First Cold Morning Practice

If you missed practice this morning, you missed this:

Breaststroke Video

This is fan-shot video of Kevin Cordes breaking the American record in the 200 yard breast.

Notice:

• Tight streamline on start and off walls
• Long underwater pullouts
• Complete extension after each kick
• Compact & powerful kick
• Quick turns (hands/arms pop off wall as feet/legs pull through)

Note:  Meet announcer is Sam Kendricks.  Sam is a very popular announcer for big club and college meets.  He was a swimmer and swim coach here in Texas before going into the real estate business in New Mexico.

Snorkel Tutorial

Freestyle Video

Here's one of our country's greatest freestylers, Kara Lynn Joyce.  She swam in three (3) Olympic Games for Team USA, bringing home four (4) silver medals.

Notice:

• High elbow recovery & clean entry (fingertips-wrist-elbow)
• Outstanding rotation & great stroke finish
• Head still (at twelve o'clock) except for quick breaths
• Tight streamline
• Powerful six-beat kick (three kicks per pull, six per cycle)
• Front-quadrant swimming (slight catch-up in stroke)

Note:  Kara Lynn is strong enough to manage a wide, off the mid-line, pull.

Backstroke Video

Here's an old video of Ryan's backstroke.  His first major international success was in the 200 back.  He set his first world record in the event at the 2007 World Championships in Australia.

Notice:

• Great rotation as he recovers w/shoulder out of water and digs deep with pulling arm
• Tight streamline
• Head stays still (at twelve o'clock)
• Hands enter (pinky first) at one and eleven o'clock
• Powerful dolphin kicks

Note:  Ryan normally goes about fifteen (15) meters underwater before coming up to swim.  For video purposes, he's only doing a few dolphin kicks here.

Quote of the Week

I hated every minute of training, but I

said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live

the rest of your life as a champion."

 

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., a.k.a. Muhammad Ali

Pool Update

Went by the pool this afternoon.  Cl and pH are a little high, but safe.  Water is clear and temp is 82.  We should be all set to get in a few good practices early next week.

Looks like it'll be a little chilly Monday morning, so y'all might want to dress accordingly for dry-land training.

Hope to have a little surprise for swimmers after practice.

Van Vleck Dual

(lined up for national anthem in Victoria)

Weather permitting, here's our estimated timeline for this afternoon:

• 3:30 - 4:15 = remove tarps, set up timer chairs, put in lane ropes
• 4:30 - 5:00 = team warm-up
• 5:00 - 6:30 = competition (w/o diving event)*
• 6:30 - 7:15 = cover pool/pizza social

*Order of events is here

Today's Email - Please Read!!

Swimmers & Parents,

Today

We’ll have an abbreviated practice this afternoon at the Hilliard pool.  After practice, we’ll load all our swim gear onto the bus and I’ll transport it back to the 16^th Street pool.  Coach Wright will stay with swimmers waiting to be picked up at the Hilliard pool.

Tomorrow

We'll open the 16^th Street pool gate by 6:45 a.m. Saturday morning so swimmers can grab anything they might need for the meet.

We'll issue each swimmer traveling to the meet a backpack, parka, and meet cap before we leave tomorrow.  Swimmers who travelled to Rosenberg last week already have those items.

The bus will leave Bay City from the 16^th Street pool parking lot at 7:00 a.m.

We should arrive at the competition pool by 8:30 a.m.

Our assigned warm-up time is from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m.  We will be in lanes 3 & 4 in the competition end of the pool.

The meet will start at 10:15 a.m. and should end around 2:30 p.m.

We'll be competing in the facility that will host our district meet.  Our athletes will see the Victoria facility and we'll be better prepared in January.

Swimmers should bring:  suit, goggles, cap, parka, backpack, drinks (water, Gatorade, etc.), snacks (or money for concession stand), and two (2) towels

Swimmers should not bring:  valuable items that could be lost or stolen, a large amount of money, etc.

We will stop for a meal on the return trip.  We have budgeted money for that, so swimmers will not pay. 

All athletes are encouraged to return to Bay City with the team on the bus.  If other arrangements are to be made, they must be made by following the BCHS Athletic Department travel policy.  Consult your handbooks for more info.

We hope to return to Bay City by 4:30 p.m.

More information (pool address, scoring, officiating, etc.) can be found on the attached pdf.

Monday

The 16^th Street pool is full.  It may take a couple of days to get the chemicals “right” and the temperature up.  We’re expecting to be able to swim there Monday.  As always, be prepared to dress out for both swimming and dry-land workouts.

Our swimmers have done a great job this week in less than ideal training conditions.  Coach Wright and I appreciate the outstanding  efforts we’ve seen!

Urgent Message!

Just sent this out to swimmers & parents:

Swimmers & Parents,

First, I apologize for the late notice.  My school computer was offline yesterday and this morning.  This is the first chance I’ve had to communicate this important info.

Next, I apologize in advance for any omissions, typos, grammar errors, etc.  There just isn’t time to proof this!

The pool was drained Friday and we’ve been told to expect to be out all week.  The Hilliard Pool is available, but it isn’t heated/covered.  It’s far from an ideal situation, but we will get through this.  Here’s our plan for the week:

Monday

·         Meet at 16^th Street pool as usual, but suit out for stretching, dry-land exercises, and running (3:30 – 5:30 p.m.).

·         Athletes were told a while back to have shirts, shorts, socks, and shoes for days like this.

·         Discuss entries (due tomorrow) for the Victoria ISD Invite (Saturday).

·         Clean out lockers.

Tuesday

·         No practice!

·         Coach Wright and I will transfer our gear (including mesh bags w/your gear) to Hilliard Pool.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

·         Combination swimming/dry-land practices at the Hilliard Pool (3:30 to 5:30 p.m.).

·         Have an extra towel (or two) for each practice.

·         Parents are asked to pick up swimmers by 5:45 p.m.

·         Pool address is:  3020 LeTulle Avenue (Take Austin Street west and turn left onto Le Tulle – pool will be on left).

Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation.  We hope to be back in the 16^th Street pool a week from today.

Order of Events

High school swim meet order of events:

200 medley relay (4 x 50)

200 freestyle

200 individual medley

50 freestyle

1m diving*

100 butterfly

100 freestyle

500 freestyle

200 freestyle relay (4 x 50)

100 backstroke

100 breaststroke

400 freestyle relay (4 x 100)

 

*Sometimes diving event is conducted before all swimming events.

Pool Still Down + Swim Shop Info

Got an email this afternoon that we cannot swim again today.  I've submitted an announcement for this afternoon.  I'm meeting with someone with the City of Bay City this afternoon about the pool situation.  Hang in there...it's got to get better, right?

Here's some info for those of you interested in purchasing your own practice suits, caps, goggles, etc.:

Lane 4 swim shop is located in Sugar Land on Highway 6.  Map to their location is here

Online sites:

Swim Shops of the Southwest

D&J

Lane 4

Swim Outlet

Being a Great Teammate

via Concord Monitor

Remember that page of the handbook titled "The Blackcat Way"?

Be a great teammate:  A true team player not only has a back-up plan for himself/herself, but also a back-up plan to help out a teammate in need.

Let's take care of business and remind each other to a) check email and b) check website.  Since we're not all together in an athletic period, we need to share info in other ways.

My best methods are email and website.  You can share with one another via email, texting, Facebook, talking, etc.

Also, this is a short grading period.  We need to:

Focus on academics:  Don’t put off homework, getting help, and/or studying for tests/quizzes.  Also, remember to be the most respectful student in each class.

Take care of business in the classroom and help each other out with school work.

Here's a little Swimming World article on being a great teammate:

6 Ways to Become a Great Teammate

Important Info

First, best of luck to our BCHS Cross Country runners at Region tomorrow!  Go get 'em, Cats!

Next, I was just at the pool and the pump is running!  That's the good news.  The bad news?  The city turned OFF the HEATER the other day and ADDED a LARGE amount of CHLORINE!

Since we'd covered the pool well on Thursday, the water temps haven't dropped much at all - it was still 80 degrees this afternoon.  Unfortunately, the chlorine and pH readings are waaaaay off the scale.

We need to have some back-up plans for this week, so here goes:

Please bring dry-land clothes tomorrow.  That would be shirt, shorts, socks, and shoes.

If the pool is "swimable", we'll jump right in.  If not, we'll have a dry-land session at the pool.

Plan to leave dry-land clothes in your locker at the pool.  We'll be doing some dry-land training to supplement our pool work a few days each week from here on out.

If pool problems continue, we'll need to arrange for some pool time either in El Campo or Lake Jackson.  If that becomes necessary, I'll work with Coach Florez and our transportation department to make that happen for us.

We now have locks and will assign lockers starting Monday.

Which do you want first?

via Amber Graham flickr

Okay, first the bad:

Pool issues have stretched into a second day.  We are not practicing today.  Let's hope things are up and running soon so we can practice Monday.

Now for the good:

Our locks came in today.  We plan to assign lockers on Monday.  Now that we can secure our belongings, everyone should bring shorts, shirts, socks, and shoes so we can do some serious dry-land training to supplement our water work.

We have a great group out for swimming - sixteen at last count.  Coach Wright and I are impressed and pleased with the progress y'all are making in such a short amount of time.

Keep taking care of business in the classroom and being super coach-able in the pool!!!