Can you find the real Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale?

Blue and Gold Meet - A Success!

Gold's cheer

...But Blue is NOT impressed

...Blue's cheer

Gold team in Beijing 400 Free Relay Celebration

Alyssa and Amanda... (Are they talking smack?)

Nellie in the Shark Team Challenge

Team: Thank you for the enthusiasm with which you participated in the Blue and Gold Intrasquad meet this past weekend. It was a ton of fun for the coaches, and hopefully for the athletes as well. I particularly enjoyed my role as diving judge.

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Props to Alyssa for taking the Push-Up Competition for the second year in a row (I guess we call that undefeated). Brittany defended her title in the Underwater Competition with another 65 yards. And Amanda made her way to the podium with the Somersault Competition... was is 12??? Congrats to Lissa for an impressive showing in the Ugly Suit Competition, though Isabel was a close second! The Blue team had a stellar showing in the Beijing 2008 Men's 400 Freestyle Relay Celebration Impersonation Contest (Suzie's impression of Phelp's full body flex - see above photo - was definitely the deciding factor), although I do have to commend the Gold team on their attention to detail with Bernard's devastation ("Je parle francais!"). Gold took the Gold in the final "Relay"... The Shark Challenge (and I think I owe Christina 5 bucks because I verbalized my certainty that the inflatable shark would pop!). The Blue team picked up an extra five points in the Team Cheer Competition and I am dying to learn the words - all I remember is "Use. Your hips. Use. Use. Your hips." On a more serious note, the dives look strong and the swims were solid, and above all else, the team seemed unified! We (the coaches) were very pleased to see and hear a constant stream of encouragement.

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And Gold, don't forget that, as the winning team, you are responsible for writing the practice for Friday, November 6th.

WINTER TRAINING TRIP 2009-2010

SARASOTA, FLORIDA

The Simmons Swimming and Diving team, as usual, will be heading South for winter training this January. As you know, this is an integral part of the season. Returning to Boston after a week of heavy training, is always a huge turning point in the season.

Here are some trip details:

* TRAINING: Sarasota YMCA
http://www.sarasota-ymca.org/
Swimmers will train Long Course Meters in the AM and Short Course Yards in the PM. Divers will have access to two 3-meter boards and two 1-meter boards.

* ACCOMMODATIONS: Siesta Key (TBD)
http://www.visitsiestakey.com/
Accommodations will include 4-6 people/room with full kitchens. We will cook all our own meals.

* TRIP DATES: January 7-14, 2009
* TRAVEL PLANS: Boston to Sarasota (group travel: Delta Airlines)
* COST: $400/person (includes airfare, pool rental, hotel, transportation & food)

October Swim Fest 2009

The Second Annual OCTOBER SWIM FEST was a huge success! Thank you to all the Simmons swimmers and divers that helped out timing, working the registration table and scoring table, posting results, etc. We had 64 athletes participate (twice what we had last year) and the event brought in over $1000 for the team's fundraising account. Already, I have received a number of emails from happy Masters swimmers that had a blast at the meet:

"...At breakfast after the meet, all of us on LANES were talking about how great your swimmers were. Really fun to have them as timers" -S. Ehrlich

"...Thank you to all your volunteer timers!" - G. Davis

"...Thank you Mindy and to all of the swimming and diving team- nicely run meet, very energetic group! Was a fun meet." - K. Stokes

I hope you guys had fun. I certainly did!

Stroke Drills: Review

Team: Great job with the last few days of our annual "Stroke Clinic". In addition to seeing what each athlete's strengths and weakness were in terms of strokes, Christina and I were also able to see and guage the control that each athlete had to manipulate her body in the water. Even if the strokes weren't FAST, the coaches were still able to identify athletic ability and potential by whether or not they drills were don correctly. Below is a list of drill for your reference. Please incorporate these drills into daily workouts:

BUTTERFLY:
* Single Arm
* 3-Series
* 8 UW Kicks/Stroke
* Scull-Press
* Surf Drill
* Head Lead Dolphin Kick
* Short Axis Drill

BACKSTROKE:
* 8 Kick/Switch
* 8 Kicks/3 Strokes (8/3)
* False Lift
* T-Rex
* Wide Entry
* One Arm Out
* Roll Kick
* 3-Series

BREASTSTROKE:
* 3-Second Glide
* 2 Kicks/Pull
* Fast Hands Forward (fluter kick)
* Breast w/ Dolphin Kick
* Underwater Pullouts (plural!)
* Crossover
* Breast kick w/ a scull
* Chicken-wing

FREESTYLE:
* 8 Kick/Switch
* 8 Kicks/3 Strokes (8/3)
* Shark Drill
* Finger Tip Drag
* Zipper Drill
* Feather Drill
* Partial Catch-up (PCU)
* Head Position (Goldilox)
* 3-Series

Remember: Drills should be done slowly and correctly. It is a DRILL because we are emphasizing, exaggerating or isolating an aspect of the stroke. If you don't know why a certain drill is beneficial to your stroke... ASK!!

ACTION SHOTS!

At this afternoon's practice (Friday, October 9th), a photographer will be there to take some action shots (good thing we've been working on technique!). Returners, please wear last year's team suits & caps if you have them. First-years, if you have a solid suit (navy, blue, black, etc.), please wear that as well as a Simmons cap.