SUMMER 08 QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
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DO OUR KIDS NEED TO STAY AT THE MEET WHEN THEY HAVE FINISHED THEIR EVENTS?
Yes! The swimmers in the events at the end of the meet need just as much support and cheering on as the ones at the beginning of the meet. Swimming is an individual and a team sport so we really need to be present for all of the kids during their events. It can be disheartening to a child to be in the butterfly events at the end, and have only a few children left who stayed to watch them. Also, as you can see, there are a lot of jobs involved with set up and tear down of the equipment. The more hands we have helping at the end of the meet, the quicker everyone gets finished after a long afternoon.
WILL THE PARENTS NEED TO DO ANYTHING AT THE NEXT MEET SINCE IT IS AWAY?
We are responsible for bringing our own timers for our share of the lanes. We should have one tech person sit at the timing/computer table with the other team in case they have questions or need assistance. Generally, if the other team needs help or volunteers for anything, we help them with anything they may need or request. We also bring an official, and need a seeder for our team to get our kids to the blocks at the appropriate times.
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL OF THE EXTRA CONCESSIONS FOOD THAT IS LEFT OVER?
We save what we can (non-perishables such as pre-packaged snack foods and drinks) for the next home meet, and for divisionals.
MY CHILD RECEIVED AN EXHIBITION RIBBON BUT WAS NOT AN EXHIBITION SWIMMER IN THE EVENT. WHY?
Exhibition ribbons are given to exhibition swimmers, AND to swimmers who received a DQ in their event. If your child was disqualified in an event, they will still receive an exhibition ribbon for this event.
WHAT DO THE CODES MEAN ON THE RESULTS REPORT THAT IS E-MAILED AFTER THE MEET?
Seed Time: The fastest time on record that your child has ever swam the event as a Stingray. Place: What place your child took in the event. Points: How many points your child's place in the event earned for the team. Improvement: A minus sign with a number indicates the number of seconds your child swam faster than his or her seed time (which is usually their best time). If there is not a minus sign before the number, then the number indicates time that was added (meaning your child swam that many seconds slower this time than their seed time.)
WHEN WILL MY CHILD RECEIVE HIS OR HER RIBBONS FROM A MEET?
The week after the meet, the ribbons will be placed in a folder with your family's last name on it in the top drawer of the filing cabinet in the aquatics hallway.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CHILD HAS BEEN DISQUALIFIED IN AN EVENT?
To signal that a swimmer is disqualified (dq'ed) in an event, the official (in the white shirt) will raise their hand. The official then fills out a form which will explain why the swimmer was disqualified. Some common reasons for disqualifications: Breaststroke: using a flutter kick at any time instead of a breastroke kick, a one handed touch instead of a two handed touch at the wall, hands too low at waist level during their arm stroke. Backstroke: flipping over at any time during the race (including at the end to look for the wall), non-continuous motion on a backstroke turn. Butterfly: Feet apart at any time during the kick, or using a flutter kick at any time, one handed touch instead of a two handed touch at the wall, arm strokes that are not synchronized. Of course there are other reasons for disqualifications as well, but the above are some of the most common .
HOW ARE MEETS SCORED?
Click here for a complete tutorial on how swim meets are scored.
WHAT DID THE KIDS WORK ON THIS WEEK?
The early practice is working on stroke development (how to do butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle), and also on establishing a practice routine so that they will know what to expect when they come to practice. We also worked a lot on conditioning to build your child's strength. As your child grows in strength and endurance, he or she will become better equipped to perform each stroke better.
The late practice is working on conditioning, stroke drills, and our goal this past week was to slow things down during our drills and perform each stroke correctly. Swimmers were each given suggestions for improvement, as well as some things they can think about and work on at home to improve upon what they are doing in the water.
CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE GIANT FUNDRAISER?
Giant is offering an opportunity to our team to do some fundraising by selling gift Giant gift cards. These cards may be used just like cash at Giant for anything in the store, or for gas. If you normally shop at Giant, it would be great if you would purchase these cards to do so, as the team would benefit from the proceeds of the sale. The giant gift card fundraiser form is available here. If you'd like to participate in the fundraiser, simply fill out the form, collect the funds, and bring it back to us. Gift cards will take about a week and a half to come in. In the fall, we will begin pre-ordering gift cards so that they will be immediately available for sale (without the pre-order form.)
WHAT TYPE OF BATHING SUIT SHOULD MY NEW SWIMMER WEAR FOR MEETS?
Any plain black racing suit (Speedo, TYR, etc...) is fine. We will not be ordering new team suits until October, 2008 when the winter season begins.
IS THERE PRACTICE ON MEMORIAL DAY?
No, the Hanover YMCA is closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
WHY ARE SOME CHILDREN WEARING LIFEJACKETS WHEN THEY ALREADY KNOW HOW TO SWIM?
In swimming we practice drills during practice. A drill is an exercise which focuses on a specific aspect of a stroke to isolate that motion/action and work on improving it. A drill we are currently working on with swimmers at the beginning level is to have them wear a lifejacket while focusing upon their arm motions in various strokes. By doing so, the need (and in some cases stress) to stay afloat is eliminated, and the swimmers relax enough to really focus on their arms. This particularly works wonders when practicing backstroke with new swimmers. Once the swimmers practice improving their arms and getting them in the correct position to swim backstroke, they remove the lifejackets and swim the stroke normally without them. Immediate results are often apparent, not only because by improving what they are doing with their arms helps them to swim the stroke better, but also, amazingly the swimmers seem more relaxed having had a chance to slow down and be successful with the life jacket on.
WHY DID OUR LATE PRACTICE SWIMMERS HOLD A TENNIS BALL UNDER THEIR CHIN WHILE SWIMMING BREASTSTROKE?
This is a drill used to work on keeping a swimmer's head position straight. Swimmers practice with the tennis ball (some drills 'exaggerage' the desired effect), and then swim without it. While the desired effect is not necessarily a perfectly still/straight head in one position during thier stroke, its not great to have a whole lot of movement either. When we stop using the tenis ball, swimmers are instructed to find a 'happy medium' between too much movement, and the tennis ball w/no movement. This is a fun drill which really helps to improve stroke efficiency.
WHY ARE THE KIDS DOING ALL OF THESE DRILLS?
While we work a lot on conditioning, it is important to try to improve our swimmer's strokes while we are doing so. Stroke drills are used by every team/coach to improve performance. Often by 'exaggerating' or 'isolating' an aspect of the stroke a coach wants a swimmer to change or improve through the use of stroke drills, tangible improvements that are understandable to the swimmer are possible. Swimming long sets w/out stroke refinement simply takes inefficient habits and builds upon them so that there will be more changes/improvements necessary to success in the future. By breaking down a stroke through the use of stroke drills and improving it one step at a time, swimmers will see more improvements in their times in the future because they have streamlined their efforts.
THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT GOING ON DURING PRACTICE AT ONCE.
At the beginning of each season it takes a few weeks to get team members into a consistant practice routine through which they will know what to expect during practice, and what to do next. This will improve significantly during the next few weeks. As always, when we start a new group of swimmers, there is a lot for them to learn, and this takes time and patience. Soon, everyone will know which lane they should be swimming in, what we do to warm up, and what various directions mean.
WHEN ARE REGISTRATIONS DUE?
As the two week free trial draws to a close this coming Friday (the 23rd), we will need parents to fill out a registration form for their swimmer within the next week. Registrations are due no later than Thursday, May 29, 2008 because we must submit our roster to the league.