Wednesday Practice Thoughts

We offered two sets today:

Set 1 -- 9x300

Most people did freestyle.  Jack and Cole did IM.  The IM version was really tough, in fact too tough for Jack and Cole dispite a good effort.  Guys, I just wanted to see if you could do it!  Let's try it again in a few weeks.  Freestylers were very good for the most part.  Averaging under your average pace from 10x300 on (330) is exceptional…anywhere near it is pretty solid training, considering the intervals  -- which were under 3:30 for a good part of the set (345, 335, 325, 340, 330, 320, 335, 325, 315).

Set 2 -- 16x75 Breast (1:30) with flip turns

We focused on strong times and stroke counts under racing stroke counts.  Matt led the way with 49-47 average with 7-9-9 on the stroke count for much of the set (lots of 48s).  When you do the (SCY-LCM) conversion math on :48 per 75, you get :48x3 (2:24).   

So, for Matt it makes sense to train right at 48, maybe 47s…with a stroke count that is 1-2 under his racing stroke count (or in the case of LCM…it's not stroke count we are training here, but "stroke rate"….I use the concept of "stroke count" to get the athlete to do a certain "stroke rate").

We are going to do this set again, or one like it, very soon.  I think all of the the athletes are one step away from breaking through…we just haven't offered the set often enough as of now.

{OK, I'm gonna go big swim nerd now…..proceed with caution….}

The main thing I consider when we do 75s is that it's one third of a 200M swim.  So, a short course 75 at :40 is a 2:00 swim (or a :30 second LCM 50).  If I want to get really exact, I'll add one second on the end of a 75 to simulate a turn, and I'll conclude that a :40 is really a :41 (2:03 LCM 200 pace, or 30.75 LCM 50 Pace).

So, for Breaststrokers, 47 is really 48 (2:24), and 48 is really a 49 (2:27).  It doesn't make much sense to try and be a 2:27 200M Breaststroker if one can't go some 48s or 49s in practice.  That's one example. 

Another example: take the women's 800, in which a female athlete must swim 8:48 to get the Olympic Trial cut (that's 2:12 per 200).  So to me, female athletes must be able to do 43 per 75 in practice because I take 43, add a second for the turn (so 44), and multiply by 3 (44x3 = 2:12).  Ideally, a female athlete can do 43s "all day" in practice, and after having done that as well as probably 5 or 6 other things, she is going to be ready to go 8:48 or better.

Here is the chart I use.  Suffice it to say, we use "Lap Speed" as our guide when considering high level LCM performances.  Most breaststrokers are not on this chart….I just figure them out as needed.

Team IM Practice March 31 2016

Tuesday March 29 Backstroke-focused day

We got a little backstroke for practice today!

The main set is the 6 round set on the left.  Don't be confused by the right side (that's for Erika and Michelle to look at).  Same goes for the set under the line.  

Weekend Report, Monday March 28

We've had a very good week leading into a sub-par weekend of training.  Let's make this week and this month the best week possible in terms of practice attendance and practice performance!

Here is a 6 minute video that discusses my thoughts on the following:

1. Basic overview of recent National group practice attendance.
2. "Individually-based" reasons for consistently strong practice attendance.
3. "Team-based" reasons for consistently strong practice attendance.

Wednesday Practice Report & Today's workout

Yesterday's main set:

3x400

3x300

3x200

3x100

The first of each set of 3 was Backstroke swim

The second of each set of 3 was Breaststroke swim

The fourth of each set of 3 was Freestyle Kick

I thought we had a nice effort all the way though the set.  The longer swims allowed our athletes to really "get into their strokes".  We did some good 75s with FINS to finish the practice.

The way we can improve with this type of workout: improve your weaknesses!

75% of the group is lacking in one area and so we have trouble getting more than 1-2 people firing on all cylinders through the duration of the set (a stronger backstroker may be in the lead on backstroke, but is nowhere to be found on breaststroke, etc).  To me, if we are going to have a 1:47 200 Backstroker on the Men's Side, or a 1:55 200 backstroker on the women's side, then those athletes probably have to be serviceable on the breaststroke to the point where even if breast is their least-dominant stroke they can still lead the group on a set like this.

National Finalists or future NCAA Finalists will be so good at their best things in practice that their not-so-great skills and strokes are still at the top of most USA Swimming Senior-aged training groups!

Here's what we've got today.  Back to "meat & potatoes" freestyle training for the day!  

Senior Champs Recap & Tips Moving Forward

Great Job at FGC Senior Champs!

Congrats to T2 Aquatics athletes who brought home a 1st Place Men's Award, 3rd Place Women's Award, and a 3rd Place Overall Award at the Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships meet.  It was a tight competition the whole way through between T2, South Florida Aquatic Club, and Gulliver Swim Clun.  Congrats to all Teams & Athletes on a great competition!  T2's Jack Scanlon won the Individual "High Point" Award for Men in the Open Age Group.

Some of the highlights on the final day include T2's 1-2-3-4 in the Men's 1650. Jack Scanlon went 15:39 which places him 22nd in the USA for 17 year old guys.  Emma Feehery was 2nd in the Women's 1650 & put up a 16:49, good for 15th in the USA currently for 15 year old girls.

We had a few "time breakthroughs" during this meet.  On example was Shawn Lemarie  Shawn has raced the 200 Free 56 times SCY in his life (we looked it up), & last weekend went 1:39.6 to get under 1:40 for the first time in his life -- and on his last opportunity as a High School swimmer to do so.  Shawn also went 46.9 in the 100 Free, breaking 47 in a similar fashion.

Another breakthrough: Karen Lui went 1:49.8, becoming the 7th T2 Aquatics athlete to swim sub 1:50 in the event.  Karen also raced a 2:00.7 200 IM, which places her 17th in the USA for 16 year old girls.

Between Karen, Emma, Jack, Wyatt Kellett (16 year old 200 Breast), Matt Limbacher (15 year old 100 Breast) -- T2 currently has 5 athletes ranked in the Top 25 in the USA for their age, and each athlete has at least one more year of High School to improve that ranking further.  We have a few more knocking on the door as well!

Great job T2 -- let's have a great month of training leading into the Summer!

Senior Champs Day One

Congrats to our T2 athletes who kicked off the FGC Senior Champs with an awesome Day One!  We had a number of great performances, led by Matt Limbacher's win & "Area" record in the 15-16 50 Breast (25.8), Jack Scanlon's Summer Junior National cut enroute to winning the 500 Free (4:27.8), and Cole Gutknecht's wire to wire win in the 15-16 200 Fly (1:53.3).  Jack also picked up a win in the 200 Backstroke, dropping from a 2:03 to a 1:56.0 to do it.  In addition to these guys, qualifying for and competing in this evening's finals session were the following athletes: Karen Liu, Davis Olmsted, Gustavo Castro, Paolo Sunyak, Wyatt Kellett, Bean Faunce, Emma Feehery, Kayla Tennant, Abby Garner, Jacob Buckheit, Shawn Lemarie, Ashley Tureskis, Allie Moore, Keiran Rowan, Myranda Valeiras, Ross Maksymetz, and Alex Bradfield.  Our athletes showed tremendous heart and grit, as many of them raced in 6-7 events total on the first of this 3 day competition.  Let's get some sleep and come back for more great racing tomorrow!!

I was particularly impressed with some of the resilience we showed today.  If there is one part of my job as a coach that I really love….it's watching athletes overcome their own self-doubt and negative self-talk to finally overcome and be victorious in their "battle".  Winning events and getting cuts is exciting to me -- but not nearly as exciting as the "personal wins" we get, invariably, in the process.

If you are having a tough meet or you have a tough event, it's your job at that point to TURN IT AROUND.  Turning things around for yourself is your job, your right, and your goal if it's needed.  For those on a ROLL, KEEP ROLLING!  Be like a snowball.  Gather energy as you go.  Pick up some teammates on the way.

Always stay positive.  Always be ready for the next thing that's coming at you.  Learn from past performances, good & bad.  You will be ultimately successful because only YOU say when your quest is over.  You are in charge of your life and you can do great things -- things you've never thought you can do.  Act in a way that says: I AM IN CHARGE OF MY LIFE!

Getting Psyched for Senior Champs!

It's Senior Champs time!

I haven't posted much this week because I don't need to get into the nitty gritty of "how people are doing" at practice 2-3 days out of a meet.   We are ready to RACE and race FAST!

Warmups for Prelims are at 7am each morning.  Plan to arrive at 6:45 on Friday morning with potentially later times to follow for the weekend.  Our staff will be in touch with the athletes regarding the warmup times for the Finals sessions, which start at 5pm.  Plan, initially, to arrive at 3:45, but athletes who are swimming later in the PM session may be given different instructions…. as is the usual method for us.

All athletes are expected to attend all sessions, regardless of their participation in the session (Finals should be attended by all athletes who are in Pembroke Pines…we will use the time to loosen up and stay involved in the meet).

See you at 3:30 or 4:30 today.  If you need to get in at 2:30, that's fine -- let me know and I'll give you a workout.

National group athletes who are not attending the meet are training at 6pm on Friday and 8am on Saturday.

Wednesday -- SR Champs Prep

Senior Champs swimmers are doing this one.  Everyone else -- you've got a strong 7000 coming atcha, get ready to rumble!

Tuesday's practice

Monday March 14 2016

Here's what we've got for today.  Monday is a general endurance day.  Let's kick off our "Championship Meet" week with a strong workout!

Saturday AM

This is our last Saturday AM we will have before our SCY Championship meet.  Enjoy it!

We are going to be going LCM, in case you were wondering.

As a reminder, we are not going to have our usual morning practices next week, nor we will have an AM practice on the Monday following our meet in Pembroke Pines next weekend.  So, tomorrow AM is the last AM practice you have before we race on Friday.  Get yourself out of bed and put a good workout in!

We will be going one lane of some IMers/Distance people.  Those people will be going 8x400 (6), odds Free IM (make it & earn some rest), evens Free* descend 1-4.  Split it fairly even and get after number 2 and 3 a bit so you make sure not to go 7 moderate 400s with one fast at the end.  The 6:00 interval is going to push some of you….so you have to deal with it! -- and then get after the free on whatever rest you earn.

The other 3 lanes are going a set that looks like this:
12x50 (55) Free*
1x200 Free IM (330)
8x50 (50) Free*
2x200 Free IM (340)
4x50 (45) Free*

You'll have some kicking 50s with FINS to finish.

Jennah will let everyone know where they are going, based off our discussions this week.  Do your job and get a great workout in.  Remember, we are not swimming until Monday afternoon so make it count!

Think like a Champion, Become a Champion

Today, two girls from another team walked by at our Championship meet.  The relays, placed at the beginning of the meet, were over.

“Did you try?” one said to the other, her mouth covered partially by the towel in her hand and her smile curled up on one side of her mouth.

The teammate nodded ‘no’ with her eyes.    Quiet smirks, and they shuffled off.   They will claim sickness or some other issue to their coach.  To their parent, they will act aloof or sick.

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Yesterday, one guy hanging around our pool commented about his friends in the water, “I’m glad I don’t swim”.

I said, “why?”  I was concerned, because he was brash enough to talk at his friends from the outside looking in, at my practice.  "C'mon Johnny" he called to his friend, our T2 athlete, from the sidelines.  Typical kid who certainly could be great at something but he's not interested in swimming that's for sure.

Silence.

I said, “I’ve been all over the world, and swimming is the reason.  These guys can do it too.”

I don’t think he saw my viewpoint!

I remember coaching a girl in 2004 who had a shot to make the Olympic Team….but when you train at a facility where people in jean shorts are smoking unfiltered cigs and packing nasty dips, the Olympics are the furthest thing from anyone’s reality.  We had to be in the Olympics every day to make it real, so we went there in our minds.

This athlete was training hard in the middle of the pool as scraggly 15 year old boys threw a tired Nerf football over her.   The smell of cooking meat wafted our way each time the wind brushed past our lanes.

The swimmer raced while I yelled and pushed her.  People looked on in shock.  The set went well, I think we got a 53.3 75 Meter Breaststroke to finish the set.  Not bad for a 14 year old girl.

Afterwards, with the athlete in the gutter gasping for breath, the young football dude spoke up: “what are you guys training for the Olympics or something??”

Yep.  We are.  Within a year, that girl became the best female IMer on the planet.   Two more years, and she became the best female IM swimmer in the history of the planet.

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It’s the proud among us who continue to fight. We fight against mediocrity.   We don’t say things are hard, we say things are a “challenge”.  We enjoy the process and expect that behind every loss is a future win.

We are proud of making what others call sacrifices.  To us, sacrifices are for people who are leaving something better on the table.  To those of us who are proud, sacrifices don't exist.  It's either right or not right.  It's either a step forward or a step backwards.  Sacrificing is too emotional for true champions.  A true champion's heart is so steady it can't be pulled in two different directions.

We are not duped by those who have small minds and small goals -- those going along towards their empty reservoir of mediocrity.  If led by these people or ideas, we would have stopped long before reaching this point of inflection that we are within right now.

And what point is that, exactly?  Where are we going?

We are at the point where we need to make a decision.  Are we ready to act like big people while we are young?  Are we ready to be champions?  Can we see ourselves becoming a 20 year old, and at 17 act like we are almost 20 instead of recently 13?

Many act like that 9 year old, the baby of the family, who is still 9 even on his 12th birthday.  Everyone is susceptible to getting stuck in the mud of time.  Notice this, if it's happening.  You are weak if allowed to be weak -- unless you are a champion!

Champions act like champions before victory.  True champions don’t have to have a scoreboard, or a coach, or a parent, or a teammate tell them that they are the real deal.

Champions are the real deal when they are 10 years old, and they know it.  They are too young young to have been talked into mediocrity by their friends, parents, or coaches.

Young champions spend their teenage years listening only to people who believe in them.  If someone doesn’t believe in them, they cast those people aside.  They follow only those leaders who are strong and unwavering.  They know in their heart they are great and they fight against those forces attempting to squelch their greatness.

Champions are not afraid to be different.  And they will not be denied.  Their quest isn’t over until they say it’s over.

Because a champion, in the end, only cares about getting a fat heavy medal dropped around their neck.

Wednesday Practice Plan 3/9/16

We will have two groups today.  You've got either 16x100 or the 2000 yard set of 50s, 100s, 150s, and 200s.  I'll tell you where I want you at practice later today!

Tuesday Review

GREAT JOB today everyone!  What an awesome practice all-around.

Get some rest and be ready for dryland tomorrow at 3:50pm.  See you then!

Mornings thru March 21

Morning practices are cancelled through March 21 unless you are specifically invited.  A few distance swimmers will be invited tomorrow, but after that you will be sleeping in.  Enjoy the rest as we lead into our Spring Championship meets!  

Monday Report

pictured: "Bobble-Head Emma"

Nice practice for T2 athletes on Monday.  We had a number of athletes (9 or 10?) handle 10x100 (105) at the end of the set -- holding red pace the whole way through.  The athletes who did the (110) interval  or the (115) interval did well also.  We want to do the toughest intervals we can do while handling the set's time goals.  We will develop the ability to handle the set in these ways while also keeping our Heart Rate low….but the measurement of that as a regular thing will come as we get more used to this type of successful color training.

One thing we can improve upon: I thought we missed some people on the kicking set that started the practice.   T2 athletes know that on Mondays we try to put in the following:

1. A strong kicking set

2. A pulling set that incorporates breath control and negative splitting (not very intense on the speed aspect compared to the kicking).

3. A threshold set.

So we got the threshold set from everyone, but we missed the kicking from a few key members.  The great news is, we addressed this issue after the kicking set and I thought the guys that needed to step up really stepped up to finish the workout.

It's ALWAYS an awesome thing to respond to your coach's coaching, because this responding goes way deeper than our sport of swimming.  In life, you've got to be able to be take another's feedback and use it in your favor.  Coaches, teachers, and parents want to help and guide the athletes, students, and children in their lives -- and we appreciate the young people that can take critique impersonally and get on with getting better.  In other words, don't take it personal….just take it and respond!

Athletes, the practice of responding to a coach will bleed into the rest of your life.  You will develop resilience and flexibility.

Additionally, you will develop trust.  Your coaches are "on your side" even when they are getting on your case.  Oftentimes, a coach "getting on your case" about being a better athlete is a sign of respect and a sign that the coach believes in you being better than you are showing.  We can see your greatness when you are not looking at it!!

Everybody wants to be great at something!  Thanks to all of the athletes for being resilient people and taking our staff's coaching to heart.  We want you to be the most successful people on the planet:)

……and here is Emma with her well-deserved 2nd place High Point from the Orlando Turkey Meet last November.  It was an amazing performance:) !

"Color Pace" Training Part 2 (with Video)

Good Morning & Happy Monday to everyone.  I will post today's practice, if possible, a bit later.  

The video you see below is for athletes and parents, but it's the parents who will glean the most new information -- so parents, I hope you take the time to watch some or all of it.   I hope you can view this for what it's worth: it's an attempt to educate our parent base to not only training ideas & nitty gritty items regarding high-level swimming, but it's an attempt to do so in a way that shows our parent base the type of instruction the athletes receive.  My goal is foster the increased trust that comes from increased awareness of our program, in recognition of the fact that our parents are the closest and most influential people in our athlete's lives. 

This video will answer the following questions:

1. What is "Color Pace training"?

2. Why we train this way at T2 Aquatics

The video will also offer commentary on the following:

3. Discussion on some of the world's best swimmers & their use of the "Color Chart"

4. Reasons why it's important to train on a Monday following a meet

5. The specific benefit to training on Monday morning during a normal week.

6. A short discussion on the things T2 swimmers are doing well, and the things T2 swimmers need to improve upon.

Athletes, you all have busy days & the video is long.  I'll fill you in on some of the details I address in this video at practice, so you don't need to watch.  I'll do my best to get today's workout posted between  3:00 and 3:30.  I am waiting until most of you get out of school on purpose, so don't be checking your phones!

Orlando Pro Series Recap Day One

Awesome day today in Orlando.  Here is the blurb I put on Facebook:

T2 Aquatics athletes had a great first day at the Orlando Pro Series Competition.  We had 7 swims this morning, and 6 of those swims qualified for the evening finals (top 32 at this meet).   Here are the results by event:

Jack Scanlon 12^th 400 IM (currently ranked 8^th in the USA for 16 year olds)

Rip Lyster 15^th 400 IM (currently ranked 10^th in the USA for 18 year olds)

Matt Limbacher 21^st 100 Breast (currently ranked 3^rd in the USA for 15 year olds)

Kayla Tennant 27^th 100 Fly

Erika Erndl 33^rd 100 Fly (scratched final…getting ready for some freestyle!)

Bean Faunce 21^st 400 IM
Shawn Lemarie 61^st 200 Free

Matt and Jack went lifetime bests in their events, and everyone else was within striking distance.  

Great to see guys like Shawn and Rip go very close to Lifetime Bests, as Seniors, at this point in the season (the LCM season goes through August).  Some Seniors "pack it in" in the spring; we don't and we won't.  T2 Seniors always have great summers!   And it's clear that our Senior guys are here trying to win for themselves, while also supporting our younger athletes as they go for their great performances.  This is great for our team, and from Rip and Shawn I expect nothing less.  

How to Turn Yourself Around

This is just great stuff.  Take a look at Wyatt on this video.  The dude has had 1-2 poor practices within the last week.  He has tried hard, but for whatever reason it wasn't there.  Part of it in my view is that Wyatt is right in between doing the tougher intervals and the easier intervals on the aerobic stuff right now…and the tougher stuff has been breaking him down.  Of course Wyatt is human and probably lets the so-so practices turn into BAD practices in a matter of 10 minutes during the set…at times (not that often really but twice recently perhaps).

So, Wyatt has done a few small extra things recently, and did the EXACT THING we need to be doing to turn one's self around: lead the way during warmup day following disappointment, and take personal responsibility to TURN IT AROUND.

You can see in the video that Wyatt is not only turning it around "in general" but he's really getting into the breaststroke portion….working on his stroke.  All of this is on his own….I didn't say a word to him today to get him to do this.

Our actions define our attitude, and it's our attitude that is determined by the actions we take!!

Tuesday Practice

Much was happening today at our practice.  We have a group of athletes headed to Orlando, and many of these athletes came down in total volume today as we gear up for the meet.  We saw a nice set of 16x50 (every 4th Fast) from those athletes….all 6 athletes were strong in their paces.

We rocked a few starts, and of course everyone spent some time on the stroke count 25s to start the practice.

The "training group" -- which is a small portion of the Pro Series athletes as well as the Senior Champs-focused athletes and the FLAGS-focused athletes.

This was out set:

3x: 200 IM Fast + 100 easy
4x: 150 Back-Breast-Free Fast + 100 easy
5x: 100 Free Fast + 100 easy

To give you an idea of where we were after 3 200s, here are some results (200 #3….starting to really get into the set here and expecting within 10-12 of your best racing time is the minimum standard in my mind).

Jack 204
Cole 208
Wyatt 209
Paolo 214
Aaron 213
Jacob 217
Karen 214
Keiran 215
Alex 219
Davis 221
Emma 225
Abby 231
Madi 232
Chloe 231

This is just the beginning of the set.  A few of the athletes in the back of the line (end of the list) stepped up to have great 100s at the end of the set (Alex, Keiran, Davis, and Abby are three with underwhelming 200s….not terrible but I'd certainly like all of our guys to be 212 or better and girls to be 222 or better, even to start the set).

Check my next post (above) to see more about the day today, and what I look for in athletes in terms of "turning things around".