January 25, 2013 From Mike Blondal: Hello UCSC, Welcome to 2013 and the Championship Season. Please be aware of the following dates above and beyond the swim meets 1. UCSC and the U of C will host the CIS interuniversity National Swimming Championships Feb 21-23 here at our pool. This is the craziest and most exciting meet of the year and it is only the second time in the past 40 years that we have had the opportunity to host it. For the BEST seat in the house, the pool was packed and standing room only!! please contact Jim at jim_engman@shaw.ca. We are still looking for major sponsors so those that feel they can help out in this area please contact Sureen (sureen@calgaryswimming.com) 2. The Calgary Foundation for Swimming Excellence, which raises money for swimming scholarships in Calgary, is hosting its 6 th annual Making Waves Gala dinner at the Westin on February 26 th. This fundraising dinner will feature Olympians Mark Tewksbury, Mike Meldrum, Andrea Nugent, Mike Brown, Erica Morningstar, and Amanda Reason. As well joining us as a special guest, will be Shea Smith who represented Canada Track Team this summer so well on the Men s 4 x 100 meter relay. If you are interested in getting a ticket to the dinner, or have any items that we could auction off either live or silent please contact Sureen ( sureen@calgaryswimming.com ) From the Development Pools: Photos Chris Chardon & Craig Amos Shouldice and Churchill are back from the break and into the swing of things! The hour groups are quickly learning their underwater pull outs and their whip kick and breaststroke. The half an hour groups are practicing their dives and stroke counts as they get ready for their very first swim meet on February 10th! GO LITTLE DINOS, GO ROAR!!!!
From the Age Group Program: Photos Christine Blanke A Quick Review of the 1 st Cycle: Being new to the club most everything seemed fairly new this past fall. After a good 3+ months in the program I can now say that I have a fairly firm handle on the day-to-day activities of the program. I probably know 200 swimmers by site and perhaps half of them by name (working on it guys!). What I see from our program to date through competition and training environment is very exciting. I feel we are reaching a point where we can start to aim our goals beyond the confines of the provincial program again. UCSC in recent years has built a rich tradition of being an age group powerhouse at the provincial level. I believe with the coaches we have on staff, the willingness of the parent group and our tremendous athletes, we can take that next step into the National Arena again. We have several swimmers who finished the first cycle of swimming inside the top 10 in their age groups for a diverse number of events, strokes and distances. You can check these rankings online after every competition at https://www.swimming.ca/powerrankings.aspx. I encourage you to follow your team along as we move more and more swimmers to the top of the heap. Another little tip for all you swimmers out there looking to step to the next level is to know what the qualifying times are at the next level. If you have an MQT start to look at the B and A Times. Know what the times are and put your mind to getting there. Our brains, when properly directed, can be incredibly powerful tools to achieving our goals. The key is to give your brain something specific to focus on and long enough to really make a difference. As we get closer and closer to the championship season (meets below) check back to those standards again. What is the Westerns time for your event? What is that A time again? Even ask your coach what the splits of that race might look like. Find out what you can work on daily in practice to get to your goals. The number of days to each meet is getting smaller and smaller. Make every practice count! As of January 25, 2013: Senior Provincial February 1-3 (Lethbridge) 43 swimmers Western Canadian Champs- February 14-17 (Saskatoon) 18 swimmers Age Group Trials February 22-24 (Calgary) 60 swimmers Age Group Provincials March 1-3 (Calgary) 68 swimmers I wish you all the very best of the holiday season and hope that 2013 will be a big step up for each and everyone of you. I would also like to send an early reminder to all UCSC swimmers and parents. WE have a very special opportunity upcoming February 21-23 with the CIS Championships coming to our own UofC Pool. If you are not totally busy with Age Group Trials please find some time to come and watch the best of Canadian University swimmers in our own back yard! Best of Luck to All Dinos in our Championship Season! Coach Carl
GO DINOS GO! Bio: Sam Jobin - Nutritionist My name is Sam Jobin and I am a recent graduate from Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Human Nutrition. I was a competitive swimmer for 13 years with the Cascade Swim Club and continued to coach with them for several years after I myself had stopped competing. I will be working with the University of Calgary Swim Club this season and my passion for swimming, nutrition and overall health will help me to educate you and your families on the importance of healthy eating and a balanced diet for training, competition and an overall improved quality of life. The focus of this nutrition program will be to provide swimmers with basic nutrition information specific to swimming and show them how consuming a nutrient dense; balanced diet is not only fun and easy but can help to greatly improve performance. From the National Program: Photos Rick Pelletier The work, the work, and the work of the Senior Christmas Camp has been done and the finishing touches of training and looking for that easy speed is in process. As we approach our swim meets ( and there are many), as a group of individual swimmers, we must be fearless in our final prep and our racing. If each swimmer can figure out how to cut out all the noise about swimming fast that goes on in our heads and around us in speech, and just focus on the basic needs of a good performance, than that performance will appear. This takes practice and a focus on process. The goal is to swim fast on demand when it really counts It Feels like fast swimming month! The Varsity Team and the National centre race the following meets in the next few months: Jan 25-27 Canada West Conference Championships, Victoria, Varsity U of C Feb 1-3 Alberta Seniors, Lethbridge, UCSC Feb 14-17 Western Canadian Swimming Championships, Saskatoon, UCSC Feb 21-23 CIS National Swimming Championships, Calgary, Varsity U of C April 3-6 Canadian World Championship/FISU Trials, Victoria GO DINOS GO
Photos Rick Pelletier & Christine Blanke Congratulations to the following varsity swimmers who achieved well in their academics last term. Over 3.5 GPA : Mike Siarkowski, Julian Brown, Erica Morningstar, Fiona Doyle, Lindsay Delmar 4.0 GPA Bodan Knezevic, Tianna Rissling Photos Rick Pelletier
Find us on Facebook & Twitter! For more great news, photos and updates on all things UCSC, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/calgaryswimming, and don t forget to Like us, tag our photos, posts and videos, or upload your own while you re there! We are also on Twitter, find us with our twitter name @CalgarySwimming Until next time, GO DINOS GO! UCSC would like to thank the following sponsors for their on going support and we encourage you to take advantage of their services: Team Aquatic Supplies Canada's largest team dealer with four well-stocked warehouse locations across the country - is now ready to serve you better than ever. TAS has been providing the best products and service to Canadian aquatic customers for over 20 years. https://www.team-aquatic.com/store/ LeClair & Thibeault Let us guide you through the buying and selling process with the quality and experience of service you deserve. Ask us about Estate Plans to protect your most valuable assets www.calgarylaw.com Royal LePage - Rose Wolstenholme No matter if you are Buying or Selling, I will be there with you from the Starting Line to the Finish Line! I promise to provide you with the BEST in Real Estate Services. That is my pledge to you! www.runningrose.com
Keystone Graphics Ltd. Keystone Graphics will provide the widest possible range of proactive, value-added printing and document management services, with excellence in detail. http://www.kgraphics.net/home.html Are you looking for Advertising or Sponsorship Opportunities? Contact Sureen Gosal to discuss how we can promote your services, and to look for opportunities that support swimming in your community. sureen@calgaryswimming.com