Bronze Blog

Positive Affirmations

2010-05-17T21:47:00.001-07:00

Rainbow Classic

2010-02-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a great success for our Senior Prep and Development where we had a number of great swims. I want to point out Carissa Hopper, Alyssa White, Hunter Cosgrove, Lauren Phan, and Mikayla Coglas who had great swims which all of them had best times in five of their six events. We are really starting to see all the hard work that we've put in starting to pay off. Just a reinder that this weekend we have the distance meet and the following we have the WEST Invite. Good job everyone and let's keep up the good work.

Stepping Up

2010-02-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Many swimmers in the Prep/Dev group have stepped up as leaders in their lanes and it is beginning to show during difficult sets. Strong leaders are vital to the success and further strength development of all swimmers within groups such as Prep/Dev.

2010-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

We have done a good job over the last month. We have seen an increase in our work load. Our send-offs have been continuing to drop and we are starting to swim with good habbits. I would like to take a second and give kudos to Alyssa White, Courtney Cheng, Megan Reeves-Bacigalupi, and Hunter Cosgrove, and Carissa Hopper with there all there hard work and their positive attitude they bring to all practices. Way to go guys keep up the good work.

Eating

2010-01-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

Eat Early and Often to Recover Well

Knowing how much carbohydrate, protein and fat to get in a day is good. But knowing when you should be getting those nutrients is even better. When it comes to optimal nutrition, timing really is everything.
In general, following these guidelines for incorporating carbohydrate, protein and fat into your day:

Spread carbohydrate intake out over the course of the day (i.e. smaller meals and frequent snacks). This keeps blood sugar levels adequate and stable.

Eat some carbohydrate before morning practice. Note: This can be in the form of juice.

Eat carbohydrate in the form of a carb-electrolyte drink, such as Gatorade or Powerade, during workout IF workout is 90 minutes or longer. Gels are also acceptable.

Eat carbohydrate and protein within the first 30 minutes after practice. This enables the body to replenish glycogen stores and repair muscle tissue. This is perhaps the most important time to eat!!!!

Eat again (something substantial, like a real meal) before 1 hour post-practice has elapsed. This is critical to maximizing recovery!!!!

Incorporate fat into the day at times that are not close to workout. Fat is necessary, but contributes little to the workout or immediate post-workout recovery period.

Fail to Succeed...

2009-11-20T15:02:00.001-08:00

From one of history's greatest athletes...

First Breath off the Wall...Faster Freestyle!

2009-11-17T08:38:00.001-08:00

Reach for the Stars!

2009-11-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.”
James Cameron

Breaststroke Pullout

2009-10-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

Breaststroke Pullout

BY Kelsey Savage Hays The breaststroke pullout, or the underwater stroke that begins a lap of breaststroke, is a key factor to any breaststroke event, especially longer ones.

“In a 200 yard breaststroke, pullouts make up 40% of the race,” said coach Pat Murphy, head coach and owner of the Chattahochee Gold Swim Teamd. “It’s really important for swimmers to be able to hold their breath and complete strong pullouts off every wall.”

For weak breaststrokers, mastering the pullout can immediately improve their races.

Since pullouts are made up of three separate steps (the glide, where body position is key; the pull, which mimics butterfly’s underwater movement; and the kick, the most powerful part), Murphy teaches a progression drill to swimmers hoping to improve their pullouts.

Step 1 Starting with just a push and glide, swimmers see how far they can get off the wall while maintaining a tight streamline, with their necks aligned and abdomens taut. Toes should be pointed and feet together. While pushing off the wall, swimmers should aim to move forward in a straight line – deep enough underwater to comfortably complete the pullout, but not diagonally towards the bottom of the pool. After practicing a few push-offs, swimmers can begin to add the arm pull, gliding off the wall with a tight streamline and using their arms just before they have lost momentum from their push. The arm movement for breaststroke pullouts is the same movement used in the butterfly. During their pull, as their hands pass by their shoulders and chest, swimmers do a quick butterfly kick.

Step 2 After mastering the pulling movement, swimmers are ready to add a kick and complete their pullout. Murphy sees many swimmers rushing to get the kick and recovery finished in order to get to the surface and breathe, a mistake that lessens the impact of their kick, which should be the most powerful part of the pullout and needs to be strong and unrushed. After pulling their arms down to their waist and completing a butterfly kick, swimmers do a frog kick, making sure their feet are turned out, and then push back completely. Simultaneously, their hands sneak along their body and their heads remain in line with the rest of their body until their hands are in front of the face and beginning the first above-water stroke.

Step 3 For the last step of the drill, Murphy has his swimmers dive from blocks into the water and then do one full pullout, coming up wherever they are in the pool when finished. Swimmers should also practice doing a pullout and breaking the surface of the water sprinting. Murphy emphasizes that it shouldn’t take several strokes to get into a race-rhythm; the first stroke after breaking the water sets the rhythm for the rest of the race.

October Challenge

2009-10-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

The second meet of the season was a great success. I think you should all give yourselves a big pat on the back. With a very high number of best times, and new PNS times, it was a very successful. Get ready for some great practices and even better meets

Hydration

2009-10-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Stay Hydrated

BY KATHLEEN WOOLF, PhD, RD//Correspondent As a swimmer, you spend your workouts surrounded by water. Surprisingly, swimmers are at increased risk of dehydration. Adequate fluid is needed inside your body to function as a coolant. Consume fluids before, during and after exercise to ensure success in the pool. Follow these guidelines to ensure that you are always well-hydrated.

HOW MUCH AND WHEN?
·         Drink at least 2 cups (16 ounces) of fluid, preferably water, about two hours before exercise. Fifteen minutes before exercise, drink one-half to a cup of water.
·         During exercise, drink about 6-12 ounces every 15-20 minutes. An average “gulp” is about one ounce. When your workouts are less than an hour, plain water will keep you hydrated. When your workouts are more than an hour, consume a sports beverage that contains fluid, carbs and electrolytes. Soda and fruit juices should not be consumed because they contain too many carbs for hydration during exercise and may lead to stomach discomfort.
·         After exercise, replace fluids as quickly a possible. For every pound of body weight lost during a workout, drink three cups of fluid.
·         Drink fluids at regular intervals throughout the day.

HOW DO I MONITOR HYDRATION?
·         Check your urine color first thing in the morning. When well-hydrated, urine is pale yellow and does not have a strong odor.   Dark yellow, infrequent urine suggests dehydration.
·         Don’t rely on thirst. Instead, drink before you feel thirsty. If you are thirsty, it is too late.

ENERGY DRINKS: NOT A GOOD CHOICE!
Energy drinks are popular among teenagers and young adults. They are marketed as a quick way to boost mental energy and improve performance. These beverages are NOT appropriate for fluid replacement during exercise. They are full of caffeine and other stimulants that may make you feel jittery and lead to dehydration. They also contain too many carbs to be used for fluid replacement and may lead to stomach distress if consumed too close to the beginning of exercise.

Kathleen Woolf, PhD, RD is a registered dietitian and a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionist Dietetic Practice Group, and the American College of Sports Medicine. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University.

Pasta PIg Out!

2009-10-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Get ready to swim FAST at our

First Challenge Meet of the Season

Pre-Meet Pasta Pig Out!!

FRIDAY – OCTOBER 16TH

5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

WEST Swimmers & Families Invited to attend!

Questions?

Contact Elaine … LarryLaurent@Verizon.net

October Meets!

2009-09-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Our first swim meets are coming up!

All WEST Swimmers are automatically entered in the meets unless we receive a non-participation form for a meet.

First up is our White vs. Blue dual meet where our WEST team is divided into two teams for camaraderie, competition, fun and pizza!
This is on Sunday October 4th at 1 PM:
http://westcoastaquatics.us/stuff/Oct4_WhitevsBlue.pdf (Download meet info here)

If you can not make this meet, please download and fill out this Non-participation form by Tuesday September 29 (you will be charged the meet fee if we do not receive this form on time): http://westcoastaquatics.us/stuff/NP_Oct4_WhitevsBlue.pdf

Our regular meet for October is the October Challenge at Mary Wayte Pool on Mercer Island the 17-18.
Swimmers 10 & older should try to attend both Saturday and Sunday to get the full meet experience and variety of events.
All 8 & under swimmers should attend on Sunday afternoon since there will be 25’s of each stroke and 8 & under specific events.
9-10 year olds should attend at least on Saturday morning since there will be 50’s of each stroke for that age group.

Download meet information here:
http://westcoastaquatics.us/stuff/Oct17-18_OctChallenge.pdf

If you are unable to attend one or both days of the October Challenge meet, please download and fill out this Non-Participation form by Tuesday September 29 (you will be charged the meet fee if we do not receive this form on time): http://westcoastaquatics.us/stuff/NP_Oct17-18_challenge.pdf

Please note, once we mail in our check to the meet host, we are unable to get a refund. This means if your plans change, a swimmer gets sick, etc. we can not refund your meet fees.
We enter meets as early as possible since many meets fill up quickly. Meet entries are finalized and mailed in within a day or two of the due date listed on the Non-participation forms.
If you do not enter a meet and your plans change, it may be possible to enter the meet on the day of the meet by paying a “deck entry surcharge”. Please discuss with your coach if this situation occurs.

Thank you!!

Peter

Fairshare Meetings

2009-09-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

Wed Sept 23rd
6-6:45pm Sr. Dev & AGA

Thur Sept 24th
6-6:45pm or 7-7:45pm Sr Prep & Sr l

Make Up Meeting - Tues Sept 29th
7-7:45pm All Groups

Dynamic Stretching

2009-09-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone should become familiar with these:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090601/the_dryland_workout__dynamic_stretches_to_get_you_loose-16644.html

Having Fun Under Fire!

2009-08-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

Read Me...

Buy Stuff, Earn Money for WEST

2009-07-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

Shop Now to Support
West Coast Aquatics

The Journey

2009-06-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

"Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome. Not everyone can be Number 1."
-- Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.

2009-2010 Meet Schedule

2009-06-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to next year’s meet schedule. I’m still working out some possibilities but it is generally the way it will be.
http://westcoastaquatics.us/team/meets/2009-10.html

Enjoy!

Silly Head Games

2009-05-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Swim A Thon!!

2009-04-05T19:23:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year to fill the WEST coffers... Swim A Thon!!

All WEST swimmers have received Swim A Thon Packets from their coaches and should be well on their way to making this the best year ever for WEST fund raising!

We had a record breaking year last year and have the potential to do even better this year with 30 more swimmers participating!

Donations may be based on a per lap basis (.01, .05, $1.00....) up to 200 lengths in 2 hours on April 25th or a simpler flat offering ($5.00, $10.00, $100.00...).

We are a non-profit so all donations are tax deductible! Be sure to approach your favourite businesses that you frequent, friends, family, strangers in the street, etc...

This is typically the time when all WEST families fulfill or surpass (some do so hugely!) their fund raising requirements (families will be billed the difference for any fund raising below group/team requirements).

Thank you in advance for making this the greatest event ever in the history of WEST!!!

February Meets

2009-01-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those who have already signed up to take part in our February meets!

We still have a few openings to fill so we may be staffed to run the meets the typical high quality WEST way....

February Distance- Sunday the 22nd

February Invitational- Saturday the 28th and Sunday March 1st

Thank you for your participation in our program!!

Jan

2009-01-22T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Sr. 2 group,

Welcome back to a new year and we've already had our first meet! We did pretty well at it, some time-drops, some adds. What most of you probably noticed is that not everyone swam the max # of races. This meet was an introduction to what is called the IMX Challenge, put on by USA Swimming. Basically, you get a certain number of points for how fast you do a race.

Now I know I mentioned at some point in time that I was going to pass around a sheet and let the swimmers pick their own events. But one of the goals established at our coaches meeting is to develop our swimmers using this IMX challenge. Rather than focusing on only a swimmer's strengths, we seek to develop well-rounded athletes. So for those of you going to the February Challenge in Bellingham, get ready for the real thing! The IMX races are as follows: 200 fly, 200 back, 200 breast, 500 free, 200 IM, and 400 IM. I signed everybody up for 10 events, so you're pretty much swimming everything you'd want to be swimming anyway, except 500 free & 400 IM 'cause we haven't completely trained for those races. So we keep those to a minimum for now.

We have a few who are close to getting their first prize! Don't forget, I will gladly welcome donations for the prize selection :-) I think that about covers everything. Until next time!
-Coach Loren

mid-season

2008-12-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Whew! Where has the season gone?! PNS champs is upon us and we have Kyle to congratulate and wish good luck to for representing WEST. Hard work is beginning to pay off!

In other news, a special congratulations goes to Sawyer for placing first in the 13 year old division at the Grand Pentathlon! Great job Sawyer! Definitely worth mentioning too are Jackie's second place & Hunter's third place finishes. There's more hard work starting to pay off.

Just a reminder to swimmers to keep filling out those status sheets & turn them into me once a week at least. That is our way of communicating right now. Communication....a simple concept yet so hard sometimes to do effectively. And it's for that I also want to say thank you to swimmers AND the parents of this group; a great thank you for your patience. There have been a few bumps on the road lately, but they have since been worked out. I'll just mention one of the bumps and that's that there hasn't been enough fun lately. From a coaching perspective, I would just remind you that it is a year-round competitive team. But we definitely will have fun days every now & then, like last Friday!

Well that about wraps it up. Thank you for all the successful efforts in putting together the dinner the other evening! It looks like everyone had lots of well-deserved fun!

Olympian Backstroke Clinic

2008-11-21T09:49:00.001-08:00

It is not every day an age group swimmer gets to meet and learn from an Olympian so I thought I would inform everyone of this opportunity.

On Sunday January 11, Acqua Swim (Megan Jendrick's company) will be holding a swim clinic featuring Olympian Margaret Hoelzer.
This clinic will focus on backstroke and would be a great opportunity for all Senior II swimmers.

Download more info and application here.

Please speak to your coach if your are unsure whether this clinic would be suitable for your swimmer. For more specific info, email Acqua.