all there. Swimming Waikato starts a new season and we would like to wish all our swimmers, coaches, club committee members and officials our members all the best for the new season! Hamilton Winter Meet is our first meet of the season! We look forward to seeing you Good luck to all our swimmers who are going overseas to represent New Zealand, Swimming Waikato is behind you all the way. A big thank you goes to our current panel members and athletes committee for their continuous support and dedication to Swimming Waikato. Carla Parry had a baby girl, Rhiannon. Congratulations Carla! Have a fantastic month of swimming & keep in touch! Our annual AGM will take place at 1.30pm on Sunday 18th of August at Hamilton Boys High School. Nominations for officers are open until Friday 5th July. For nomination forms and information please visit http://www.swimmingwaikato.co.nz/news/swimming-waikato-agm-2013 We encourage you to join our family! Any questions please contact Lucy on 07 834 4289 or Lucy@swimmingwaikato.co.nz Private Bag 3091, Hamilton Phone 07 834 4289 Lucy@swimmingwaikato.co.nz www.swimmingwaikato.co.nz
Shelby Wilson from Fairfield Swimming Club swims in the NCAA team, as a sophomore (2nd year University student) Class: Sophomore Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand High School: Waikato Diocesan School For Girls Height: 6-1 Position: Back/IM Shelby is at the University of Wisconsin in Madison/USA. The Wisconsin Badgers compete in 25 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA's Division I Big Ten Conference and have won 27 national championships. Shelby was a two-time bronze medallist at 2012 New Zealand Olympic Trials in London in 400-meter individual medley and 50- meter backstroke. She competed in the 2012 Oceania Games and in the New Zealand Open Water Swimming Championships, where she finished third in the 5km event. In 2009 she was selected to compete in Youth Olympic Games and won gold in all five races at National Age Group Championships. She was swimming captain and sports council member at Waikato Diocesan School for Girls. 2012-13: Swam a personal-best time in the 50-yard freestyle (24.31) at the Virginia/VT Dual and finished the 200-yard IM in 2:01.60 at the Big Ten championships. Shelby earned a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.92) at the Big Ten Quad Duals and was a member of the fourth-place 200-yard medley relay (1:45.28). Personal Bests 2013 50 Free: 24.31 (1/26/2013) 100 Back: 55.80 (2/1/2013) 200 Back: 2:00.92 (2/2/2013) 200 IM: 2:01.60 (2/21/2013) Shelby enjoys cooking, traveling and movies. Her intended major is kinesiology. Shelby holds 9 Waikato Open records in backstroke, medley and freestyle. A function has been organised to recognise and thank all our volunteers who took part in the volunteers programme for 2012-13. This will be held at the Brian Perry Sports House, Avalon Drive, Trust Waikato Room on Friday 5th July from 5-7pm. Please RSVP to Mel by 2nd July on ph. 07 838 3633 or admin@swimmingwaikato.co.nz Hamilton Winter Meet Friday 19th 21st July Waterworld, Hamilton Waikato Short Course Championship Saturday 3rd Sunday 4th August Waterworld, Hamilton Matamata Junior Meet Saturday 31st August Waterworld, Hamilton Good Luck Shelby Waikato wishes you all the best and is following you! - PAGE 2 -
The Board thanked Merle Jonson for taking minutes the last two months Visit CEO of SNZ confirmed priorities as Whole of Sport Plan and constitution Board is looking at the opportunity to acknowledge our athletes at Waterworld plaques at the entrance Waterworld to charge spectators $2 to attend meets from 1st July. Swimmers and approved Volunteers (i.e. technical officials etc.) will not pay. For training this will not apply until further review. Chris Jolly attended the last board meeting and updated the board on her work Board is looking at the opportunity to acknowledge our athletes at Waterworld plaques at the entrance Interviews for the Executive Role position will start soon Heating the pool project continues applied for funding and waiting on the results Volunteers Function is on the 5 th of July at Sport Waikato all the volunteers programme participants are welcome to attend the function (for more details please send an email to Lucy or Mel) Volunteers Points Programme will continue for one more season and will be reviewed Waikato Times fundraising will start to help our clubs ($1 towards the club and $0.50 to Waikato Times) Preparation for the AGM (remits and trophies recommendations) 18 th of August as per our notice Blue Book will be back but not in a printed version. It will be available on the website As many of your club AGMs have taken place recently, we ask that you update your details with Swimming Waikato for our website and database. We require name, email and phone number for the following positions Club: Secretary: President: Recorder: Officials: Coach: Please email contact details to Mel at admin@swimmingwaikato.co.nz A workshop for all Waikato recorders was held on Sunday 16th June, and was attended by 6 clubs. This was a fantastic opportunity for recorders to get together to share experiences, knowledge and support each other as well as learning more about the 2 computer programmes we use in swimming. We had a great day and the workshop was enjoyed by all that attended. I thank you for your support and also Jenny Lornie for her support and assistance on the day, Val Strange - PAGE 3 -
Thank-you to our Junior Ambassadors for their wonderful help at our Annual Awards Dinner in May. Lets find out some more about them.. Gina Mc Carthy Ace Swimming Club What is your favourite event? I enjoy 200m backstroke best. I m better at the longer distances & just enjoy swimming on my back What is your least favourite event? 200m butterfly. It s just hard work! What do you love most about swimming? I love being in the water, so swimming is my ideal sport. My family says I have gills hidden somewhere as I will happily spend all day in the pools Do you have a favourite sportsperson? Who? Valerie Adams. She has worked so hard through some difficult situations to get to the top in her sport. She inspires me to work my hardest to reach my goals Do you play other sports? This year I m playing netball too What school/university do you go to & what form are you in/what are you studying? I m in year 6 at Hukanui School. Tell us something most people don t know about you. I play guitar, ukulele & trumpet. Any words of advice... Keep trying your hardest, even on your bad days. Jenna Bain Te Awamutu Swimming Club What is your favourite event? 400 IM and 400 freestyle What is your least favourite event? Any backstroke events What do you love most about swimming? The rewards you can get and the places you can get to Do you have a favourite sportsperson? Who? No. Not really Do you play other sports? Netball What school/university do you go to & what form are you in/what are you studying? I go to Te Awamutu Intermediate and I m year 8 Tell us something most people don t know about you. I was born 10 weeks early Any words of advice... Don t count the laps make the laps count Anyone you would you like to thank? My family, my coach and anyone who supports me. Anyone you would you like to thank? I would like to thank my Mum and Dad for taking me to all my swim meets, my little brother, Kurtis, for being my loudest and best fan and Swim Waikato for inviting me to be Junior Ambassador at the dinner. It was great fun. Thank you! - PAGE 4 -
Graham Smith St Paul s Swimming Club Who are your coaching mentors? Mentors are very important for coach development and I would like to thank all the coaches that have helped me out over the years. Gary Paterson (Scottish Coach), Alan Lynn (Tutor Stirling University), Bruce Blair High Performance Sport NZ and Clive Power How would you describe your coaching style? Leaving no rock unturned- athlete driven, coach support This means doing what the athlete requires for them to be successful and supporting them in their personal development. Swimming is an individual sport however; surrounding yourself in a team environment where all athletes are working towards the same goal will assist in each swimmer achieving. What is the most important role a swim coach serves for a team? To provide effective leadership and guidance. What advice do you find yourself repeating most often to your swimmers? Streamline or underwater fly kicks depending on the group and athletes I am working with. What kind of challenges do you face as the coach of a successful club team? Ensuring that each athlete within the team has a clear pathway and is always willing to learn and develop as a swimmer. Teaching perseverance is one of the hardiest challenges faced by coaches today. Children want things now and want it straight away. Educating swimmers on the process of learning helps athletes understand why they fail and how to move forward afterwards. Can you share a key moment or meaningful accomplishment in your coaching career? Setting up a new club has been a really enjoyable challenge and has been a great learning experience as a coach. Not many coaches get the chance to set up a club from a blank piece of paper and watch it grow and develop. What one piece of advice do you have for young coaches that you wish you had learned earlier in your career? Don t think you are better than you are. Go out and learn as much as you can, talk to as many coaches as possible, share your ideas with them and get feedback so you can grow and develop faster as a coach. Your own ego can hold you back. - PAGE 5 -
On Doing Less...a story by John Leonard Once upon a time, in a swimming pool in the far north, near the arctic circle in upstate New York, I learned a lesson. There was a lane we called the national team. Some of these 8 or 9 bodies had national cuts and others just aspired to have the national cuts, and were close. They all thought they were special. They came early, they stayed later, they were the National Team. They weren t the only ones I had in the pool during this time, and I moved from group to group, so periodically, I d pass them by and say something like Nice Job. You guys are working hard, keep it up, Good Work. They improved when they went to swim meets and swam faster and faster. One day as I walked past, I heard Lynn Scully say to Amy Richards, hey, cut me some slack here, slow down, I can t go that hard right now. (for purposes of full disclosure, Lynn is a male, Amy a female) Amy looked at him in a quizzical way, and went hard again. I ignored it and walked away. The next day, I walked past, said good job, Good work, makin progress. Lynn and two other male swimmers didn t look me in the eye. Later in that practice, I heard Pete say, Amy, I m dyin here, give me a break hey? and heard Lynn chime in, Yeah, no need to go this hard. And a third male say Crap Amy, you re makin us all work too hard to keep up with you!. Amy slapped her hands on the water with frustration, gave up, stepped aside and moved to the middle of the lane to let Pete lead. Our nationals Sucked. I learned from this that we can be two kinds of people...the kind that encourages everyone around us to work hard and achieve more, or we can be the kind that says we don t have to work that hard to achieve more. We each of us have both people within us. And everyone who has ever coached or ever swum or ever competed knows this is the truth. If just one person backs off, it lets the next weakest person do likewise. Its a disease, and it spreads fast. After that lesson, I always paid attention to the lane talk in workouts. And I d talk to my teams about how to encourage each other to be achievers and how no one person in the group can achieve more than the group aspires to achieve. The group has got to get it right, and none can have the attitude that says we don t have to work that hard. And if they didn t want to be their personal best selves, they didn t want to train with me. They could train somewhere else and float through with some other coach. Life, and this sport, does not reward those who float through...it rewards those that enjoy the work for its own sake. I would say for awhile that I was amazed at how much satisfaction the swimmers took from encouraging each other to do more than they thought was possible. Now, I look back and know it was not amazing at all. It was normal. Because, you see, we can all chose to be the person who says lets do less or the person who says lets swim faster. And once the team decides to only accept the positive input, there is nothing amazing about it. Its normal. Since 1974, that experience left an indelible mark on me. It marked me with the knowledge that just one person who thinks they can do less can ruin a team, or a group, or an office, because we all have the capacity to sink, or to rise to leadership. Think about that when your team is swimming up and down that lane. - PAGE 6 -
Swimming Waikato would like to acknowledge the support of our local Councils - PAGE 7 -