Medicine Hat

This past weekend we had B's in Medicine Hat. Elite Development had Olivia Anderson, Sarah Peddie and Haley Wirachowsky competing and it certainly went well. All three girls did extremely well and wrapped up their season on a high note.

Olivia started off the finals with an unbelievable 200 breaststroke. She really took it out hard and was able to hang on for the last three 50's to pull off a huge best time and also grabbing herself a shiny bronze medal. This was made all the more impressive considering she may not have slept...the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at took some serious adjusting. Olivia went on to have some more great swims, particularly her 100 back which showed she's no one stroke wonder.

Sarah Peddie took a few major steps this weekend. Sarah shook off the nerves and pulled out an amazing 200 backstroke and getting herself a silver medal. The next day that confidence helped to achieving a great time in the 200 IM and 400 free. More importantly the entire Peddie family escaped the same Bed and Breakfast the Anderson's and I were staying at by calling to see if there were any extra hotel rooms. Although they missed out on the swings, goats, and chickens, one can consider them very fortunate...one may think their kitten might not have fit in.

Haley Wirachowsky had the meet of her career thus far. She stepped up in all her races, making most of her finals and dropping HUGE amounts of time. She managed to get a bronze medal in her 50 backstroke and place well in all her other events. I think the confidence she got from racing with all these other fast swimmers will certainly help her next year. It was a great way to wrap up her season. Having no creepy B & B to think about, nor a kitten who needs constant attention clearly paid off.

A congratulations to all the other swimmers who put in some great races...In particular Matt Whiteside who qualified for A's by winning a great 200 breaststroke!!

Ryan Duggan had a great B's, whether it was swinging on a swing, petting goats, or choking down a strawberry smoothie, there certainly wasn't a dull moment. I found out that fireworks are overrated...at least during Redcliff Days, a large order or rib tips is too much, Perkins is just an okay restaurant, and despite giving 9 and 10 year old girls a thirty second head start I'm still the best Mario Kart player in the club.

Great season guys...now get all the rest you can over the summer and be ready to come back stronger then ever!!!

Silver Cup & Freeze or Fry

The past two weekends delivered the two last meets of the regular swim season. We started out with the Silver Cup, which was a huge success for our group. Everyone was knocking off time like crazy. Many swimmers managed to get best times in all their races, and there wasn't one kid who didn't have a swim the couldn't be extremely proud of. I think the highlight of the Silver Cup would have to be the fact that it was indoors....which leads us to the Freeze or Fry.

"It was the funnest meet I went to last year"...those words were said to me countless times leading up to this past weekend. Needless to say I was excited. Relaxing in the sun while all the kids worked hard was exactly how the weekend was planned. Mother Nature had a different plan however. Despite the cool conditions all the kids were great. I was very impressed with how little complaining went on...in fact I can be quite certain I was the one complaining the most. All the kids did a great job trying to stay warm, and there were great swims all around. Liam Strocher achieved an A time in his 200 fly which is definately one of the highlights of the meet. I think that the kids did a great job of keeping their spirits up and managed to have fun in a less then ideal situation.

With those meets out of the way we are left with B's this weekend and A's in July. Everyone has done a great job this season. Don't forget about the year end party on the 20th, I hope to see everyone there.

Training

It`s important to note that next week is the last week of regular training, and only those with A times will continue after the weekend of the 14th/15th. There will be a year end wrap up on the 20th as well to shower me with expensive gifts. Stay tuned for a Silver Cup and Freeze or Fry report.

Freeze, Not Fry...

I checked the weather for the weekend....things are going to be fairly wet. Make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes for the meet. I'm pretty sure the swimmers will be able to stay in the indoor pool area until their races....there is no guarantee where the parents and more importantly, the coaches are going to be able to stay dry. Braden and I went and bought some $4 poncho's this afternoon...feel free to steal that idea. See you at the meet!

I Can't Be Beat

If you see Ryan Schamber on deck, feel free to ask him how he did against me playing Nintendo Wii. I'm sure he will have no problem telling you he was simply no match for my gaming prowess. That is all.

Saturday Practice

This saturday (the 17th) practice will be from 7-9 as opposed to 10:30-12. This will give us a chance to swim with the older groups. It is also worth noting that there is no practice this holiday monday. Enjoy your Long Weekend....please don't come back with a broken bone!

Open Challenge

After embarrassing both Olivia and Dennis Anderson in Mario Kart for the wii I am looking for the next challenger...If you've got a wireless connection and promise you won't cry after losing feel free to race me. This is especially directed towards Ryan Schamber and Kevin Labonte...punks

Absence makes the heart grow fonder....

With no real excuses to offer up for the long delay all I can do is offer a catch up for Elite Development. Recent months have delivered new A times, club records, new schedules and much more. I appreciate everyone's understanding for the new schedule changes...I certainly don't mind the saturday morning sleep-in.

The season is coming to a close with those going to A's finishing in early July. Two regular season meets are left, our very own Silver Cup at the end of May and the Freeze or Fry in Red Deer the weekend after. Both should be fun meets and a great way to finish the season for those not qualified for B's or A's.

There have been several new qualifiers in the group. Haley Wirachowsky gritted her teeth and managed to achieve the Age Group Trials qualifying time, allowing her to go to Medicine Hat. Alyssa Byrne and Halle Elford both managed to qualify for A's joining Rebecca and Brooklyn who will also be attending. Rebecca has also begun her quest to re-write the 8 & under long course club records taking pretty much every fly, back, free and IM record there is.

The swim-a-thon was very successful. All the girls swam for two hours straight with many getting over 200 laps and the others coming extremely close. Make sure you throw your name on your water bottle and bring it to practice...it will help in the hot summer months!

You can also note there are now links to the Silver Tide entries and results found here, and on the links section.

http://silvertideentries.blogspot.com/

http://silvertideresults.blogspot.com/

I'll have more within the next few days so check back...I promise there will be something to read.

Stuff

First off I would like to congratulate those who attended Age Group Trials in Calgary. There were many good swims, broken club records, and a certain girl named Brooklyn Janzen won a race which now qualifies her for A's.

For upcoming meets, Rebecca and Brooklyn are at A's March 14-16. The next meet will be Dino Cup in Calgary April 5-6, followed by the Saskatoon Septathlon the next weekend. While two away meets in a row is not ideal there is a lack of long course meets this year so we're trying to find meets where we can. If you have any questions about the meet schedule let me know. See you at the pool.

This Weekend

This weekend I am away at Age Group Trials with Halle, Sarah, Olivia and Brooklyn. Because of this practice will be at 4:00 with Chelby's group on friday. Saturday morning will be at 8:00 instead of 7:00 and will be swum with Braden's group. Sorry for this inconvenience, if you can't make it don't sweat it.

For the B's kids, warm-up for fridays relays are at 1:00 pm, so if you could be there by 12:45 it would be much appreciated. See you in Calgary.

Family Day

There will be NO practice on monday the 18th. Apparently family is a big deal...you all get off lucky. There will be a practice for those going to Age group trials on tuesday the 19th however. And on the note of age group trials, a big congratulations go out to Brooklyn Janzen for getting her time at the 10 & under series!!! Have a great holiday!

10 and Under Series, Volume 3

This Sunday is the third meet in the series. If everyone could be there by 1:45 to allow us coaches to breathe easier that would be great. If you know you will not be there please let me know prior to sunday. Make sure you bring your Silver Tide clothing to stay warm, and make sure you bring healthy snacks to keep you nourished (fries from the concession are delicious...but not healthy). See you on deck!

A challenge...

The world of a swimmer can be a difficult one. It's hard to impress your friends with a strong breaststroke kick, a fast fliptrun, or a great dive. One thing that never failed to impress my friends however, was my ability to do what can be seen in this video I found...



It takes a lot of practice...and definately not practice while I'm talking, but it would be a shame to put so many hours into the pool and never learn this skill. Unfortunately I have no idea to explain how it's done, you will all be on your own.

Warning

There has been some heavy policing of the Stop sign on your way into Millennium Place. Make sure you come to a complete stop...none of this rolling stop garbage. I don't see any of the other coaches trying to save you a dollar...

Loads of Stuff

Once again it's been a while since I've posted. I'll tell you what though, if this blog is the thing you look forward to then you are in need of a new hobby. For example, Lost season 4 starts tonight. It's been 8 long months since the jaw-dropping season 3 finale, and I anticipate I won't be at practice tomorrow, saturday, and probably monday. I'll be too busy searching web boards for clues and hints as to what's going on.

Three meets have gone by and I'll do my best to sum up the awesomeness. Club records are being torn apart courtesy of one Rebecca Schamber. Not content with just getting it once, Rebecca broke the 100 fly club record twice in a row. Proving she can do it in the sprints and the distance she also decided to knock off the 200 backstroke record. To top it off she got her A time in the 100 fly, making her the only 8 year old qualifier in Alberta...So pretty much just another day at the office for Rebecca.

Olivia Anderson also joined the ranks of the multiple club record holder status. Her 100 breaststroke at Blue Bear was enough to take down a record (the record previously was shown to be innacurate). However her Guitar Hero skills are most definately not setting any records.

Ally had a great Mayflower meet, making it into the finals for the 50 breast. And although she decided to do a little bit extra in her 100 IM, her butterfly looked a lot better. Braden and Chelby also tell me her turns were better in Leduc.

Kathleen Doig took off some time at the Mayflower with great races in the 50 back and the 100 breast. After that it was a swimming vacation, but she is back in the pool and ready for action.

Haley Wirachowski did a fantastic job of fighting off strep throat at the Mayflower....And to add to that she had a great Leduc meet. I am told she bravely volunteered to do fly in the relay. Way to take one for the team Haley!

Emma Funk is getting stronger every time I see her in the water. After making some finals at the Mayflower (With an extremely impressive 50 free) she went on to knock off well over a minute in her 400 free at Leduc. If she keeps improving at this rate she'll have world records in may.

Langley McCaul had a great Mayflower and Leduc meet. She also keeps chipping time off her 400 free and her turns are getting much better. Langley is also extremely jacked anytime there is a warm-up/warm-down pool. After every race she asks if she can warm-up for her next one...even if her next one happens to be the next day.

Megan Wirachowsky had several firsts over these past few meets. She got into many finals at the Mayflower (getting third in her first ever 50 fly), and also popped out her first 400 free in Leduc. I look forward to now making her a butterfly, distance free goddess.

Halle Elford took off 8 seconds in her 100 fly at Mayflower, and with just a little more work will be knocking on the A time door in that event. Now all she has to do is act like her coach might knkow what he's talking about when he tells her to get her head down. Of course it would all be a lie. I never know what I'm talking about.

Sarah Peddie, who right now is basking in the sun in Hawaii has had two great meets as well. She has brought herself to within half a second of an A time in the 100 fly, and will look to be a killer at B's. That's all I want to say about Sarah, because right now I'm looking outside at the snow, and thinking of where she is right now makes me jealous.

Speaking of jealousy...Brooklyn has returned to us from Florida. I understand she had a great time, however inside sources say she couldn't beat Mickey Mouse in the 50 freestyle. That's pretty disappointing...he's a mouse for goodness sake.

That wraps it up...The next meet is the 10 & under series on the 10th (Halle and Rebecca will also have Grande Prairie), followed by B's. Take it easy gang.

Bringing It Back

Several weeks have past since my last posting. People would stop me on the street, yell out their car windows, wake me with 3 a.m. phone calls, begging me to post more blogs. Let it be said Sean Ryan Duggan has his ears open...and so with that being said here's what I got.

After finishing the 12 days of Christmas, a collective sigh of relief was heard. All rejoiced, knowing the hard part of the holidays was over...I mean, twelve 400 free's, does it get harder? Many in Elite Development found out that yes, it actually does. The post-Christmas training was perhaps a little bit shocking for a group of girls used to hammering out 25's with ample rest. Looks of desbelief crossed many eyes when reading the sets on the board. With that being said, I couldn't be more proud of how everyone trained. Everyone swam extremely hard, and did it very independantly. I think this was a breakthrough session for a lot of these swimmers, they managed to do things they didn't know they could.

This training will bring us into our first meet back, the Mayflower. We have some home pool advantage, and I would love to see some great swims out of everyone. The B swimmers then have the Blue Bear meet, and the other punks will have the Leduc meet. I am excited to see gutsy races with great skills.

If you have any questions about the upcoming meets, please feel free to contact anyone but myself...maybe see if Braden and Chelby know what's going on. Also, if you have your wireless internet hooked up and feel like being embarrassed in an online Nintendo Wii game, let me know. See you at the pool!