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My Phone

Posted on May 19, 2013 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

My phone is an appendage of me
Knowledgable and sleek
All knowing and news of glee
Sometimes I hear the tone and freak!

My phone is always on for you
Waiting on a call for a ride, swim, or run
Also listening, even when blue
Listening most of all, for nothing but fun

My phone has battle wounds and a crack
It even goes in the pool from time to time
My swimmers and friends think I’m whack
But you know what? Even after the water there is a chime

Until the next time I damage it – #iwillseeya

Thanks Mike Kennedy for drying my phone today! Still works!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, a masters and age group swimming / triathlete coach, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com, http://SwimmerJoe.com, and @SwimmerJoe on twitter. Yo ucan email him anytime at jauer1@cfl.rr.com.

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I Told a Swimmer This Last Week

Posted on February 8, 2013 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

I told a swimmer this last week - – “Greatness will come when the drive pushes you to do more and work harder than anyone else. Until then, you are in the same boat as everyone else. Why would you expect to be any better than the people around you doing the same thing.”

I see people and athletes doing the same thing, everyday, with no deviation. Why not be better than the next guy? Why not strive to be the best in whatever you do? If you just do even a little more than the “crowd” everyday of your life, whether in sports or business, imagine how far you would be ahead of the masses. It works, it may take time, but it works. Don’t be an average person. The body and mind are more capable than you can imagine.

Start today and make yourself better!

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Don’t Ever Underestimate the Power of Hype or Adrenaline

Posted on November 1, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

Have you ever seen Usain Bolt get in the zone for his 100 Meter Dash at the Olympics?

What about the swimmer Seth Vanneerden when he got ready for his ridiculously speedy 100-meter breaststroke? (Yeah, that was for you Old Timers!)

Or even Gary Hall Jr’s 50 Freestyle?

What about a unsuspecting high school athlete in the state final winning the state title.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of it. *It* is probably one of the strongest and most natural forms of power a competitor can have! It is the elusive supernatural power.

Power? Yeah… and you can learn how to develop it and use it for performance.

I’m talking hype. Some people call it adrenaline. Either way, it equates to an extra injection of power.

Visualization:

For me, I can create my own hype or adrenaline for races by visualizing my race before I go to bed, seeing myself win, looking at splits, stretching, reading (in the case of a triathlon—the routes), locating the other people in my age group, etc. There are many ways.

Superman Pose:

Usain Bolt mentioned above is all about the incredible lightning bolt pose for his adrenaline and hype, Seth Vanneerden would always scrape his hand on the blocks, yell, stare down the pool, and totally get pumped (very cool), Gary Hall Jr, box, dance, and punch with his boxing robe (always entertaining). In case you didn’t understand my Superman Pose reference, see this post about the actual science behind it.

Create your own hype and adrenaline!

When there is a need to fulfill an awesome dream, you’ll find the way, your way. Make your story happen!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

photo credit: thor_matt83 via photopin cc

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Just Sign Up! (That May be the Problem!)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

Guys, just sign up for something.

Just do it now.

I think that is the root of everything physical, especially when you get older. I have a problem with it, too!

Man, if I had a quarter for every time I heard someone say, “I can’t sign up for a running race, cycling masters race, a triathlon or even a Masters swim meet; I’m out of shape!”

Out of shape?

What signing up for an event does is get you mentally committed to actually doing it! What that will also do is get you motivated to doing something about it every day. So many times people start something and then get bored because there is nothing on the horizon helping them getting through the monotony.

Pssst! I have the same problem.

I have trouble heading to the pool to swim; however, when I sign up for something, it finally gets me on a schedule and gets me organized with my training and focused as well. Over the past 15 years, I have been up and down with my training, and I can relate it all to what is on my schedule. I bet most of you are the same way!

Don’t waste your life saying, “I can’t do it until I get into shape.” That’s bad news! As another example, a friend of mine, Corey Warren, said just this past year, “I’m going to do a Ironman 70.3 and then I am going to do a full Ironman.” Just in case you didn’t know, that’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. I said to him, “Uh, what?” So now, Corey has the half is done and is competing this weekend in Ironman Florida. Good luck Corey! I can’t wait to see how you do!

But, that is exactly what I am talking about. You can’t wait, guys!

Get in shape now. Don’t wait to sign up for something and don’t be afraid either. As a last example, I have a Masters Swim Team that could destroy a good amount of the competition. But they keep telling me….”No, no, I am not ready!” They are wasting their great ability, and missing the fun!

A race or competition or even a fundraiser will motivate you. If you wait until you’re “in shape” it may never come to your liking and therefore, NEVER will never happen.

Let me know your progress and do it now!

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Angle of Attack – Backstroke Breakout!

Posted on October 29, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

How do you do it? What is wrong with this picture?

I was at the Blue Dolfins Halloween meet today and I saw a few young swimmers doing something wrong… The backstroke breakout!

I normally tell young athletes to concentrate on the “angle of attack” off the wall and to have a gentle angle to decrease the amount of water drag. This could be huge! How?

You coaches out there can teach the action to visual learners with the angle of your hand or a picture like the title picture (showing the swimmer what happened!), or you can get in the water! Haha! You can even explain it in parts. My favorite thing to do with the kids is to illustrate the pictures, or show another swimmer who does it great! Maybe a video on YouTube? Who knows, but I will tell you, this little step will help you tremendously…the Angle of Attack!

Here is a great way to do it...article from Active.com!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

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Florida High School Swimming Results

Posted on October 28, 2012 by swimmerjoe

Florida High School Swimming & Diving Results (FHSAA)

DISTRICTS
Districts Results
Quick Pics

REGIONALS
Regionals Psych Sheet
Regional Results
Interviews
Quick Pics

STATE MEET
State Psych Sheet
State Results
Interviews
Quick Pics
LIVE BROADCAST

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Winter Pool Time?

Posted on October 27, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

Ahhh, welcome November and cooler days, finally. Oops, what happened? Pools are closing or changing their hours! What? It’s Florida, duh! We don’t need to close, it’s always warm, right? So what’s going on?

At least in Central Florida, the pool situation is going crazy. Winter Park’s Cady Way pool, a pool where a world record has been set, and the YMCA closes it after Labor Day. What? Why? No heater, no budget.

And if a pool does not close completely, the hours are being cut in Winter Park, Oviedo, Orlando, Daytona, Maitland, Winter Garden and almost all outdoor pools in the area. There is a serious shortage of pool time once the winter months come.

Why do I care? Well, I just spent the summer months building the Blue Dolfins Masters team into the largest Masters group in the Central Florida area, and my last day with them was this past Friday. That’s it. No more morning practice because the calendar suddenly turns from October to November.

These pool issues kill the swimming enthusiasm, change the regular daily schedule for families, and possibly even make kids change sports.

We need to take a stand. I challenge the people that are interested building swimming and growing it in the community! Come on and help these great athletes out and keep pools open!

If you want a winter training pool, let me know! Power to the people!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

Pool Closed Photo from http://fstc-atl.com/

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Are You Ready, Swimmers?

Posted on October 27, 2012 by swimmerjoe

The time is here! The early mornings, the endless afternoons, the weight room sweat, strain and oh, did I mention the big eats—are over! Time to display the awesomeness! That is a word—for swimming of course.

Get it on! The Districts weekend is now on and I am looking forward to fast results, whether unshaved and shaved, with advancement to the Regionals —where it gets really cut throat and scary for some swimmers.

What to do

What is a swimmer to do? Pray? Nah, just relax, Districts and Regionals are just meets…like the millions of others during a very long career. Just hit your starts, turns, transitions, finishes; it should be business as usual. Your coaches are very knowledgeable in how to go fast because they’ve been there. Trust what they tell you, because they see you do it everyday. If they tell you to get out fast…don’t be terrified of dying, don’t be afraid. Unleash hell, concentrate and stay focused. Go out hard with the backlog you built up! Your foundation will help you succeed.

Food

Don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Same food and drink as normal. Don’t overeat cookies from the meet parties the days before. Drinking tons of Gatorade or high calorie drinks are not needed. You are not training here, just competing. The better you feel, the more comfortable you are, the faster you will be. Just keep your water intake normal, don’t forget that. A few good notes on food and drink.

Sleep

As you progress from Districts to Regions to State, sleep is a huge part of taper. When you are at rest your body is repairing itself for maximum speed. Get plenty of it, at least 8 hours a night. I like my swimmers to get 10. Here is a good read I found on about.com.

Stretching

Stretching is extremely valuable for swimming fast and muscle recovery. Remember, the faster you recover, the harder you can train, so get at it. Take a look at how to do it.

So guys, take care of your engine, and swim with confidence. The time has come to perform. Follow the items above and it should be no problem.

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Elbow Your Brother, Call Your Mother

Posted on October 2, 2012 by swimmerjoe

Teaching age groupers some of the fast techniques that Olympians make look easy is often times a chore. However, what I do is make this drill a part of warmup, probably every third day or so. I have added a couple videos of my age groupers showing what we do. These athletes range from 10-14. You can talk and talk and blah, blah, blah, but just doing it has worked best. Want to have a fast turn?

Step 1
Swim any stroke for warmup and come into wall easy with two hands (have someone show the proper way originally)

Step 2
While both hands are on the the wall, tell them to bring knees to face easy (almost slo mo)

Step 3
Teach, “elbow your brother” (drop the elbow by your side underwater, use it for stability and turn speed)

Step 4
Look up directly at the sky, bring other arm (hand) to your ear and “call your mother.”

Step 5
Push off at about 45 degrees under the water and rotate on to your belly

So if you need a change up, try this drill out. It works well because the athletes aren’t real tired yet and they can concentrate on the form they are doing early on in the workout. Enjoy. I’d love to hear how it works out for you!

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“Slowing” – Ride 4 Ronald

Posted on September 24, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

“Slowing! Stopping, inside, left! Right! Right turn! Darn triathletes!”

This is what I heard today for 4 hours and 40 minutes straight while on the Ronald McDonald House 100 Mile ride through Orlando, Winter Garden, Apopka, Tavares, Mt Dora–and back!

If you have never done it, cycling closely with 200-300 cyclists in a peloton stretching out over about 1000+ feet is awesome! One word of caution: ride near the front! For the first 30+ miles I heard breaks screeching behind me, people wrecking, and I even had enough time to look behind me and see a guy flip 3 times into a ditch—unharmed. (I think!) Don’t worry, he was actually laughing. One of those “slow moments” in that guy’s life. Everyone has had one!

The groups quickly broke up after crossing the Apopka bridge over 441 and if you weren’t in the first group then, you probably would never be. Many, many accelerations throughout the morning eventually dropped cyclists off the back until there were only about 35 left. The crazy few, the proud! Actually, 4 guys on triathlon bikes and the rest were on road bikes. Don’t know if they liked us or not. Doesn’t matter, I think it was us that broke up the group. Oops!

Not knowing that the first group would not stop, we only brought 2 bottles each, but we needed maybe 3 large ones—so we made a quick stop at the last sponsored break in Winter Garden with 25 miles to go. As the first group sped off, we took in some much needed groceries and fluids-QUICKLY. Of course there was ultra-competitive me, pushing the break time so we could try and catch the lead group by the end. I don’t think my impatience was liked too kindly by my two counterparts Eric and Rob! After about a 5-7 minute break we jumped back on our bikes and put the hammer down to catch the lead group. After speeding through multiple hills that felt like mountains on Silver Star Road, we finally caught the group by John Young Parkway. Whew! We rode in with them, wanted to go hard again, but instead tucked in and enjoyed the remaining 5 miles or so! Day well spent, done by noon!

So all in all, good day all around!

by Joe Auer, SwimmerJoe

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