Canada Cup Day 2

Thank you, Ryan Cochrane for agreeing to do that, but also for not treating me like "that guy" who asks for that type of thing... note, thanks to Randy Bennett for being cool about that too.

Day 2 at Canada Cup was alright. Kyle had 2 races today, 100BK and 50FR. Both were best morning swims and second best times ever, but still technically not great. Kyle placed 68th in 50FR and 38th in 100BK. There were some strong positives in both races, but there were some things that should have been better. I, personally, cannot wait to get back to work on Monday to make sure that none of those things EVER happen again. I didn't bring the HHBF camera today so I didn't get those races on tape. Sorry guys. To make up for it, here is a candid version of the video I shot with Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist, Brent Hayden.

Brent, you're a great sport, thank you so much for doing that!

The course I am in is going very well. A lot of light bulbs going off
in my head and a lot of new ideas to try when I get back. I get the feeling that the athletes in my groups hate when I come back from courses because they have to work so much harder on the new ideas I bring back.

We had 3 HHBF athletes do the Swim Ontario Skills Camp in the afternoon: Michael Jans, Britney Dortona and Veronica Fong. All had a great time and picked up a lot of great things for their strokes, turns and dives. From what I saw, it was a great use of time. During that camp, parents watching got a treat; Swimming Canada CEO and Head Coach, Pierre LaFontain did an impromptu speech to the parents. His message: coaches are not perfect so it is up to parents to provide support to them and the club. Find the positive in your situation and make it better. Do not dwell on what is going wrong; things will always go wrong no matter where you are. Pierre also spoke to the Canadian Team members today about the power of positivity. He says that in order to do well in the world, we have to do well first at home, which is a great message and works on any level of athletics. I have been very critical of Canadian Swimming in general and of Pierre, but what he did today for the Canadian Team and the parents sitting, watching the clinic was HUGE. I thanked him personally for it. My perception of him has turned around so much in the past 3 months. I am becoming to understand what he is about and what he is trying to do and I am really starting to appreciate it.

A BIG showing from HHBF fans tonight who showed up in droves to watch finals. HHBF sponsored the 100BK event in finals and through a raffle, Avery Jans and Bronte McMaster got to present the medals for to Tobias Oriwol, Charlie Francis and Brian Johns, 3 of the biggest names in the sport today. I also saw Kyle Haas, Matt Fox, Bjoern-Ole Schrader, Quinn Jaggard and others looking for autographs from some of our best athletes (including Gord McKay, AKA Bizzaro Mike Thompson... you guys really made his day by allow him to sign your shirts). It really was a great day. Thanks everyone for coming.

We have another full day of Canada Cup Swimming in Etobicoke tomorrow. Kyle swims 50BK and 100IM tomorrow. Prelims start at 10am. Finals @ 6pm. Tickets still available at the door. Please come down to see some fast swimming. I'll try to get more video for you guys tomorrow... but now I'm off to bed.

Mike