Sectionals Day 2

Well things got better with some amazing RAYS swims. We had 10 swimmers make finals tonight and they represented us amazingly. For starters we had two new Olympic Trials qualifiers today which runs our total to nine.

The Postoll sisters are both heading to Omaha in June. Melissa made the 200 Bk cut with a 2:17.1 & then tonight her sister Rebecca set a new 13/14 GA Record in the 200 Fr with a 2:02.7. Finalists tonight include Gabriel, Jimmy, Nathon, Chris,  Alec, Michael, Taylor & Lauren.

To cap off the night the Men's 400 Fr relay finished 3rd. The RAYS are simply swimming great, with great support from the parent group too.

SC Sectionals 2012 Day 1

Well the RAYS arrived for Day 1 and were awesome in the 800 meter Fr.

The pool here at Greensboro is a beautiful Olympic size venue. Plenty of seating and a very fast tank. We started the night with Becca Postoll recording a best time and a 2nd place finish with a 9:01 which qualifies Becca for Summer Junior Nationals. Then we had Melissa Postoll swimming a best time of 9:21; Lila Best with 9:30 and wrapping up the girls 800 Rebecca Justus with a 26 second drop 9:34. The Boys only had one swimmer compete in the 800 and we had a winner with Jimmy Yoder recording a 1st place and a US Open cut of 8:18.

The Men's 800 Fr relay placed 5th with all 4 swimmers recording their Best time or close to it. The relay of Jimmy Yoder, Michael Dugan, Chris Lohff & Nathon Burwick had the honors.

RAYS Swimmers Compete at College Championships

This time of the year is fun being a swim coach. It's the time when all the athletes hard work starts to pay off and we get to see that at the championship meets. What's also fun is watching the athletes, that have come through our program, competing for their University. Presently we have approximately 20+ such athletes doing that, this weekend. I love watching the results, sending good luck texts and above all seeing what our program does best. Helping dreams come true.

Stingrays does that about as best as anyone.

College swimming isn't for everyone, but it is one of our goals, that goes along with our philosophy of "Training For Life"

Final Days

Well we are in the home stretch at MVN and its been a really good eye opening trip.

Yesterday I had the honor to help Coach Bill with the Olympic group. They did a set 1x1500 @20 + 1x800 @11 x3 dec 1-3
The fastest 1500 guy was 16:03 Girl 16:57; 800 8:25 & 8:57. Pretty impressive to me that is.

We had a meeting with Siga Rose about their 8&under swimmers. Wow that lady is a fire ball. Great energy, great ideas and a great coach.

Today we get to talk about Olympic group, help with their workout today, I expect it to be recovery:) Then we are going to dinner with some staff members, then home to the ATL Saturday.

Then I'll be on the deck Sunday morning. I love my job

MVN Trip

Well the weather was excellent on Tue and it was nice to see the whole team in action.
MVN have the swim groups set up in Divisions, a very interesting concept. They have 8 & under, 10 & under, 11/12 and 13/14 swim together. Each division is broken into 3 groups. They move everyone up at the same time, twice a year depending on the swimmers birthday at the Championship meet for that season.

It works very well if 1. you have the numbers 2. the staff and 3. probably at one location.
The Senior division is based on time standards.

MVN Trip

Well I arrived at LA Orange County airport yesterday and it was pouring. Never seen it rain so hard in CA. I met up with my coach buddy Russ from Swim Mac Carolina and we headed over to Mission Viejo Swim team complex.

On arrival we met the staff and watched the Olympic group train for 2 hours. They did a set of 400's which I observed two girls end the last one under 4:20 LCM.

Russ and I then met with Coach Bryan Dedeaux who is their 10 and under division coach. We had an informative discussion about how they organize and coach their 10 & Unders and other various topics.

Today we are attend their staff meeting.

Three Phases of a Swimming Career

Part One:
I can't remember exactly when, but I heard our USA Swimming National Team Director speak at a conference about the stages swimmers go through during their careers. As I've coached over the years, I found what he said to be quite true.

Phase One: 10 & Unders
The 10 & under swimmers are the ones that swim for Mum & Dad. After a race the first person they want to see is M&D. They want to please them and want them to support their efforts.

This is very important in their development. Parents must be aware that everything you say to them about their performance sticks with them a life time. From my point of view, its interesting asking the Senior level swimmers about their 10 & Under experiences. Most don't talk about winning, etc. they talk about Mum & Dad and what was said to them in the car, or at the dinner table. I'm happy to say it is mostly positive :)

As a Coach the 10 & Unders are probably the most challenging (and most FUN). They often do great things in practice, perfect strokes, perfect turns, but when they get in a competition, that ALL goes! There minds are made up that I'm going to get to the other end of the pool as fast as I can. I don't care what it looks like.

10 & Unders MUST be "taught", coached a little and "not trained". I have often thought that we should call the coach a teacher, because that is their role. We do that in our swim school.

10 & Unders need the basics, a solid foundation of technique in all strokes, turns and starts. They need to have a FUN! learning atmosphere in which to accomplish these goals.

Every year the RAYS staff evaluate and adjust our athlete development plan. During the summer months we will be doing the same and changes will be made to help us stay Georgia's Finest Swim Team.