Pacific Coast Marlins Swim Club

Your First Swim Meet

2012-01-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

I bumped into this cute six minute video about a swimmer's experience at their first swim meet. There are some good tips and it applies to our home meet where no check-ins are required. Enjoy!

Educational Weekend

2012-01-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

This last weekend, Gadi, Jeff and I spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the annual coaches clinic held in Napa every year. It happens to be the second biggest clinic in the country, not too surprising when you see how many teams are located in the bay area alone.

We sat through some good classes and listened to inspiring speaker. We picked up a few ideas from coaches about stroke work, set design and team management.

Meanwhile, we had three of our parents, Theresa Kamler, Judy Ferguson and Nina Rannel participating in a swimming official clinic in San Francisco. Lots of good information was available and I am so happy to have them step up and be Stroke and Turn Official for our team.

Santa Rosa

2011-12-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

This meet was our last of the session before our 2 week holiday break. Although far from being an ideal meet to make it the highlight of our fall season, the fact that the pool is indoors had a lot to do in the final choice. Unfortunately this was a cold weekend and the indoor space we were promised for our swimmers was not available on Saturday. As a result everyone huddled outside the pool building for the whole day trying to stay warm in between races, which proved to be a real challenge. Sunday was better as indoor space was provided to the swimmers, but it seems that Saturday took its toll on the kids.

16 Marlins swimmers participated over the 3 day weekend and Jeff and I watched 88 races, some really good, other less so, but always great opportunities to learn and improve on the details. With 2 disqualifications and 46% of the times improved, we witnessed and average meet from our athletes. Given the conditions, my assessment should be a little more positive, but as a team I maintain that we could have done a bit better.

That said, some athletes had good races. It is worth mentioning Lizzie Ferguson's great weekend with a best time on all 7 events entered in the meet. Also a new Junior Olympic qualifying time for Coco and Jack Berkenfield, Isabella Salmi, Alicia Vogelaar and Anton Zahradnik and two new Far Western qualifying times for Ava Salmi. And I shouldn't forget the fact that Ava also broke 3 new team records (for the 15-16 age group) in the 500 free, 100 and 200 back, her sister Isabella broke 8 team records (for the 17-18 age group) in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 free, 100 and 200 back, 100 and 200 breast and Jared Sears improved his own record in the 15-16 age group 500 free.

I always tell the swimmers to process the outcome of their race during their warm-down, file the pointers given to improve details for swim practice and move on, get ready for the next race. I obviously follow the same pattern, the lessons from this meet have been filed and will be apply to help me design the future workouts and now I will be focusing on our next goal, Junior Olympics and Far Westerns, mid and late March 2012.

Special thanks to Judy Ferguson and Nina Rannel for officiating during the meet. You both have helped the team meet its requirements and stay in good standing with our zone.

Meet results

Swimmer Results.

Junior Olympics - December 2011

2011-12-09T12:12:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful weekend it was in Morgan Hill for our December Junior Olympics. Sure it was a bit cold in the morning, but nothing our kids can't handle. Jeff and I coached 8 swimmers who made the trip with their families over the 3 days of competition. As always, the meet was well attended with closed to 100 teams, but the facility in Morgan Hill can handle it.

Our Marlins swimmers did a good job while swimming a total of 26 races during the meet. With a 66% best time and one team record from Monica sears in the 400 IM, we feel the kids did well. Worth mentioning are the performances of James Beard and Ian Chow-Ise who managed to improve all their events but one. Good job to Coco Berkenfield and Lani Kamler for matching their best times, to Annalise Schlafer for her first JO experience, to Anton Zahradnik for continuing to improve at every meet this fall, and to Alicia Vogelaar for a solid performance in the 100 fly, her first best time in a while. Go Marlins!

For more info about the results, please click here for the result by swimmers and here for the meet results.

Napa Meet (11/11-12-13 2011)

2011-11-18T05:28:00.001-08:00

Other then our RESL Championships, the 22 swimmers attending the 3 day meet made it one of the biggest Marlins presence at an away meet. This is encouraging and I hope we continue going in this direction. The meet was pretty important for our swimmers because it is a good measuring tool before the more important meets in December. The conditions were good, although Friday had a bit of heavy drizzle, it had no bearing on the performance of our six swimmer racing the 500 free. Saturday and Sunday were nice days and made for a pleasant experience by pool side.
Overall this meet was average and only slightly better then last November's performance. Two disqualifications only and 77% of our swimmers with at least one best time is solid. If anything, this meet highlighted the obvious: for the most part the athlete that are training hard and focused on the quality of their performance did well, just as anyone would expect. The coaches agreed that although the turns are technically correct, most swimmers did not turn fast enough, so this will be a focus at practice for the next month.
Ava Salmi and James Beard posted 3 new Junior Olympic times, and the same Ava broke 2 team records in the 100 free and the 200 back. Justas Reskevicius broke his own team record in the 200 breast.
Big thank you to all the parents who helped with timing and the judging of the meet. Special thanks to Nina Rannel for stepping up and joining Theresa, Judy and David as a meet Official.
Next is Junior Olympics in Morgan Hills at the beginning of December and the Santa Rosa meet the following weekend for swimmers who cannot attend.
Meet Results
Results by Swimmers

Spooky Plunge 2011

2011-11-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, another Spooky meet ... the 16th since we started the event. I am so greatfull that Northbay Aquatics was willing to host the meet at their pool, Mike did a great job and the fact that we had over 200 swimmers participating made this event one of the best I can recall. I loved the energy on the pool deck, kids seemed to have fun and parents seemed pretty relaxed. To top it off, the weather was as good as we could have wished for.

The Spooky plunge is certainly a different meet, we could call it one of a kind, and many years went into designing it so that we can better cater to our younger swimmers' need while making it interesting for the more experienced athlete as well. From the feedback I have gotten so far, it seems that everyone had a good time, and that's the bottom line.

Special thanks to Judy Ferguson and Theresa Kamler who took the time to introduce the art of judging to Nina Rannel. I am excited to see more parents stepping up and helping the team by becoming official. Another thanks to Andrea Salmi for taking the initiative and giving our team members an opportunity to purchased some Marlins gear at the meet. Last but not least I would like to thank those of you who helped with timing during the meet.

Soon to be an Olympic event.

I have posted the results on the website already. 84 Marlins swimmers participated in the meet. 211 races, plus relays and fun events was a lot to managed but with the help of Coach Gadi and Coach Jeff, all went well. 58% improvement ranked this meet as slightly above average, but what was less so was the 36 brand new swimmers who participated in a meet for the first time. Now that's a record in itself, we have never have this many new swimmers in a meet, this is truly exciting for the team. Congratulation to all of you, I know it took some courage to dive in (in some case jump in) for that first race. Another point worth noting is that 2 more team records were broken, the first was in the 15-16 50 free by Jared Sears and the other one is in the 13 and Over mixed 200 Free relay where Ava and Isabella Salmi, Jared Sears and Ian Chow-Ise pulverized the old record by 4 seconds. This brings the total team record for the season to 9, one more then last year at this point of the season!

I have posted a few pictures of the event on the Marlins website. You are welcome to add to it if you want. The ribbons for this meet will be ready to be picked up at Ross Valley by Monday, November 14th.

Go Marlins!

Zone III Championships

2011-10-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since we have participated in this meet which is inconveniently scheduled in January, right after our holiday break. With the meet moved this early in our training season, the 28 participating teams approached the event as part of their fall training and most older swimmers were pretty tired from their gruesome fall training. Our Marlins were no exception, our 11 swimmers who competed over the weekend did a good job even though all were tired from training and still in the process of adapting to their new school schedule and home work.

Jeff and I were happy to witness some decent swims even though this meet produced a meager 36 % improvement over the 56 races of the weekend. Still, no disqualifications, some really clean races made this a great practice meet.

Worth mentioning are the 4 team records that Collette Berkenfield, Alicia Vogelaar and Ava Salmi broke over the weekend. Coco,updated an 11 year old record in the 100 breast and in the process obtained a new PRT, Alicia broke her own record in the 1000 free and Ava broke 2 records in the 100 and 200 back.

Congratulation to Annalise Schlafer for getting her first JO time in the 50 free.

Good job to all the swimmers, thank you parents for helping out with timing and Judging during the meet.

Meet result

Swimmer result

Our new pool is coming along ....

2011-10-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

The remodel at the Racquet club is coming along and I now can see the outline of the pool and get a better feel of what it's going to look like. The project is close to timeline and if the rain stays away for the next month, it will help a lot.

In any case, it is very exciting and I look forward to walking up and down that deck!

First meet of the season in Hercules on 9/24-25

2011-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Solid performance from the few Marlins swimmers who attended our first meet of the season in Hercules. The weather was nice on Saturday and we caught the first rainy day of the season for Sunday …. Let’s call that day a heavy drizzle. In any case rain or shine, our swimmers remained focus on the task at hand and either swam a best time or close to it. The strokes were clean for the most part and the few mistakes made are helping us redefine practice goals.

The meet in numbers. 14 swimmers raced 56 events, 41% best times and 71% of the swimmers achieving at least one best time. As far as first meets go, this was a much better performance than last year showing the kids are on pace with their training. We also had 3 new team records from Coco Berkenfield in the 50 back (with a new PRT) and 50 breast and Jared Sears in the 100 back. Worth mentioning, a new JO time standard in the 100 free from Anton Zahradnik.

Go job, Go Marlins!

RESL Championships 2011

2011-08-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

I say it every year taking the risk of repeating myself, but when an event is this good, I really don't mind. Few meets bring the team together the way RESL does, no other meet has swimmers race up to 16 events in just two and half days and no other meet requires as much parent support. And although exhausted, everyone was very excited at the team's performance during the weekend. I feel that it was the perfect end to the best swim season ever. Jeff and I got to watch our swimmers swim honest races (over 370), each athlete stripped down to the basic feelings of determination, physical discomfort and a boost of self-worth. What a meet!

Happy Marlins

42 swimmers participated in this year’s Championships in El Cerrito competing in a total of 370 races. Although our numbers were not as high as in years past, we definitely made up for it in quality. Knowing that we were very light in the younger age groups, I made the decision to have all our swimmers enter 2 races instead of the usual one race on Friday evening. I think it paid off, the kids had the training to handle the extra load and the 83% best times over the weekend confirmed that. Again this year the team finished 3rd, but a lot closer to 2nd!

Waiting for the relays.

The Marlins were the most improved team with 83% best times. We received 8 disqualifications, half from last year and well below the teams’ average for the meet. 29 swimmers improved their time standard with a total of 15 new "B" times, 38 new “A” times, 41 “JO” times (20 in 2010), 11 “FW” times (12 in 2010), 2 “PRT” times (2 in 2010) and 1 Sectional time (0 in 2010).

Most amazingly, 28 team records were broken in one single meet, congratulations to Coco Berkenfield, Monica Sears, Ava Salmi, Alicia Vogelaar, Annalise Schlafer, Kate Claman, Tyler Welty, Jack Berkenfield, Ian Chow-Ise, Anton Zahradnik, Aidan Cumming, Jared Sears, Alex Claman, Tommy Davis and Justas Reskevicius. All 15 swimmers helped break 5 relay records and 23 individual records. In addition, Tyler Welty matched a RESL meet record in the 13-14 100 breaststroke.

Overall, the kids improved their times by a total of 1148 seconds, almost double last year’s improvement. That's 19 minutes shaved off their entry times ... I don't really know how to explain this, but I could get use to it! Out of the 42 Marlins swimmers participating, 40 helped score points for their team. Our swimmers did a great job and Jeff and I are certainly proud of their achievements.

I have posted the results (swimmer / meet) at the pool and the ribbons are filed in the team folders. You can stop by the pool anytime during business hours and the lifeguards will be happy to bring the folders out for you.

Team Meeting

Special thank you to all the families for doing their part in helping run the meet. To Jackson Miller for supporting his team and helping the coaches on Sunday. There are some great pictures available for download on the team’s website (you do need to log-in). Lester Ng took some very nice pictures of the kids, it's a different look at our sport and certainly a break from the usual yellow cap sticking out of the water. Click here to take a look at them. Thank you to all the parents who participated in the Friday morning breakfasts at Drake over the summer, who again helped put together a great Doughnut Breakfast and a fantastic team BBQ, who were generous enough to give great gifts for the coaches, who take the time to give me feedback on the team, who counsel and assist me when needed. Again, thank you all for giving Jeff and I the opportunity to work with your children.

Marc

110

2011-08-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Unlikely title for a blog post and unlikely number to sum up our 2010/2011 season. This is certainly a reductive view of the team, but this number is also representative of the transformation the team is going through. 110 team records broken over the last season is quite an achievement.

Thanks to Coco Berkenfield, Lani Kamler, Lizzie Ferguson, James Beard, Monica Sears, Ava Salmi, Annalise Schlafer, Alicia Vogelaar, Jack Berkenfield, Aidan Cumming, Ian Chow-Ise, Anton Zahradnik, Jared Sears, Tyler Welty, Kate Claman, Emma Jones, Justas Reskevicius, Isabella Salmi, Alex Claman and Tommy Davis. These 19 swimmers are helping to create a momentum that has helped the rest of their teammates perform at a higher standard.

Although this season we have seen fewer of our swimmers participating in competition, the ones who did ended up swimming more races, producing faster performances and doing it "cleaner" since we only collected 38 disqualifications out of 2800 races (46 out of 3000 during the 2009/2010 season).

USA Swimming publishes a virtual club championship that is updated once a day during the season. Based on that ranking, the Marlins are certainly improving.

Season (9/1 to 8/31)	Score	National Rank (PCM/Total # of Teams)
2003 - 2004	8328	1889/2463
2004 - 2005	6788	2036/2455
2005 - 2006	8480	1986/2189
2006 - 2007	9772	1940/2454
2007 - 2008	9646	1964/2462
2008 - 2009	26175	1467/2483
2009 - 2010	30932	1368/2553
2010 - 2011	45923	1048/2611

We have a tough job ahead of us this coming season. We still need to build on this great momentum while dealing with the pool remodel. I feel confident that coaches and swimmers are up to the task. But this will not happen unless we also get a lot of parent support.

Moving forward, we now have three certified stroke and tun judges on the team thanks to Judy Ferguson, Theresa Kamler and David Claman. But we need a lot more for two reasons, job sharing will make the task a lot easier and it will be a lot cheaper to swim at meets as the team will get fined $100 per day we cannot provide enough judges for the number of swimmers entered - this fine would be shared by everyone entered in the meet.

I would like to take our team to a place where we can run sanctioned meets. It would be better for the swimmers as their times would be added to the USA swimming database and with our new pool, we will have enough lanes to offer a quality meet. Next year, if we want to keep RESL in El Cerrito, we will need some parents to get trained in running the computer / Colorado timing system. Again, the more parents we have the easier it is to split jobs into smaller parts.

As our team becomes more competitive, my goal in this next season will continue to be welcoming to all levels and to provide all swimmers with the quality experience they have come to expect from the Marlins. I believe what makes the Marlins special is that all of our elite swimmers started at the beginning, in Groups 1 and 2, and this is why we will continue to foster a team that supports a strong foundation and love for swimming that will carry our younger swimmers through all the groups.

Marlins High School Swimmers - Great perfomances at Championships

2011-05-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Great job from our High School swimmers last weekend. Justas Reskevicius, Erin Hensley and Jared Sears from Drake High. Justin Jo, Annie Warner and Alex Claman from Marin Academy, Tommy Davis from Marin Catholic and Emma Jones and Isabella Salmi from Branson. Six of them competed in the MCALs Championships held at Redwood High, which last weekend felt very close to Alaska, and the other three from MA swam in the BCL league who's championships was held in Lafayette.

Our Marlins swimmer did a good job representing their respective schools and in the process improved 80% of their races and broke another 4 team records. Kudos to Isabella Salmi for breaking a 9 year old team record in the 50 free, to Emma Jones for breaking her own record in the 100 fly and to Jared Sears for breaking his own records in the 500 free and the 100 back.

Thanks to the few Marlins families who braved the cold and came to cheer on our swimmers, it made a difference and we were all greatfull for it.

Three of our swimmers qualified for this weekend North Coast Section where the top 40 swimmers out of the 82 participating high schools around the bay area will duke it out. NCS is a very fast meet and usually a good recruiting ground for college coaches. Emma Jones and Isabella Salmi will be representing Branson in the 200 free relay and Jared Sears will be representing Drake in the 500 free and the 400 free relay. Stay tune for upcoming results.

If you want to see some pictures of the event click here.

The meet results are here.

World Class Parents

2011-04-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

”So, you want to offer your child the opportunity to be a world-class athlete….”
By John Leonard - Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association.

If the above sentence doesn’t scare the bejeezus out of you as a coach reading it, good for you!

The fact is, a number of parents DO, without being raging lunatics, wish to offer their child the best possible chance to be a great athlete….in the same way that they’d like to offer them the chance to attend the most prestigious University, visit the best doctors, be a world-class musician or artist, etc. etc. etc.

The key word is “OFFER”. Not “force”. Not “Make”. Offer. The issue, if you take the words “world class” out of there….is that MOST parents want to “de-limit” their children and “offer them the chance for the best opportunities in life.”. Put that way, it doesn’t sound so bad. In fact, it sounds like “most of us”.

As every coach knows, the devil is in the execution. (or the details, if you prefer.)
I was asked this question twice on a recent trip to Africa…..where the topic came up because of the perception that African children who aspire to be swimmers are considerably limited on their continent. Overall, I thought it a fair question. Here’s my answer….I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts.

#1. It’s all about the coaching. Led by the great researcher, Dr. Anders Ericsson, we know that expertise comes from 10,000 hours of focused, purposeful practice, guided by a “coach” of skill, knowledge and understanding of the learning process providing top quality feedback. So the number one task of the parent on the track of great opportunities….do your homework, research the coaches available to your child, spend time in conversation with them, reach a mutually satisfying understanding of “who is doing what” and then get out of the way, and TRUST THEM to do right with your child. You can “oversee the process” but let the coach, Coach.

That’s answer 1, 1A and 1B…..nothing else comes close in importance. Here are a few other ideas, however.

#2. It’s about RESILIENCE! Your child, all children, are going to hit some rough patches in their development. Teach them to persevere, don’t get the roadblocks out of their way FOR them, let them learn to struggle with it and overcome. Everyone gets knocked back/down. The child has to get good at getting back up…ON THEIR OWN.

“Curling parents” are those rushing down the path ahead of the child, trying to clear every obstacle out of the way for them……and never letting the child gain the satisfaction of overcoming challenges. Don’t be one.

“Helicopter parents” are those who hover over their child at every moment, so intent on making sure the child “gets it” that they become the biggest distraction to the child ever “getting it”. Go sit down. Relax. Read a paper. When the child’s done, love them, don’t make them replay every moment of practice for you. Don’t be one.

#3. It’s about personal responsibility. Make sure you teach your child that “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” If they want to be a world class athlete, only their effort will take them there. Effort. Not talent. Tons of people have talent to achieve great things. Few do. Often because their proud parents forgot that effort is the only way to achieve. Teach effort.

#4. Be a Motivation Machine. As the great swimmer Michael Phelps was on his steady, effortful rise to the top of the swimming world, his coach Bob Bowman described Michael as a “Motivation Machine”. Something good happens, he got up the next morning with the mind-set, “I want more of that.” And he went off to practice. (not staying in bed congratulating himself..”I earned some more sleep this morning…I’ll sleep in..”) When something Bad happened, Michael got up and went to practice with the mindset “I’m NEVER letting that happen again”. (not staying in bed and having a mini-pity-party.) One of the greatest things I have ever heard that separates a great individual from the rest of us….Be a Motivation Machine.

Parents, you can teach that to your child and it will be a life-gift of importance.

#5. ENJOY THE RIDE! The Chinese have a saying…”most of life is about Chop Wood, Haul Water”. Mundane tasks that are essential to our progress in life. Life is not always wildly exciting and “ fun”. Mostly, it’s steady mundane effort and work. So learn (both as a parent, and teach to the child…) to enjoy and be very “satisfied” with the day to day tasks that, like water impacting the rock, make up our journey towards

Marlins April Home Meet

2011-04-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Not too bad of a turnout for what could be described as not the most ideal weekend for a meet. Still 62 swimmers participated, about double the amount of swimmers from last year, and we welcomed 9 kids who participated in their first meet ever. Everyone was a bit nervous but stepped up to meet the new challenge presented to them. Congrats to Ashley and Mack Blood, Harrison Flynn, Nick Ginwala, Rachel Katz, Morgan Mutscheller, Jordan Price, Haley Summers and James Worthington.

A 48% best time is well below average, and we owe this relatively weak performance to our older swimmers who were swimming a bit tired. Could be the 30,000 yards a week they are swimming or the difficulty to get fired-up during this kind of competitive format ... at least not all is lost, these athletes still put a pretty good show for our younger kids to watch. In Particular, the following swimmers had a great meet: Jude and Belen Mirsky, Lani Kamler, Sienna and Nick Berry and Ella Biesiadecki.

All in all a good event that hopefully got our new families to learn a bit more about the sport and our older one to have some time to catch-up. Looks like Bobby offered a good alternative to our snack bar. I am thinking about passing the job on to the RRC kitchen from now on. I welcome your feedback in this area.

While not swimming close enough to their best times, our older kids managed to break 2 team records. Alicia Vogelaar, Emma Jones, Justas Reskevicius and Jared Sears broke the 13 and over mixed 200 free relay record and Alicia, Emma, Jared and Alex Claman broke the 13 and over mixed 200 medley relay record. Good job!

Next on the Marlins schedule is the long course meet in Vallejo on May 6,7 and 8. So far we have 14 swimmers attending and the meet is schedule to close on 4/28 or earlier if enough swimmers enter the meet.

On May 13 and 14, all our high schoolers will be competing for their respective high schools in their league championships. We will be preparing our athletes to perform as best as they can for this event. A week later those who qualify will get to compete in the North Coast Section High school championships.

In the meantime, the next meet open to everyone on the team is schedule for Saturday, May 21 at the Tiburon Peninsula Club and will be hosted by NBA. I recommend this meet for all the swimmers. This is very much like our home meets. The meet will be open for registration shortly.

I have officially closed our Spring session schedule to end on 6/10. I will still consider accepting returning Marlins swimmers to the team, but all new swimmers will have to wait until the beginning of the Summer season on June 13.

Marlins News - Monticello / Napa

2011-04-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I took 22 swimmers to Monticello High School in Napa for our first meet in this venue. What a treat!

Great weather, gorgeous pool. See the picture below,

and a really fun format getting the kids to swim 5 events in one day. Although we had some technical difficulties with the timing system which lengthened the meet by almost 2 hours (that's a lot!). I felt it was still a good meet, so much so that we will be returning to that same pool on August 6th for the same meet.

Overall, the Marlins swimmers did a great job. 102 races with 9 disqualifications and a 62% best time. We could have avoided a few DQs, but otherwise the races were pretty clean. Every swimmer but one improved at least one race and in the process two of them managed to break another 3 team records. Bringing the total team record broken for this season alone to 40!

Congratulation to Coco Berkenfield (9-10) for 2 new team records in the 50 back and the 50 fly and to Ava Salmi (13-14) for breaking a 9 year old record in the 200 free.

Coco managed to earn another JO cut in the 100 free and a Far Western cut in the 50 back, also Ian Chow-Ise swam his first JO cut ever in the 200 free. Anika Berde, Jack Berkenfield, Ian Chow-Ise, Erin Hensley and Lani Kamler all contributed to a total of 8 new A times that day.

Since this meet was a pentathlon, it was scored on the result of each events, ultimately rewarded the most well rounded athlete in the pool. Coco Berkenfield managed to get the High point award by winning all 5 events and Ava Salmi tied for the same award in the 13-14 age group category.

We had the opportunity to watch Chloe Isleta (11-12) who happened to be at the meet. It is a random event as she is currently the best swimmer in the country in her age group. We all got treated to a solid show of great strokes, turns and transitions at a blazing speed. Humbling, but exciting as well.

Thank you again for all the parents who helped during the meet.

Good Job.

Far Westerns Championships

2011-04-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

We just returned from the Far Western Championships in Morgan Hill where Jeff and I took 4 swimmers to compete over 4 days of competition. I was expecting a strong performance and alas it didn't happen. Unfortunately, I cannot find blame anywhere obvious (the plot thickens) and I am filling away a whole bunch of info that may make sense later.

Monica Sears had a tough meet which started with a problem with her race suit in her 200 free. She missed a best time by 1.7 seconds and recovered nicely in her following race, the 100 fly where she posted a best time and a new team record. The following day she swam the 200 IM and although she was 3 seconds ahead of her personal best half way through the race, she wasn’t able to maintain the intensity of the swim and fell back a bit to miss a best time by half a second. On Saturday, she swam the 500 free. We all had great hopes as she was seeded 8^th in prelims and stood a good chance to qualify for finals. Unfortunately after the second 50 she was already off pace and never recovered. She finish that race 8.5 seconds behind her best! Two hours later she dives in for her 100 back and somehow pulls off a best time by half a second and break another team record. Talk about highs and lows! Finally, Sunday arrives and her first race is the 50 free, she stood a good chance to improve, and she did, not by much, just one tenth of a second, but that was enough to break the third and last team record of the meet, a record that stood for over 10 years. Fifteen minutes later she dives in for her last race of the meet, the 100 breast. By now she is pretty tired, physically and emotionally and she falls short of her best time by 2.6 seconds. Throughout this whole meet she maintained her cool, sure she was bummed about her slower races, but she kept attacking each one as if they were her first.

Jared, her brother, swam the 200 back with a great improvement on his transition. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get a best time. Two days later he raced in the 100 back and raced slower than he did back in July of last year. It happens, even with hard training, sometimes it can go bad.

Tyler Welty was there to improve a race that he had done 2 weeks earlier, the same race that got him qualified for this meet. He fell short of his goal by three tenth of a second. I could blame his turns (and I could be right) but all in all he swam a much better race this time. It was well paced and he finished strong.

Aidan Cumming qualified in the 50 breast like Tyler, two weeks before. But unlike Tyler, he had to change his dive, his pull down, his kick and his glide. How did he qualify for this meet in the first place? That’s how much raw talent is in this kid. The cool part is that he did change his dive, lengthen his glides, cleaned up his pull down and manage to fix his kick, at least for the first half of the race. And yes, with all that he did get a best time.

I usually do not ramble about the specific of each race, but I felt there was a good story behind the numbers. 36% best time was just not giving the whole picture. Anyways, good job to all of you, and a big thank you to your parents for the support they afforded you.

Junior Olympics

2011-03-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Seven swimmers attended the 2011 Junior Olympics Championships in San Ramon. With very hard conditions on Friday and Saturday (lots of rain, wind and cold) our athletes had a tough job. To spice it up, a record number of swimmers qualified for the meet, bringing the total number of teams attending to 102 and the number of swimmers over 1500! This made for very crowded warm-up / warm-down lanes and a confusing meet happening in 3 pools at once that made keeping track of everything a bit challenging.

But the Marlins managed, and with slightly above 50% best times, everyone getting at least one best time, 5 new team records and 2 new swimmers qualifying for Far Westerns in 2 weeks, we can say that it was not bad at all.

Congratulations to Aidan Cumming and Tyler Welty who both got their first qualification to the Far Western Championships scheduled in 2 weeks in Morgan Hill. Aidan qualified in the 50 Breast and Tyler in the 100 breast.

Congratulations to Coco Berkenfield and Ava Salmi for breaking a team record in the 9-10 100 back and the 13-14 100 breast, respectively, (both 10 year old records!), to Monica Sears, Tyler Welty and Jared Sears for improving their own records in the 11-12 500 free, the 13-14 100 breast and the 15-16 200 free respectively.

Good Job to James Beard, the youngest boy (11) for putting up with the weather and the cold and still improving both of his events.

Parents, thank you for the support. Jeff and I are greatful for it.

Marlins News

2011-03-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

Considering the time of the year, the weather was pretty good for our first home meet, even if it was a bit cold for the second half. 60 swimmers participated, about 1/3 more than last year, and we welcomed 14 kids who participated in their first meet ever. Everyone was a bit nervous and I probably didn't help much by adding events to most of them. Still in the end everyone did a great job. Congrats to Cadence Ayoubpour, Bennett Barsotti, Mac Berry, Malia Chendo, Lindsay Eiseman, Ada Huttula, Sophia Lindsay, Alexander and AnnaLea Sreba, Lauren Surtherland, Aidan, Spenser and Haley Thompson and Noa Zimmerman.

A 62% best time is pretty good, considering that 25 and 50 yards event are a bit harder to improve. All in all a good event that hopefully got our new families to learn a bit more about the sport and our older one to have some time to catch-up. Still, I would have rather like to spend my time supporting and coaching the swimmers instead of starting the meet. Next time some of our more experienced family may want to step up.

Next on the Marlins schedule is the Junior Olympics Championships in San Ramon where 8 our swimmers will be competing over 3 days (3/18 to 3/20).

Do not forget our swim suit try-on. Reed from Norcal will be here are the pool from 4 to 6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 22nd. He will be happy to help you size the suits for your kids. He will also bring goggles and will be happy to deliver any purchases if you give him enough time (and the item is in stock).

The Monticello swim meet in Napa on April 9th is still open. So far we have 13 swimmers attending. It is a meet recommended for all our swimmers as long as they have at least one home meet experience.

Marlins News - Napa

2011-03-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the Napa meet. Although I witnessed some of the coldest temperature by pool side before warm-ups, I can still say that we got lucky. The kids were ready and prepared to handle the cold for the most part, and it seems that the conditions were not too distracting.

17 swimmers participated over 2 days of competition. We had quite a few kids sick or recovering from being sick so that explains the low percentage of swimmers who improved at least one event. Two disqualifications only, but both could have been avoided (and both swimmers know it). Still a 50 % best time, 14 new races never perfomed before and 2 team records, make this an overall good meet for the team. Unfortunately, this was the last chance for our swimmers to qualify for the up-coming Junior Olympics Championships and even if a few kids got really close, no one added any events to the current roster of JO qualifiers.

I should mentioned the 2 team records broken over the weekend. Coco Berkenfield (10) broke a team record in the 200 back, it was her first time swimming the event and she took the record away from Sarah Dunn, one of our fastest Marlins swimmer who still hold many records. Also Tyler Welty who improved his 100 breast a bit and broke his own record set back in December. These 2 swimmers helped bring the total number of records broken to 29 since September, surpassing last years total records by 2 ... with 6 months to go before the end of the season. I can hardly wait!

Good job to all and a special thank you for all the parents who help time during the meet, and an immense gratitude for Theresa Kamler who worked as a stroke and turn during the meet.

Marlins News - Vallejo

2011-02-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

We just finished our first meet of 2011 after 6 weeks of practice since the winter break. We did not do any specific preparation for the event and treated it as a practice meet. No surprisingly, the majority of the 18 swimmers who participated in the meet performed as expected. Over the weekend, the swimmers improved 49% of their events, well below our 60% average for meet, but no one was really off their best times by much and that is a good sign. Another good sign is that out of 100 races, the team only collected 2 disqualifications.

What was surprising, was the fact that four swimmers collected a total of ten new team records! Congratulations to Coco Berkenfield (9-10) for her performance in the 50 fly, Lizzie Ferguson (9-10) for breaking an 11 years old record in the 500 free, Monica Sears (11-12) for breaking six team records in the 200 free, 500 free, 100 back, 100 fly, 200 and 400 IM, and Jared Sears (15-16) for his performance in the 1000 free and the 400 IM.

Less surprising but still worth noting, is the performance of the Coco Berkenfield and Aidan Cumming who added 3 new Junior Olympics times each, Lizzie Ferguson, Justin Jo and Annalise Schlafer who added one "A" time each, and to Monica Sears for swimming a Far Western time on her 100 fly, and getting three "PRTs" Pacific Reportable Times in the 100 back, the 200 and the 500 free.

Big thank you to Judy Ferguson and Theresa Kamler for officiating during the meet.

Marlins Away Meet Check List

2011-01-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

1. When you get to the meet, you must:

a. Have your child check-in for every day of the meet. The athletes must check themselves in. The clerk will circle the events for the day, or ask the swimmer to do it and the swimmer will initial next to it. Pre-seeded meet do not require check-ins.

b. Find the team area and set-up with your team.

c. Have your child check-in with the coach, at which point the coach will go over warm-up procedures and any specifics for the meet. If your child is young and the weather is on the cold side, the coach may advise him or her to skip warm-up all together.

d. No events should be modified before clearing it with the coach first.

e. Be ready for the team meeting schedules 5 minutes before the end of the scheduled warm-up.

f. All swimmers must wear their team caps during warm-up and also during their races.

2. Show your team spirit: Swimmers should wear Marlin’s paraphernalia like cap, suit, parka, sweats, T-shirt, etc. Remember to cheer for your teammates!

3. Help your child learn their competition routine:

a. Check their Heat and Lane assignment (if relevant). Heat / Lane information is posted around the pool or can be found directly on the program if the meet is pre-seeded.

b. Check–in with appropriate coaches to let them know their seeding assignment and get a word of encouragement and a technical reminder. Be patient, coaches have to watch races, talk to swimmers before and after their races. They may not be ready when you are; this is why you want to give yourself some extra time to check in.

c. Line up to swim and make sure the timers have your name on their clipboard, swim the race.

d. Warm-down (double the distance swam in the race if it is 200 yards and above, or triple it if it is 100 yards or less) if space is provided.

e. Check-in with appropriate coaches to hear feedback on your race, times, splits, pointers, acknowledgments.

f. Go drink and eat! Let go of the last race and prepare the next.

4. Parents, help your child stay at the meet as long as you can to reinforce the fact that any competition is a team event. Get involved in the running of the meet by timing or becoming an official. Avoid coming for your child’s one race and leaving 5 minutes after it’s over.

5. What to do when your child gets disqualified. Disqualifications “DQs” are part of swimming; this is the other way your child’s performance is judged other then with a stopwatch. Rules are designed for purposes such as fostering fairness amongst the competitor, allowing order and smoothness in the running of a meet and protecting the integrity of a stroke against the ever-evolving interpretations of the swimmers and their coaches. Sooner or later your child will be “DQed”. When this happens, remember that this is part of the learning process. The Stroke and Turn Judge will meet the swimmer behind the block and will hand him a yellow sheet while explaining the reason for the DQ. You are encouraged to listen and make sure your child understands the nature of the mistake. The coach will go over all the details to make sure that this “incident” turns into a learning opportunity. Parents and coaches are not allowed to argue the merit of a DQ directly with the judge. If necessary, a protest can be filled by the coach with the Referee who will investigate the call made by the judge. Often your child will be upset. Remember to offer your support and let the coach do the coaching.

6. Pick up your awards at the end of the meet when possible.

7. Clean the team area; leave it as clean as you found it.

8. Check in with your coaches when you leave the meet, even if it’s just to say goodbye. Don’t leave the meet until you know if your are on a relay or not.

9. Parent’s code of conduct: Swim meets are an important part of the sport experience. It is also the one-time parents, coaches and swimmers come together to make the event work and to help it be successful. Each has a specific responsibility, which do not overlap.

The child’s job is to showcase his/her knowledge and experience acquired during practice sessions and other competitions, while having fun. It’s also to reach goals he/she has set for himself/herself as well as socializing with his/her friends.

The coach’s job is to facilitate the experience by sharing his/her expertise, by putting things in perspective and giving an unbiased opinion of the athlete’s performance. The coach’s job is to use the opportunity competition provides to reaffirm and / or redefine goals for each athlete, each training group and the team as a whole.

The parent’s job is to provide unconditional support and love to the athlete. Also to allow the athlete to mature by creating the space needed for him/her to grow. The parent’s job is to assume there is always a certain amount of pressure put on the athlete during competition, and that they should be careful not to add to it.

a. 8 & Under: At this age, it is the parent’s job to help their kids learn about the running of a meet. Don’t expect the coaches to run around looking for your children because they simply can’t. Bring your child to the coach, run them through their competition routine until they know it by heart. Parents should teach their children how to best utilize their coach, they should also help the coach better understand their children by communicating with them.

b. 9 – 12: If your child is new to swimming, you may want to follow the recommendations for the younger swimmers. The goal is to make sure the athlete is doing what needs to be done while helping them less and less as they get older. This means that sometimes parents may want to let the athlete suffer the consequences of a mistake in order to best learn from it.

c. 13 & up: By this age, the athlete understands their expectations at a swim meet … but parents are not off the hook yet. They still need to make sure that there is good communication between their child and the coach.

What to bring to a swim meet? Dress warmly; you can always take layers off if the day turns out warmer then expected. Pack at least 2 towels, swimsuit, cap, goggles, warm socks, sleeping bag, and extra clothes. Don’t forget to write your name on all your belongings so that they can be returned to you when found. Bring homework; reading, cards, and travel games … last but not least, healthy food that will keep your body fueled throughout the entire meet.

Remember: If you are new at this, more experienced parents will be delighted to help you out, they all remember being a little confused at the beginning too!

Drinking Enough Water?

2010-12-30T06:31:00.000-08:00

USA Swimming is has just revamped their website and has made it a lot easier to use. The problem is that there is so much information that it wasn't always clear where to find it. I do encourage parents to check it out since it offers a great source of general information about the sport. There is even an area specifically dedicated to parents like you and giving you access to lots of different topics.

As an example, please read this excellent article on practice and water drinking (which the kids rarely do well enough - even the ones who bring water bottle at swim practice).

Marlins News: Junior Olympics and Fort Bragg

2010-12-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

Kate, Anton, Monica and Ava at JOs

Last weekend (12/3-4-5) was very busy for some of our Marlins swimmers. We had 4 athletes who qualified and attended Junior Olympics in Pleasanton on Friday. Congratulations to Kate Claman, Ava Salmi, Monica Sears and Anton Zahradnik for a good performance at the meet. Worth mentioning that Monica finished 14^th in the 100 free and Anton finished 13th in the 200 back.

From Pleasanton, we drove straight to Fort Bragg where we met the rest of the team for a 2 day meet in the brand new indoor complex that made the experience a real pleasure. We were received very well by the host team that was pleased to see us make the effort to attend the event. Yes, it was an effort as it is a 3 hour drive to get there, and the return trip was quite a challenge as we headed back to Marin under some really intense rain that made visibility an issue. That said, everyone agreed, it was so worth it that we are looking forward to going again next year!

..and swimmer's corner.

The team stayed at a nearby hotel and we managed to spend Saturday evening’s dinner with most of the athletes and their families in one place … not a small feat, thank you Norm for the planning it took to make it happen. We did get a small treat by stumbling out of the restaurant onto the holiday parade down Fort Bragg’s main street. Being used to Bolinas and Woodacre parades, I certainly connected with the small town feel and the random floats but let’s say that it was … different. The highlight (for me at least) was the pigeon who was walking slowly at the end, apparently banned from being part of the actual parade because of its edgy attitude and propensity to do his business in the middle of the street.

Float Fort Bragg style! .... sorry no pics of the pigeon.

Parents corner ..

But let’s get back to why we really drove up north: the swim meet! 23 swimmers participated in the event over the 2 days, not bad for a really far away meet. As a team we did really well, 153 individual events and 7 relays later, we managed to finish 3^rd overall with 2 marlins swimmers taking the high point award in their respective age group. Congratulations to Monica Sears and Anton Zahradnik both in the in the 11-12 age group. Since the pool is new, this was the 3^rd meet there and therefore the list of pool records got completely updated during the meet and our Marlins swimmers broke 31 pool records over the 2 days. That experience was new for me as well!

Some of the swimmers holding trophy and plaques!

Although the overall improvement was only 55%, and in some ways quite average for this kind of meet, it does not reflect the smaller victory that almost all the swimmers experienced. 22 swimmers ended up improving at least one of their events. 5 team records were updated as well, Monica Sears broke the 11-12 100 back, Isabella Salmi broke her own record in the 15-16 200 back, Jared Sears broke 2 team records in the 500 free (what a race!) and the 200 IM for the 15-16 age group, and last but not least Tyler Welty broke a very long standing record in the 100 breast for the 13-14 age group. That record belonged to Chris Mai (Coach Chris) who by far had been the fastest breastroker the marlins have had the privilege to call one of their own. Looks like Tyler, who is just getting back in shape and has recently moved to Marin from Ohio with his family, is not done updating our team records in that stroke. Welcome to the team Tyler!

Special thanks to the parents who supported the event and made it such a great experience for their kids. We hope we can be back next year if the meet is offered again. Fort Bragg is a younger team and is struggling with all the challenges that running such a meet imposes, in addition, the city is having difficulties keeping the newly built center open year around. Let’s wish them well and hope things will work out for them.

Happy Holidays,

Marc

The Swimmer’s Will

2010-12-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

The Swimmer’s Will

(15 steps for greater success)

1. I will always say “I will” or “I do.”

2. I will think positive at all times.

3. I will respect myself, my teammates, my coaches, my parents and my competitors.

4. I will do my best each day.

5. I will be on time.

6. I will start and end each swim at the wall.

7. I will start each set on time.

8. I will streamline always.

9. I will flip all turns.

10. I will breath from both sides.

11. I will push myself past what I believe possible.

12. I will encourage my teammates.

13. I will follow directions.

14. I will have a strong kick.

15. I will have fun!

Borrowed from a USA Swimming Newsletter .... This pretty much covers it all, although I could add: " I will attend every practice" to the list but that would be pushing it!

Matt Biondy was in town!

2010-12-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, November 23rd Matt was in town. Thanks to long time friends of his and Marlins parents Karen and Howard Luria, Matt was invited to speak to the St Marks kids during the their general assembly. Of course I had to be there.

Matt Biondy is one of the most distinguished swimmers of all times, competed in 3 Olympic Games 84, 88 and 92 and broke many records (more info here). At the height of my swimming carrier, I remember Rowdy Gaines was a big focus for me for one main reason: Rowdy was fast (he won the 100 free at the 84 Olympics) ... and he was just a short as I was - actually, he was the shortest swimmer in that race. Yes in the world of freestyle sprinters, 6'1 is short, and I must admit that it was too easy to latch on to that excuse as a ceiling for my performances.

In any case, Rowdy did help me during my competitive years as a reminder that you didn't have to be a giant to swim fast. All was well, until I attended an international meet in Monaco in 85 or 86 where many countries would send their national teams as a gauge meet. No one broke any records there (as far as I can remember) as every swimmer was still in the thick of training (it was in May), but just being there with the best swimmers in the world was, well, it was awesome!

When I was not warming up, racing, warming down, stretching and hanging with my teammates, I would go sit amongst the various team attending the meet. The US team and Australian was a bit more interesting because I could understand bits of what was said between the swimmers, but sitting next the the Russians or Japanese was fascinating. It was like traveling abroad and not understanding anything, still realizing that we were not all that different in our needs (stretching, visualizing, talking with coaches). Anyways, at one point in the meet I found myself trying to figure out a way I could swim in the same lane as some of the great swimmers during warm-up. I know I sound like a groupie, whatever, what if by some kind of miracle, swimming within feet of them would rob off on me. Nothing magical happened of course except for the fact that I actually found my self standing right next to Matt Biondy as he was about to get in the pool for warm-up. Granted he didn't have his hand on my shoulder as depicted in the picture above, but I was close enough that I was looking straight into his eyes ... just kidding, straight at his shoulder!

Matt was the Michel Phelps of my time and I know it was an honor for Jeff and I to be part of this event at St Marks. Thank you Karen.

Marlins News - Napa - Fort Bragg and more

2010-11-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

We are just returning from the Napa meet (11/5-6-7) and we have 17 more practices to get ready for Fort Bragg. Napa was a good meet, well run and this year the weather was not as bad as it could have been. The meet was a good measuring tool to see where the swimmers are in their preparation. Based on the amount of swimming and the intensity of training, combined with the fact that the kids were not rested before the meet, I was hoping most of our swimmers would swim close to their best time (within .5 sec on 50s, 1 sec on 100 sec and 2 sec on 200s). As it turned out, out of the 80 races performed at the meet, we had 32 best times and only 16 races were worst than predicted. Out of the 16, only 7 were out of character an 3 of them were an "off" performance by an otherwise good swimmer for the meet.

I don't usually get into such detailed meet analysis, but with our next meet less then a month away, I really wanted to make sure my gut feeling was correct. In other words the kids are doing well, and even though we had a 43% best time and 2 DQs - which in itself is nothing to rave about - they are swimming close to their best while not rested. Also worth mentioning, is that 4 team records were broken, Isabella Salmi in the 200 back 15-16, Jared Sears in the 400 IM, 200 back and the 100 back 15-16. In addition 2 new team records were establish in races never swam before in the 13-14 1000 free by Alicia Vogelaar, and the 15-16 1000 free by Justas Reskevicius. Good job to all of you!

Our next meet, and the focus of our preparation is Fort Bragg (12/4-5 the meet will close on 11/22 or when full). This is a first for the team as we have never traveled this far for a meet, but I was motivated by by some very tangible facts irrevocably linked to competing at this time of the year. Last December we attended Junior Olympics and it was 32 degrees on the pool deck during warm-up! Although not the optimal temperature to swim your best, it would not be so bad it the meet was in the middle of the swimmer's preparation, but about 3 times a year the kids need a focus meet were they can really shine, otherwise swimming hard at practice becomes less palatable.

I am delighted to see that parents and swimmers alike are supporting my decision to enter a meet held in an indoor facility, and at the same time providing swimmers and parents with an ability to bond with the team during the trip. So far, we have 23 swimmers committed to the event and we might get a few more before the meet closes.

We will also have a few swimmers who qualified, attending Junior Olympics on 12/3. It will be a busy weekend as they will be traveling straight from on meet to the next. this is exciting!

We are still having some problems with the pool heater. Seems that it turns itself off and needs to be reset at random times. The staff is staying on top of it and it is only a mild inconvenience for the kids as the water dropped to 81 - 82 degrees only a couple of times since we have discovered the problem. We are still working on solving the issue.

The transition to our winter schedule was pretty smooth and we will maintain the training schedule until the end of the session (12/17). We will be combining swim practice for all groups on 11/24. This is usually a poorly attended swim practice and we will use the same practice schedule as Fridays (G1 and G2 from 3:40 to 4:40 pm and G3 and G4 from 4:40 to 6:10 pm).

I have been experimenting with taking videos of the kids during practice. The concept is not new for the Marlins, but our technology has so far prevented us from sharing it with everyone as the finished result was such a big file (anywhere from 1 to 2 Gb) that it made it impossible to post it on the website or e-mail it, and very unpractical to burn on DVDs for everyone. But technology is catching up and with the use of a "flip" video I am able to take short clips 3 to 5 seconds of the swimmers in action, without affecting the flow of swim practice, and make it available for the kids to watch. I will be posting the videos on the Marlins Website and arrange them by practice groups. You do have to log in to access this section of the site, but I hope you will find it well worth it. I even plan on adding pointers and small critics as I get use to it to make it an even better teaching tool. I am also working on using the same camera and installing it on a pole so that we can see under water. Below is an example of a video:

That's it for now!

Marlins News

2010-10-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

We are already getting in the 3rd week of October, days are getting shorter, cooler ... and practice is getting harder! Our swimmers are doing a great job at staying focused on the December meets and trying not to let the challenging practices shake their determination. The group 4 swimmers are very excited to have added a couple of "torture" instruments at practice. It will take some getting use to it but the new snorkel and paddles will help a lot.

View of the girl's side of the pool.

We have just participated in our second away meet of the season at Indian Valley in Novato on October 9th and 10th. Although the meet felt a bit chaotic with girls and boys swimming at the same time (at both end of the pool), it was a good demonstration of where the kids are at in their training. 23 swimmers participated in the event, mostly group 3 and 4 swimmers, but we did have a few younger kids represented by Alyssa Mulligan (7) and Amelia Downs (9) who swim in her first away meet ever (good Job!). 40% best time is below what we usually do at meets, but this early in the season it makes sense. Worth noting that our swimmers only collected 2 disqualifications out of 109 races. What is unusual is the fact that we had 5 new team records during the meet. James Beard improved his one year old record on the 9-10 500 free, and Jared Sears broke 3 eight year old records in the 15-16 200 free, 100 back and 200 IM and one seven year old record in the 200 back. Good job to all of you!

This last weekend, a few of our swimmers decided it would be a good idea to go swim in cold water and participated in the Tiburon Mile. Congratulation to Adam Loo, Isabella Salmi and Jared Sears. Its been just over 24 hours so everyone should be thawed out by now and the good news is no Marlins were part of the 6 swimmers that had to be rescued due to the cold conditions. Besides the rain and overcast sky an article in today's IJ mentioned because of the large number of swimmers (850) there was a longer wait on the beach so people were chilled going into the water.

Take a wild guess! Was this picture taken before or after the race? You go guys!

We are now getting ready for our Saturday home meet (The Spooky Plunge) and hope to get good weather for the event. I you haven't done so yet, please take the time to sign-up. Of course I would be happy to help. NBA will be bringing a small crew to the meet and I hope to see a lot Marlins swimmers attending.

We are still planning on attending an away meet on November 20-21 (most likely in Oakland or the peninsula) more on this as soon as I have some info about our option. Regardless, this will be a meet that will not give us a long time to register for it, as soon as you get my e-mail announcement I suggest you sign-up.

Last but not least, the Fort Bragg meet is back on and just got posted. It is the same weekend as JOs and will be serving swimmers who didn't qualify for Junior Olympics ... or who are too old (15 and over). Now you are thinking Fort Bragg!!! Is he nuts? ... I know that a 3 hour drive is not everyone's favorite, but concider going for both days and spending the nigh there. It is an indoor pool with a really fun and attractive format for the meet (relays and team scoring). I will be sending you a specific e-mail shortly about the event.

Marlins News

2010-10-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
here we are at the beginning of October with already 4 weeks of swim practice, one home meet and one away meet behind us.

As of today, we have about 125 swimmers actively participating in swim practice and it looks like everyone has their school schedule down. We are seeing the swimmer in group 1 and 2 an average of 2 practices a week, group 3's average is 2.6 and group 4's is 3.

We had beautiful afternoon for the first event of the season. 59 swimmers participated in the meet only 10 days after our first scheduled practice of the year. This was a great time to practice racing, get a feel for swim meets for our newer athletes and get parent to spend some time socializing. The performance in the 25 yard events, as expected, was good. Most events were improved particularly with the 9 and over swimmer who do not race a 25 yard very often. The 50 yards events were a lot tougher on the kids as only 16% of the events were improved! Parents, thank you for helping with the meet. For results please click here.

Our first social event of the season was schedule right after the meet. We had Bobby from the RRC kitchen cater the event and everyone was able to enjoy the evening amongst friend and family. 20 families participated and everyone truly enjoyed Cheryl Davis' slide show put together with love about our last season.

Reed from Norcal was here ... if you came to practice that day (9/21), I am sure you heard his booming voice. I know he took quite a few orders for team suits, warm-ups and parkas. If you missed the event, you can still call Norcal at 1-800-752-7946 and place your order. I do have a sizing kit (a bunch of suits of all sizes in a box) in my office.

Jeff and I took 17 kids to our first away meet of the season in Hercules. This was a first for us and we loved everything about the meet. The format, the people, the pool and of course the weather. This is definitely a keeper and we will add this event to the schedule next season. The kids did OK, with 35% best time, I cannot call this meet great as this is well below average for the team, but the numbers do not seem to reflect the over all feel of the weekend. No one got disqualified (although Annelise should have ;-)) and many swimmers swam fast on a few of their events. Ultimately, everyone had been working hard the previous week - 25% harder then at the beginning of last fall season, and Jeff and I were happy to see the kids get within 1 to 2 seconds on their 100s. The results are posted on the Marlins website. Certainly worth noting is the fact that 2 team records were broken at the meet: Jared Sears broke his own record in the 13-14 200 Free and Jared Sears, Alicia Vogelaar, Kate Claman and Jack Berkenfield broke the 13 and over mixed 200 Medley Relay record as well. Good job.

Jack, Kate, Alicia and Jared - Go Marlins

This weekend, Jeff and I are taking 23 swimmers to the Marin Pirate meet in Novato (10/9 and 10/10). The kids have been training hard but we should see an overall better performance as they are all getting closer to their top shape. More on this next week.

If you have not noticed it yet, the sign-up for our next home meet are open. This year will be our 15th Spooky Plunge Meet, with the usual spooky events and hopefully the beautiful weather we hope will come with it.

You all have received you first invoice of the season. If you are paying by check, please make it payable to RRC and bring it by at practice at your earliest convenience.

Any questions, please call me at 456-1153
Marc

San Rafael Schools Fundraiser

2010-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

In denial that summer has ended? Then on Oct. 2 come together to play and support San Rafael City Schools at ANDY'S SUMMERFEST, a daytime family carnival and nighttime blues concert at the Loch Lomond Marina, 688 Point San Pedro Rd. The carnival runs from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and features games, bouncy houses, petting zoo, music, art, BBQ and beer garden. Admission is FREE! Come back at 7 p.m. without the kids for a concert under the stars featuring Tommy Castro, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Vinyl, Miles Schon Band, Terry Haggerty and Frobeck. Enjoy Sol Food for a delicious, cultural event. General admission tickets ($50) and VIP tickets ($200) are available at Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79813.

All proceeds benefit HeadsUp, a public education foundation supporting San Rafael City Schools. Vital school programs face devastating state budget cuts and need our help! For more information, or to volunteer at Andy's Summerfest, contact event chair Judy Tuatagaloa at (415) 459-2225 or judywt13@comcast.net.

marlins Info for September 13, 2010

2010-09-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

and welcome to a new season on the Marlins Swim Team. This coming week, Jeff and I will continue to work on placing the swimmer in the correct practice groups. We should be done by Thursday and I will contact you if this affects you as we move through the team roster. Thank you for your patience.

All the new families should have received their password in order to access your account on the website. I will be invoicing everyone by September 21^st and payments will be due on October 1. If you chose to pay by credit card, you will have until 9/30 to setup your account, otherwise checks will be due on 10/1 and RRC members will be billed on 10/1 through the club.

Our second week of swim practice is already lined up with events for you to consider. We will have our first home meet of the season on Friday evening from 4 to 6 pm. This is a great event for all our swimmers, even our newest one. If you are interested, please take the time to sign-up for the event or you can e-mail me or call me at 456-1153 if you need assistance.

Also, because we felt a home meet was just not enough socializing, we will be having a great social event right after the meet. Bobby, the chef from the RRC Café, will be catering the event for all who take the time to sign-up before Wednesday. We have reserved the club house and will be comfortable in case the weather is cold. A few parents have put together slide shows that we will be showing on the TV during the event.

On Tuesday, September 21^st, Reed from NorCal Swim Shop will be at the pool from 3:30 to 6:30 pm to assist you with all you swim suits, goggles and other swim gear needs. I have just been told the our team parkas are not in stock and available.

We will be attending our first away meet in Hercules on September 25 and 26. This looks like a great meet with good event and relays as well. The meet is now closed and we look forward to taking our 17 swimmers attending. Our next two away meet in Novato (10/9 and 10/10) and in Napa (11/6 & 11/7) are still open for registration at this time.

That’s it for now. As always, I am available to answer your questions about our program so do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail or by phone (456-1153).

Thank you,

Marc

Far Westerns Long Course - July 28 to 31 2010

2010-08-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

4 swimmers qualified for the most important meet for age groupers in Pacific Swimming. All the swimmers were barely recovered from our 3 day league championships and they were back at it 3 to 5 days later. The meet schedule at that point of the season is a true endurance test and will certainly be "massaged" a bit for next year.

Nevertheless, Monica and Jared Sears, James Beard and Anton Zahradnik did a great Job. Monica, qualified in the 400 IM and the 50 free, Jared in the 200 and 100 back, Anton in the 50 back and James in the 50, 100 and 200 free as well as the 50 and 100 back. A total of 10 events from our athletes!

James even qualified for finals in the 100 back (5th place) but unfortunately made a small mistake in his turn that got him disqualified. It was unfortunate and very hard to take, but what a life lesson packed event it was!

Good Job.

RESL Chamiponships

2010-08-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

RESL Championships is always an adventure. No other meet brings the team together the way RESL does, no other meet has swimmers race up to 14 events in just 2 and half days and no other meet requires as much parent support. And although everyone was pretty tired, the kids were excited, they swam great races, and they met new friends on the team. All in all they felt a little more like a “Marlin”. The parents got to meet each other as well; they saw that these two and half days of madness have a greater purpose then just bringing a bunch of kids to a pool to swim. The coaches got to talk to the kids, got to know them a little more and watched them swim honest races when most of the kids are stripped down to the basic feelings of determination, physical discomfort and a boost of self-worth. Yes it was a lot of work for all involved, and yes, it is definitely worth it.

51 swimmers participated in this year’s Championships in El Cerrito competing in a total of 359 races (compared to 60 swimmers and 346 races in 2009 and 80 swimmers and 300 races in 2008). I am sure there are a lot of ways to explain the decline in participation this year. We certainly had less swimmers attending practice in July this year, we had a lot less younger swimmers entered in the meet, but all this is neither good or bad, it just is. True to our team’s motto, “healthy competition”, there is no pressure put on anyone to attend the event, if you want to be there, then you should. However even with less total swimmers, we participated in more races.

Our 8 & unders finished 4th, our 9-10 finished 2nd, our 11-12 finished 4th, our 13-14 finished 4th, and our 15 and over finished 7th. Our girls finished 3rd, up 1 place from last year, the boys finished 5th, up 2 from last year. Our overall standing was the best we have ever done: 3rd Place!

The final point scores are as follows: 1- NAPA (Napa) 4676.50, 2- NBA (Tiburon) 3219, 3- PCM (San Rafael) 2169.50, 4- FOG (San Francisco) 2041, 5- CUDA (Oakland) 1819.50, 6- QUIK (Rohnert Park) 1587, 7- MONT (Montclair) 1121.50, 8- EBSD (Hercules) 1049, 9- STAR (San Francisco) 444.50, and 10- BEAR (Berkeley) 423.50

The Marlins were the most improved team with 72% best times (same as last year) 12.5% above the average for the participating teams. We received 16 disqualifications, down 6 from last year and below the teams’ average for the meet. 25 swimmers improved their time standard with a total of 40 new “A” times (20 in 2009), 20 “JOs” (7 in 2009), 12 “FWs” and 2 “PRTs”.

Most amazingly, 11 team records were broken in one single meet:

Lani Kamler broke a 9 year old record in the 9-10 100 Fly
Monica Sears broke a 7 year old record in the 11-12 100 breast
Ava Salmi broke an 8 year old record in the 13-14 200 Back
Isabella Salmi broke her own record in the 15-16 200 Back
Emma Jones broke an 8 year old record in the 15-16 100 Fly
James Beard broke a 13 years old record in the 9-10 100 free and he broke his own record in the 100 fly
Jared Sears broke an 8 years old record in the 13-14 200 free
Alex Claman broke his own record in the 15-16 200 breast
Tommy Davis broke his own record in the 15-16 100 fly and established a new record for the 200 fly.

Overall, the kids improved their times by a total of 638 seconds, about half of last year’s improvement. Obviously as the kids get faster, their times don’t improve as dramatically.

Out of the 51 Marlins swimmers participating, 42 helped score points for their team:
Meet ranking Name Age Individual Points Relay Points Total

Overall Meet ranking	Name	Age	Individual Points	Relay Points	Total
163	Alimam, Peter E	13	1	7	8
113	Bauer, Bayley L	6	15	7	22
110	Bauer, Cayden C	6	17	7	24
1	Beard, James H	10	160		160
	Benjamin, Carson D	13		13.5	13.5
162	Berde, Anika T	12	4		4
32	Berkenfield, Collette H	9	89	18.5	107.5
30	Berkenfield, Jack A	12	81	16	97
86	Black, Nicole T	8	28	17	45
62	Blanadet, Lilly I	8	50	17	67
68	Carbone, Bennett O	10	45		45
76	Claman, Alex R	15	38		38
42	Claman, Kate S	13	74	13	87
	Clark, Anna S	9		10	10
110	Cumming, Aidan J	12	17	16	33
28	Davis, Tommy B	16	85		85
114	Ferguson, Lizzie A	10	16	8.5	24.5
139	Fillabi, Kamron	8	7	7	14
71	Jo, Justin E	14	42	13.5	55.5
75	Jones, Emma A	15	35		35
16	Kamler, Lani S	10	109	18.5	127.5
144	Loo, Kendra M	12	7	6.5	13.5
83	Loo, Violet	10	29	10	39
145	Luria, Jake B	12	5	16	21
106	Luu, Ann V	7	19	17	36
133	Miller, Jackson C	14	9	6.5	15.5
171	Ng, Olivia L	12	3	14	17
150	Organ, Robyn	12	6	7.5	13.5
176	Powers, Eileen M	11	2	14	16
96	Reskevicius, Justas K	16	22		22
11	Salmi, Ava H	13	114	13	127
53	Salmi, Isabella L	15	63		63
	Saunders, Taylor C	14		6	6
4	Sears, Jared N	14	136	13.5	149.5
4	Sears, Monica O	12	135	14	149
139	Snyder, Grey L	8	7	7	14
	Thompson, Ashley A	9		8.5	8.5
38	Vogelaar, Alicia Y	13	83	13	96
	Wagner, Gwen M	13		7	7
35	Walker, Jenny F	8	88	17	105
108	Warner, Anne M	15	18		18
11	Zahradnik, Anton J	12	114	16	130

Our swimmers did a great job and Jeff and I are certainly proud of their achievements. This is hands down our best meet to date and a great way to crown a very good season with a total of 25 new team records!

I have posted the results at the pool and the ribbons are filed in the team folders. You can stop by the pool anytime during business hours and the lifeguards will be happy to bring the folders out for you.

I would also like to give a special thank you to all the families for doing their part in helping run the meet. There are some great pictures available for download on the team’s website (you do need to log-in). Thank you to all the parents who participated in the Friday morning breakfasts at Drake over the summer, who again helped put together a great Doughnut Breakfast and a fantastic team BBQ, who were generous enough to help the team get new tents and great gifts for the coaches, who take the time to give me feedback on the team, who counsel and assist me when needed. Again, thank you all for giving Jeff and I the opportunity to work with your children.

Marc

Not just for Kids ...

2010-05-24T12:23:00.001-07:00

A Cluster of Healthy Behaviors
BY KATHLEEN WOOLF

Did you know that behaviors are found in “clusters?”

Engaging in a healthy behavior, such as eating fruits and veggies, increases the likelihood of adopting additional healthy behaviors. On the flip side, trying a cigarette (or another unhealthy substance) increases your risk of taking on multiple risky behaviors, even later in life. This phenomenon is known as “behavior clustering.”

As an athlete, you participate in regular physical activity – a healthy behavior. Cluster this activity with other positive behaviors to promote good health and improve performance. Here are some suggestions:
Eat breakfast! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and influences performance at school AND practice. A healthy breakfast should include whole grains, fruit, dairy and protein.
Avoid smoking, drinking and other risky behaviors.
Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep slows your thinking and makes it tough to focus on a task. Juggling practice, school, work and social events makes it difficult to get to bed on time. However, if you don’t get enough sleep, you are more likely to take more risks.
Decrease time spent watching television and playing computer games one to two hours per day. Too much television interferes with other healthy behaviors, such as reading, doing homework, spending time with family and friends, and being physically active.
Increase consumption of fruits and veggies. They are loaded with essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, which may help protect you from chronic disease.
Decrease consumption of high-fat foods. Saturated fat (full-fat dairy products and fatty meats & poultry) and trans fat (processed cookies, cakes and chips) can be dietary villains.
Consume a variety of nutrient-rich and tasty snacks throughout the day. Store snacks in your backpack so that you have healthy foods available rather than relying on a vending machine for between-meal snacks.
Drink plenty of water. As a swimmer, you are at increased risk of dehydration. Consume fluids before, during and after exercise to ensure you are getting enough.

ABOUT KATHLEEN WOOLF

Kathleen Woolf, PhD, RD is a registered dietitian and a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, and the American College of Sports Medicine.

Away Meet Check list

2010-04-28T10:30:00.001-07:00

Marlins Away Meet Check List

1. When you get to the meet, you must:

b. Find the team area and set-up with your team.

d. No events should be modified before clearing it with the coach first.

e. Be ready for the team meeting schedules 5 minutes before the end of the scheduled warm-up.

2. Show your team spirit: Swimmers should wear Marlin’s paraphernalia like cap, suit, parka, sweats, T-shirt, etc. Remember to cheer for your teammates! Team swim caps must be worn by all swimmers during warm-up and races.

3. Help your child learn their competition routine:

a. Check their Heat and Lane assignment (if relevant). Heat / Lane information is posted around the pool 10 to 15 minutes before the race or can be found directly on the program if the meet is pre-seeded.

c. Line up to swim and make sure the timers have your name on their clipboard, swim the race.

d. Warm-down (double the distance swam in the race if it is 200 yards and above, or triple it if it is 100 yards or less) if space is provided.

e. Check-in with appropriate coaches to hear feedback on your race, times, splits, pointers, acknowledgements.

f. Go drink and eat! Let go of the last race and prepare the next.

6. Pick up your awards at the end of the meet when possible.

7. Clean the team area; leave it as clean as you found it.

8. Check in with your coaches when you leave the meet, even if it’s just to say goodbye. Don’t leave the meet until you know if your are on a relay or not.

What to bring to a swim meet? Dress warmly; you can always take layers off if the day turns out warmer then expected. Pack at least 2 towels, swimsuit, cap, goggles, warm socks, sleeping bag, and extra clothes. Don’t forget to write your name on all your belongings so that they can be returned to you when found. Bring homework; reading, cards, and travel games … last but not least, healthy food, water, sport drinks that will keep your body fueled throughout the entire meet.

Remember: If you are new at this, more experienced parents will be delighted to help you out, they all remember being a little confused at the beginning too!

Meet Report - Rohnert Park on 4/17 and home meet on 4/24

2010-04-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

We just had 2 nice meets this month. Everyone participating had a good time, kids swam good races for the most part, parents enjoyed catching up with other parents while watching their little one perform, and coaches enjoyed a "body and mind friendly" format, i.e. a meet that last less then 4 hours.

The only bad part was that these meets were one week apart. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to make the meet schedule work for everyone. I try to have a home and an away meet per month, and if we don't count the Far Western Champs in early April, I can say I did it! It just wasn't pretty, I mean who wants to go to a swim meet on the tail end of spring break? 12 swimmers did! And who wants to go the a home meet 7 days later ... or 5 days after joining the team? So, yeah, like I said, not pretty.

Still, the 12 swimmers who participated in Rohnert Park, had a blast. Not only we had almost 80% best times which in itself is no small feat, but it was one of the few meet we've gone that had this home meet feel that we all like. Laid back, low intensity - we even perform or first "quiet" cheer in the history of the team - organized by friendly people, it really doesn't get much better than that. 8 year old Lilly Blanadet was lucky to choose this meet for her first competition ever ... and she was back 7 days later at our home meet participating in her first relay, she had a blast. Jack Berkenfield finally achieved a goal that had been eluding him for a while: his Junior Olympic cut in the 50 free. Excited, is a sadly understated word to describe him after the race. We will be back in Rohnert Park on May 16th, June 5th and most likely on July 18th.

Team Meeting before our "Quiet Cheer".

Our last home meet was a success as well. 39 Marlins swimmers participated and 40 North Bay swimmers (mostly younger) graced us with their presence. The 2 teams have had so many meets together, they seem to blend where I sometime forget we watch Marlins and NBA swimmers in the pool, but rather kids I know ... and kids I know less. 63% best times, makes this meet average, but a lot of the faster swimmers have just finish their most important meets with really fast times which will take a little while to improve again. We welcomed 3 brand new swimmers, some with just a couple days of practice under their belt. Congratulations to Alyssa Mulligan who's boiling excitement propelled her across the pool as if she was a veteran, Ali Thomas who showed tremendous potential as a competitor and Alexei Muromcew who, although a bit nervous, found the courage to swim the 50 free. We had another team record in the 9-10 Free relay where James Beard, Bennett Carbone, Lani Kamler and Violet Loo obliterated the last record in style.

Last, but not least, on behalf of all the swimmers, I would like to thank the parents who stepped up and help run the home meet, and timed at the away meet. We really could not do it without you ... literally!

Far Westerns - A good performance for our swimmers!

2010-04-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Far Westerns is the top age group competition offered in Pacific Swimming. It is scheduled twice a year, early April for the short course format and mid summer for the long course format. Last weekend's meet gathered over 170 teams who traveled from all over the westerns states to compete in the championship. Only 90 teams ended up scoring points this year and for the first time, finals were retransmitted live over the internet!

3 Marlins swimmers qualified for the meet. James Beard 10 improved both of his events in the 50 and 100 back. Jared Sears 14 swam a strong 200 back missing the team record by only 3 seconds, and Monica Sears, although ready to swim fast, missed her best time by a mere 3 seconds in the 400 IM. The meet was scheduled over 4 days and although James and Jared got tropical conditions for their races, by Sunday Monica was stepping on the block to start her race as gust of chilly winds were lifting the timer's tents and blowing the parking lot's sand in everyone's faces.

In the end, everyone did a great job. It's not easy to drive 90 miles, warm-up for 30 to 40 minutes and race for 35" to 5', and somehow figure out when to eat, drink and stay focus on a task with no second chance. I certainly think this is what makes these meets so challenging and help lay the foundation needed to become an experienced athlete.

On behalf of the swimmers, I want to take this opportunity to thank their parents for an unconditional support they offered throughout the event.

Signing up for swim meets ... digitally

2010-03-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

I admit that a part of me miss the good old time of paper entries. A team would advertise their meet, I would post it at the pool, talk to kids and parent about it and then fill-out the entry forms and mail them with a check. I'm not saying it was not a lot of work, but there was a sens of order, a comfortable time line that would give all parties involved a chance to think it through.

In the year 2010, entering a meet is a very different process. First, you need to be connected .... I mean internet connected, second, you actually need to know how to navigate the web, and last but not least, you must check your e-mail daily. For best of for worst we live in the digital age.

Going digital is speeding everything up. From the time a meet gets "posted" on line, to the time the meet is closed could be just a few days. With Swim Connection alerting the parents directly (if you have an account) of the availability of a meet, the system is now so efficient that it effectively bypasses coaches altogether. Yes, there are ways for me to help you chose events for your kids, but with so little time to register to a meet, it is not easy do do my job.

Most parents like to plan early, which is why I post the meet schedule on the marlins website as early as possible. Unfortunately, most parents are confused by the time line relating to different type of meets. For example, I advertise our home meet early (all the home meets until July are posted on the website), but I usually do not open the meet for registration until 2 weeks before, and I will close the meet 3 days before the event date. But away meets are different, although the schedule is advertise early, it seems that the meet open for registration almost randomly. Some open 2 to 3 month in advance, some 2 to 3 weeks.

If you are serious about taking your kids to away meets, please be pro-active and talk to Jeff or me about your options, we can recommend a meet based on your child's level. Once you know what meet you want to attend, then you must stay alert for the e-mail announcement I send as soon as a meet opens-up for registration. In the e-mail, I usually describe the meet in more specific terms. As always, if you are new to this or want to take it slower, enter just one day - no need to be there 2 or 3 days unless you and your kids are ready for it!

Junior Olympics Championships In San Ramon

2010-03-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I had the pleasure to spend the weekend with 4 qualified Marlins swimmers and their families. JO's (as we call it) is no small affair. 90 teams participated with over 1350 swimmers competing over 3 days. Swimmers must qualify to compete and James Beard 10, Monica Sears 11, Jared Sears 14 and Alicia Vogelaar 12 managed to qualify in a total of 21 events. Just a year ago, the Marlins were represented by just one swimmer in 6 events.

Our athletes put on a great show: 17 best times (81% improvement) and one new team record for Monica in the 400 IM. Monica manage to qualify in the ultimate age group meet (the Far Western Championships held in Morgan Hills in April) in the 400 IM, Jared qualified in the 200 back, and both will be joining James who will be swimming the 50 and 100 back. I have posted the results for our swimmers here. For an overall meet result, go here.

This meet confirms that we are on track with our training and that we did a much better job with preparing the kids to race. Now, we need to build on that success and shift our focus on the month of July when we will be competing in the Redwood Empire Swim League Championships (RESL). We hope that the growing success of these swimmers will get their teammates to work hard to join them at the top. We have a bunch of talented swimmers in group 3 and 4 that are ready for the next step.

What if it rains?

2010-01-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Each year when we get rain, I get a lot of phone calls and e-mails from parents who want to know if swim practice will be canceled. Well, practice is always on except during the following weather conditions:

Extremely high winds. We can get 60 mph wind gusts at the top of the hill.

If there is lightening less than 30 minutes before a given practice.

The pool falls below 78 degrees for group 2, 3 and 4, and below 80 degrees for group 1.

I know that when the weather is cold and rainy, most sane people would consider swimming to be at the bottom of the list … or not even on the list at all. And this is exactly why you should get your kids to practice in a pouring rain; I can tell you they will love it because it’s unusual! If I decide to cancel swim practice I will send a team wide e-mail with the news and will be available by phone as well.

As far as swim meet goes, I have never attended a swim meet shortened as a consequence of bad weather ... and I wish some had been. There is this mentality in the swim community that you just don't quit. Kids are taught to push through discomfort at practice and in their races ... and parents do the same the day of an event. Over the years, we have seen tents fly, ice on pool deck, pool steam so thick you can't even see the other side of the pool, rain that just won't quit. Our Spooky plunge in 2008 was a good example of that!

Look at these parents! I bet they still talk about that meet.

The start of a new session.

2009-09-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

This fall, one third of our team is composed of novice swimmers and parents. This is of course very exciting, but it requires a lot more work to get practice organized, particularly in Group 1. In order to make everyone’s experience on the team as best as can be, I will call on all of our more experienced parents to pitch in and help answer questions while on the pool deck at practice or at meets.

One of the challenges of our sport is the fact that the swimmers have to share a small space while practicing their skills. The skills needed to make this happen are a bit more complex than those needed to execute a good stroke. It always makes the beginning of a season a little more chaotic. But remind your little guys and girls that this is only temporary.

A few times a year, I remind everyone how important it is to be on time for swim practice. Other than the obvious, understand that it is very disruptive to organize the lanes for the first 15 minutes of practice, so please do your best to be on time. You can help improve your child’s experience in the water by making sure that your boy’s swimsuit is tied, long hair is tied in a pony tail or held in place with a swim cap and that goggles are properly fitted before swim practice.

So far the kids have been behaving in the locker rooms after practice, and that’s great news. But let’s not relax our vigilance too much. I have already reminded Group 1 and Group 2 to turn the water off once they are done showering! So please go in the locker room and check on your kids. Help them respect the club’s property and keep the showers to a minimum. Please encourage your boys to use the cubbyholes instead of the locker room benches to store their bags and towels.

Last, but not least, remind your kids to wait for you inside the club to be picked-up and not in the parking lot … or on the sidewalk in front of the club.