Highlights are comming...

We had not one, but two great meets this past weekend. Coach Aron was nice enough to bring us video updates from Minneapolis. We're still working on the highlights from the DMSF Fall Invite, but to be honest there were sooooooo many of them it might take us a while.

So, we decided to add a link to this article about goal setting. While you wait for the highlight, this is an excellent read, and we hope you will put some of those strategies in place!

Gran Prix Daily Recap Nov 14th

Great evening to cap the day! Dustin Rhoads went 50.57 in 100 back to get 10th. However, the relay was the swim of the night. We had a team meeting and here what I told the boys, "...the team is more important than any one individual. We must swim faster on the relays than we do for our individual races. If you want to win meets you have to win relays. Let's hold true to the values we have been working towards for the past nine weeks. Swim this for each other, hold each other accountable, and support each other behind the blocks..."

They took that to heart and swam amazing times, Dustin 51.98, Taylor 1:01.07, Jon 54.06, and Brian 47.24, for 3:34.35. We scored our first ever top 8 at the Gran Prix coming in 6th.

Gran Prix Morning Session Update, Day 2

Wow!!!!! We had an excellent morning, just watch the video. We have two swims tonight and it should be fun, Dustin Rhoads 100 back, seated 9th at 50.94, and our 400 Medley Relay, seated 16th.

Day 1 Recap

Before I get into a recap, I forgot to mention Luuk Dekkers 1000 free in the video recap, he went 10:00.53, a lifetime best by 9.5 seconds. Way to go!

We learn from our mistakes. The greatest part about this meet is that we get to make mistakes. Meets throughout the season are learning tools. It is very difficult to know how to react in a stressful situation like racing. The body and the brain perform a little differently under stress. Learning how to cope with that is essential to athletic performance. We had a few minor mishaps today that were amazing learning experiences. We got to tweak some strokes, some turns, and some other details. We had some nerves as well that affected race strategies. This is normal and we had some learning moments so that we can be better for the races tomorrow. I am proud of how our swimmers are handling themselves and how they are willing to learn from everything going on around them.

Here is how our day went:

Gran Prix Update

I am here at the 2009 Minnesota Gran Prix. I am excited as this meet features a few Olympians and world record holders. Rebecca Soni and Kate Ziegler were in the psych sheet and should be fun to watch. The guys were a little disappointed to find out that Ryan Lochte was not in the psych sheet. He has attended the last two Gran Prixs. Well guess who deck entered the meet last night...Ryan Lochte. So, this should prove to be a fun meet. I will post some updates from our swimmers as the meet progresses.

Read this!

Hey everybody!!

As we are getting ready for two weekends with swim meets, I found this blog, written by this guy called Garret Webber-Gale (you might remember him from that 400 Free Relay in Beijing). Well, it really addresses how important meets are, and so I think every swimmer on ACAC should ready it!

In addition, be sure to watch this week’s show, already posted on the right!

See you at the pool!!

Last week of the session!

As all of you know by now, this is the last week of our Fall session. On Monday, our Senior 2 and National groups boys are going to be gone for the HS season, and we’ll be welcoming the HS girls. To the guys, good luck on the HS season; to the girls, it’s good to have you back!

This past Wednesday we also had our 3^rd team meeting. In case you missed, here are the minutes:

- Swimmers were reminded to sign-up and guarantee their spots on ACAC for the next session;

- T-shirts: we are collecting t-shirts order via the main website. To order, click on ‘Team Store’, and then on ‘Logo Gear’. Be sure to order ACAC t-shirts and wear them to the meets!!!

- Practice schedules updated. Just visit the team’s website to check on the workout schedules. For now, it is important to remember that practice is cancelled for all groups except Novice on November 13^th (everybody else is expected to attend the DMSF and Grand Prix meets), and cancelled for Age Group 3 and Seniors on November 20^th (Coach Aron and Coach Lucas will be gone for the CSC meet)

- Keep your focus on the State meet: at this point in the season, when that excitement from the first weeks are gone, and the State meet still seems far away, it is normal that swimmers start loosing their focus. For that reason it is important to keep looking at the individual goals, and thinking about State. Working hard all season long will pay off when that meet comes around!!! Letters of recognition were given to the swimmers that have attended meets so far, and reminded them that the competition for spots on the Relays at State meet is open!

- Time standards: how many people have looked at the time standards sheet except for looking at State Q-times? There are several time standards for each event and age group, and those are national standards. In order to recognize swimmers for achieving those, they received patches according to the standards they currently hold.