Two videos for you today

Both the videos below come from SwimmingWorld.TV

Some of our athletes don't like the idea of swimming "back-to-back" events, even though that usually means an interval of at least 20-30 min between swims. Here's Ryan Lochte after doing the 100 free only 12min after the 200 back! Any idea why he's so good?

Matt Grevers as always is material for a good interview. Here's his own take at how to better his performances:

Great video with Matt Grevers giving us a tour around the swimmers hospitality area in the Charlote Ultraswim this past weekend. I guess that makes it much more attractive to be a top notch swimmers, doesn't it?

Meet Recap

ICE Meltdown

May 1-2, 2010

Goals

1. Familiarize swimmers to long course swimming.

We performed some sets during warm-ups for extra practice.

Plus, swimmers swam a full slate of events allowing them to gain more experience in long course racing.

2. Learn Race strategies.

The swimmers took time to plan out race strategies. We still had a few swimmers that were unprepared for a few races. I believe we will get better throughout the course of the season.

3. Understanding swimming fast versus getting best times.

We did a great job of this. Swimmers got up and performed well. They did swim fast for themselves and against competition. Swimmers were generally not focused on beating the time in the heat sheet. This allowed swimmers to focus more on how to swim the race.

4. Learn Swim Meet procedures.

Swimmers were mostly on task. There were a few instances where swimmers needed to be reminded that they needed to cool down. There were also a few instances where swimmers were not completely warmed-up for the races. Swimmers did an excellent job making sure they were behind the blocks at an appropriate time; not too early, not too late.

5. Understanding how to eat properly during the course of competition.

Swimmers did a good job of bringing their own food to eat during the course of competition. I did not see a lot parent interaction, meaning they had worked out plans before the meet started and that swimmers were taking ownership of their swim meet diet plans.

Areas for Improvement:

Transitions: Swimmers were able to perform long underwater dolphin kickouts, however, we did not breakout with any competitive advantage. This was due to the fact that swimmers lost speed between the dolphin kicks and the breakouts. Swimmers need to learn more about the transitions between underwater swimming and surface swimming.

Turns and Finishes: Swimmers were gliding into walls on both the turns and finishes. This resulted in a few disqualifications for backstroke turns and some slow finishes in freestyle events.

Mental Preparations: Swimmers did a great job with swim meet procedures. I do think we could have done a little more to get “fired-up” for some races. Some swimmers still did not know which events were on which days. This means that swimmers were not mentally prepared before the meet. If swimmers take the time to rehearse strategies and plans before the meet, they will also likely go through mental “pump-up” procedures as well. This will lead too more focused swimming at the meet with reduced effort to get oneself “pumped-up”.

General Comments

I noticed some of the faster swimmers from other teams were really snapping kicks, or really snapping their hips in a freestyle rotation. Swimmers should always practice to be powerful. Notice how your own body reacts to the water and whether or not you are “snapping” your own movements.

Meet Highlights from 2010 ICE Spring Meltdown.

We had a small group of swimmers attending the ICE Spring Meltdown meet this past weekend. Since this is the first LCM meet of the season, we encourage kids to attend just so that they get to experience LCM racing before the meet season picks up in June. While at it, some swimmers also performed pretty well. Here are the Highlights:

Sara Bentley (Senior 2): four best times, including a new A time (200 IM), and one new event for a new B time (200 Fly);

Christopher Merchant (Senior 2): three best times, including 2 new A times (50 and 100 Free), and two new events, including 1 new B time (200 Breast);

Taylor Messingham (Senior 2): after a long retreat from LCM racing, swam seven events for 6 new B times (200 Free, 100 and 200 Back, 100 and 200 Breast, 100 Fly, and 200 IM);

Alex Pyle (Senior 2): one best time for a new a time (200 IM), and one new event for a new B time (200 Fly);

Lauren Rosser (Senior 1): dove in for two new events and 2 new BB times (400 Free and 200 Breast);

Morgan Rosser (Age Group 3): swam two new events, for a new BB (200 Breast) and a new AA and ACAC 11-12 Record (1500 Free: 20:55.71)

Gracie Snyder (Age Group 3): got two best times, including 1 new AA time (50 Free);

Sydney Sorenson (Senior 2): one best time for a new A time (200 IM), and dove in for one new event a new B time (200 Fly);

Caleb Utesch (Senior 2): one best time;

Chrisann Zuerner (National): one best time for a new B time (100 Back).