As we get started here are a few tips to help you Elevate your Mental game and get the very best out of yourself this season! 5 Ways to Elevate Your Mental Game Internal fortitude. The will to win. The rage to master and persevere. These words usually get tossed around when coaches discuss elite swimmers. Those at the top of the podium all come from different backgrounds in terms of genetics and ability, but the one thing they all have in common is the will to do what is...

6 Ways to Train Smarter This Year   0 Olivier Poirier-Leroy | August 22nd, 2014 | Featured, Lifestyle, Training, Training Intel No matter how this season went for you, regardless of whether championship season went the way you hoped it would last fall, the onset of a fresh season is creeping upon us, soon to give you a clean slate to start your swimming anew. Make this the year that you train smarter and better with these 6 tips: 1. Set daily and weekly goals. Having our big, season-long goals...

How to Be a More Coachable Swimmer Olivier Poirier-Leroy | August 19th, 2014 | Featured, Lifestyle, Masters, Training We’ve all had that swimmer on our team or in our training group. The one that argues with coach every time she writes up a workout on the board. That rolls his eyes when the group is asked to do something challenging. That argues, whines and resists. You swim long enough it is inevitable that you are going to get paired up with this athlete at some point. Some of them are...

Swimming Success June 18, 2014 / Swimming Motivaton / No Comments They make it look so easy. So simple. Like you could just reach out and with your fingertips graze the stars. Any time swimming makes one of its few and far between appearances on television, along with it appears the glossy, over produced bios of our sport’s top athletes. The vignettes where we learn more about how the swimmer came up, their family, and how they were always destined to be champions. What these features generally do not show...

  7 Ways to Think Like a Championship Swimmer May 2, 2014 / Swimming Motivaton / No Comments Elite swimming starts long before you strap on the competition suit. Long before entering the ready room, or hearing the whistle of the referee. It grows organically from the day-to-day grind, the hours spent before and after practice when you do that little bit of extra. But most importantly, it starts first in your head. Being excellent is more than a set of results, a time, or a medal. It’s a state...

I always have to chuckle a bit when someone says they aren't really motivated. Whether it is swimming, thier job, homework, fitness, nutrition, or just choosing to have a happy easygoing attitude about whatever life throws at us.  Most of you have probably read or heard about 1996 Olympian Amy Van Dyken and her ATV accident that has left her paralyzed.  Her compeitive spirit, grit, and ability to be motivated in a positive way by even the most negative circumstance. As Teammates at BSC we need to seek out those...

Saturday at the Central Zone Sectional Championship hosted by the University of Iowa saw BSC Teammates have the best day of competition yet! 5 New Team Records, 3 USA Swimming All Time Top 100Times, 1 Sectional Meet and Pool Record, and 1 New USA Swimming Junior National Qualifying Time. BSC Currently sits in 12th Place Overall a mere 6Points out of 11th. The Women are in 8th place! Kirsten Jacobsen again led the way winning the 400Meter Free in 4:15.53 in a thrilling race setting a New Pool, New Meet...

On the first night of ISI Regional competition at UIC, our small squad of BSC teammates braved the traffic and got us off to a great start to the Championship season.  As a whole, we were 10/13 with best times and had several new state cuts and top 8 swims! The following athletes achieved new state qualifying times: Jenny Tokarz (200 back) Tea Ragnini (200 back) Dan Emary (200 back) Foster Swanson (200 back) The following athletes finished in the top 8: Addy Reader-8th (200 breast) Rachel Snyder-2nd (1,000 free) Brittany Snyder-4th (1,000...

BSC Continued to have a Great Meet at the Central Zone Sectional Meet hosted by the University of Iowa. The day saw 2 New Team Records! Kirsten Jacobsen dominated the B Final in the 200Free winning with a US National Qualifying  time of 2:02.45. Val Tarazi continued to have a great meet with a Best Time in the 200Free. Riley Lehmann also added a Best Time in the 200Free in a Time Trial. Colin O'Leary added a Best Time in the 100Back just missing Finals. In the last event of...

11 BSC Teammates are at the Central Zone Sectional Meet at the University of Iowa.  Day 1 saw BSC Teammates set 4 New Team Records and currently stands in 10th Place Overall. Kirsten Jacobsen led the way with a 9th place in the 100Free and a Pool, Meet, and Team Record in the 800Free winning the Sectional Championship.  Mitch Gavars swam an amazing Best Time in the 800Free dropping 28seconds and placing 11th. That marks the first time in nearly a decade that a male from BSC has scored at...