Welcome to Spring/Summer 2012
Welcome to Spring/Summer 2012
I hope everyone had a good break and is rested both physically and mentally. I hope everyone took a little time to set goals and is excited to train to make them. Welcome to all our new BSC Teammates we are really excited to have you on the squad and look forward to fun friends and fast swimming. I would like to start out with answering a few questions for everyone that may help instill the urgency factor of a short long course season—long course is 50meters.
Where are we in training?
One of the great things about training hard for a week or two beyond a focus meet is that swimmers begin to regain fitness before taking a break. Right now we are going to spend 6-8 weeks building up our aerobic and threshold energy systems, or our endurance. Expect training to be tough right away. Teammates MUST spend more effort doing things correctly—starts, turns, finishes and strokes!! Do It Right, Do It Right All The Time!! Do It Right All The Time at The Correct Speed!!
Where are we going in training?
There is only 12-16 weeks before championship time this summer. That is not a lot of time to prepare. There will be an endurance cycle for 6-8 weeks then a racing phase for 6-8weeks. The transition between the phases is always dictated by what is seen in racing. To be successful this summer BSC teammates will need to make 100% attendance job #1 right now. NO EXCUSES for being “at the bottom of my age group so I am not going to give 100%”! Excellence only cares about how hard you work and how fast you make yourself go.
What about vacations?
Vacations are great! It is important to spend time with family and friends. My suggestion is to use the first week or two of August for vacations. For someone with 100% attendance a long weekend will not do any harm at all. For someone with less than 100% attendance figure 2-3 days for every day of missed practice, so a teammate that misses a week of practice may need up to two weeks to catch up to where they were.
When and where are we going to compete?
The summer competition schedule has been posted for some time now. It looks like a lot of meets, but when you break it down by opportunities and number of sessions swum—it really isn't. Everyone will start at the St. Charles Pentathlon and swim 50s or 100s of stroke and an IM—this will only be one day. We will follow that up at the Lake Forest Meet at UIC—teammates will swim the longer distance of what they swam at St. Charles—50Fly becomes 100Fly—This is a two day meet. The Colt Classic will be for 8 and unders and 12 and Unders New to the Team—this is one day. Arlington Alligator at UIC—will be for those not swimming at the Colt Classic. This will be a Sunday only and the events will be mixed between free events and strokes. The Illinois Open at U of I will be a Championship Events meet teammates will focus on what they MAY swim at their focus meet and getting more cuts for their focus meet. We will attend all three days The Coho meet will be a meet where 11 and Over teammates who have enough cuts will only go on Friday to swim the 1500. Those who need another opportunity to race will attend all days. St. Charles Last Chance Meet—this meet will be our Regional meet for the summer it will be long course and focus on making Champ cuts—we will attend all days.
What is my focus meet?
Focus meets will vary widely based on current and achieved qualifying times. Teammates will focus on the highest level of meet they qualify for. Example: a 13-14 With Zone Cuts will focus on swimming at Zones. A 11-12 with Age Group Champ cuts will focus on Age Group Champs. The TEAM will focus on Age Group Champs and Senior Zones this summer. Please remember that this is just a rough outline and WILL change as adjustments need to be made.
Lets have a great summer and shoot for a Top 5 Finish at Senior Champs and Age Group Champs!!
PRACTICE LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY!!
RACE LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY AT SECTIONALS, JUNIOR OLYMPICS and NATIONALS!!
