Food and drink and todays notes

We have the need for some more food and drink for after practices. We have had some parents that have donated items already and our supplies are running low. Typically we give them a juice box/Capri Sun/chocolate milk during their cool down and then a snack on the way to the locker rooms. Individual drinks work best but we can manage with gallons of chocolate milk/juice as well (I think the girls like to see me pour out the drinks for them and act as their butler). Snacks that we have had include cereal bars, granola bars, pretzels, animal crackers, etc. Something with a bit of protein in it is best but not mandatory. If you would be willing, please drop off any items in the pool office at any time. We have drinks that will last us through this Friday but we are all out of snacks. I plan to run to the store during the day today to get us some snacks to last through Tuesday or Wednesday. The girls really appreciate it and we have seen it really benefit them in their ability to recover from day to day.

Our meet this Thursday is at Northview HS (click this link for directions). The bus will be rolling out at 4:15 pm. The girls need to dress up for school and to the meet. We have been getting pretty lax about what dressing up means. The girls should not wear jeans (of any color). We want to present ourselves well and look the part.

The end is in sight for all. The number of tough practices left is dwindling. We have only 4 more tough practices left for non-state qualifiers. Taper for non-state qualifiers starts in two weeks! State girls will start their taper in about four weeks. I think that we have done a great job of periodizing our practices this year and we are seeing the benefits. This is the best group of trainers that I have had the pleasure of coaching. What we have been able to do in training has been remarkable. Not necessarily more yards than we did last year but definitely more quality. Everything that we do has a purpose. It has been a lot of fun to watch from my perspective. I hope that it has been a lot of fun (while being a whole lot of hard work) for the swimmers as well.

It is exciting to look over to the diving well during practice to see our divers trying new dives and getting their dd's up as high as they can. Our divers have been making great progress as evidenced by the great scores they have been putting up!

The starting times for the conference meet have changed a bit. Diving prelims will take place on Thursday. Warm-ups will be 3:30 pm with diving starting at 5:00 pm. The divers will leave immediately following school on Thursday. Swimming prelims will take place on Friday. Warm-ups will start at 3:00 pm and the swimming starts at 4:30 pm. Swimmers will be leaving immediately following school on Friday. Swimming and Diving finals will take place on Saturday. Warm-up starts at 11:00 am and competition begins at 12:30 pm. We will be leaving our pool at 10:40 am. It will cost $5 per session to enter the stands and programs will be available for $1. Doors to the spectator area will open at 4:00 on Thursday, 3:00 on Friday, and 11:00 on Saturday.

I have to take a minute to "toot our own horn" a bit. Last spring I was nominated for the Michigan HS Girls Swim Coach of the Year for the Michigan HS Coaches Association. I will receive the award on November 2. I share this because it is our swimmers and divers that make it happen. I can write workouts and meet line-ups but it is the girls that get in the water and make the great things happen. Along with that there are a lot of other people that have a huge impact on the success of our swim teams like our parents, age group coaches, middle school coaches, and Coaches DeRoos and Smith. It is truly a team effort even though not everyone on the team always get recognized.

I am looking forward to the next six weeks and all the fun (and tough) moments that it will present. How we handle the situations (good and bad) is up to us! It's all in the way we fly.
T