I'll be at the ASCA World Clinic in Dallas next week. Kids may still get in during lap swim if they'd like.
The plan is to offer as many workouts as possible for the remainder of the month. Since our kids are participating on other sports* in addition to swimming, the hope is that they'll be able to get to at least a few swim practices each week.
Please don't forget lap swim fees for September ($10 to the City of Bay City).
Any newcomers wishing to join the group may try out during the week of September 9th.
Beginning Monday, the 9th, we'll practice on weekdays (5-6:45 p.m.) and Saturday's (9-10:45 a.m.) with the following exceptions:
Wednesday, the 11th, I have meet the teacher at the high school starting at 6:00 p.m. I'll have to leave the pool around 5:30 p.m. I plan to have a written practice for athletes to follow.
Friday, the 13th, we may have traffic issues due to a home football game. We'll finish up that day at 6:30 p.m.
If all goes well, we'll have nearly twenty (20) opportunities for our kids in September.
ShAC is hosting an intrasquad** meet on Saturday, October 5. We should be ready for some good early season swims!
First, athletes should get me their attendance numbers for the four (4) workouts swum while I was out of town. Thanks in advance for getting that to me ASAP!
Next, ShAC is having some pool issues. If you plan to drive up to swim Saturday, please check with Gilbert or Karol before making the trip.
If y'all haven't taken care of August lap swim fees, please do that right away. I write checks to the City of Bay City each time and include the month on the memo line.
Now for the "dad" talk:
In the past, I've discussed social media, bullying, etc. with my high school swimmers. Now that it's become very common for younger student-athletes to have greater access to the digital world than ever before, we need to address issues with them as well.
For many years, USA Swimming did a rather poor job of protecting athletes from predatory a) coaches, b) volunteers, and c) other athletes.
Thankfully, that has changed! Misbehavior hasn't gone away completely, but things are much better now than twenty or thirty years ago.
Please visit USAS's Safe Sport page (here) and review policies and procedures with your child.
A recent addition to the program focuses on adult athletes (18 & up) on clubs with minor athletes.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the focus begin to shift downward to our HS-aged athletes within the next couple of years.
When it comes to Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, chat rooms, emails, texts, etc., our young people aren't always aware that this "stuff" doesn't go away.
If y'all don't believe me, just Google "recovering Snapchat messages" for some "how to" help!
College recruiters check social media accounts and do not pursue athletes who display poor judgement in their posts. Read Five Social Media Tips for Student-Athleteshere
It’s no secret that college coaches are active on social
media. According to a survey released by Cornerstone Reputation in 2017, 85
percent of college coaches pull up athletes’ social media profiles during the
recruiting process. Of these coaches, who represent over 200 DI, DII and DIII
schools across the country, 87 percent use Facebook, 79 percent use
Twitter and 65 percent use Instagram to screen recruits and determine
whether they would be a good fit for their team.
We must remind our athletes to pause and think before hitting "send" or "post"!
Also, they should take advantage of "block" or "unfollow" features to keep unwanted/inappropriate content at bay.
If Twitter awards medals for using "block", I should have a great shot at making the podium...
Again, the expectation is that everyone will make sure they get some time off in August. That might mean taking a week (or two) off, or maybe a day (or two) off each week.
We'll take the first week of September off and then get back on our regular schedule after that. If there are any new additions to the program for the short course season, we'll give them an opportunity to try out and register that second week of September.
In September, we'll return to the schedule we used in April/May - generally six (6) days per week for two (2) hours per day.
Some of our September workouts will include open water swimming strategies (sighting, buoy turns, etc.) to prep any of our swimmers who'll be competing in fall (October) & spring (April) Gulf Open Water events.
Whenever possible, we'll throw in two-a-days. Expect those around school breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in the spring.
Important Notes: I'll be working with the new BCJH girls' & boys' athletic coordinators on a start date to begin junior high swim practices. Expect that to start sometime in November. We're encouraging all our junior high and high school athletes to be multi-sport athletes.
Starting in November will serve several important purposes: 1) It will allow 7th & 8th graders to finish up their fall sport commitments in football, cross country, & volleyball. 2) By working closely with our junior high coaches, we should be able to bring more kids into the program than in the past. 3) We'll be shortening the season to avoid the burn-out that can occur with newcomers to the sport.
The junior high program is not an officially recognized part of BCJH athletics. We utilize our high school assets (facility, coaches, equipment, etc.) to provide for our 7th & 8th grade swimmers. If we can get our numbers up, we might be able to ask the school board to officially include swimming at the junior high level. This would go a very long way toward growing our high school program!
On the subject of the high school program, plan is to start them in September with a limited practice schedule (fewer days weekly & shorter practice duration). We plan to stick with this limited schedule for high school swim/dive through October this year. As our BCHS fall sports (tennis, cross country, football, & volleyball) wind down, we'll ramp up into a regular practice schedule for high school (5 days per week) in November.
I'm willing to bet that Giles Smith is the best butterflyer you've never heard of.
When you really, REALLY need a breath after a long underwater, experiment with Smith's technique - take it to the side.
Giles is normally a front-breather on butterfly, but sometimes takes a quick side breath when breaking out from underwaters.
Keeping your head low helps keep your legs up, right?
Watch Smith go :45.77 in the 100 SCY fly below. He swam for Arizona in lane 5. If you watch full screen, you should see him sneak in side breaths on a couple of breakouts.
