Senior Christmas Celebration

16 of 19 swimmers from the Senior group will be participating in the Delaware County Classic this weekend – 84%.  Since this is one of the few times that nearly everyone will be in the same place at the same time (other than practice or a meet), Denise has reserved a room for us to have a late lunch together (parents are invited too! – someone has to pay the bill).

If you’re not a Delaware County person and aren’t swimming in the meet, you’re still invited.  Of course you’ll want to come to the meet to watch your teammates (a weekend without a swim meet just isn’t right).

Please plan to join everyone at El Vaquero (259 S. Sandusky Street) following the meet.

Holiday Practice Schedule - Senior

Below is the practice schedule for the holiday break.  Seniors are asked to fit as many “doubles” (two practices per day) into their schedule as possible.  This is a great opportunity for you to join your high school team for practices.

When attending high school practices, please keep in mind that you are expected to be leaders in attitude and performance in your lane.

12/24 – Monday	9 - noon
12/25 – Tuesday (Christmas)	Sorry, the club is closed
12/26 – Wednesday	5p - 8p
12/27 – Thursday	5p - 8p
12/28 – Friday	7a – 9a *optional 30 min. dryland after
12/29 – Saturday	7a – 9:30a
12/30 – Sunday	6p – 8:30p @ OWU
12/31 – Monday	9a – noon
1/1/13 – Tuesday
1/2 – Wednesday	5p – 8p
1/3 – Thursday	5p – 8p
1/4 – Friday	7a – 9a *optional 30 min. dryland after
1/5 – Saturday	7a – 9:30a

All practices at Columbus North Sports Club (no North Y on Thursdays during break) unless otherwise noted.

Attendance

For the first time this season, the Senior Group managed a PERFECT ATTENDANCE for a practice.

Let’s make this the norm, not the exception!

Day #2 & #3–Swimsta Style

 

Sometimes I don’t know if I should be embarrassed, proud, ashamed, or amused.  I’ll settle for all of the above.  GREAT job this weekend Seniors!  That is all. 

      Kara Ka$h         $amE $lim

   Cameron C-Note              Ally $alut

  GaGaGaGlasses            Jeremy Jone$

Not accepting calls at this time…

Day #1–Swimsta Style

Thanksgiving Week Practice Schedule

 

Please note the following for Thanksgiving week practices:

Monday & Tuesday, 11/19-20:  regular schedule

Wednesday, 11/21:  Senior 2-5 pm

Thursday, no practice. Gobble Gobble!

Friday, 11/23:  Senior 2-5 pm

Saturday, 11/24:  Senior 7-9:30 am

This will allow those swimmers who wish to “double” the opportunity to do so.  We have very few chances to do this during the winter season so please consider taking advantage of two practices a day (one with your high school team and one with the BKYS Seniors).

Monmouth College Swimming

 

Dear Coach Karr,
We are currently sending out information to high school juniors that are just starting their college search as well high school seniors that are still looking into higher education opportunities.
I attached a copy of our program media guide. Could you please forward this on to athletes you feel would be interested in swimming in college? I could also mail out additional information about our school and our swimming and diving program if you would be interested in that.
Interested student-athletes can go online to check out our program and fill out our online questionnaire by clicking on the links listed below.
Monmouth College Recruit Questionnaire
Monmouth College Swimming and Diving
If you would like more information about our program or have more specific questions please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.

Alex de la Peña
Head Swimming and Diving Coach
Director of Aquatics
Monmouth College
700 E Broadway
Monmouth, IL 61462
309.457.2215 (office)
440.315.2701 (cell)

Winter Practice Schedule

 

Senior

Our new schedule will begin next week. We are finalizing the times that allow us to best use the pool and deck space. Clearly, Tuesdays have become an issue now that fall sports have ended and swimmers are settled into a schedule that includes regular swimming. We are making every effort to make the best of a crowded situation.  Laurie is diligently working to provide us with solutions that best utilize our time, space, and staff.
If swimmers would like to take a "day off" from Buckeye to practice with their high school team or take a break to stay current with school work, we can help suggest a day.

Mondays & Wednesdays: 4:00-7:00 pm
Tuesday: 6-8:30 pm (1 hour intense dry-land)
Thursday: 7-9 (North Y - no change)
Friday: No Practice
Saturday: 7-9:30 am (no change)
Sunday: 6-8:30 pm (OWU - no change)

This gave me an actual LOL moment:

"Some people don't have the guts for distance racing. The polite term for them is sprinters."

-Unknown

Post work-out snacks

If you checked out the blog post from Athletic Foodie, you saw how important post-workout nutrition is.  Here are some ideas to pack for a quick snack after practice that will help you re-fuel quickly and get some energy and protein back in your system. (Items marked with an asterisk can easily be packed in your swim bag)

Here are some sample food combinations for your post exercise meal:

• Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter *
• Dried fruit and nuts *
• Cottage cheese with fruit * 
• Fruit juice with cheese *
• Yogurt with fruit *
• Veggie omelet with toast or roll
• Chocolate milk *
• Cereal with milk
• Eggs and toast
• Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich *
• Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu
• Crackers with low fat cheese *
• Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter *
• Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder) *
• A protein or energy bar *
• A protein or energy shake *
• Pancakes and eggs
• Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables

Here are some additional tid-bits to think about:

• Calories. Ideally, try to eat enough calories to equal 50% of the calories you burned during your workout. So if you burn about 600 calories during your workout, try to eat 300 calories afterward.
  Don’t worry about undoing the calorie-burning benefits of your workout–that’s not how weight loss works. As long as you're eating within your recommended calorie range (whether for weight loss or maintenance), you'll be on your way to reaching your goals.
• Carbohydrates. Roughly 60% of the calories you eat at this time should come from carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, your body needs more carbohydrates than protein after a workout, to replace the muscle fuel (glycogen) you used up and to prepare for your next exercise session. Moderate exercisers need about 30-40 grams of carbohydrates after an hour of exercise, but high-intensity exercisers need more—around 50-60 grams for each hour they exercised.
• Protein. While carbs are essential, it’s also important to include some high-quality protein in your post-workoutmeal or snack. This protein will stop your body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy and initiate the process of rebuilding and repairing your muscles. About 25% of the calories you eat after a workout should come from protein—that's about 10-15 grams for most people.

What’s Next?

 

Here’s a great picture of a backstroke start from Laurie.  There are some things in the picture that are great (there are also some things that “might” be wrong.

What’s “right” with this picture?

What are the next three things this swimmer needs to do to make this a great backstroke start?

Sports RD’s 3 Tips for Easy Nutrition

from Athletic Foodie

Fall is such an amazing time of the year, with cooler weather, school starting, sports kicking off, and lots of foods with pumpkin in them being offered everywhere you turn!  However, for many athletes that I work with, Fall presents many challenges that can affect their overall health as winter rolls around.  Since the Fall season is typically when schedules (school and workout/game) really ramp up, it’s easy for athletes to get behind with their nutrition. This puts their immune systems at risk, and makes them more prone to getting ill in the winter months.  The main culprits that cause issues for overall health and immunity for athletes is under fueling (not eating enough at the right times), and a lack of foods with high nutrient density to protect the immune system.

The good news:  if you’re an athlete, it’s not hard to stay ahead of the game with your nutrition so you can stay healthy and strong all year.

Athletes: fall into these 3 easy steps for protecting your health:

1)   Recover Well

After a hard workout, your muscles are primed and ready to take back in the fuel you just burned.  If you wait too long (more than 30 minutes), you miss the “window of opportunity” for refueling the muscle and protecting your immune system.

John Bruce Invitational Update

 

WOW!

Normally we hope to see times that are around your December swims from the previous year.  But no…this year we saw 95% of swims faster than December of 2011 for the Senior group.

What does this mean for you?

• Don’t hurt your shoulder, but please pat yourself (and each other) on the back
• Be proud of yourselves for some amazing swims
• Be excited about the rest of the season
• Re-visit your initial goals for the season – they’re probably not fast enough based on what we saw you do this weekend (more on that later)
• Recognize what you’ve put into training so far this season and how much that has already paid off

What does this mean for your coaches?

• Loss of sleep from being excited for the rest of the season and working on things to keep up the improvement
• Sore shoulders from patting ourselves on the back
• Re-visiting our own goals for the season for each of you
• Loss of sleep (again) – staying up late to think of new and better ways to torture…err…I mean inspire you at practice

Seriously, that was just crazy and the coaches are SO PROUD of what we saw from you.

Thank you for inspiring US!

“Success Set” Update

Our “Success Set” has become a challenge with fall sports and activities preventing some of you from regular practice attendance.

However, we do have lots of SUCCESS happening!  Here are the swimmers with no “misses” so far:

D group:  Eliza E, Ally F, Makenzie K, Jenna T

C group:  Kyle D, Jeremy K

 

I would like to make this week a “make-up” and “challenge” week.  If you have been absent and need to “catch up” to your group, this will be your opportunity.  It is up to YOU to request your make-up to get caught up from absences.  If you are current (ready for the 200’s), you may “challenge” to get them out of the way (on your own or with a partner from your group who is also current).

Once you have completed your 200’s, you may exercise a one time “Free Pass” while the rest of your group catches up.  This is a one-time only pass and you will need to continue to swim your 200’s on all other Success Set days.

Keep the following in mind:

• The first group who has ALL members complete successful 200’s will all get to choose a prize box
• After any group has completed successful 200’s, there will be a “shuffle” which will allow you to move up to a new group even if your entire group has not completed the 200’s (you must have successfully completed your 200’s to move up) – e.g. the “C” group has all members make it through the 200’s; Makenzie has completed her “D” group 200’s but Jenna has not; because a group has completed their 200’s successfully, Makenzie will move up to the “C” group without waiting on the rest of the “D” group to complete their 200’s.  Capiche?

YAY!

 

All groups made the second challenge of our “Success Set” tonight!

Next up: 4 x 75’s on 1:30

A – :45.0

B – :48.8

C – :52.5

D – :56.3

It isn’t just for distance

This was in the latest issue of “Splash” magazine.  In case you didn’t get your copy (or haven’t had time to read it), here are some interesting quotes about training from our Olympians:

Congrats!

 

All groups made the first challenge of our “Success Set” last night!

Next up:  4 x 50’s on 1

A – :30.0

B – :32.5

C – :35.0

D – :37.5

What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

 

Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

Written by Leo Widrich

Exercise has been touted to be a cure for nearly everything in life, from depression, to memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and more. At the same time, similar to the topic of sleep, I found myself having very little specific and scientific knowledge about what exercise really does to our bodies and our brains.

“Yes, yes, I know all about it, that’s the thing with the endorphins, that makes you feel good and why we should exercise and stuff, right?” is what I can hear myself say to someone bringing this up. I would pick up things here and there, yet really digging into the connection of exercise and how it effects us has never been something I’ve done.

Inspired by a recent post from Joel on what makes us happy I’ve set out to uncover the connection between our feeling of happiness and exercising regularly.

What triggers happiness in our brain when we exercise?

Most of us are aware of what happens to the body when we exercise. We build more muscle or more stamina. We feel how daily activities like climbing stairs becomes easier if we exercise regularly. When it comes to our brain and mood though, the connection isn’t so clear.

Missy Franklin Dances on her Big Ol’ Feet

I’m a little tired of the song; however, how much fun is this?  (Beats stuffy Wimbledon).

MY DAUGHTER WANTS TO SWIM DIVISION I IN COLLEGE

From Swim Swam

Contributor, Paul Stearns, is the Assistant Swim Director at American College Connection (ACC). He’s been through the recruiting process from every angle.  He  was recruited out of  high school,  a head swim coach at the Club,  High School  and Division 1 College levels  and, most recently, used American College Connection for his D1 college-bound daughter.

When my daughter, Rachel, was 15 years old,  she told my wife , Kaye,  and me that she wanted to swim at a Division 1 college.  Kaye and I looked at each other and said ‘ Uh-oh!’.  We knew what that meant.

Both Kaye and I had Division 1 College swimming experience.  Kaye had been on a National Relay in her swimming days at the University of Minnesota (then NAIA) and done some High School coaching and I had gone to  Minnesota to swim in the late 60’s. I went on to coach club and High School swimming, and finished my coaching career at Minnesota in the mid-1980’s.

We both knew that this would open up a whole new level of commitment to the sport on her part, both then and through her college years.  And it would  require a lot of work on our part to find out what  opportunities were available.  College swimming had changed significantly since we had been involved.  It is , in many ways,  more difficult to find a good ‘fit’ when athletics is part of the equation.

Off-Season Workouts

Off-season workouts for week 2 are being posted. Just a reminder - there are dry-land and swim workouts for you if you decide that you are bored or feeling gelatinous. :-)

Missy Franklin’s Big Ol’ Feet

 

Missy Franklin is getting lots of attention in London and it has nothing to do with her historic medal haul at the Aquatics Centre. Well, it has something to do with it.

The 17-year-old rising high school senior told NBC on Monday that her size 13 feet have been drawing attention from athletes around the Olympics. Host Michele Beadle joked that she'd put a stop to those having fun at the expense of Missy's trotters, but Missy, in her typical bubbly demeanor, said she doesn't mind. In fact, she's proud of her big feet.

And why wouldn't she be? Those feet helped her win four gold medals in London and played a part in her becoming America's Olympic sweetheart. Her dad says they're Missy's "built-in flippers."

Sometimes you see young female athletes with abnormal size become uncomfortable in their bodies. Missy has none of that. Given how gracefully she moves in and out of the pool with her 6-foot-1 frame (remember that "Call Me Maybe" clip?), it's no wonder.

"I think it's helped me so much," she told ThePostGame last year. "God has blessed me with an excellent swimmer's body."

Why Swim Culture Matters

from TeamUSA.org (thanks Wendy Butcher for sharing)

 

OMAHA -- Matt Grevers had just come off a dominating win in the 100 backstroke here at the U.S. Swim Trials. It was late at night. He was walking across the bridge that connects CenturyLink Arena to the Hilton Omaha and he was walking slowly, very slowly, because about every 10 feet a gaggle of girls was asking for autographs and photos.

He was signing and posing and he could not have been more gracious, even when the girls gave way to a grown man who asked if he would pose for a photo with a picture glued to a popsicle-stick of his hometown orthodontist, apparently a swim dad. No matter.

Grevers posed for the photo and the guy gushed, "Matt, you just saved me two-thousand bucks!"

"It's a big family," Grevers would say later. "Everyone wants everyone to do well."

Every sport has its own culture. A reason, perhaps the key reason, for USA Swimming's ongoing success at the Summer Olympics -- and why the team that's being put together here at the Trials is expected to continue that run in just a few weeks in London -- is its underlying culture.

It's no accident. It begins early, when kids start at their clubs in their towns, and it carries all the way through and to the national and Olympic teams.

BKYS Swimmer Places First

Recently, kyle Deistler placed first at the Greenswell Aquathon – not just in his age-group, but overall.  Congratulations kyle!

  

We don’t recommend this breathing technique for swimming in the pool; but it works well for open water swimming.

Coaching yourself after a bad race

From SwimSci

You look up, see your time on the clock and even before the disappointment grabs hold of you, that little voice in your head starts revving up. At first it’s just mostly shock related, “Are you kidding me?!!!” “I thought for sure that I had gone so much faster!” However, once the reality of yet another slow swim sets in, your “inner coach” gets downright negative and nasty. “Once AGAIN you smell up the pool by swimming like total garbage. You are sooo bad and sooo slow. Wasn’t it like the Pleistocene Age when you last had a best time in this race? Maybe you should seriously consider changing to a more suitable sport for someone with your great talents, like underwater basket weaving!”
As the meet goes on and one bad race leads to yet another, that “helpful” little voice in your head continues to relentlessly beat up on you, sending your self-confidence and fun plummeting down the tubes. Before the meet is half over you’re bumming big time. Soon you’d like nothing more than to just put on Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak and do a major disappearing act. Unfortunately, leaving the meet setting won’t get you away from your negative “inner coach.” Even three days later in practice the self-put downs are still flowing fast and furious.
Why are you always so hard on yourself after bad races? It sure kills the joy you once felt for a sport that you’re supposed to love. It makes you seriously question why you keep working hard.

Risky Rise of the Good-Grade Pill

 

 

 

June 9, 2012

Risky Rise of the Good-Grade Pill

By ALAN SCHWARZ

He steered into the high school parking lot, clicked off the ignition and scanned the scraps of his recent weeks. Crinkled chip bags on the dashboard. Soda cups at his feet. And on the passenger seat, a rumpled SAT practice book whose owner had been told since fourth grade he was headed to the Ivy League. Pencils up in 20 minutes.

The boy exhaled. Before opening the car door, he recalled recently, he twisted open a capsule of orange powder and arranged it in a neat line on the armrest. He leaned over, closed one nostril and snorted it.

Throughout the parking lot, he said, eight of his friends did the same thing.

The drug was not cocaine or heroin, but Adderall, an amphetamine prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that the boy said he and his friends routinely shared to study late into the night, focus during tests and ultimately get the grades worthy of their prestigious high school in an affluent suburb of New York City. The drug did more than just jolt them awake for the 8 a.m. SAT; it gave them a tunnel focus tailor-made for the marathon of tests long known to make or break college applications.

Chilling after "warm-uping"

Bring your smile and your kick board. :-)

Buckeye Swimming Team News: Practice Schedule May 29-June 6

We will be on a modified practice schedule over the next two weeks as we transition to our summer schedule and attend a meet this week-end. The following pertains to Silver, Scarlet and Senior only.

May 29-31 - NO CHANGES
June 1 & 2 - NO PRACTICE due to the swim meet at OSU
June 3 - regular practice at OWU
June 4 & 5 - regular practice at Columbus North
June 6 - first day of our summer schedule. We start our summer schedule at 3:00 with the senior group practice (no AM practice on this day).
June 7 and on, please follow the summer schedule

Address for Northland Swim Club: 5006 Almont Dr, 43229

New Senior Blog Address

The BKYS Senior Swimmer blog will be moving to a new address soon.  I’ll let everyone know once the new site is up and running.

Don’t forget to have your friends and family go to bkyswim.com and click through to Amazon.com

Amazon.com Fundraising

We’ve joined forces with Amazon for an easy fundraiser.  At the top of the BKYS team page and on our blog you will see an Amazon.com banner.  If you are planning to purchase from Amazon, all you need to do is click to them from our website and BKYS will receive a percentage rebate of your purchases.  The more that our members purchase by clicking from us, the greater the percentage of rebate.

Your Amazon account information is secure and remains the same, you still get to use your Amazon Prime membership, and you still get any other rewards that you would normally receive from them. 

Click from BKYS, log in as you normally would, and make your purchase.  That’s it.  If you’re a Kindle user, you will need to make your purchases by this method for us to receive credit (you can’t shop from your Kindle – sorry, Jim).

Look for more information soon that lets you know what percentage of rebate specific items earn.  ALL items count toward the total rebate (including gift cards).

It’s an easy way to support the team so shop.  A lot.  And ask your friends and relatives to click through us too so they can help too!

Goal Setting Meetings

We would like to meet with each of you to hear your thoughts and goals for the summer season and determine how we can help you achieve those goals.  Rather than a random cattle cull, we are asking that you sign up for a time-slot during practice.
We have arranged this so that you have the option of having your parents sit in on your meeting so they are aware of your goals.  We ask that, if your parents attend the meeting, that they be observers and not participants.  These are your goals.  We are reserving time at the end of your meeting to talk with your parents so they will have an opportunity to ask their questions.  The first 10 minutes of the time-slot is YOURS.  The second 10 minutes is theirs.  This is not to minimize the role your parents play in your activities; rather, this is an opportunity for you to be responsible for setting your goals and helping us determine how we can best get you there.
Please remember that you are always welcome to discuss things with us before or after any practice.  You don’t need a meeting to ask questions or get help.  We would just like to have a specific time with a specific purpose.
Please consult with your parents and use the link below to select a time for your individual meeting.

NPR.org - Shes 100 Almost And Still Swimming: Another Centenarian To Admire

She's 100 (Almost) And Still Swimming: Another Centenarian To Admire

by MARK MEMMOTT

We have a fondness for stories about centenarians, we have to admit.

There was Fauja Singh, the 100-year-old "Turbaned Tornado,"who finished the Toronto Marathon last year.

And we've posted about Tennessee's Evelyn "Mama Bird" Johnson, who died last week at the age of 102. She held the Guinness world record for most hours logged by a female pilot.

U.S. Masters Swimming

Marie Kelleher.

Now we're hearing about Marie Kelleher in Virginia, who at the age of 99 is still setting swimming age-group records. Counted as being 100 because United States Masters Swimming rules "use the swimmer's age as of December 31 for competitions held in 25-meter courses," according to Virginia Masters Swimming, she just became "the oldest known American woman to have competed at a USMS-recognized meet."

The Richmond Times-Dispatch says that "Kelleher swims four days a week, usually logging about 10 laps per session. She arrives at the Tuckahoe YMCA at 5 a.m. on her swimming days, driving herself 9 miles from her home to arrive exactly when the Y opens."

"I need the swimming," she told the newspaper, with a grin. "I'm not much at walking anymore. ... I told somebody recently that I staggered when I walk. He said that didn't sound too good. So let's just say I wobble."

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR YOUNGSTER WANTS TO QUIT

from USA Swimming
What are the causes of dropping out of youth sports? In general, the reasons fall into two categories. The first category involves a shift in interests, especially in adolescents. Other involvements, such as a job, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or recreational pursuits, may leave little time for sport involvement. In such cases, a youngster may simply choose to set other priorities.
The second general set of reasons why youngsters drop out re¬late to negative sports experiences. Research conducted in the United States and Canada has shown that the following reasons often underlie a decision to drop out:

• Not getting to play
• Undesirable, abusive coaching practices
• An overemphasis on winning that creates stress and reduces fun
• Over-organization, excessive repetition, and regimentation leading to boredom
• Excessive fear of failure, including frustration or failure to achieve personal or team goals
• Mismatching relative to physical size and maturation

If the youngster has decided that other activities are more important, his or her priorities should be respected. However, it is wise to provide a reminder that a commitment has been made

Southern California Meet

(Better known as SuperMex Meet)

One of the meets under consideration for the 2012-13 season is the Southern California Armada Senior Meet (La Mirada, CA).  The meet dates will not be set until early June so we should know mid-June if we will be able to attend this meet based on how the dates fall with Spring Break and testing in our local schools.

This meet is prelims/finals in Long Course format over a Friday, Saturday, Sunday.  Most of the Senior group has already qualified for this meet or are very close to qualifying.  We also have several swimmers who should make it back to finals based on this year’s results.  Many finalists achieved Olympic Trail cuts at the meet so this is a great opportunity for us to swim with some of America’s best!

Qualifying time standards are shown below in LC, SCY as well as “Bonus Cuts.”  Swimmers who achieve one regular qualifying time standard are eligible to add additional events provided they have achieved the “Bonus Cut” time standard.  Also listed is the 24th place time at the meet which would make it back to swim at finals.

There will be requirements to attend the 2013 Spring Travel Meet in addition to time standards.


Click on the chart for a larger printable version.

The Significance of a Team Travel Meet

Many of you (swimmers and parents) have often asked, or wondered, why we plan team-travel meets (athletes traveling as a group without their parents).  There are several reasons why the coaches feel this is important and feel that we should share these with you.

We are very fortunate to have a group of such dedicated and hard-working athletes.  There are many benefits that your swimmer(s) will experience from a team travel trip.  Often, these are dangled as “rewards” in front of swimmers to “inspire” them to attend practice, work hard, and “be good kids.”  We, and you, are blessed – they already do all of that!  While it is true that a team trip is a great “reward” and wonderful way to cap off a great season, there are many other benefits.

Team travel is a great way for our athletes to further bond their friendships, become closer to team members that they may not know as well,  learn to work together as a team, and discover the importance and satisfaction of representing their entire team and not just themselves.

Additionally, team travel presents an opportunity for young athletes to experience and grow their independence.  As coaches, we are committed to supervision of athletes at all times.  However, there are times when athletes will need to make decisions on their own or with guidance from someone other than their parents…just like the real world of college and employment.

Swimmers are often inspired by the performance of athletes at “new” meets.  Many times

Senior Practice Schedule–Summer

Summer Practice times for the BKYS – SR group are listed below.  Start dates will be after school is out for summer (parents are now singing a 1980’s song in their heads, FYI).
The schedule was designed to allow those swimmers who will be working the opportunity to have at least 4-hour time-slots available as well as one “long day” and non-meet weekends.

Monday 6:30-9 am, Columbus North

Monday 3-5 pm, Columbus North

Tuesday 9-noon, Northland (50m)

Wednesday 6:30-9 am, Columbus North

Wednesday 3-5 pm, Columbus North

Thursday 9-noon, Northland (50m)

Thursday 6-8pm, Columbus North

Friday 9-noon, Northland (50m)

All a.m. practices include dryland activities.  Please plan to bring stretch-cords, water bottles, and sunscreen for dryland. 

Sleeping for Swimmers

What if I told you of a legal sports performance aid, involving zero out-of-pocket cost, and virtually no side effects. This aid can be used in high mileage or low mileage, IM or free, distance or sprint, age group or master. Too good to be true? The answer (as you judged from the title) is SLEEP!

There are two ways to improve in swimming: find ways to make yourself faster, and remove things that make you slower. Sleep deprivation is one thing that makes you slower. Adding sleep won’t make you faster than you are like a synthetic suit, but removing sleep deprivation can improve your training return on investment. (For additional discussion on sleep, see recent articles on Becoming a Morning Person, Jet Lag, and Diurnal Variation)
Swimmers are generally high achievers outside the water in school and at work. Other than a select few professionals who can train full time twelve months per year, a full time training load must balance with other “life” factors. As disciplined and highly motivated folks, swimmers usually find a way to cram everything in, with sleep often sacrificed. In fact, a culture of sleep deprivation is actually a badge of honor in many circles, particularly in academic settings and in the workplace. Swimmers are not immune to this form of informal competition, and often thrive!  

BEST PRE-WORKOUT FOODS

4/23/2012

BY CHRIS ROSENBLOOM, PHD, RD, CSSD

All kinds of pre-workout supplements are being marketed to athletes claiming to boost energy, enhance performance, and improve endurance. Do you need to eat before a workout? If so, what should you eat or drink? Let’s look at who might need a pre-workout snack and the best choices.
If your workout lasts longer than 45 minutes (and what swimmer’s workout doesn’t?) you should fuel up before exercise. What you should eat and how much you should eat depends on how much time you have before a workout.
Ideally, you will have time for a healthy meal 3-4 hours before exercise, so that there is time for the food to be digested and absorbed. But when reality strikes and you don’t have time to eat before swim practice, you should at least eat 30 grams of carbohydrate. Carbs that are easily digested and eaten 15 minutes before exercise can improve your performance when compared to exercising with no carbohydrate.
Here are my top picks for snacks with 30 grams of carbohydrate. These foods also provide other benefits, such as extra vitamins and minerals needed for optimum performance.

• 6-ounce container of low-fat fruit yogurt has 30 grams of carbs with the added benefit of calcium (as much as a glass of milk), protein, potassium, vitamin A and riboflavin.
• 2 mini-bagels with a piece of low-fat string cheese provide 30 grams of carbs, protein and B-vitamins needed for energy.
• 1 medium to large sized banana has 30 grams of carbs. A banana is the original fast food – easy to pack and eat, and requires no refrigeration. Bananas are also a powerhouse for potassium, an electrolyte lost in sweat.
• Banana-strawberry fruit smoothie (8-12 ounces depending on product). Liquids, like smoothies, are easy to digest and most contain calcium and vitamin C.
• 10 mini-pretzels and ½ cup apple juice contain easy to digest carbs along with some sodium for those who are salty sweaters.

Eating before a workout doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. All it takes is some planning to have nourishing snacks available to power you through a workout.

Chris Rosenbloom is the sports dietitian for Georgia State University Athletic Department and is the editor of recently published Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals, 5th edition, published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2012).

How to Become a Morning Person

G. John Mullen

Since we’re getting ready for morning practices, I thought I would send this out now so you can start planning ahead.

- LewisP

About John (HE’S AN OHIO SWIMMER !!!):
I graduated with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California in 2011. Although I have worked in various settings, most of my experience has been in with sports (ranging from Professional to Master’s athletes). At USC, I was a research assistant and worked on projects about physical activity and type II diabetes in Hispanic boys and lung adaptations in swimmers. I also coached at Southern California Aquatic Club, the largest Master’s team in the United States and worked as a personal trainer. In 2010, I started writing extensively being featured inSwimming World Magazine, SwimmerMagazine, and the Journal of the International Society of Swim Coaches. At this time I started a website to help congregate information on swimming research, Swimming Science and am on the advisory board for the International Society of Swim Coaches. I am also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with certification through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
I am originally from Centerville, Ohio. After graduating from Centerville High School in 2004, I attended Purdue University on a swimming scholarship and was an Academic All American Honorable Mention as well as a National qualifier. At Purdue, I helped manufacture a soy based clay pigeon, EcoDisc, which won numerous entrepreneurial accolades.
From sleep walking to sleep deprivation, I’ve tried it all. As a child, I was overactive which was present not only at day, but also at night. I would sleep walk every night, typically waking up in the recliner at our house, but sometimes even in our car!
My senior year in college I began manipulating my sleep to optimize productivity, who doesn’t want 100% productivity with minimal sleep? At the time, I was graduating from Purdue, swimming collegiately, starting a business, and socializing with the best of them. The only problem is sleep got in the way of all this fun. It was at this time I started waking up earlier and earlier. These times of sleep deprivation forced me to research everything about waking up early.
With all this research and personal trails, I have tried it all, as minimal as 3-hours of sleep at night. Through all these sleep trials, I have found a few keys to becoming a morning person. Follow these tips to make early traffic, hyper children, or running laps around the park more bearable!
 

No LED Screens

Make sure at least 30 minutes before going to bed you put down the electronics, turn off the TV, close the laptop, and perform something relaxing. Whether this is preparing meals for the next day, stretching, or reading, stay away from the LED screens as they excite the pineal gland which regulates arousal. On a side note, take the TV out of the bedroom, trust me, and if you don’t understand why, you can always e-mail me for more explanation.

MYTHBUSTER: BREASTSTROKERS MAKE THE BEST IMERS

4/16/2012

BY KATIE ARNOLD//NATIONAL TEAM COACH FELLOW

If you are anything like me, your dreams of IM glory were crushed early in your swimming career because someone told you that breaststrokers make the best IMers (and like me, you were anything but a breaststroker). However, after doing some research on the subject, I am happy to report that you do not have to be a breaststroker to be an elite IMer.

During a moment of “what could have been” nostalgia, I looked at IM medalists from the past two Olympics. Out of the 13 unique medalists (8 female, 5 male), only one swimmer was ranked in the top-25 of a breaststroke event in the year they won their IM medal. However, of those same 13 swimmers, 2 were top-25 in a butterfly event, 4 were top-25 in a backstroke event, and 2 were top-25 in both butterfly and backstroke. The remaining 4 medalists were not ranked in the top-25 for any stroke event in that year.

While this should give hope to all you “non-breaststrokers” out there, it certainly does not mean you should stop working to improve your breaststroke. Because breaststroke is the slowest of the four strokes, IMers spend more time on that leg of the race than any other. To be an elite IMer, you need a solid foundation with good fundamentals in all four strokes.

Overcoming Mediocrity

 

Posted by Glenn Mills on Oct 15, 2011 07:29AM (1,661 views)

Over the past couple weeks, there have been a couple significant souls lost that made incredible impact on the earth.

Obviously, we all know about Steve Jobs, and those who visit here read about Al Weatherhead.  Read the third paragraph of the linked article to get some scope of understanding of Al.  I'm not writing this to further glorify these two men, but I refer to them for us all to imagine what is possible for humans.

When we think of what our own impact can be, if we were to only compare to people like Steve and Al, it leaves us all falling so short of any sort of impact, one could get very depressed with our own lack of contributuion to society.  It's a humbling experience to sit back and imagine.

However, both men wrote and encourage people to do the best we each could, with the understanding that not everyone has the ability to reach those heights.

When we think of swimming, we have to look at it very similarly.  What is our contribution to society as coaches, and what is our commitment as athletes that would be similar in any way to these great men?

Mutual Of Omaha Releases Swimming Game On APP Store

Mutual Of Omaha Releases Swimming Game On APP Store

Mutual of Omaha recently launched Swim Star 2012, a unique swimming game app, in anticipation of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, which will take place in the company’s hometown of Omaha, Neb. in June, and the Summer Olympic Games in London.
Swim Star 2012 allows players to select an avatar and their preferred swim stroke to compete for a place on the podium at every event. Players can progress from beginner level to qualifying, regional, nationals and world levels. Swim Star 2012 has GameCenter integration that allows players to post times to a leaderboard for each stroke. It also offers Facebook and Twitter integration to share accomplishments with friends. Details, including a video and screenshots, can be found at swimstargame.com.
The game is available for free download for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch on Apple’s App Store. Since its launch, there have been thousands of downloads and positive reviews on the App Store.
Mutual of Omaha is a full-service, multi-line organization providing insurance and financial services products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States. Mutual of Omaha’s sponsorship of USA Swimming is a key component of its sponsorship program, which also includes sponsorship of professional golf and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. For more information about Mutual of Omaha, visit mutualofomaha.com

Practice Schedule

Here are reminders regarding the practice schedule for this week:

Beginning Monday, April 16:

Please check with coaches regarding start date of OWU practices.
Remember, you are not required to stay for the entire practice time.  Please stay current on homework and studying.  If you can only attend a portion of practice, please feel free to do so – just let the coaches know prior to the start of practice that you need to leave early (or that you will be arriving late the next day if you know this ahead of time).

Diet and Swimmers

From the SwimSci Blog

In weight class sports (wrestling and boxing) extreme measures are taken to achieve specific weight classes. Large increases or decreases in weight can be harmful to the athlete. Luckily swimming is a sport where diets are rare (no pun). With every athlete I've assessed for weight loss, caloric intake and poor eating habits are the main issue. However, I never cut the total volume of foot in an athlete's diet, instead changing the volume of certain foods and the timing of foods is essential. Here are some quick fixes to try before cutting foods in a diet:

1. 
   Eat more fiber and eat correct carbohydrates!Replace all your enriched white flour products filled with high fructose corn syrup to 100% whole wheat and confirm the fiber quantity is high. Everyone remembers the food pyramid with the largest chunk dedicated to carbohydrates, unfortunately the picture of carbohydrates is dubious. Their picture presents a loaf of white bread, but eating plenty of fruits, vegetables as well as high fiber food will provide

Swim Sci: Swimming Nutrition

Swim Sci: Swimming Nutrition: Sports nutrition is a complex and hotly debated subject.  However, every elite athlete utilizes a diet.  At every Olympics the same countrie...

Excerpts from an Interview with Cindy Tran

from the Swim Science blog

What are you currently working on in your backstroke?
Well, I can always use work on the back half of my races. But that comes with more intention and focus in everyday workouts. Going into NCAA’s and into trials, where everyone has the potential to win, I was very focused on nailing my finishes and turns – trying to make them sharp and effortless. I think over ten years of bad habits has made it difficult to reverse them. Teri always says that whether we like it or not, we are always, always practicing turns and finishes in a workout, so you might as well practice good turns and good finishes.
What is the most common flaw between your good and elite backstrokers?
In very technical terms, elite backstrokers know how to hold good distance per cycle (DPC) with a consistently fast stroke rate. Personally, I struggle with keeping my stroke rate up when I get tired at the end of race. That’s where I can grow. Maximizing those two traits will lead to a optimum success.

Backstroke Spin Drill

We've tried this drill several times and I don't always feel that I've communicated what we're looking for with this drill.  Check out this video of former World Record holder, Jeff Rouse, performing the drill perfectly.


This drill is all about turnover speed (tempo, stroke rate) kicking, and keeping your head still.  Watch the video several times and look at each one of these aspects of the drill.

TOP QUESTIONS ON NUTRITION AND SWIMMING

3/26/2012

BY CHRIS ROSENBLOOM, PHD, RD, CSSD

Here are some of the top questions I’ve gotten from my readers.

Question: Is fruit juice a good beverage for a young swimmer who is trying to gain weight?

Answer: Fruit juice is a good carbohydrate source and a high calorie drink, so it is good for swimmers who are trying to gain weight. Look for 100% fruit juice and not fruit drinks which contain added sugars. Real fruit juice has simple carbohydrates (natural sugar) and vitamins and minerals so it is a nutrient-rich beverage. Fruit juices with the highest calories include grape juice and pineapple juice (152 and 132 calories per cup of unsweetened, natural juice) while orange and apple juice contain less calories (114 and 115 calories per cup, respectively). Fruit juice is best used as a recovery beverage or with meals. Some people don't recommend drinking a high glycemic index carbohydrate (like fruit juice) right before a workout because it might raise blood sugar and insulin levels which might affect performance. However, as a post-workout beverage, it could help the muscles restore glycogen rapidly to get ready for the next day’s workout.
You might also try some of newer fruit juice blends (cran-grape, berry-orange, etc.), but read the nutrition facts panel to find a juice without added sugars. You can always make your own juice with a home blender. Toss in strawberries, apple slices, bananas, or orange sections and find a favorite mix for homemade juice.

Wilkinson, Winning, and the Game of Life

Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2012 10:36 AM ET
Jennifer Lukas, CTVOlympics.ca Staff
Before she started winning Commonwealth medals, before she qualified and competed in six events at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and before she started shattering Canadian records, Julia Wilkinson was just a local kid in Stratford, Ont., training in a minuscule four-lane, 25-yard pool.
"I think that I wasn't very good at the beginning. My mom tells this story about driving home from a swim meet and my sister had won a bunch of ribbons," Wilkinson told CTVOlympics a little over a year ago. "I said to my mom, 'Mom, everybody wins a medal at one time, right?'"
Wilkinson's mom, Mary, is an eighth-grade teacher.
"She said to me, 'Well, no honey. Some people, they win the ribbon of life.'" The 24 year old laughs as she remembers.
"I was like, eight. I don't understand metaphors at eight. But I just think that's funny now, because she didn't want to make me an empty promise.
Road to London: Read Swimmer Brent Hayden's Story
Eighteen years later, Wilkinson has won her share of ribbons. Decked out in a pair of flashy gold Ugg boots and gold nail polish at this week's Canadian Olympic swimming trials in Montreal, she has embodied the colour, winning three out of four races in commanding style.
The trials came close to becoming "The Julia Wilkinson Show," as the utility swimmer qualified for four Olympic events -- more than any other swimmer on the team. She could add two more depending on relay team selections at the Games in 2012.
"Swimming all these events is not as hard as four years ago," Wilkinson said on Saturday. "Four years ago I was so up and down and not sleeping. Now I feel great... It's experience and I learned that when you have a bad or great race you have to shake it off and move on."

Pool of Tears at Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials

(From the Toronto Star)

An emotional Annamay Pierse weeps after finishing a disappointing fifth in the women's 200-metre breaststroke and failing to qualify for the London Games at the Canadian Olympic swimming trials in Montreal on Saturday.
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

By Randy Starkman Olympic Sports Reporter
MONTREAL—Oakville teenager Tara Van Beilen promised herself she’d keep her tears inside this time. World record holder Annamay Pierse was not so fortunate.
The women’s 200-metre breaststroke lived up to its billing as the event to watch at the Olympic swimming trials, pitting Pierse against world bronze medallist Martha McCabe of Toronto and the deepest world-class field here, including the fast-rising Van Beilen.
Pierse has struggled since setting the world record at the 2009 worlds in Rome. She had trouble adjusting to the change in swimsuits and suffered serious illnesses, including dreaded dengue fever at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
She’d been unable to push herself in training the way she wanted and her worst fears were realized in finishing a distant fifth behind the 1-2 performance of Van Beilen and McCabe, who posted the second and third fastest times in the world this year.
Pierse was inconsolable. Tears streaming down her face, she talked to the reporters in the press room afterwards with her boyfriend, Olympic kayaker Mark Oldershaw, at her side.

Canadian Swimmer Julia Wilkinson

Breaking the 1-minute barrier

By Julia Wilkinson

Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 | 10:30 AM

Read 0 comments0
Julia Wilkinson celebrates after winning the women's 100-metre backstroke at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials on Wednesday. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

I am no stranger to delayed gratification.
It's the life of a swimmer, at least after your 13th birthday when you stop dropping time every time you hit the water.
Every year, I spend countless hours training, but I am only in peak race preparation maybe twice every season. I spend a long time working on the details, with my fingers crossed that what I am doing will translate to my race by the time I taper.
That is why, after four long years of waiting, it was so sweet to finally break the one-minute barrier in the 100-metre backstroke en route to qualifying for my second Olympic team. That's right: I'm officially London-bound!
It's only day three of the six-day competition, and we have seen what Olympic trials are all about. In the first event on day one, my young (18-year-old) teammate from the Victoria Academy of Swimming, Alec Page, won the 400m individual medley and saw his Olympic dream come true. When I saw that he had defeated the field and qualified for the team, I thought my heart was going to explode with pride. Alec is a swimmer who loves to race, works harder than almost everyone I know, and has so much talent it's scary.

Senior Practice Reminder

Just a reminder regarding practice schedule for the remainder of the week:
Tuesday & Thursday:  4:15pm – 6:30 (ish)pm – brief dry-land before getting in water
Wednesday:  4pm – Water first to free up pool space for the TOTS
Due to OH Tim Myers Senior Champs – NO SATURDAY PRACTICE

Ohio Senior Meet Information

Many of you have been asking what time warm-ups are, what you have entered, etc.  Listed below are warm-up times and instructions to view your entries:

Preliminary - Warm ups 7:30 – 8:45 a.m.; Meet starts at 9:00 a.m.

Teams will be assigned lanes and times for warm-ups.  We do not yet have a time / lane assignment.  Since we are a local team, plan on 7:30 unless we hear otherwise.

Finals – Warm Up – 4:30 – 5:50 p.m. Meet starts – 6:00 p.m.

To check your entries, log in to our BKYS site (bkyswim.com) and check your entries online.  Enter your name and enter “ OHTim Myers “ for the meet.

Psych sheets have not yet been posted.  Please remember that the top 30 will return for finals – bonus, consolation, and championship heats will be swum.