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Lance Armstrong to Compete at Masters Nationals

Posted on February 7, 2012 by swimmerjoe

SARASOTA, Florida, February 7. LANCE Armstrong, the record seven time winner of the Tour de France in cycling, is officially registered as a member of United States Masters Swimming.

Armstrong made noise within the swimming community last month when he competed at the Longhorn Aquatics New Year’s Classic. He placed 21st in the men’s 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 5:08.11. The 40-year-old athlete would have ranked ninth in the country with that swim a year ago in the men’s 40-44 age division.

Recently, Armstrong tweeted to U.S. Masters Swimming that the 2012 USMS Spring Nationals were “on his calendar.” The event will take place at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C. from April 26-29.

See SwimmingWorld

Top 10 Reasons to Skip Swim Practice

Posted on February 7, 2012 by swimmerjoe

Sometimes I collect excuses from my swimmers. I have heard some good ones in my day.

10. I had a hard day at school, I’m worn out
Coach is thinking: OMG, boo hoo!

9. I was up all night sick, throwing up, better now though, see you tomorrow
Coach is thinking: Hmm, toughness, hmm…

8. I have a stomach bug, you’re lucky you don’t have it
Coach is thinking: Don’t eat bugs, silly!

7. The doctor told me to go easy today, so no stress, okay?
Coach is thinking: Who in heck are these freaking guys?

6. I am having a hard time breathing today and I have swimmer’s ear, so the doctor told me to take a week off.
Coach is thinking: Again?!

5. What? I can’t skip? I had a sleepover, I’m sore.
Coach is thinking: Do your friends know how good you are? Well, they can help consol you when you get 17th place.

4. Please! It won’t hurt me to miss one.
Coach is thinking: Phish!

3. I have a function, plans, and my parents said I will get worn out.
Coach is thinking: Too bad they can’t swim the races for you–I play a joke, parents…hehe)

2. It is my grandmother’s sister’s birthday
Coach is thinking: Happy birthday.

And the number one reason to skip practice is:
1. I heard it was going to be harder than any other practice this week.
Coach is thinking: I can always tell the ones that want to be really good or just talk about being good.

However, I got a new top excuse this week: My collarbone is broken.
Coach is thinking: Okay, that one is true.

So, swimmers, I challenge you: Keep them coming!

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Try Florida Swim Network

Posted on February 5, 2012 by swimmerjoe

The link is here: http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com

They have live streaming for swimming, on demand replays, shows, specials, a great 2012 Olympic Hopefuls section, on and on! Give them a try!

Who is this Mark anyway?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by swimmerjoe

I don’t think it is fair. Starters in track, swimming, physical education classes, any and everything that deals with starting, say “Take your Mark,” and then you hear a starter’s gun, beep or whatever. Why does Mark get to have his name in there? And why has he lasted so long? I mean really! What is wrong with Joe?

I mean, how about, “This is the men’s 200 Meter Freestyle, Swimmers, Take Your Fred.”

Don’t you think that would keep things fresh? Who in the heck is this Mark guy anyway? Did he go through a lengthy qualification process for the whole world to use it? They even say that phrase in different languages. Darn it, where did the other names go wrong? Who decided? Was it a board, college co-eds, one person? Who in the heck is responsible? It’s just not fair!

What about the women? I think “Take your Sally” would be quite catchy. What about Take your Beatrice or Agnes? I am sure some people would enjoy those for sure.

Why didn’t they (I still have no idea who “they” are, my grandmother always used to say “they” – very confusing as a young adult) …Anyway, why didn’t they just say “Grab your blocks,” in swimming or at the track “Lift your hips and get ready to sprint.” Okay, even I admit that last one is a bit long.

Well, let me know… those who are not named Mark in the world…Are you guys with me or what?

Race Warm Up

Posted on February 4, 2012 by swimmerjoe

So? How do you warm up? Jog in place? Eat a powerbar? Drink a smoothie? Think about the race?

NOPE.

I just had a parent talk to me about this. He said his son didn’t know how or what to do to warm up before a swim. Well sometime coaches get too busy to bring in the younger swimmers or take the time to teach the newbies in the group how to warm up. What about new master swimmers? New triathletes? Same thing. Being new to a sport brings up certain, often unanswered, questions.

If you train very heavy in whatever sport you do, you probably need a good warmup. You know when you feel good in the middle of your workout? Well, how long did it take you to feel that way? I bet it took some time to get your entire body prepared to go 100% with efficiency and without injury.

Middle Distance to Distance

What we normally do in swimming for a general middle to distance swimmer is a mild 200 – 300 easy with light kicking, and then we get into pace 50s, maybe 6-8 or so, then easy hypoxic and swim down. How close to the actual event? I normally preach right before the event; I try to simulate just like practice. It normally works extremely well.

Sprinter

So you ask, what about a sprinter (50 or 100 person)? Same general easy warmup, then we get into some builds and 12 1/2 sprints, basically overspeed of the arms and legs. Then hypoxic, then swim down, again, just before. Although I sometimes give some leeway there based on the person. Believe me, just like the crazy distance athletes, the sprinters are a ridiculous breed out of somewhere in the deep the tropical forest of the Amazon. Have you seen the original sprinters?

Well, what do you think? This is the ancestor that started all the sprinting. But anyway we are talking about warming up…

Triathletes, Masters

You new guys may have joined the crazy training world later in life, but you are still unbelievable trainers and athletes. In some ways your body hasn’t gone through all the rigors of a lifelong training regime. So you are ready to go! I would basically do about the same type of warm up. However, you may know your body’s readiness or you may be more comfortable starting slow and breaking into it. Whatever you do, don’t start at 100%. (Unless of course you like being injured!) Work into the event and let it come to you, you’ll know when it’s time.

So good luck, warmup well, your body will thank you later!

My Reasons for Winter Training

Posted on December 14, 2011 by swimmerjoe

Winter Training.

Different coaches may have their own reasons, but mine is quite simple and easy to understand. After a decent fall season with the age groupers, a week or so break, I normally like to jump back on it. This time, the timing was right-mid December. So we got back on the training, at least for the next 3 to 4 weeks or so. You can follow it in the workout section of swimmerjoe to see what’s going on.

My immediate reasons for it are getting the young athletes swimming harder than normal, building up some pain tolerance, and creating a very solid foundation. Most coaches do this, if athletes and dedicated, they normally have a love-hate relationship with this time of the year or training cycle. My main reason is this: to have the ability to swim higher quality sets in late January and February for the last of short course season. This will give us the ability to do this and create some real crazy speed! It really works, I have done it for years.

There are many different ways to do things in training and get ready to swim fast, and this is one of them. Let me know what you guys do. I am always curious. Have a great season!

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After this FAST Weekend at Junior Nationals!

Posted on December 11, 2011 by swimmerjoe

After this fast weekend at Junior Nationals our younger swimmmers realized several things: Yes it was a fast meet, yes they were older, yes the great coaches were there. But in addition to these, one very important event happened that needed to take place with all these younger athletes. They got to see how close they are to actually competing with these fast swimmers.

Young swimmers got to watch some of the nation’s best swimmers through the entire race process — what they do mentally and physically to get ready to race. They got to see what the A and B Final swimmers look like while swimming backstroke, head position and tempo, or the timing in breaststroke with the efficency and glide is absolutely invaluable! So let’s talk about the Pre, Race and Post race pieces that we observed.

Watching Race Prep
Watching the A and B Final swimmers conduct their race prep is probably what gives them an edge from all the other less experienced swimmers. Beginning with a good warm up and then getting by themselves, mentally going through the race in their head, visualizing (see old post), and swinging and stretching their limbs for maximum speed. What that also does is prepares their muscles from a physiological standpoint. For more information, check this article out. This one is from 2002 and for cycling, but it has all the same principles that apply to swimming. Physiology and your muscles

Most young athletes really don’t know what to do and oftentimes they talk and run around right before events. You know what? The more the young athletes practice their meet prep and spending the effort to do so, the more powerful the process and therefore the more focused, and obviously a better and more ready the athlete is! So get practicing with race prep. By the way, it works. I told one of my athletes just this month to start working on it and get your head in the game…What an absolute turn around! It works.

The Race
The Junior National swimmers showed it this weekend. Plain and simple, training takes over. If you have been training to your expertise or your best efforts, the race will take care of itself. So, listen to your coach, focus on technique, and develop your strength and stamina during practice.

Post Swim Care
We coaches state that warming up and warming down are key to great swimming and the longevity of the body as well as onging performance. But how do we really know this? USA Swimming put out a great article about the art of recovery, check it out! Who knew sprinters needed more swim down than distance swimmers? Watching the Junior National swimmers go directly to the warm down even before speaking with their coach was a good lesson for our young athletes.

Swimming multiple events at multi-day meets are very taxing on the body and young athletes need to realize that. The swimmer with most “in the tank” both physically and mentally on the last day will and should prevail everytime.

After this fast weekend at Junior Nationals our swimmers learned a great deal. Hopefully you can also spread this knowledge throughout your team and develop your own “team Pre, race and post strategy” for greatness.

Let me know how your team or your athletic pre, race and post race has changed and how you have worked on it. I’ll post it here on the blog!

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Need State High School Swimming Results?

Posted on November 10, 2011 by swimmerjoe

Go to Florida Swim Network at http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com, we’ll see you over there!

We now have 3A up under the Results Tab and the High School Tab.

The Night Before the Big One!

Posted on November 9, 2011 by swimmerjoe

For future reference. This blog has moved to the Florida Swim Network site. Go see http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com

by SwimmerJoe

Thinking of you high schoolers. This is the night before the BIG ONE.

Night of fear
Night of excitement
Night of team
Night of sweat
Night of not sleeping
Night of shaving
Night of apprehension
Night of stress
Night of selective thinking
Night of visualization
Night of silence
Night of boredom
Night of waiting
Night of dreaming
Night of winning

Roll over, get the hotel wake up call

Morning of carbs
Morning of slickness
Morning of queasiness
Morning of worry
Morning of intense worrying
Morning of excitement
Morning of readiness
Morning of warming up over and over
Morning of heats
Morning of praying
Morning of giving it the fight of your life
Morning of dreaming
Morning of crying
Morning of the big one
Morning of the rest of your life

Smile and go rest in between

Night of epic proportions
Night of speed
Night of swimming out of your mind
Night of slow motion
Night of noise
Night of extreme stress
Night of fear
Night of bathroom breaks
Night of silence
Night of explosiveness and power
Night of elevated heart rate
Night of unbelievable performances
Night of records
Night of my life

Do it!

Florida Age Group Championships – Day 2 and 3 Recap (swimmerjoe.com)

Start Now! Visualize Yourself Being Great!

Posted on November 8, 2011 by swimmerjoe

For future reference – This blog has moved over to the Florida Swim Network site. Take a look - http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com

After focus, the world’s greatest athletes list visualization as the next most important aspect of their mental training. The importance of this is definitely a must! You have to see yourself being great. I can only speak from my experience, but visualization was huge for me in swimming and other sports that I participated in. (Yes, I was Middle School Champ in wrestling, too!)

In swimming, I would visualize over and over, and over and over again, just to do it absolutely perfect in my mind. I would know how I was going to start, how the stroke felt, how fast the turns were going be, when to breath, on and on until I touched the wall and saw the clock with my best time! Bedtime is the perfect time to practice this…What you can do is relax your body and start from the beginning of your race with how your body feels, the air, the sounds, what you hear and have the special event in your empty relaxed mind. You go through your pre-swim ritual in your head, the stretches, the breathing and the preparation of your event. You see yourself starting swimming and pulling through the water with 100% effort and efficiency….then you glance up at the wall and are extremely overjoyed by the numbers you see on the scoreboard. If you believe you can be the best you can be, if you can actually visualize yourself excelling at your sport and feel the power through your visualization techniques, your will be one mean, powerful and unstoppable athlete!

If you are just training hard that’s great, you will get benefit from that, but if we also add the focus component and visualization technique you will start becoming an even greater well-rounded and more complete athlete. The focus and the visualization probably are worth 50 – 60% of the entire picture, so don’t go on much longer without it. I don’t like giving people a 60% advantage over me doing something and I assume you don’t either! Practice this every night and you will start noticing a difference by mid November…..Let me know how it goes.

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