Test set

Hi parents,

We will be doing our 7x200fr test set tomorrow (Saturday October 30th) from 6am-8am. The elite group will do the test at the same time but will be done at 730 in order to make it to the gym on time. You are all welcome to join us on the deck to help time and record stats. Please note the time change and activities for the morning. Thanks!

Mike Thompson

Are You "In Shape"?

There has been a lot of talk early in the season about how "In Shape" everyone is. Athletes say in passing "I'm in bad shape", or "you're in such good shape". I, personally, am in terrible shape... in that I am in no condition for any type of physical activity. But what does it mean?

There should be an important distinction between "In Shape" and "Fit". Fit would refer to your fitness level, whereas in shape would refer to your fitness level for a particular activity. For example: If you run every day, you are fit. You may even be able to run a marathon, but are you in shape to swim? Most triathletes are fit, but can they swim well? Unless they are swimmers first... usually not.

Lot of our athletes do get involved in other sports during the swim season. In some cases, they need to miss a practice in order to do other sports and I often get asked my opinion on this, so I feel it will be helpful to share my opinion in this forum for more than one person at a time.

Especially for athletes 12 and under, I have no issue with a swim practice being missed for other sports. Specifically in the case of 12 and unders, other sports can actually be beneficial because these athletes are still actively learning abilities like coordination, agility, balance. These do not need to be learned in the pool, and in some cases it is beneficial to learn them outside of the pool. What these athletes lose in pool time, they will make up for while doing the other sport. Another benefit for athletes of this age is they do not have to become sport specific at such a young age that they get bored with 1 sport. As I have said many times before, I have little interest in HHBF having the fastest 12 year olds in Canada an nothing else: I want to have the fastest 17-22 year olds in Canada. If they quit before that because they're bored, it becomes difficult to obtain that goal.

For older athletes it becomes more difficult. As athletes begin to grow, the window of learning on the above abilities starts to close so the ability to make up the difference becomes more difficult. For example, Athelete A will gain a general physical benefit from running 10km, but will lose a water specific skill session. So as athelets get older, it becomes more difficult to balance more than 1 sport (age range of about 12-13 for girls an 13-15 for boys). As athletes approach their peak height velocity (the most speed they will get from their puberty growth) dedication to swimming becomes more important, especially since these athletes will gain no more "accidental" speed from getting bigger. This is when skill and skill execution under stress becomes particularly imporant... or as some may call it: "Being in good swimming shape".

So you can be FIT but not IN SHAPE. The line doesn't really apply until you are in your early teens usually, but once there swimming needs to become a focus.

Swimming is a funny sport to try to explain. It is very complex. If you were a weight lifting coach, you only need to learn to train 1 energy system and to build muscle. Swim coaches have all 3 energy systems to train and balance, as well as over 14 athletic abilities, AND we usualy work with athletes for 5-10 years an have to adjust as they grow and change. There is much more to this sport than just swimming up and down a lane. Parents sometimes do not see that and athletes sometimes do not get involved in this side of training (especially teenaged boys... they have lots of other things going on in their brains). Its not all about the volume of training (distance/hours) but more about the type of training (quality/distance/hours).

***

The following video was shown in yesterday's mental training session with Anne Ottenbright. It's a Nike commercial about trash talk. It has nothing to do with my write up above, but the athletes really liked it so I thought I woul post it here. Enjoy...


Mike Thompson
Head Coach
HHBF

Wednesday Video & General Thoughts

I would like to start this post by asking you NEVER to click on another Google ad EVER again! Google has suspended my ad account because I have been asking people to click on ads, which I find ridiculous, since they benefited from the traffic no matter how they were clicked. Anyway, Google refuses to pay me for the past 5 months of having those ads on my site and the clicks and I cannot do anything about it... except tell you all how Google is refusing ro pay me and ask that you never click on another Google ad again as long as you live. Thanks to everyone who supported me by clicking on ads in the past few months.

The Elite group is exhausted due to an upage in distance since Friday. Last night, I could tell that things were not going well as they were having trouble kicking off of walls and generally had little energy. It has forced me to rewrite my week and tweek this cycle of the season a bit, but I'd rather do that than realize that I've pushed too hard too far down the road. I have to hand it to these 12 swimmers, they really have committed themselves to the program this season and are training very well. I had a few comments from those swimmers saying that they were reluctant to cut down on the work this week even though they were tired, which I appreciate, but I don't want people beat down too early in the season. We have another 9 months left; we can afford to take it slow.

Today's video takes a look at backstroke starts in slow motion from the 2004 Olympics from both over water and under water POV. Backstroke starts have always been interesting to me because I feel that they are taught in too many different ways... most of them wrong. As you can see in the video below, every single one of these athletes has a different type of start: different start position, differenthead position on the start, different order of body parts leaving the wall... but they all have 1 thing in common: everyone's hips stay still until they lift from the water and everyone's butt and knees completely clear the water on the start. Watch...


Now take a look at this one...


In both cases, the athletes use the starting bar as leverage to get themselves off the blocks and ABOVE the water. Backstroke starts (as much as I am told I am wrong by some other coaches) are dives off the wall. Like the other starts, legs are a major part of it but if your arms do not drive you upwards, you just meet water resistance right away when you let go.

This was something that I never truely mastered when I swam, even though I was a pretty good backstroker. Its funny now when I break down movements I think "Well, if someone would have just explaned it to me like this, I would have been 55.50 instead of 56.50 for my 100BK."

The Kaitlyn Fox Foundation

I had a blast last night at the Kaitlyn Fox Foundation's annual fund raiser put on by Laurie and David Fox. It was the first time that I dressed up for a Halloween party since University, and being rusty at the dress up game, I stole some of my daughter's dress up clothes and went as Dora the Explorer (I'm sure that pictures will show up eventually). I was really great to see everyone in a social environment, supporting the foundation set up by the Fox family to educate families about vaccinations. David and Laurie are so strong and have so much heart. I admire them and treasure them as friends. I encourage you all to visit their website for more info on their foundation.

http://katlynfoxfoundation.com

Correction to Yesterday's post and other stuff

I would like to make a correction to yesterday's blog. How could I forget ROMANA MATTHEWS of Laureintian University who is another GDHS alumni swimming in University. Romana will actually be competing with an HHBF cap this season post University competition. I hope that I made this correction before she noticed. So to recap, there are currently 2 swimmers from GDHS Rebels swimming at University, not 1 as I posted yesterday. Sorry, Romana!

Last night, former National Team member and one of the fastest breaststrokers in Canadian history, Jen Noddle, came to visit our Gold group to share some knowlege with them about breaststroke. I feel that her visit went very well. Although less meterage than normal, Jen spent lots on time on body position and teaching. The girls in the Gold group were especially engaged and I think that the group in general learned something. I was happy to have Jen Noddle in especially since I could not get the Gold group to meet with Jen Button on Saturday. I will continue to draw on my network of resources to keep these swimmers exposed to new visitors, ideas, drills and techniques as often as possible. I just don't want to drain my resources too early in the season.

The Video of the day is one that was sent to me by Kyle Haas earlier this week. Kyle asks if the swimmer in the video (listed as Hill Taylor on You Tube) is faster than Ryan Lochte. My imediate answer is no. The video I posted a couple of weeks ago of Ryan doing 50 dolphin kick underwater was done at a swim clinic in California. Ryan was likely not well rested (he has a reputation as a bit of a party animal) and was asked with no prep to demonstrate how fast he could kick 50 underwater. 25.01 seconds with no prep is VERY good! Hill Taylor kicks it in 23.10 in this video during a LC University meet (it looks like in the southern USA). So is Hill Taylor faster?

Does it matter? Have you ever heard of Hill Taylor? How many world records does he hold? He was obviously fast enough to make the final of 50BK at a University meet, but his prelim time was only 28.43. Kyle Haas, on paper, you are faster. Ryan Locte, on the other hand, holds the WR for 200IM LC and has held both IMs and both BK events SC. So I defend that Ryan Lochte has nothing to worry about from Hill Taylor (based on this video).

As I have mentioned several times this season, the fastest people in the world are getting faster by mastering underwater dolphin kick. Lots of people have gotten very good at it. Maybe rules should be put in place for it and it should be considered an event. Can you imagine the level of difficulty of a LC 100m underwater dolphin kick? Obviously a WR at this point would be silly because there are no rules. Hill Taylor rolls (did I spell that one right, Lori?) onto his stomach before he finishes which, in my book, should be against the rules for that event. Butterfly came to be a stroke as a variation of breaststroke, so maybe this is the new event. What do you think? Email me... not that I can make it happen or anything... Just want to know what you think.

In the mean time, enjoy the video below. DQ or not, it is very cool to watch.

OFSAA and the damage it does...

I would like to preface this entry by the usual: These are my opinions only and do not reflect those of Swim Ontario, The SNC, Coaches of Canada, Coaches of Ontario or of HHBF.

It is Late October and the beginning of the High School swim season. HHBF mornings go earlier (which I love) and the pool deck is jam packed with GDHS Rebels swimmers when HHBF completes their 70min workout. It amazes me how many swimmers show up for the Rebels every season... well, maybe amazed isn't the word... Astonished? Shocked? I'm not really sure.

Many of these swimmers are former Blue Fins who, for whatever reasons, left HHBF to pursue a swim career with less training and less competition in their races. Some of them are new comers to the sport and some just join to throw it on a University application. Whatever the reason it is a mixed emotion for me and I always find myself torn.

The OFSAA rules for swimming are quite unique in that they separate anyone who is affiliated with a club program and force them to compete against ONLY others that are affiliated with a club program. For example, a high school athlete who swims for a club but does not qualify for a regional championship MUST compete against the provincial champion in that event. Meanwhile, athletes who are not affiliated with a club may compete against others who are not, even if that person had been swimming with a club from age 4 until the week before the high school season starts. Does this seem fair to anyone...?

Further to this, HHBF had be plagued with reasonably good athletes leaving in the past just to get the advantage of NOT having to swim against other club athletes... Yes, athletes that were provincial level (sometimes higher) would stop swimming to avoid the competition of other club athletes and dominate the High School meets. Stop me when this seems unfair to you...

I am torn by OFSAA's rules because it does have a positive side... mainly that athletes will join because they don't have to worry about getting killed by the provincial champion... however, athletes still competed in High School ball even though they had to compete against Lebron James and St Mary's. Club athletes still compete at meets where they know they have no chance of winning their event... so what is the true benefit of this? Swimming is a life skill, so I'm glad people join my sport for that skill... however, the Town of Halton boasts the most lifeguards per capita in Ontario (don't quote me on that stat, I heard it casually in conversation but cannot find it in writing), so team or not, people are still learning this skill. So what is the advantage of separating the athletes like this?

One major down side to this is that CIS swimming suffers HUGE! Its great that there are student swimmers (non club) that can do a 2:02 or faster for 200FR but they only train for 4 months of the year... and only a few hours/week at that. Don't get me wrong, they are very talented athletes, but they are not used to the demands that training requires. Once they arrive at University, the problems start... allow me to elaborate:

Swimmer A arrives at the University of Western Ontario for their first year of University. They won OFSAA in their category, swam club until they were 13 and then quit to swim for their High School. They think that their pretty good and want to compete for the University. Here is the catch; Western asks that students make a min of 7 workouts/week. Western also has to make cuts because they can only cary so many athletes on their team. Student A is out of shape and is discouraged by the National Record holder in the lane next to them on the first day. They decide that they cannot maintain 7 workouts/week and keep up with school work. Student A quits. Canada loses a very talented athlete. End of story.

This happens EVERYWHERE and it is not new. I swam at WLU with several National record holders and medalists. We were joined by a non-club breaststroker one year who won OFSAA with a time of 1:06 for 100BR. Pretty fast, but this athlete lasted less than a full season before deciding that he could not handle the requirements on him between school and swimming.

There are obviously different tiers of University teams and some do exist where anyone could walk on (Ryerson comes to mind), but many of them now: Guelph, Western, U of T, Ottawa, Laurentian, Waterloo are amongst University teams that are dominated by FAST club swimmers. They all run with a club structure of workouts and would be like a high school athlete joining the top group of any club. How many high school athletes are willing to do that?

I had a conversation with a Rebel this morning who told me he was planning on attending one of these universities next season and that he planned on swimming. When I recomended that he join HHBF at the end of his high school season so that he could get himself in decent shape without impacting his OFSAA eligability this season, he grew concerned that it would interfere with his school work. This athlete is pretty good. It's sad for me that Canada will likley lose this athlete to "studies" unless he, and more like him, are willing to treat themselves like athletes. If I can graduate University with a double major while training 18-22 hours/week, I'm almost positive smart people can do it too.

So here is the point of my argument: this year GHDS Rebels will get probably 100 people on thier team. How many of them will go on to swim at University? The Rebels usually have upwards of 80 people / year on their team... how many are in a University program right now? 1. Jenn Ormiston now swims for WLU and placed top 10 in 50BR this past weekend at a large meet in Guelph. Great result for her and she is setting a fantastic example for the other 80 people/year who do not make it... but tell me that those 80 couldn't make it. I can show you data that proves that they can, they would rather find an easier way. OFSAA is teaching them to look for that easier way.

The OFSAA structure must change if Canada really wants to "Own the Podium". Its a gold mine here with the amount of athletes in Ontario that end up fizzeling out before their careers even really begin. Arguing against this easy way for athletes to win is not far off of arguing against doping in my books. I say it is time to break this separation and treat Swimming the same as Cross Country, Basketball, Volleyball, Track, Tennis... come to think of it, lets treat it like most other sports. I see no value in this separation at all and see much benefit in it's repeal since most of our athletes don't make it to University, thus evaporating prior to their prime. Swim Ontario must know that most of our athletes are sitting on their couches instead of training in a pool... and yet they do not demand any change and still sanction the OFSAA Championships. The frustration always begins in October.

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.