Halloween

This wednesday is Halloween. This must pose a big problem for many in Elite Development. They are torn between their love for candy, chips & chocolate and their love for streamlines, body position & kick. I myself will still be at the pool for anybody who wants to swim, but for the kids who for some reason would rather pull in pillow cases of candy, feel free to take the night off. Just keep in mind I am partial to Caramilk, Crunch, and Kit Kat bars.

I'm the Boss

Matt and Kellie are out of town. Simply put, I am the acting boss in this club. You guys are probably asking, "Ryan, aren't you basically in charge anyways?". You would be absolutely correct in assuming that, however my work load is significantly less with the other two thinking they are in control. That being said I have all you kids not going to Saskatoon to deal with. I am in the process of writing the most gruelling 2 hour saturday morning workout ever created. The whiteboard pen will melt before I can even write it down it will be so hard. See you punks on saturday, and bring a box of kleenex.

Scratch That

If you had previously seen my post about swimdirect.ca please disregard it (and my sincerest apologies if you signed up). Apparently swimdirect will not be used for some reason or another. Although the results aren't posted yet, www.swimmeet.ca should have canada wide results. If you're like me and are the not so proud owner of a swimdirect account then meet me outside MP on thursday and we'll burn the whole pool down.

Lost & Found

I am currently the owner of a pair of fabulously pink goggles and a small Silver Tide t-shirt. If you think one of these items may belong to you then prepare your best offer for a trade.

10 & Under Series #1

The first meet is done and it delivers some good news and some bad news.

Let's start with the good. There was some fantastic swims from everyone. You guys either threw down some best times or were equal to them. At this stage in the season it is very exciting to see that you can pick up from where you left off last season with only one month of training. I would also like to give a big congratulations to Sarah Peddie, Rebecca Schamber and Josie Poliquin for qualifying for B's in the 400 free. These girls have started the ball rolling and hopefully we will see new qualifiers maybe even as soon as the Poppy meet.

Now on to the bad news. Unfortunately there was no rice krispie squares for the coaches to eat. I love rice krispie squares. Period. This kind of put a damper on the whole day.

As we keep going through the meets until December our main focus will be on executing turns and streamlines to perfection. I would love to see you guys continue to improve on these skills at meets but as far as this round is concerned I think you all did a great job. Next up is our very own meet, the Poppy Invitational. It would be awesome to have the best skills out of every club at our own meet and I look forward to meeting this goal.

This was a great way to start the season and I will see you all at practice!

Very Important

Hey guys. I would like to give everyone a heads up that we have a couple of swimmers who have severe nut allergies. When packing snacks for the swim meets please keep this in mind and everything should go swimmingly....Get it...I said swimmingly....let's see the other coaches top that one. So again, NO nuts for snacks at swim meets!...if you're just dying for some I'm sure you can hold out just a few more hours. Thanks for your cooperation.

B Times, Baby!!

Our main focus in Elite Development is to ensure proper skills and stroke techniques at a young age. By doing high quality 25's each swimmer has a chance to perfect their skills without fatigue which helps instill good habits. The longer distances you swim, the more tired you get and it is when you are tired that you practice your bad habits like not streamlining. Despite the lower volume workouts our program has managed to push many swimmers through to B's.

B provincials (which takes place in Calgary in february) is the first step of progressing through the provincial level, especially for a young developmental swimmer. In order to qualify for B's swim alberta has a rule that you have to make the time in either the 400 free or the 200 IM. This is to ensure each swimmer is coached for distances and every stroke instead of specializing at a young age. By practicing good technique in workouts it is very possible to achieve a 400 free qualifying time even though we don't do 400's in practice.

As we start going to our first meets you might find yourself entered in a 200 IM or a 400 free. I hope you all look at this as an opportunity to strive for a B time instead of punishment. They are long, hard races, but if you finally achieve your goal that makes it even better. Sorry for the lengthy write up, if you have any questions on the qualifying process please contact me.

Qualifying times can be found here http://www.swimalberta.ca/year-round-swimmers/meet-qualifying-times-3.htm

Grande Prairie

Just to let you know we will not be attending the Grande Prairie meet November 3rd and 4th. If you booked a hotel room it would be my recommendation you cancel it asap....that being said perhaps you might want to get away from the hustle and bustle of living in the world's largest hamlet, in which case by all means keep your hotel reservation. Who am I to judge?

Trash Talking

You know who's the worst? Coach Chelby. You may ask why I would dare say such slanderous things but if you will direct yourself to her blog http://silvertide-chelby.blogspot.com/ you will find no posts. A call goes out to any member of the Silver Tide Swim Club to harrass her until she picks it up. That is all.

10 & Under Series #1

This sunday, October 21st is the first swim meet of the year. It's at fountain park pool in St. Albert. If you're not sure where that is please give yourself lots of time to find it. I would like everyone to be there at 1:45 which will give plenty of time to get settled before warm-up. It becomes very stressful for myself and the other coaches if you are late because we are asked to submit scratches by 2:00, so please do your best to make sure you are there with 15 minutes to spare. Thanks a lot!

Upcoming Meets

Our first swim meets of the season are coming up fast and I would like to remind everyone of the swim meet cancellation policy. If you are unfamiliar with the cancellation policy you have to scratch out of the meet before the cacellation deadline by letting the Head Coach know. An email was sent out regarding this, and if you didn't get it just let myself or any of the other coaches know and we will get that information for you.

At this stage in the season our main focus has been on proper body position and streamlines, with not a lot of emphasis on really hard work. At these upcoming meets I feel it is most important to demonstrate these skills rather than worrying about going fast. By doing your proper skills and your best technique your times will get faster regardless, and it is more important right now to make your good skills a habit.

If you have any questions about the meets and our schedule feel free to let me know. Have a great long weekend!

Something worth checking out

I know I have shown this video to some of you before but I think it's worth taking a look at again. This boy with no arms demonstrates the proper body position that you would want when doing the drill Ogopogo. If this body position is learned correctly it will make your butterfly more efficient, easier and faster.



More importantly I wanted an excuse to test out whether or not I could post videos.

NO Swimming Monday

This weekend is Thanksgiving which leads us to a wonderful monday holiday. It gives us a chance to be thankful for all the great things we have....for example I am thankful I don't have to coach the Elite Development punks on the 8th. Have a great time off and remember dryland training starts Wednesday, October 10th at 5:30 behind the hot tub. All you need is shorts, a shirt and a smile.

Dryland and all that fun stuff....

In my first official post on my very own blog I would like to bring attention to our dryland schedule. On monday and friday we swim from 4-5:30, and our dryland will follow immediately afterwards (behind the hot tub) until 6. Our dryland on wednesdays will also be 5:30 until 6 right before practice starts. We'll start off fairly light but by the end of this season I fully expect everyone to be able to wrestle down a bull with their bare hands....