2015-2016 Provincial Meet Hosts

Swim Ontario has now posted the hosts for the 2015-2016 Provincial meets for most of the competitions and surprisingly a lot of my picks  that I made about a month ago were bang on. Below I have included the full list that Swim Ontario posted.

All and all not overly shocked by these results, all though a couple of clubs aren't on this list that I thought would be, all though a couple of meets are still up for grabs. Congratulations to the clubs on successful bids for the 2015-2016 swim season. Running Provincial meets takes a strong team of fair officials and a state of the art pool to run the meet in. Most of these clubs listed here are able to provide those important qualities for swimmers success.

2015-2016 Provincial Competitions Hosting Information

Update Friday April 24th,

2015-2016 Provincial Competition Hosts

Ontario Winter SC Championships - December 10-13, 2015 - Etobicoke Swimming - ESWIM

Eastern Cup January 15-17, 2016 - Toronto Swim Club - TSC

Ontario Winter Festival - February 20-21, 2016 - Markham Aquatic Club - MAC

Ontario Spring LC Championships - March 3-6, 2016 - Nepean Kanata Barracudas - NKB

Division I Team Championships - April 29 - May 1, 2016 - Etobicoke Swimming - ESWIM 

Division II Team Championships - April 29 - May 1, 2016 - Brantford Aquatic Club - BRANT

*Division III - April 29 - May 1, 2016 - TBD

Ontario Summer Festival - June 18 - 20, 2016 - Mississauga Aquatic Club - MSSAC

**Ontario Summer LC Championships - June 30 - July 3, 2016 - TBD

*There were no bids on hosting Division III Team Championships.  The bid will remain open until June 1st, 2015.  At this time if there are no hosts, the meet will not be offered in the 2015-2016 season.

**Swim Ontario is still in the process of determining the 2016 Ontario Summer LC Championships.  An announcement will be made at such time as a hosting decision has been made.

#Tmacswims 1st 'Links of the Week'

As promised last week I have been working on a new bit for my blog and I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. If you follow me close on Facebook or Twitter you'll know I share A LOT of cool swim posts from sites like SwimSwam, Swimming World, Swimming Science and today I'm launching a new weekly segment where I'm posting my favorite links with a short bit on what I think of the topic. My goal is to have between 5-7 links for each week, now some may have less (like this 1st post for example) and my goal is to have this 'Links of the Week' posted every Monday to help kick start your week.

1. What I Learned on my way to Swimming 35,000 Meters Last Week

More and more swimmers need to start having fun and enjoying themselves more in workout as well at meets. As an 18 year old I know that the days of 'a best time' in every race are over, heck if I swim a 0.01 best time it's huge. The important thing here is to have a plan and stick to the plan, if your falling off your path you need to figure out how to get back on the path by conferencing with your parents, and as well talking to your coach, but most importantly having faith in you that everything will be alright.

2. Tech Suits Tech Suits Everywhere

Every meet I attend it's obvious nearly all swimmers are in $300 + suits for guys and $450 + suits for girls and I always wonder where is the line crossed? Is it really worth all the money for these expensive suits? I'm a true believer in certain suits really should only be worn by certain swimmers. For example, athletes that haven't made a 'National level time' (Eastern's Western's Olympic Trials Summer Nationals or Canadian Age Group Champs) then they really don't need a suit over $300 BUT of course if the athlete or the athlete's parents is willing to fork out the money for these expensive tech suits then be my guest and go for it but really it won't make you faster, instead boost your confidence.

3. Records Records Records

I always love reading and watching Canadian, Ontario, or Meet Records fall. It gives me as a swimmer motivation to swim faster and faster. Currently Swim ON has a lot of FAST up and coming swimmers that could very well be one's to keep our eyes on heading into the 2016 Olympic Trials.  Penny Oleksiak at just 14 years of age is on fire breaking Canadian Records nearly every time she dives into a race. Javier Acevedo he may only have the 50 free 13-14 SCM National Age Group Record but this dude is getting closer and closer to those 15-17 National Age Group Records. I watched him swim at the Ontario Age Group Champs in Brantford back in March and his strokes are beautiful to sum them up in one word. This dude is a tough swimmer training through many meets most swimmers in this country would 'taper' for. With his Bronze medal performance at the 2015 Canadian Swimming Trials in the 100 free with a time of 49:85 and cracking the 50 second mark for the first time, like Oleksiak, Acevedo is one to watch this summer at the World Junior Championships as well next spring at the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials. Finally, we have the 13-14 boys quad from the Markham Aquatic Club where they are breaking both Canadian Age Group Records and Ontario Records for relays. Now back in a previous blog post I talked about Time Trials being a waste for swimmers, BUT these four 13-14 year old boys are stepping up EVERY TIME they dive into the water trying to chase down a record and it's paying off for these four boys. Congrats to all these swimmers mentioned in this blog post. Swimmers like Oleksiak, Acevedo, and the Markham quad are what's shaping Ontario and Canadian swimming. Good luck at future meets and I look forward to reading about more record breaking swims in the months to come.

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