LC time @ WLU

Things were a little hectic today with our WLU workout. The lifeguards had pushed the bulkhead to the wrong end of the pool and so the lane ropes would not fit... so we had to stop our workout and push the bulkhead to the other end of the pool. We also had a bit of a coaching shortage which left me a little busier than usual. I had also planned on using the starting blocks for some start work, but that didn't really go the way I wanted. All in all, it was a bit of a stressful afternoon, but stress is good. Better yet, our ability to function and adjust our game plans under stress was good. I still think that we had a very solid workout between 4 groups and the groups under all 4 plans got exactly what they needed (and Gold got a little bit more). All in all, we still come out ahead, as I was able to get a great rate on the pool time from Nandi (head coach of WLU and ROW). Thank you everyone for coming and for your patience as we get use to using a new pool (new for us).

I lived in Kitchener until I was 16 and spent more hours than I can count swimming up and down the WLU lanes. Being there today brought back a lot of memories. The ROW record board on the pool deck is decorated with swimmers that I used to be close with. The memorial plaque of Victor Davis with a replica of his medal is still on the wall. It looks a lot nicer and cleaner after the renovation in 2009 (the bulk head is also about 20x lighter), but it still reminds me of a lot of good times.

Getting back to the record board, Jen Button's name is still displayed proudly as is Victor Davis' and others that I remember fondly. I thought I would post this video of former ROW member and one of the funniest men I've ever met, Takashi Yamamoto from Japan and his insanely fast 200FLY. His record with ROW is 1:54.13 LC. He was an intense training machine who could kick under 1min LC for 100FLY. Seeing his name on the board made me chuckle a little and made me wonder what he's up to these days. Ah, to be young again. Enjoy the video.