Links of the day with Jocelyn Jay

This is a graduation speech from over the weekend, that has gone viral.

David McCullough Jr., an english teacher from Wellesley High School in Massachusetts spoke to 400+ graduates about "embracing failure rather than always striving to avoid it. Creativity, he added, should be for the good of others because "selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself." An excellent speech, with humour and whole lot of truth!!!!!

What do you do to best prepare yourself to race your best? Can you do more?  Planning and preparing for competition ~ http://ow.ly/bx4vu 

What does your best practice look like? "What is the swimming version of this?" http://ow.ly/bx5rl


#coachmikepodcast episode 20 talks about Jozsef Nagy's comments about Canadian Swimmers.

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Enjoy the day...

An Amazing Weekend for the Blue Fins

13 year old Britney Dortona won a silver medal in girls 100FR this weekend at the International Giochi della Gioventu Games in Italy. Britney was selected to the Canadian Team out of a tough field including Provincial and National level medalists.This competition is for swimmers with Italian background born in 1997 or 1998. The eight swimmers selected had the opportunity to represent Canada in a swim competition held in Italy. "This is a great opportunity for swimmers to compete against swimmers from other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, United States and of course Italy," said head coach of the delegation, Andrea Pittis. "It is also a great opportunity to discover the Italian traditions and culture." Britney is the second Blue Fin (Kyle Haas) to represent their country in an international meet this season.

Meanwhile in Etobicoke, ON, the Blue Fins finished 10th at the Central Region Championships. There are over 40 teams in the Central Region. Amongst highlights were 11 year old Lauren Monhemius winning the 100FR and 200FR events and winning the High Point trophy, Elizabeth Skuriat and Loren O'Brien-Egesborg finishing 2nd and 3rd in womens 200BK and Jenna Galea's silver medal in girls 10 & under 50FR with a new HHBF club record.

HHBF's girls 13-14 relay teams comprised of Aysia Leckie, Clancy Harris, Bronte McMaster, Emma Fender and Brooklyn Shelley earned silver and bronze medals in the 200FR and 200 Medley relays. Jenna Galea, Lauren Monhemius and Livy Olson are amongst HHBF's new qualifiers for the Provincial Championships in Nepean, ON in July.

Historically we finish between 18th-24th in this meet but our depth has improved to the point that we're seeing such great improvement everywhere. We are achieving what we have set out to do. This is certainly a different club than it was 4 years ago. I'm so proud of all our athletes!

Other top 8 finishers at the Central Region Championships included:

Aaron Brautigam (17) 7th 800FR, 8th 50FR

Emma Fender (13) 6th 800FR, 3rd 400FR, 6th 200BR, 2nd 400IM, 3rd 200FR, 3rd, 100FLY

Anthony Hartsink (11) 7th 100FLY

Quinn Jaggard (14) 8th 200IM, 6th 100BK, 4th 400IM, 2nd 50FR

Michael Jans (13) 8th 800FR

Mitchell Krafzcek (16) 6th 200IM, 1st 200BR, 4th 400IM, 3rd 100BR

Aysia Leckie (13) 1st 800FR, 3rd 200IM, 1st 400FR, 4th 100BK, 3rd 400IM, 5th 100FLY

Bronte McMaster (14) 5th 50FR

Lauren Monhemius (11) 7th 800FR, 5th 400FR, 1st 100 & 200FR, 4th 400IM

Paige Olmstead (13) 8th 800FR, 6th 100BK, 7th 200BK 2nd 1500FR

Aleksandar Plackoski (12) 8th 400FR

Brooklyn Shelley (14) 8th 100BR

AJ Tarczy (15) 7th 100BK

Mackenzie Warnock (11) 8th 200BR

Chris Zanewycz (12) 8th 200BR

International Silver Medal for Blue Fin

13 year old Britney Dortona won a silver medal in 100FR yesterday in the Giochi della Gioventu games in Italy. Congrats Britney! We are very proud of you!

Update: more details, pictures and videos can be found HERE.

Links of the Day with Jocelyn Jay

I know its a day late, but...

Butterfly pulling pattern...some thoughts ~ http://ow.ly/bdYsH

The need for speed... http://youtu.be/tu1y0DfBMmc

The mindset of Champions ~ http://ow.ly/blXQZ - Practice and hard work will take you further than your natural born ability.  Learn work ethic and grow!

DID YOU KNOW???  Those stickers on fruits and veggies tell you quite a bit! 4 numbers mean they were conventionally grown. 5 numbers starting with number 8 means they are genetically modified (GMO). And 5 numbers starting with 9 means they were organically grown.

Moving Forward

By Lindsay Seemann

My heart is beating fast. I am staring at the office door, the blinds are shut but I know who is inside. I hear my head coach talking to one of my teammates. I know what they are talking about, and I am about to have the same conversation in a number of minutes. My heart is pounding out of my chest, and all I can think about is when I called Frank Busch to commit to Arizona. How nervous I was, and how excited I was for the future. The same emotions are coming back. How has it come to this? So much has changed in the past year, month, week, and even the past 24 hours. The door opens. Aubrey Peacock walks out the office door and I step inside to explain to Eric Hansen that my time swimming at the University of Arizona is over. 

When I came to the University of Arizona I was filled with excitement. I was a young freshman with ambitions. I had aspirations in the water that I was anxious to obtain while completing a college degree. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life after swimming, but there was one thing I knew for certain; I wanted to be an Arizona Wildcat. 

Arizona was even better than I expected. Amazing teammates, coaches and hot weather surrounded me all year long. Everyday was a day in paradise. I was excited for what the next four years held. I was certain that I was going to experience and be a part of the Arizona Swimming and Diving Legacy.

As a freshman I was told by graduating seniors to cherish every moment here, because before I knew it I would be saying my goodbyes. Those seniors were right, I said my goodbyes earlier than I expected.

Its strange how things work out. How first impressions get over turned, or how people evolve from one person to another.

I never thought I would leave the University of Arizona. I never thought of choosing Arizona as a mistake. I had fallen in love with Arizona and I never thought I would leave. I have always praised loyalty and I felt I must be loyal to my teammates and the Arizona name.

Seeing so many people transfer to Arizona, I never thought I would be someone to transfer out.

When my teammate, Aubrey Peacock sat me down and explained that she was going to be leaving Arizona, I was not upset, angry or sad – I was jealous. Without missing a beat the first words out of my mouth were, “Good for you.”

Confused by my emotions I began to analyze why I was at Arizona. I didn't understand why I was jealous of Aubrey. I love this place. I LOVE this team. Why am I jealous?

Since I arrived at Arizona my goals seemed to drift farther away from me. They no longer seemed realistic. It seemed that everyday I jumped into the water my goals moved farther away.

My freshman year I moved backwards. With mono, every workout in the pool just made me more exhausted. I was more tired on taper. I felt I wasting away to nothing. I should be sleeping. I need to recover.

At the end of my first PAC 10 conference meet, I sat on deck with Frank. He was confused, puzzled, at a loss for words. He didn’t understand what we did wrong. I had known I was relapsing with mono while I was tapering for conference. I didn’t tell him- what would that do? Trainers might tell me not to swim. Then all my hard work would be a waste and I would never get to compete for Frank again.

I choked back my tears as Frank racked his brain, trying to think of what he could have done differently to help me prepare for this meet. I wanted to scream. I felt horrible. I never wanted to put Frank in this place. He couldn’t have done anything different. I told him how I felt; how I was feeling all the symptoms of mono again. He told me that he believed in me. How heknew I could accomplish great things. At that moment, it was all I needed to hear. It was all the motivation I needed not to climb into a ball, quit swimming and give into this disease.

My sophomore year, Eric Hansen took over Arizona Swimming and Diving and I worked with the assistant coach Geoff Hanson. As I struggled to regain my health, I also struggled to adjust the new program.

I didn’t pick the coaches, and they didn’t pick me. There is a recruiting process for a reason; it’s a game of match making. Some swimmers work well with some coaches, while they don’t work well with others. It’s hard to establish trust when a coach takes over and you have no idea who you are dealing with. It’s especially hard because this coach has to learn how to deal with 50 new swimmers at once. I had a rough freshmen year, which didn’t make me a priority. It makes sense. If you have two broken down cars in your garage, a Ferrari and Toyota, which one do you want to fix first?

I realized it was okay to leave.

There were three of us who decided to leave, Hallie Stupp, Aubrey Peacock and myself.

We had all told our head coach the same day. We weren’t trying to gang up on him by doing it one after another. It just happened that way. We had all reached our boiling point the day before and there was no point hiding it from everyone. There was something in the air and to the three of us it was toxic.

The day we told our head coach, Aubrey called a team meeting before practice in our women’s locker room.  One after another the three of us explained our reasons for leaving. I do not know how to describe the mood in that room. Every person in the room was experiencing a different emotion. A blend of sadness, forgiveness, joy, understanding, and confusion filled the room. I am not even sure how I felt. The words flew out my mouth and I had no control over them- however I don’t even think anyone was really listening. Everyone was thinking so loud no one could hear the words being said or sounds in the room. This meeting was really hard to sit through, but it made me so happy. How could something that made me cry so much feel so good? I was happy to leave.

I had lost all faith in myself during my sophomore year and was not sure if I even wanted to swim. I had no plans. After I finished my last exam I realized that for the first time in my life I had no obligations to anything. I was not enrolled in school, and I was not a part of a team. I had nothing to do but pack by bags and say goodbye to some of the best people I have ever met.

For the first time since I arrived at Arizona I am excited about swimming again. I have allowed time for the wounds to heal since deciding to leave Arizona and I am working on round two of the NCAA recruiting process. I am going to go to school in the states; I am going to swim in the NCAA, and its not going to be at a top five program. It is going to be something completely different than my experience at Arizona. This is not because I didn’t like Arizona- I loved it there. But just because I like oranges doesn’t mean they are the only thing that will make me happy; I like apples too.

I am not trying to recreate my time at Arizona. I am looking to start new. I am looking for a place to move forward.

It doesn’t matter if people don’t believe in you. As long you can find a way to believe in yourself nothing else matters. If you ever find yourself losing faith in what you can accomplish, it does not mean you have made a mistake- it means you need to make a change.

Bad News for Open Water Swimmers...

Swim Ontario posted today that The 2012 Ontario Open Water Provincials will be held on Sunday August 19, 2012 in Welland, ON ( in conjunction with the 1st FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships and Niagara Open Water Festival). This, much to the dismay of everyone wanting to participate at the end of their season.

I feel that this is unfortunate for a number of reasons, not least of which, because many swimmers hoped to do this after or instead of Ontario Provincial Championships as an end to their season. Instead of being able to do this early July, swimmers will now have to train until mid August in order to participate, which leaves many clubs scratching their heads and wondering how to pay for pool time and coaching for an extra few weeks (outside of their budget). 

HHBF has not budgeted for an extra month of training time or coaching so unfortunately, Blue Fins who chose to participate will be registering and training on their own for a great deal of time. This is an extreme letdown to me, as I was really looking forward to Open Water Provincials. I do not direct my frustration and disappointment at Swim Ontario (as they had no choice in this matter) but I direct it at the same people who open AGN up to 2000 swimmers, make it go so late in the year and continually push the agenda of having swimmers swim year-round. I think this is an unfortunate decision, but one that the Ontario Swimming community will have to deal with. I apologize to all Ontario Swimmers who feel the same as me.

Swim Ontario's official announcement and the details of the meet can be found HERE.

Goals vs Tasks: Why we mustn't eliminate the possibility of failure.

The purpose of this post is not goal setting, but more specifically about the importance of RISK in these goals.

Considering failure is very important when setting goals, in that, you need to be able to fail. Absence of the risk of failure, your goal becomes a task.  The difference between the two:

Task: I am going to get a bottle of water from the store.

Goal: I am going to get strong enough to walk to the store to get a bottle of water.

The task could be something off of a "To Do List". The goal is something that could go wrong; I have to build the strength in order to get there. If I don't build the strength, I can't walk there. The difference should be pretty clear here; a task is something that takes very little effort and a goal is something quite a bit more difficult to achieve. You could be a master of goal achievement if you only set goals you could achieve. Goal #1, wake up Goal #2 have lunch, etc or perhaps less ridiculous, setting a swim standard that you knew you could definitely achieve, setting out to beat someone that you know you should beat... in other words, setting the bar very low.

Failure teaches people a lot, especially kids. Teaching your children how to cope with goal failures can make them very successful in life. Whether its learning how to deal with a missed time standard, not being selected for a team or missing a final or a medal at an important meet; this experience can help your children later in life (applying for jobs and interview skills always come to mind here). Former Canadian Olympian, Casey Barrett, spelled this out very well in a column about Stephan Herniak; "And when those moments don’t pan out as planned, well, those are often the men and women who stay hungry for life."

As a parent of young children, I understand the thought process behind not wanting your children to fail. I watch my son try to climb everything with the goal of conquering all of the furniture in my house. There is clearly a risk to this, as he has fallen more than once. The interesting thing to me is that, over time, he has been more reluctant to climb things without foot holds or that he cannot see the top of. He has learned from the mistakes he has made and learned to make more calculated climbing risks (as well as a two year old can). I don't want him to hurt himself but it is important to me that he understand his abilities and learn from mistakes. Failure has made him a much smarter child (although he is still a pain in the butt pleasant individual). 

Staying focused on a goal is also important. I cannot count the number of times I have watched athletes (both as a coach and as a team mate) make excuses or bargain about an upcoming goal test. For example; "Is there a way that I can qualify for this team earlier so I have an extra chance" or "I hope that (name of competitor here) gets sick or can't compete". Its natural to want to eliminate the stress of the final goal and natural to want it to be easier. Unfortunately, its not reality. In these cases, these athletes have stopped focusing on what THEY have to do in order to be successful and are focused on either the outcome or uncontrollable variables. Sports is a great character builder because it forces a lot of focus; focus on what YOU have to do. Stay focused on your goals, not the risk associated with them.

We're coming into championship season for Canadian Swimming and this is the time for pass or fail in goals. In the next 2 months (even during the Olympics), many will see their goals realized but many more will fall short of their mark. The opportunity to test yourself and work as hard as you can and the possibility to see your goal realized is what sports is all about. The possibility of failure comes with the territory. Do not be afraid to fail. Do not be afraid to let your children fail. It doesn't mean that they're weak individuals, it means that they are learning to be stronger. Failure doesn't mean that its time to pack up and move onto something else.


As my children go through adolescence and their teen years, I imagine it will get tougher and tougher on me every time they get their hearts broken or are overcome by emotion because of a missed opportunity or failure. This is where the coach in me will step in. I will remind them of the video below and tell them to dust themselves off. Then I will go in the other room and try not to feel sorry for them by reminding myself that they're stronger because of it.