Something NEW is coming....

Stay tuned for a brand NEW segment coming soon on my blog. It's going to be big, insightful and hopefully educational for swimmers, coaches, and parents to review. Watch for this new segment coming Monday April 20, 2015.

March Break 2015

With March Break in full swing it's time for clubs to train insane and prepare for LC but more importantly prepare for the 2015 Canadian Swimming Trials. This time last year I was in sunny Fort Lauderdale swimming crazy mileage which eventually lead to injury upon return from the 2014 Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria. Reviewing the 2014 Trials 'Best Time Present' of only 22% for the country made me realize something is wrong with this picture. Well the first thing that's wrong is swimmers competing at this meet are being run into the ground with heavy training over the March Break which is leading to failure at Trials. Smart coaches will begin the descend in mileage during the March Break if they are known for high mileage. Coaches doing USRPT don't have to worry about descending the mileage, instead increasing the race specific work and technical work to ensure attention to detail is perfect.

My 2015 March Break is quite. I've decided to take the week off. Well that's a lie I'm taking 5 days off from the pool, but still maintaining some dryland work on my own. I plan to do some runs, bike rides and walks to keep moving. A good rule of thumb for taking time off is knowing you won't get out of shape, especially when it's only 5 days. Now if you sit on your tush and watch TV and eat all week, then yes you will feel off heading into your first practice back, but maintaining some movement and doing some conditioning will really help your body regenerate and grow. The swim season is a long one with most swimmers going 11 months of the year at full tilt! So taking a few days off won't make or break your season. ALWAYS listen to your body, and rest if you need it. If are car needs fixing we take it to a body shop and fix it, if are body is crashing we should be taking time off and resting so we can get back stronger.

For those training through March Break, make sure to take time for yourself and spend time with your friends and family. Enjoy the March Break.

2015-2016 Provincial Competition List (Tyson’s Picks)

Now that SC is done (for the most part) and LC is ramping up clubs are looking ahead to the 2015-2016 swim season in terms of bidding for swim meets that are classified as a ‘Provincial Champ’ meet. Reading through the detailed package of information and dates I came across some exciting changes to the schedule as well layout of swim meets. Having said the excitement comes some confusion inside this package. The main part is incorrect dates as well reading through regulations clubs are to meet when hosting ‘Provincial Champ’ meets, many clubs haven’t met the criteria in PAST ‘Provincial Champs’ meets. Now I’m not about to call out any particular ‘Provincial Champ’ meet because there is nothing that can be done now as these meets are completed and there’s no point in reopening a debate over history.

2015-2016 Provincial Competitions Hosting Information

Swim ON Page 2015-2016 Provincial Competitions

The dates that made me take a triple look started right on the hosting information page. Below are some dates that aren't making any sense.

Deadline to submit competition host bids (KINDA OF A BIG DEAL…..) Monday March 27, 2015

No such date… Could it be Friday March 27, 2015? That’s the actual day of the week the 27^th falls on.

2015-2016 Provincial Competition Hosts will be announced (Swim ON community finds out where we get to travel next season for ‘Provincial Champ’ meets) Monday April 5, 2015

No such date… Could it be Sunday April 5, 2015? That’s the actual day of the week the 5^th falls on. (Note the 5^th just so happens to be Easter Sunday….)

Ontario Summer Short Course Festival June 18-20, 2016 (Winter Festival still 2 days…)

In an email to Swim ON I raised the question of Summer Festival and why it was 3 days instead of 2. I didn't think it was a different format or meet because winter was still scheduled for 2 days. In an email response from Swim ON the meet is in fact 2 days NOT 3 days and is an error on the schedule. (Note the schedule on Swim ON as of the writing of this blog post has yet to be corrected).

The final error or inconsistency I found with the report was Division III Team Champs. On the Appendix B titled 2015 Division Team Championships, the document shows in the fifth section on team sizes Division III is 30 athletes but on the 2015 Team Championship Placement page the chart is showing Division III allowing 25 athletes. At the 2014 Team Championships Division III was allowed to take a maximum of 30 athletes. My assumption is 2015 will remain the same as 2014 but one can never assume.    

Ok enough about the errors in the package, time to reveal my 2015-2016 picks for Provincial Competitions!!!!

Date	Competition	TOP PICK	TOP PICK VENUE	SECONDARY PICK
December 4-6, 2015	Ontario Junior International Short Course	Swim ON hosted meet	Pan Am Pool Scarborough	-
December 10-13, 2015	Ontario Winter Short Course Champs	Etobicoke Swim Club (ESWIM)	Etobicoke Olympium	London Aquatic Club (LAC)  @ (CGAC)
January 15-17, 2015	Eastern Cup Long Course	North York Aquatic Club (NYAC)	Pan Am Pool Scarborough	Swim ON host @ Pan Am Pool Scarborough
February 20-21, 2016	Ontario Winter Short Course Festivals	Brantford Aquatic Club (BRANT)	Wayne Gretzky Sports Center	Toronto Swim Club (TSC) @ U of T
March 3-6, 2016	Ontario Spring Long Course Championships	Nepean Kanata Barracudas (NKB)	Nepean Sportsplex	Windsor Aquatic Club (WAC) @ WIATC
March 7-27, 2016	No Sanctioned meets in ON unless Swim Canada National level meet	-	-	-
April 29-May 1, 2016	Ontario Team Champs Short Course Prelims & Long Course Finals	Division I Nepean Kanata Barracudas (NKB) Division II Brantford Aquatic Club (BRANT) Division III Leamington Lasers Swim Team (LLST)	Nepean Sportsplex Wayne Gretzky Sports Center Windsor International Aquatic and Training Center	(Not making second picks for Team Champs as I've based the hosts on teams in receptive divisions)
June 18-20, 2016 June 18-19, 2016 the actual dates	Ontario Summer Short Course Festival	London Aquatic Club (LAC)	Canada Games Aquatic Center	Etobicoke Swim Club (ESWIM) @ Etobicoke Olympium
June 30-July 3, 2016	Ontario Summer Long Course Championships	Windsor Aquatic Club (WAC)	Windsor International Aquatic and Training Center	Brantford Aquatic Club (BRANT) @ WGSC

There you have it my picks for Swim Ontario Provincial Competitions for the 2015-2016 swim season. The locations are based on clubs have an 8 lane 50 meter pool as well I tried to take into consideration the need of a warm down tank. With only a few locations in Ontario meeting the full requirements this is what I came up with. Some clubs and venues will get multiple Provincial Competitions in a season because they have the space for swimmers, parents, as well have adequate warm up/down space. I’m looking forward to the release of the club hosts as well venue locations for the 2015-2016 swim season.

Swim ON What???

This weekend is the 2015 SC Ontario Age Group Championships hosted by the Brantford Aquatic Club at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Center. This competition features the provinces best 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 year old swimmers.

Before I go on I want to make something VERY CLEAR!! I'm not writing this blog post because the host club happens to be the former club I swam for. I'm simply stating I don't agree with Swim Ontario and some of the procedures and structures they use for competitions including SC OAGC.  

Lets flashback to before 2012 when things were a lot simpler in Ontario swimming, but even then there were still problems which prompted Swim ON to change the format of Provincial level competitions. Back in the day when Festivals wasn't on the radar for swimmers. Festivals has taken away a full team Provincial level meet, making for more overall team separation at the Provincial level. Speaking of Festivals for a moment the meet is becoming over subscribed with nearly 800 athletes competing at the 2015 Winter Festivals in Etobcioke. Will leave this for another day.

Back to the over 13 year old's. SC and LC are a different layout now which to makes no sense at all. I questioned on Twitter Sunday night decision to not combined the 16&17 year old's for SC OAGC. I questioned this because at LC Provincials the 16&17 year old's happened to be combined which in a way makes sense because the time standards are the same for both ages. It is frustrating as a coach and swimmer to see the age groups not being consistent. I understand the meets are different but a simple change would to rename the meet.

The thing that pushes my buttons the most is how SC OAGC CURRENTLY doesn't allow athletes over 17 to participate in the meet. They are allowed to swim in the open category at LC Provincial Champs, which is great but it's LC.

Currently over 17 year old athletes are being robbed of a SC Provincial championship meet. I'm happy to see finally Swim ON will be adding in the open category starting in Dec 2015 for Provincials. Back in the day it was nice when the open category had it's own Provincial level meet.

   I think Swim ON needs to take a full look at ALL competitions and get feedback from coaches, swimmers, parents, and officials and take the recommendations to heart and make some serious changes. I hope moving forward Swim ON can provide equal opportunities for ALL it's members and allow the athletes over 17 to compete at meets because not all athletes over 17 are in post secondary swimming for Universities. Hopefully a fare playing 'pool' will be given to all athletes moving forward!

Welcome to Championship Month!!!!

With February in full swing the SC season is wrapping up and LC Eastern's and Western's are coming up in a couple weeks. It's the time everyone has been waiting for and everyone should be in tip top shape ready to rock. Meets this weekend include OUA Champs in Ottawa, Central Regional Champs in Etobicoke, Western Region Champs in Windsor, Western Region Sting Meet in London, and a pile of Time Trials for last chance swimmers to make Festivals, Eastern's/Western's and Ontario Age Group Champs. All the best to swimmers competing this weekend. Below are some links you'll want to be watching.

OUA Champs Ottawa
Meet Results (Also on Meet Mobile)
OUA Swimming
Meet Preview

Central Region Champs Etobicoke
Eswim
Session Report
Meet Results (Also on Meet Mobile

Western Region Champs Windsor
Meet Results

Western Region Sting Meet London
Meet Results (Feb 5th still has 2013 results in, likely to switch by the meet)
Meet Page

'Tis The Season for 'Time Trials'

With January coming to a close and Regional's, Festivals, Eastern's/Western's, and Provincials all on our door steps, clubs are scrambling.

This weekend marks the final weekend for WOSA swimmers to qualify for Regional's in Windsor set for February 6-8 at the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Center, and with a handful of final invitational meets offered at various clubs this weekend clubs are taking things to another level.

Time Trials have popped up all over Swimming Canada for sanction as a last minute opportunity to qualify for a meet. I've swam a few Time Trials in my day and trust me they really don't make a difference. My view is if you can't make a qualifying time in a regular meet chances are you won't make it in your warm home pool during a regular scheduled practice. Having said that, there is the odd time where things do work out, BUT don't count on this happening every time your in a last minute crunch to make a new time standard.

When swimmers are racing in a Time Trial there is added pressure for the swimmer to make the qualifying time as the coach and meet management scrambled at the last second to pull something together... When swimmers fail to reach there time, the swimmer will say harsh things about them self and have the feeling of failure last for sometime after the Time Trial.

Is it worth the trouble???

NO!!!! Time Trials aren't the place to be making a time you need. You should be able to make your times you need a regular invitational or championship meet. Time Trials CAN be a great place to TEST your racing and allow for new things to be done. I've done some mock in practice Time Trials where I'm doing a 200 free with fins to build out my cardiovascular endurance and see where the body shuts down and fails. This what a Time Trial should look like, swimmers practicing to RACE while under pressure of practice, not the pressure of a qualifying time. So the next time you think you need a Time Trial to make a time, think twice about it and think is it worth it? and will I reach my goal?

Check out ALL the Time Trials set for this weekend and past Time Trials here

Saying Goodbye to a "Swimmer Must Have"

On January 13 I woke up and checked my iPhone and noticed I had a couple app update notifications and one of them was my Meet Mobile app. For those of you that don't know what Meet Mobile is, it's an app where clubs can post live results and swimmers, coaches, and parents can view results in a digital, easy to read, viewer friendly way rather then waiting for results to be posted at the pool or for the results to be posted in the traditional "Live Results" link which is close to 100% of the time never posted within 15 minutes of a race ending let alone 'Live'. 

This new update for Meet Mobile was expected and sites like SwimSwam were warning of membership fees were coming for the popular swim result app. Swimmers, coaches and parents waited for what the cost was going to look like, and now we know.

Members will now have to pay $2.29 a month or $6.99 a year to view results on the Meet Mobile app! I for one am deleting this app as I refuse to pay for results when I can simply get them for free from the traditional "Live Results" and they are posted at the pool and to Swim Canada after the meet... Most people found every meet would come around and there would be some sort of problem with Meet Mobile. Don't get me wrong the app was a solid app, but with the amount of problems as of late with results being inputted incorrectly and now with a fee I can no longer keep this app. I understand companies want to make money, but this is just silly. I guess the die hard Meet Mobile lovers will pay the fee but I sure won't be.  

Meet Mobile now has a membership fee. $2.29 for the month or $6.99 annually

 

NEW Meet Mobile home screen