim for the high school teams so it is good to show our support to them. Also, it is a community event and it is good practice to get exposure to all levels of swimming. Coach Alisha will probably be there.

Nozomi Aquatic Center: 250 S Kyrene Rd. Chandler, AZ 85226

YMCA Video

I made a video that shows different people and activities at our YMCA for a staff meeting. Since I made the video many of our swimmers make appearances. I thought I would share so everyone could check it out.

Happy-YMCA

Star Swimmers of the Week #4

Congrats to these swimmers for their outstanding efforts!

3:30- Connor & Kaidon
4:30- Emily & Eva
5:30- Julia & Ta'ani 
6:30- Amelia & Mckenzi

Weekly Update #6 Why You Should Sign Up For Another Swim Season

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for another great week of practice. After watching the swim meet and noticing some technical things that needed work, I decided to tone things down this week and really work on technique. The groups worked specifically on the following:

Beginner:

• Backstroke: 
• finishing on our back
• chin up, tummy up, toes up
• straight leg kicks
• Butterfly:
• using their whole body for the dolphin kick
• arms reaching up and over the water
• two hand touches

Intermediate:

• Butterfly:
• arms reaching up and over the water
• two hand touches
• Backstroke:
• rotating
• chin up, tummy up, toes up
• straight leg kicks
• flip-turns
• Breaststroke:
• glide!
• correct timing: pull, breathe, kick, glide
• hips up
• two hand touches
• Freestyle:
• Breathe every 3 strokes
• big kicks
• flip-turns
• IM:
• no flip turns

Advanced:

• Butterfly:
• arms reaching up and over the water
• two hand touches
• Backstroke:
• rotating
• chin up, tummy up, toes up
• straight leg kicks (no knees)
• flip-turns
• Breaststroke:
• glide!
• correct timing: pull, breathe, kick, glide
• hips up
• two hand touches
• pull outs
• Freestyle:
• Breathe every 3 strokes
• flip-turns
• IM:
• no flip turns
• Race Plan:
• Butterfly- good intensity, fast pace
• Backstroke- steady intensity, focus on the kicks
• Breaststroke- increase intensity, push hard
• Freestyle- all out, everything you have left
• Racing Technique:
• fast turnover
• big kicks
• plan only to take only a FEW breaths
• DO NOT breathe out of turn or start
• RACE!

This is a brief list so that hopefully parents can encourage these same things at swim meets and/or swimming on your own. Next week we will increase our intensity again.

As many of you know, there are 2 weeks left of our current season. Sign ups for next season are going on now! Next season is October 14-December 21. Sign up ASAP because spaces are limited. And if you are even a little hesitant to sign up... here is a list of why you should sign up for another swim season.

1. The pool is HEATED
2. Year long tan
3. Coach Alisha will be there
4. Nothing feels better when its cold outside than jumping into a warm pool
5. Swimming is a year round sport
6. Stay friends with your teammates
7. Stay in shape
8. Be able to eat whatever you want during the holidays
9. The TURKEY swim (find out what this is when Thanksgiving gets closer)
10. Swim Meets! (More ribbons, trophies, and high points)
11. Parkas
12. Aquadawg Hoodies!
13. Learn how to balance school and extra curricular 
14. Keep your swimming technique strong
15. To get FASTER
16. Competition
17. Achieve your goals
18. It is great cross training for other sports
19. More blog posts and swim tips
20. Swimming is the best sport!

I hope to see lots of our swimmers continuing on!

Coach Alisha

Swim Meet Recap: How Meets Work, A Note on Resiliency and Reminders

Thanks for everyone who came to the swim meet on Saturday. To be honest, everything seemed to be a little off on Saturday. There was a few glitches with our computer system, a lot of swimmers not ready for their races and some errors with the high point awards. So in an effort to try to fix this for the next swim meet I would like to go over some information about the meets and how they work.

1. ENTRY FORMS: Meet entry forms are found online. They need to be printed off at home and turned in. You can get them on the Aquadawg Website or on this blog-- either on the top bar or on a meet reminder blog post. Entry forms are always due to me the Thursday before the meet. If swimmers do not fill out an entry form they will not be entered in the meet. 
2. HOW MANY EVENTS: Swimmers are allowed to swim up to four events. There are five events possible for each swimmer to swim but they are only allowed to swim up to four. If swimmers email Deb asking to be in the meet because they forgot to turn in their form they are automatically entered in all five events. If this happens, swimmers will have to pick four events out of those five to swim at the meet.
3. WHEN TO BE READY FOR YOUR RACE: At the meet each swimmer is assigned a heat and lane for each event. The heat and lane assignments are posted on the WEST side wall by the kiddie pool. Swimmers need to be at the starting side of the pool the event before their race. It is helpful it parents are aware and help get their kids to the starting side on time. Our meets run much faster if we do not have to wait for kids because they are not ready. 
4. HIGH-POINT: High point and runner up high point are given to the top two swimmers that score the most points in the meet. After the swimmers swim their races their times are split into girls and boys and places are assigned for each age group based on times. 1st place receives 20 points 2nd-18 points 3rd-16 points 4th-15 points and so on...After the meet all the point totals are added up for each swimmer. The top two swimmers with the most points receive high point. It is hard for swimmers to receive high point if they do not swim all four events. 
5. QUESTIONS: As always, if you have any questions please EMAIL Deb: djrothstein@vosymca.org. This is the best way to reach her. If you ask the front desk swim team specific questions it is likely they will not know the answer.

To the swimmers who didn't improve time, had a rough meet, or just want some good post meet reading I would suggest this article:

R is for Resiliency

It has some valuable information on getting through those rough mental moments. Also if you are feeling negative about how the meet went, please let me know at practice and we can talk about what we can do to improve this experience.

Although the swim meet wasn't perfect, there was some very positive things I did notice. I saw many swimmers being aware of their times as well as implementing things we learned in practice in their races. This made me so proud and excited to continue working in practice and getting ready for our next meet. Go Aquadawgs!

TO SEE THE MEET RESULTS CLICK HERE.

REMINDERS:

• REGISTRATION FOR OUR NEXT SEASON IS GOING ON NOW! Swimming is a year round sport! The pool is heated! I would love to keep the momentum we have going so please sign up to continue. Our next season is October 14-December 21. This season all our groups are full and we expect a big group to continue so sign up ASAP spaces are limited. 
• NEXT SWIM MEET is OCTOBER 4th! Meet entires are due Thursday October 2nd at practice. It is our last swim meet of the season. 
• Follow the Aquadawgs on Instagram @ymcaaquadawgs

Star Swimmers of the Week #3

Congrats to these swimmers for their outstanding efforts!

3:30- Jeremy & Marlea

4:30- Jackson, Lucy & Adian

5:30- Grace & Chelsea

6:30- Xavier, Macyn, Katie & Danielle (not pictured)

 

Weekly Update #5 Video Inspiration

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for another great week. We toned it down a little this week especially Thursday to focus on some technical things for our swim meet on Saturday.

This is our second meet so most of the swimmers should have an idea of their times by now. I would encourage all the swimmers to make a time goal as well as a technique goal for the swim meet. For example..."I want to go a 35 seconds in my 50 backstroke and have a good start." For a more detailed advice on times and why they are important read the second weekly update here.

Along with our time goals, I want the swimmers to bring some mental game with them on Saturday. I would like for them to really envision their goals and be excited to ready to swim.

One thing I love to do is watch old races online. There is nothing like a good race between Olympians to make you excited. I have posted 4 videos/video links to 4 very exciting races. There is one race of each stroke. I have put my own commentary on what I think is important to notice. But also just watch their intensity and flawless technique. Try to pick out what YOU want to work on in YOUR races.

(if your attention span or time is short just watch the last one...it is my favorite race ever.)

Butterfly: 

Watch Michael Phelps lose to Ryan Lochte in the 100m Butterfly in 2014 Grand Prix (which was right here in Mesa Arizona). This was Phelps first finals race after he came out of retirement. Listen to the interview at the end. Phelps comments how he loves racing Lochte because they make each other swim faster.

Michael Phelps edged by Lochte in Mesa Comeback

Backstroke:

Watch how Missy Franklin (17 years old) gets way out in front but still stays strong and races the clock to beat the world record.

Missy Franklin Breaks the 200m Backstroke World Record 2012 Olympics

Breaststroke:

Watch Rebecca Soni glide in her breaststroke. She increases her tempo in the end but never loses her glide.

Rebecca Soni Breaks the 200m Breaststroke World Record 2012 Olympics

Freestyle:

Last...one of the best swimming races EVER. MUST WATCH for inspiration. AMAZING. Make sure you have the sound on a listen to what the commentators are saying.

2008 Beijing Olympics Swimming Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final


Watching these makes me want to hop in the pool! I am excited to see everyone race on Saturday!

Coach Alisha

DV vs MV Swim Meet Today

DV is having a swim meet today against Mountain View. I will be attending today swim meet to watch past Aquadwags and my sister swim. I would encourage the Aquadawgs to come watch if they can. It is a fun community event and a good chance to see some fast local swimmers compete. The swim meet is at the Nozomi Aquatic Center (the pool right off the 202 on Kyrene) from 4-6pm. Hope to see you there!

Nozomi Aquatic Center: 250 S Kyrene Rd, Chandler, AZ 85226

Swim Meet Saturday

Remember we have a swim meet on Saturday!

You can find the entry form here. If that doesn't work you can also find in on the Aquadawg Website. Just click on the date "September 13" and the meet form should come up.

Print it off and bring it to practice THURSDAY.

See you Saturday!

I will need volunteers Saturday so come prepared. Also don't forget about the parent swim!

Also if your child has never been to a swim meet I suggest you read and discuss the importance of times. Read post here.

WELCOME

Welcome to our new Aquadawg blog! We have a couple of new features that you might be interested in.

• INSTAGRAM! We now have an Aquadawg instagram. Our username is @ymcaaquadawgs. You can follow us on instagram and tag us in any team photos (maybe we will even repost them). You can also see a slideshow of the instagram photos on the left side bar of the blog. 
• Blog updates by email. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the page you see "follow by email". If you enter in your email and click "submit" your email will be notified every time I post something new on the blog.
• Star swimmers of the week are posted with their name and picture if you click the tab on the top of the page. 

Thanks for visiting our new blog!

Aquadawg Weekly Update #4 Mental Toughness

Aquadawgs!

Thanks for another great week. This week all the groups experienced more challenging sets with shorter intervals and more yards. For some of the swimmers it was a tough week but I saw a lot of potential and I was proud of those who I could see putting forth their best effort.

Since this week was a hard one, I talked with some of the swimmers about mental toughness. Mental toughness is a person’s ability to persevere through a difficult situation, specifically practice. There are times when I tell swimmers to do a set and they begin to doubt their ability before they even begin. If that is happening to you or your swimmer…stop it. Being in the water makes swimmers an awful judge of what they are capable of. Swimmers are often amazed at what they can do after they accomplish it. I watch the swimmers every practice and I consider myself a pretty good judge of ability. When I ask the swimmers to do a set it is because I am confident they can do it. It is when they start to become mentally weak that we have problems. I encourage swimmers and parents to read this article.

7 Tips to Develop Mental Toughness for Swimmers

It goes through 7 tips to develop mental toughness. It is a great read. I hope all of our swimmers can develop a mentally tough mindset. For some it comes easier than others but it is something that can be developed.

Reminder our 2^nd swim meet is Saturday (September 13^th)! It will be hosted at our YMCA. I expect all the swimmers to be there if they can. We have been working hard and now its time to show what we can do!

The meet form can be found on the website. Print it off and bring it to me at practice by THURSDAY.

ADVANCED GROUP will be having a make-up practice Saturday September 6^th from 9-10:30 am due to the lightening on Thursday. Please come prepared like a normal practice.

Lets bring our mental game to practice this week and get prepared to swim fast at the meet!

Coach Alisha 

Star Swimmers of the Week #2

Congrats to these swimmers for their outstanding efforts!

3:30- Korey & Damien
4:30- Marissa
5:30- Jyles, Mackenzie, Soren
6:30- Michael, Kaitlyn & Bailey

Aquadawg Weekly Update #3 Eating Before Practice

3 September 2014

Aquadawgs:

Sorry about my post being later than normal, I took Labor Day weekend to go up to Zion National Park to hike and explore and had no service. 

Last week was a great week at practice! In all the groups we have finished going over all the strokes and now are transitioning into a workout phase but still focusing on technique. As a result of this expect swimmers to be more tired after practices then the last few weeks.

With our older groups starting to get into workout mode combined with our later practices, I have had some swimmers ask me what they are supposed to eat before practice and when they should eat dinner. This article from USA swimming has some good advice as well as some suggestions of foods to eat.

What Swimmers Should Eat Before Practice

I would suggest for my advanced and possibly intermediate swimmers to eat a larger snack before swim and then another meal after practice. It is hard for these swimmers to eat a full sized dinner before practice as it makes feel sick if they are putting in the proper effort. But I also do not want swimmers shorting themselves on calories especially on those hard practices.  Good foods before practices are power bars, trail mix, nuts, oatmeal, smoothies, plain noodles, toast, bananas, muffin, instant breakfast, and gummy bears. These are just some of my suggestions and things that I liked to eat before hard swims. But the idea is that the swimmers eat at least 30 min before, they eat something that sticks to their stomach and is easy to digest. It is not a good idea to eat a chocolate bar, red sauce (this seems to be a big one), or anything heavily seasoned.

Overall, I just want swimmers to be mentally and physically prepared to work hard. If they are throwing up in practice they can’t get the benefits of the practice.

Our star swimmers of the week will be awarded on Thursday.

Coach Alisha