Happy Fathers Day!
Yesterday, HHBF held a time trial in the morning at GHIP. The morning saw some success as Livy Olson, again broke the HHBF club record in 200FLY, this time in short course metres (SCM). Nolan Haas also obtained his 800FR prerequisite for provincials (fitting since he qualified in 3 events). Britney Dortona missed her 800FR standard and will get 1 more shot on Tuesday at a time trial in Etobicoke. Wish her luck.
At 2:00pm on Saturday, some of the Elite group made the trip to London, ON to train with Mississauga Aquatic club in London's Thames Park Pool (an outdoor 50m pool). The athletes (Britney Dortona, Emma Fender, Keri-Lyn Copeland, Matt Fox, Bjoern-Ole Schrader, Nolan Haas, Mitchell Krafczek and Kyle Haas) trained from 4:45-7pm on Saturday in the blazing sun. We then got some diner at Eastside Mario's and retired to our hotel. Sunday morning, the athletes woke up and went back to Thames Park for another 2 hour practice from 9am-11am which consisted mostly of longer swimming. London Aquatic Club and Team Canada member, Matt Kwatyra stopped by at the end of this practice to talk about his preparation for Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru this summer as well as his decision to stay local next season in order to focus on 2012 Olympic Trials. Special thanks to Matt for spending his day off with us.
The weather was fantastic! Very sunny and very hot on both days. Swimmers going to Age Group Nationals (which is in an outdoor pool in Montreal this summer) got the opportunity to get used to swimming against the wind and sun so that it does not shock them when its race time. Others will get the benefit from the long course training going into Provincials in 2 weeks. EVERYONE had a great time training in the sun and getting away as a team. A lot of us had fun and it is definitely something we are looking forward to doing again.
I got home around 2 today and took a nap. I was exhausted as this is a very busy time of the year! Now, I'm up and writing this post while I wait for my wife and children come home to enjoy some time with me on Fathers Day. I hope that all dads have a great day today! Happy Fathers Day, guys!
