Weekly Update: Summer Sign Ups

Aquadawgs!

Summer swim team sign ups are going on NOW!

Summer spots fill up super fast, so don't delay. Every summer we are usually at max capacity for most of our groups. Please contact the front desk to sign up. Also for any sign up questions please contact Deb Rothstein: djrothstein@vosymca.org.

The summer schedule will be as follows:

Morning Swim Team-- Coach Alisha
(Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs)

• 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

Afternoon Swim Team-- Coach Emily

(Tue/Thurs)

• Beginner 4:00-5:00 pm
• Intermediate 5:00-6:00 pm
• Advanced 6:00-7:30 pm

A brief description of each group:

• Beginner: The first exposure to swim team for many swimmers. Swimmers are expected to be able to swim 50 yards and know freestyle. Swimmers will learn all of the strokes and work heavily on technique. This group is about teaching we learn the strokes, how to race, and some technical swimming terms. 
• Intermediate: Swimmers are expected to be able to swim 100 yards and have a basic knowledge of all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle). Swimmers will learn all the strokes and focus on technique at the beginning of the season. Later, swimmers will also be exposed to learning how to workout in the pool focusing heavily on race paced workouts.
• Advanced: Swimmer are expected to be able to swim 200 yards and have an understanding of all the strokes. Technique will be mixed into harder workouts focusing on building strength and developing race strategy (smart swimming). Swimmers in this group will be challenged and pushed. Typically this group swims 2000-3000 yards each practice. 
• High School: Swimmers must be in high school or going into high school for the 2015-2016 school year. This groups purpose is to prepare swimmers for high school swim team. They will learn technical swimming terms and rules. Swimmers are expected to be able to swim 200 yards and have an understanding of all the strokes. Technique will be mixed into harder workouts focusing on building strength and developing race strategy (smart swimming). Swimmers in this group will be challenged and pushed. Typically this group swims 2000-3500 yards each practice. 

As sign ups are going on now, please talk to me if you are unsure about which group your child should be in. (Email: alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org)

SWIM MEET DATES: mark your calendars! 

• April 25th
• May 16th 

This last week swimmers have been working hard!

• Beginner group worked on controlling speed up to race pace and butterfly. 
• Intermediate group worked on flip turns, race paced freestyle, and IMs.
• Advanced group hit 3000 yards Thursday and has been working very hard will fast paced workouts. 
• High School group has been working very hard with fast paced workouts. 

Here is a cool article on SwimSwam about how to swim faster!

http://swimswam.com/how-to-swim-faster/

Also here is an article about 5 important things in a good coach/athlete relationship.

http://swimswam.com/5-important-things-in-a-good-coach-to-athlete-relationship/

Looking forward to our next swim meet, summer season, and fast swimming!

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

Weekly Update: Swim Meet Review/ Upcoming Dates

Aquadwags!

I wrote a post right after the swim meet and I just realized it never got posted to the blog! Sorry about that! So I will do a quick recap...

Thank you to everyone who helped with our last swim meet. We got it done really quick (that was our goal) and I saw lots of improvements with our swimmers. Going forward at our next meet I would like our swimmers to work on fixing small technical issues (flip turns, dives, streamlines) as well as implementing some race strategy. I also want my swimmers to remember that swim meets are FUN. It is fun to race our teammates and try to improve our times.

You can find the meet results here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lately, all of the groups have experienced some increased yardage to their practices.

The beginner group has been working on technique for all the strokes, speed work, and dives.

The intermediate group has been working on IM's, flip turns, and dives.

The advanced and high school groups have been working on race speed and stroke work.

In the next week we will continue to work on some of the same things but as the meet gets closer we will focus more on race strategy and technical issues.

Mark your calendars for the next two swim meets...

SWIM MEET DATES:

• APRIL 25th
• MAY 16th

These two meets will be at our Ahwatukee/Foothills YMCA.

Please stay in touch with the Aquadawgs this season!

1. Follow this blog! At the bottom of this webpage there is a entry bar where you can put your email. If you enter your email, every time I post something new it will notify you. 
2. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ymcaaquadawgs. 
3. Follow us on Instagram @ymcaaquadawgs
4. Feel free to email Coach Alisha: alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org. 

Some of my advanced swimmers have had some questions about backstroke starts. Here is a video that goes through how to do a proper backstroke start.

http://swimswam.com/how-to-do-a-perfect-backstroke-start-video/

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

Weekly Update: New Season (Drill Videos)

Aquadawgs,

Thanks for another great week of swim practice!

First off, I would like to apologize for the craziness in beginner group on Tuesday. With new seasons you never know how the dynamic of your groups are going to change. On Tuesday we had 20 swimmers in beginner group with all different types of skill levels, it was a bit overwhelming. But after also seeing my intermediate group on Tuesday, I decided that would be a good place for a few of the more advanced beginners. When I move kids groups it not only depends on skill level and age but also sometimes the dynamic of the group. So after talking to parents, I moved a group of beginner kids up to the intermediate group. This helped a ton on Thursday evening out the groups. I believe now that everyone is in the right place. Please let me know if you have any other questions on this.

This week all of the groups worked on stroke technique for freestyle and backstroke.

Here a video of backstroke olympian Matt Grevers demonstrating double arm backstroke, a drill that all my swimmers worked on this week.


Matt Grevers Double Arm Backstroke from Fitter & Faster Swim Tour on Vimeo.

Here is another video demonstration of the "shark drill" that I worked on with my advanced swimmers.


Sharks Drill by Chloe Sutton from Fitter & Faster Swim Tour on Vimeo.

It is helpful to watch these professionals do the drills we work on so that swimmers can see it done perfectly. Also it helps swimmers know that I am not just making these up!

We have a swim meet coming up this Saturday (March 28th)! Please print the entry form off and bring it to me by Thursday (March 26th). The entry form can be found on the Aquadawg website or or here. The swim meet will be at our Ahwatukee/Foothills YMCA.

The dates for our swim meets this season are:

• March 28th
• April 25th
• May 16th 

All of the swim meets will be located at our Ahwatukee/Foothills YMCA.

Please stay in touch with the Aquadawgs this season!

1. Follow this blog! At the bottom of this webpage there is a entry bar where you can put your email. If you enter your email, every time I post something new it will notify you. 
2. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ymcaaquadawgs. 
3. Follow us on Instagram @ymcaaquadawgs
4. Feel free to email Coach Alisha: alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org. My email is now working and I will be checking it frequently.

Lastly, the women's NCAA DI Championships finished up this last week (Missy Franklin put on quite a performance) watch some of the highlight videos (link below).

http://www.ncaa.com/video/swimming-women/2015-03-21/di-womens-swimming-diving-california

Also previous swimmer for Desert Vista, Katie Olsen, who now swims for Stanford, was a part of the 400 Medley Relay team (breaststroker) that won and broke the American record at the NCAA DI Championships. Here is a video of the incredible finish.

http://www.gostanford.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3832000

The men's NCAA DI Championship will start this week feel free to watch online or on TV on ESPN3 Friday and Saturday.

Thanks!

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org

NEW SEASON: FAQ's

1. Where do I meet for swim practice?
• Swimmers are to meet me (Coach Alisha) on the pool deck 5-10 min before their practice starts. Parents are welcome to walk their children out and stay with them till practice begins. 
2. Are parents allowed to watch practice?
• Once practice begins parents are asked to please leave the pool deck. I do allow parents on the deck 5 min before practice starts and 5 min before practice ends, so that parents can drop off/ pick up their children. The pool decks get crowded and the lifeguards are responsible for the people in the pool and on the deck. It is also sometimes distracting to swimmers if they can see their parents. If there are special conditions or if you are uncomfortable with this please talk to me. 
3. When are swim meets?
• Our swim meets for this season will be March 28th, April 25th, and May 16th. Mark your calendars! All swim meets will be held at our YMCA.
4. What is the required swim gear and where do I buy it?
• Swimmers in the beginner and intermediate groups are required to have a kickboard, fins, goggles, and swim cap (girls only). Swimmers in the advanced and high school groups are required to have a kickboard, fins, pull buoy, goggles, and a swim cap (girls only). This swim gear is used frequently and very important for all swimmers to have. The best place to buy swim gear is swimoutlet.com. If you do not prefer online, kickboards, googles, and caps are usually fine to buy at a general sporting goods store. But good fins are hard to find in a sporting goods store and if you do find them they are usually overpriced. I would recommend buying these fins here or another pair like these. Those fins are a good price and they work great for practice. Please try to avoid buying the scuba like fins they do not work well for practice. If you have any more questions or concerns about fins please ask me. 
5. What bathrooms/locker rooms should my swimmer use?
• I would recommend that swimmers use the family locker rooms located at the north end of the pool deck. These locker rooms provide private bathrooms with showers and also private changing rooms. Sometimes in the men's/women's locker rooms adults are less conservative about dressing and undressing and this makes some children uncomfortable. 
6. Is the pool heated?
• Yes the pool is heated. It is always kept at ~80 degrees. 

Also a couple reminders...

• Please use the bathroom before practice. I understand that the little ones sometimes forget but I have also seen many swimmers use this as an excuse to get out of a hard practice. Because of this I get more strict as my swimmers get older. Almost none of my advanced/ high school swimmers should be getting out of practice to go to the bathroom. I understand there are emergencies and that is okay but I will not be regularly permitting multiple swimmers in those groups to go to the bathroom during practice.
• Please bring a water bottle. 

Currently my YMCA email is not working...I am working with YMCA tech support to get it fixed. So if you have any questions please email Deb at: djrothstein@vosymca.org. If I need to see the email she will forward it to my personal email. If you have emailed me over break I am sorry for not responding!

Thanks!

Coach Alisha 

Weekly Update: End of the Season Wrap Up

Thanks for another great week Aquadwags and another awesome season.

This is our last week of practice for this season. There will be no practices March 9-13. 

I was very proud of our swimmers this weekend at the meet. I saw lots of swimmers drop time and improve their overall technique.

I am sorry that the awards didn't get presented at the meet on Saturday. We have been trying a few new things with out computer system to hopefully make it easier for our summer season. Awards were handed out at practice on Tuesday and if you were not there I will have the awards again today.

Don't forget to register for next season March 16- May 16. Spots are limited. I have talked to some swimmers already, but if you think your swimmer is ready to move up to the next group please ask me and I will let you know if they are ready. A lot of factors go into my decision to move swimmers up. 

As the season comes to a close I have picked my favorite Aquadwag photos from this season. I was very impressed by the creative effort many of the swimmers gave with their photos. I am exicited to continue giving out the Aquadawg next season and see more creative photos.

Coach Alisha

alisha.maxwell@vosymca.org