I've seen a huge improvement in our junior program this year. Congrats to Henry, Gordon, Monica, and Alex who have been working with these guys, and of course to all of the hard working swimmers.
We saw some of this improvement at the Dragon's Den Meet over the weekend - RESULTS HERE. While many of the swimmers who raced so very well at SEASAC and SNAGS looked a little flat, the junior swimmers were great!
Speaking of the flatness, there has been a distinct change is the energy on deck - I hope this isn't a reflection of any effort that the coaching staff are giving, as we are as keen as ever to help all of our swimmers improve everyday.
Though our "major meets" have passed, every day is a new chance at being better, getting fitter, and improving on a skill.
The junior squads have stroke themes for each week through until our last day on June 17 - this week is Backstroke. There will be other strokes in the mix, but backstroke is the main focus. This is what we look for:
- Body Position: "Bodyline" - long alignment with the head in-line with the spine, ears in the water. Chest should stay dry while the toes stay submerged.
- The kick should stabilise the pull and the alignment
- The upper body rotates from 45-90 degrees
- The hands should enter outside of the shoulder line, little finger first, anchoring approx. 30cm under the water. The hand then pushes back toward the feet, fingers pointing toward the side of the pool, with a wide, almost straight arm pull/push.
We had our High Sports Awards on Friday - it always difficult to single out swimmers after a hard year, and so many great personal achievements and improvements. I let the numbers do the talking in these situations and have used the same criteria this year and last.
Most Improved: Felix Schoppe and Ria Zaman - both massive percentages across multiple events.
Contribution to Swimming: Nobody can deny the leadership that Jules and Sasza have brought this year, a very well deserved award - from organising events to leading warm-ups and . Alex also had a hand in organisational pieces but I feel led the boys in stepping up their training quality often swimming times as fast as the freestylers when swimming backstroke, and not caving in when it got tough. There have also been many of the senior swimmers who have been outstanding role models for the youngsters - Ana, Ethan Josh, Emi, and Felix stand out as swimmers who always make an effort - we have such a great bunch including the likes of Evie, Kailey, Sara, and Andrea who have seen what mentoring looks like and are doing a great job when they have the opportunity.
Swimmer of the Year: I've used the top FINA points swim (singular) as criteria for this for the past two years. FINA points compare all events against each other based on the
world record as it stands at the beginning of the year. Here we see a comparitive best swim of the year.
Juliette scored 647 points for her 1:00.20 100 Fr/S at the SNAGS
Felix scored 657 points for his 53.95 100 Fr/S at SNAGS
Of special mention, Juliette was recognised as Contribution to Sport Winner for her Swim Team captaincy, work with Special Olympics, and the Sports Council. Congrats!!!
We are back to a full week of swimming this week, including Saturday!
Entries to May Madness close this week - lets hit that meet hard!
