Notes from the Coach - December 15th 2014

A GOOD FOUR WEEKS:

The majority of the team may be inexperienced but you determined and supportive of each other and that has shown in the first 4 weeks of practice and our first two meets. There has been significant progress already and there’s still work that needs to be done especially on starts and turns, but everyone is coming along. Much thanks to Senior Brianna Staavas who has been helping with the new swimmers. She and I both would rather have had her swimming but she has been able to help the team in many other ways.

We now have two meets under our belts and have had many good swims already. You can’t judge a season by the first two meets but I this could be a very exciting year.

LaGrande HS Invitational Dec. 20^th bus leaves at 7:00

Our next meet is in LaGrande at the Veteran’s Pool:L a nice pool with touch pads and room for parents to watch. The bus leaves at 7:00 with warm ups at 10:50 and the meet starting at noon. I have done a poor job of predicting when we will be home, but I will make a guess the meet will be over by 3:30 and we will be back home between 7:00 and 8:00 PM.

INDIVIDUAL GOALS

I reviewed your goals sheets from the PEE and I feel you all have aggressive but realistic  idea what you want to accomplish this year. For mental skills many of you mentioned working on staying calm before your events at the meets. We will talk about different ways that have worked for other swimmers so you can find what works for you.

TOP 10 D-21 RECORDS:

At the River City Invitational, Ben Feil set a new D-21 school record for the 100 Breaststroke nudging Andrew to second place. And Annessa moved up to the 2^nd best D-21 time in the 50 free and 3^rd in the 100 Free. Congratulations to both of them.

THE DALLES HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL - JANUARY 10^TH

Just a heads up to all the new swimmers. Our home meet usually has around 10 teams competing and takes quite an effort to stage. Fortunately we have the able leadership of Kevin and Jamie Bailey, but we need the assistance of your parents such as to timing (which is easy to learn and you have the best seats in the house), providing the food for the volunteers, announcing and other jobs. Kevin may be contacting your parents sometime in the future to find out how they can help.

NOTES FROM THE COACH DECEMBER 1^ST 2014

Every two weeks I will try to send out a “Notes from the Coach” to keep you abreast of what’s happening on the TDHS swim team. If you have any questions you can always call me at 541-980-4645.

It has been a great start for the 14-15 swim season with an almost 50% increase in the number of swimmers: from 16 to 23 swimmers. As is typical we have almost twice as many girls than guys and we could use 1 more boy to complete two relay teams. If you know anyone who can keep their head above water send them my way.

We have a strong core of returning swimmers but also just as many new swimmers. To be successful we need a combination of both particularly in our small four team conference where numbers can make a difference at the District Meet. For the size of the four lane pool, 24 swimmers would be ideal.

First Meet in Pendleton Dec 6^th Blue Mountain Community College pool

Our first meet is in Pendleton which is only 2 ½ weeks after our first practice. But the meet does gives us a chance to see where we are doing well and where we need to work. This is one of the few meets that has Junior Varsity events, where new competitive swimmers will have a chance to swim strokes other than freestyle for the shorter 50 meter distance.

The bus will leave the HS at 6:30 AM, warm ups are at 10:00 and the meet starts at 11:00. On the way back, we we will stop in Pendleton to get something to eat, so bring some spare cash with you. I don’t know when we will arrive back in The Dalles, but with the size of the Pendleton team (they have 60 swimmers) it should be later than in the past. Also parents can certainly come to watch the meet although it is not the best venue for watching. If you go home with your parent, make sure they check with me to sign you out.

TDHS SWIM TEAM website at http://tdhsswimteam.blogspot.com/

I have started a website/blog for the swim team where you can find team information including team members, meets and team records and results, and the latest “Notes from the Coach”.

TEAM MEETING during lunch date TBA

We need another team meeting sometime this week to complete some of the administrative details now that I know who is on the team. I will announce the day after I talk to several swimmers to determine which day works best.

PARENT’S MEETING - Thursday Dec. 4^th from 6:30 – 7:30 at the Senior Center 1112 W 9th

We will have a Parent’s meeting on Thursday December before our first meet. If will explain the season schedule, my coaching philosophy and answer any questions.

1^st PEE to be scheduled

A PEE is a tradition started around 7 years ago. Simply, it is team gatherings usually a day or two before a meet when we discuss different aspect of swimming and life skills, play games and eat. The first one is usually at the Senior Center and then the rest are at swimmer’s homes. We will need to schedule our first PEE soon.