Mesa Aquatics Club Team Newsletter

Transcription

1 Mesa Aquatics Club Team Newsletter Far Western Championship Review, By Coach Jack June, 2015 Our 2015 Far Western Championships this spring definitely met the measure of the past few years, energetic, fun and FAST!! We took a diverse group including some very fast ladies out of Max's group over at Rhodes, a fun group of seniors representing both Skyline and Kino, our youngest traveler was Ben Johnson from Meg's 10 and under group and from the age groups at Kino and Skyline a fast group of young ladies and the very large talents of Luke Walker. The general rule was - kids swam fast in the mornings, and almost everyone on the trip made at least 1 night final with Bryce Kuchan and Luke Walker being particularly busy at night, sometimes with more than one race. One of the highlights of the trip of course was our trip down to Santa Cruz Beach after Sunday nights finals. We took about 18 to the beach for a twilight adventure, splashed around in the waves, explored the big Wind Cave and even made a nice bonfire on the beach. The kids as a group were fantastic to travel with and that has really been the rule for the last few years. Next year I'm sure we will take a group just as special to Pleasanton, as the meet moves to a new location, that should open up new adventures and make it a lot of fun. Far Westerns has become a team staple at the end of each season, both short course and long course, so for all the potential travelers who haven't been yet, work hard, make all your practices, listen to your coaches advise and get those q-times for the next bay area adventure. It's a trip you'll long remember.

2 Open Water Swimming A great introduction to open water swimming is participating in a wildly popular and fun open water swim. The La Jolla Rough Water Swim has been attracting open water swimmers since It makes for a quick family weekend over to San Diego and a variety of distances to choose from: 250 yards, 1 mile and 3 mile swims. There will be more than a few adventurous MAC families traveling to San Diego to enjoy some beach time and swim in the event. Entries open June 1 st and if you have questions about the swim or practice swims in La Jolla the day before the event you can contact Kent Nicholas at kent@kmnlaw.com. If you have ambition to ever swim the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz in San Francisco the La Jolla swim is the perfect starting point. My Golden Gate Swim Experience, by Danika Duffalo Swimming the 1.2 mile length of the Golden Gate bridge was an amazing opportunity. Mackenzie Baird, Emily Thomas, Kate Thomas, Addison Freye, Luke Nicholas, and I all trained together for this swim at Saguaro Lake under the mentorship of Kent Nicholas. The day of the swim was extremely foggy, you couldn t see the sky, or even very far in front of you. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. so that we could get breakfast and reach Hyde Pier in time to check in. We got onto the boats at about 6:30, but because of the fog and the various ships crossing in and out of the bay, our jump was delayed about two hours. We finally ended up jumping into the Pacific Ocean around 9:15. Immediately, Mackenzie and I found each other, and we both swam off. The first five minutes of the swim was torturous. The fifty-five degree water felt like ice being pressed against my body. Although I was wearing a wetsuit, my face, hands, and feet grew numb within the first few minutes. Mackenzie and I swam together towards Lime Rock, which was the finish line. While crossing underneath the Golden Gate into the San Francisco Bay, I turned over and swam backstroke so I could admire the beauty of the bridge. It was a beautiful, massive structure, and I will never forget that view. As soon as I had crossed underneath the bridge, I turned back over and continued my journey to the finish line. After a few more minutes, I touched Lime Rock, and Mackenzie touched a few seconds later. As I looked up from our swim, I noticed that there were no other swimmers in the vicinity, we had finished first. I felt exhilarated, and can t wait to experience another open water swim. The Golden Gate Swim, by Addison Freye Hi my name is Addison Freye. Four years ago my dad swam Alcatraz, it is 1.4 miles in the San Francisco Bay from boat to land. I wanted to do it so badly! This year I finally got to do it with him, it was his third time. Kent Nicholas trained a small group of us this winter at Saguaro Lake. It was a lot of fun and I met some new friends. The day before the swim I swam in the aquatic complex with Kent and the group. The water was cold, and he even had us swim out to a buoy without our wetsuit! I had nervous energy before the swim, but I wasn't really scared. I was super excited! I could hardly wait to get off the boat, I jumped in and it was not what I expected at all. I thought it would be much colder. Once we were all in we started swimming. My energy was great the entire time, I loved it! I opened my eyes in the water and all I saw were the bubbles from Luke in front of me. Over and over I saw his hand in and out of the water. I got to swim the last part with a lady named Heather from the Dolphin Club and the South End Rowing Club. She was super nice, and I was happy to finish with her. I am so happy Alcatraz was my first open water swim. I am very grateful I got to do it with my dad, and I loved the training and the preparation we did before the swim. I really can't wait to do more open water swims! Thank you Dad for swimming it with me, and thank you Kent Nicholas for making sure I was ready.

3 Take a Look! This is how MAC swimmers keep warm between fast swims! A successful open water swim! Making a splash at Skyline during practice! MAC swimmers celebrating their open water trip!

4 Watching your Child Rise Through the Ranks: A Parent s Perspective, by David Brooks Our 14-year old son is on the brink of high school and is now working through his last long course season as an age group swimmer. In the fall, he will start high school and begin to experience all that comes with the process of moving from teenager to young adult. We have seen that ongoing maturing process not only in his everyday life, but in his swimming as well. I have been asked to share a few thoughts on his growth and experiences with MAC. Danny started his swimming career as many do Mesa s incomparable city recreational league. He swam 25s and 50s and worked to learn some of the strokes. He and Ben both enjoyed their summer league experiences and decided to join MAC. I was already swimming as a master s swimmer, and their older brother swam for Mesa High, so it was a natural step for both of them to take. Danny was nine (or maybe 10) and started the process of seeking to improve. We learned about regional cut times and state cut times. We attended a regional long course meet where he had some success in the 400 meter freestyle and then he competed in his first LCM State meet at Skyline. At the time, that was a big deal. I recall one state meet where, instead of dozens of MAC swimmers competing like it is now, it was just a handful and only two or three that came back for a finals swim. The MAC coaches helped Danny learn early on to set goals and he has had to internalize the process of identifying, and committing to, the work needed to reach those goals. That process ebbs and flows (as it likely does with everyone) and continues today. Over the next couple of years, he made consistent progress, reaching state cut times; being able to place in State and qualifying for the Far Western championship meet in California. For those who do not know, Far Westerns is a long standing meet sanctioned by the Pacific Swimming LSC. Its long tradition has drawn swimmers from several western states, Canada and Mexico and the meet is usually held in the Spring and Summer somewhere in the Bay area. But Far Westerns is not one of the championship level meets sponsored and sanctioned by USA Swimming. Those meets include Zones (which MAC has not typically attended because of the timing and conflict with school schedules), Sectionals, the new Futures, Junior Nationals, Nationals and the Arena Pro Swim Series meets (one of which we get to host). So Far Westerns is a nice next level meet for swimmers who are moving through the process and is a great training ground for the USA Swimming championship level meets. The first time we went to Far Westerns was for a summer long course meet held in San Jose. Danny was 11 and going there, seeing all the swimmers and their times was a little eye opening for us and for him. He ended up swimming in one of the last heats of the day for the 1500 (because they seeded all ages and went fastest to slowest) and he was able to get a best time. He stayed with us in our hotel; we went to the preliminary sessions and enjoyed the Bay area during other times of the day (that year he did not final). In many ways, it was a relaxing way to end the summer swimming season and for our family, it was our summer trip that year. Danny was exposed to a higher level of swimming and was determined to become more competitive. He has attended three other Far Western meets one in the Spring of his 12 year old year; another LCM meet that Summer (where he was seeded higher and was more competitive) and then the LCM Far Westerns last Summer when he was 13. He continued to progress from seeking local regional cuts, to state cuts, to consistently placing in State and getting Far Western cuts in many events. In each of our experiences with MAC at Far Westerns, we worked closely with the coaches. Our boys stayed with us; we provided the transportation to and from the meets and if possible, we took time to enjoy the sites of the region. For Danny last summer, however, it was a little different. He had set some goals to get sectional cuts and, as a distance swimmer, he always tends to swim at the beginning and/or the end of his sessions. He started the meet by swimming a best time in the 1500 but then noticed some soreness in his shoulder. Coaches Jack and Meg worked with him and he scratched a couple of events in order to ice his shoulder and prepare for the 400 and 800 freestyles later in the week. He swam both, with the 800 coming in the afternoon on a Saturday.

5 He did get sectional cuts at that meet in both the 800 and the 1500 and placed in the top five of his age group for both events. At that meet, he had to focus more on his swimming and did not have the time he has had in the past to do some of the touristy kinds of things. Coming off of his 13-year old LCM season, Danny had to decide whether to swim at the Spring Sectionals or go back to Far Westerns. Though he was going to be the youngest of the MAC contingent, he chose the former. And Sectionals in Austin was a vastly different experience from our prior championship travel meets. I planned to go and Danny asked me not to officiate so that I could just be Dad. That was what we had done in the past at the Far Western meets and it seemed to work well. But Coach Eric told me well before the meet that they wanted Danny to be with the team, eat with the team, travel with the team, etc. Coach Mike has had many years of experience taking athletes to high level championship meets and he has developed a precise system but our MAC athletes need to know that the system yields a different experience and is based on a different mindset than what happens with some of the other meets. Danny asked Coach Eric if there would be time for sight-seeing or, if the focus was to be solely on swimming Eric said swimming. And that was right. The team traveled to the meet together; stayed in the same hotel together; ate all their meals together at the hotel; traveled to the pool together; competed as best as they could and cheered for each other. There were times when 20 or so MAC swimmers were on the bulkhead cheering their teammate(s) on. And like other transition events in life, this meet was different instead of being among the top seeded in his age group, Danny was seeded along with everyone else, regardless of age. And, of course, most were faster than he was. So, he went from being a reasonable sized fish in a small pond, to a small fish in a much bigger pond. Nevertheless, he swam best times and continued to make progress. The trip and the meet was about swimming first and Danny had to learn how to pace himself; stay healthy and engaged over a long five days of swimming and learn to be as good at the end as he was at the beginning. That is not easy for any swimmer and something all the State and Far Western meets had helped him learn. That learning process will, of course, have to continue as he progresses. The experience was different for me as well. I am used to working during meets and being very closely involved with the coaches and athletes. At the Texas Swim Center, the spectator section is off the deck overlooking the pool so that is where I was away from the swimmers and the action. That actually was a little hard for me. But I remember some good advice I received from a mother of a seasoned MAC swimmer who is now preparing for college just sit back and enjoy the swimming. That s what I did but since Danny was always with the team, there was not much of me being Dad for him. The team s focus, as it should have been, was on the task at hand to do the best they could in their events and to cheer for each other in the process. Mike s system facilitated that well, but there was not much Dad time with my son. Looking back, next time I will probably officiate. I can be on the deck and would actually have had more opportunity to interact with our swimmers than I did in the stands, but that is just me. I recall years ago when Paul invited me to attend a stroke and turn training clinic I went and I got certified, but at the time, I did not know really what I was getting into. What it became is now a cherished part of our life with MAC and all of our friends in the swimming world. For Danny, he now looks to new vistas more sectional cuts, possible futures cuts and hopefully juniors. Beyond that, who knows? Everyone has to start somewhere, right? Each progression will come with new challenges and getting there will be the result of help from others and all the hard work done in the past. I have read comments, more than once, from elite swimmers who say that, at the end of the day, what they cherish most is not the medals and awards they may get, but the relationships they develop and the principles they learn through the journey that their swimming careers provide. Our swimmers have seen that and MAC provides a great vehicle for the journey.