Hope all of you scary villagers have a great night, and please be careful out there. If any of you see the GREAT PUMPKIN, let me know, I've been looking for years. WEEK AHEAD: There will be no practice on Friday or Saturday this week due to a swim meet at the pool. The long course meet is this week and I'll see you there!
UPCOMING MEETS: The swim and rock meet is now posted and everyone in the High Performance Group should be entering this meet. The AG2 swimmers should enter at least one day of this meet. This is a trials and finals meet for 11 and overs, which means if you are in the top 8, you come back at night to swim. If you choose not to come back you need to check with a coach and than scratch. YOU DO NOT JUST BLOW IT OFF
. If you do you are scratched from your next event, and you and I will have an issue. BE A RESPONSIBLE MAKO SWIMMER!!
. If you do you are scratched from your next event, and you and I will have an issue. BE A RESPONSIBLE MAKO SWIMMER!!DUAL MEET WRAP UP: Excellent job last Saturday at the meet, if my Math is correct, our group had 114 swims, and we had over 85 personal best times. GREAT JOB!! The meet started with that 50 free, and it was nice to see a lot of you attempt to go 2 down and 2 back. Remember air is essential for life, but not a 50!! We than went into the fly events and our own Emily D went after her first 100 fly and went out in her fastest 50. 
We are learning! We had four of our villagers swim the 200 free next all posting best times, and learning that we have to get out hard but controlled on that first 50, attack the third, and the fourth will take care of itself. We than moved into the backstroke were we had several swimming a 200 the first time, Rachel A. Cristie D. Sarah G. Zoe H. and all posting excellent times!!
Melissa K. than swam her first 100 breast, Miles O. swam his first 100 fly and Ryan M swam his first 50 fly, and all three having excellent swims.
We than had three Villagers swimming the 500 free and without the lap counters which made it somewhat interesting. Maggie S. swam a personal best, and John K and Katie Y. swam their first 500 and both had excellent swims. John could have probably done another 500 as his last 50 split was a low 33. The entire group swam very well and supported each other throughout the day.
We are learning! We had four of our villagers swim the 200 free next all posting best times, and learning that we have to get out hard but controlled on that first 50, attack the third, and the fourth will take care of itself. We than moved into the backstroke were we had several swimming a 200 the first time, Rachel A. Cristie D. Sarah G. Zoe H. and all posting excellent times!! Melissa K. than swam her first 100 breast, Miles O. swam his first 100 fly and Ryan M swam his first 50 fly, and all three having excellent swims. We than had three Villagers swimming the 500 free and without the lap counters which made it somewhat interesting. Maggie S. swam a personal best, and John K and Katie Y. swam their first 500 and both had excellent swims. John could have probably done another 500 as his last 50 split was a low 33. The entire group swam very well and supported each other throughout the day.TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Practice Great; Swim Terrible at Meets!
Has this ever happened to you? Maybe not, but at sometime in your swimming life you are bound to have this cloud hanging over your head
. A lot of factors come together to create a storm. Often in swimming it might be competing against older swimmers, maybe faster swimmers. It might be as simple as felling sorry for yourself because you're tired or you're missing a party. It could be pressure from a coach, or maybe Mom or dad, or maybe even yourself. All of this will put you into a negative frame of mind and create a downward spiral
, that can be difficult to get out of.
. A lot of factors come together to create a storm. Often in swimming it might be competing against older swimmers, maybe faster swimmers. It might be as simple as felling sorry for yourself because you're tired or you're missing a party. It could be pressure from a coach, or maybe Mom or dad, or maybe even yourself. All of this will put you into a negative frame of mind and create a downward spiral, that can be difficult to get out of.This problem has nothing to do with the physical side of swimming. To a large extent it doesn't have anything to do with the technique side of swimming, as all of this should have been taken care of in practice by YOU AND I. This has more to do with the mental side of swimming, and this can bring even the best swimmer down if YOU allow it to. It might be the pressure of the month leading up to the event, and all the hoopla that everyone gets wrapped up in. Before you know it you're a basket case and you have forgotten to take care of yourself.
All you need is to make a few mental changes and have the discipline to put these changes into your preparation.
All you need is to make a few mental changes and have the discipline to put these changes into your preparation. First look at the for what it really is. How many people are going to see the results? Very few, but definitely not the whole world! Will the sun rise tomorrow? Will you go to school on Monday? Will Mom and Dad still love you? Will your coach still work with you? The answer is YES. Compared to other things going on in the world this is Unimportant, so relax, no worries, enjoy yourself, RACE and have fun!! There will be another meet later!
Now look at the race from your opponents viewpoint-they have to race YOU, and you know you're ready for the race, so let it be their problem not yours.
Next build up your mental game! What makes you a force to deal with? Write down all your positives which make you feel great about yourself. 
because everyone has them, and if you answer none than we need to 
.
because everyone has them, and if you answer none than we need to .The next thing you need is Visualize yourself winning the race. Replace all your hopes with will. I will have a great start and breakout. I will accelerate in and off All walls. I will drive to the finish. I will do this with a lot of HEART!
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN, SO DARE YOURSELF TO SWIM GREAT!!!
FIVE THINGS A PARENT SHOULD SAY TO THEIR SWIMMER:
BEFORE THE RACE 1. I love You 2. Good Luck 3. Have Fun
AFTER THE RACE 1. I love you 2. It was great to see you swim! This will help with their mental training!!
Next week topic: Sportsmanship and teammates
Have a great week Mike
