 Hope all of you have a Happy Halloween, and please be careful out there! UPDATES FOR WEEK: Wednesday, October 31 there is only 5:30-6:30 practice. No 6:30 practice! Friday, November 2 there is a college meet at the pool, so practice is canceled. You may make it up on Saturday, AM.  Don't forget to set your clocks back on Saturday night!2nd Annual HALLOWEEN STORY: "THE PUZZLE"  "One day when I was home alone a parcel was left at the  . I opened it and there was a box. Inside there were  pieces. I did, nt think much of it and left it at that. Later that night when I was in bed I heard noises outside my windows. Scared, I decided to solve that strange puzzle to keep my mind off of the spooky noises. As I was putting it together I realized that the puzzle was of my bedroom, scared and yet curious I continued to solve the puzzle. Until I noticed that I was in the puzzle solving a puzzle and that there was a tall dark man outside my window holding a knife!! Totally freaked and dazed I looked slowly up at my window and there he was the man from the puzzle looking at me!! I screamed as loud as I could and tried to tell mom what had happened. She completely ignored me like I was invisible or something. That was when I realized she couldn.t see me. Horrified I ran outside only to feel a sharp pain right in my back. I turned around expecting the man from the puzzle. As soon our eyes met.......I woke up!   TOP BANANA OF THE WEEK: In our High Performance Group Sarah Graham had a great week of practice, and performed well in her fly set on Friday afternoon and came back with another one on Saturday morning. In the AG2 group we have Laura Schwabenbauer who came off of a great meet and then worked really hard on her breast stroke during the week. Great job you two!  Swimmers of the month: HIGH PERFORMANCE -- AMY BERGLUND, AGE GROUP 2 -- ABBY BROCATO. GREAT JOB!WEEKLY TOPIC: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF As we talked about it last week a few of you approached some of your events at our last meet with some doubt, and just that fact has worried me. I have to ask myself if We are giving you the confidence that you need to swim your races. I have struggled with this but came to the conclusion that if you do everything in practice that is asked and do it CORRECTLY, you will have find success. Will it happen every time? It would be nice but probably not. But by doing the things in practice and when I say things, I mean little things every time, such as streamlines, proper turns off every wall not just when you fell like it. It means getting into the water as soon as practice starts. If it takes you an extra 7 minutes to get in, you not only miss warm-up, but over the course of a week its 21 minutes. In a month it's 84 minutes (over one whole practice), and during the course of a season its 756 minutes (over 12 hours, or 12 practices) that you don't get back! I planted grass seed down at Lee Graham a few weeks ago, and I went down this weekend to blow leaves and water the seed and I thought of you all. Beveling in yourself and getting the confidence to swim your races takes a lot of time and effort, like growing new grass. A lawn needs a lot of care not only to survive but to flourish. You and your confidence are no different. Coming to practice and doing what is expected is like watering your grass. Grass will not grow without water!  The grass also needs a lot of sunlight  which is provided by YOU and only YOU! If you walk around feeling sorry for yourself, or afraid of going out hard in a race, its like a cloudy day over your head  and the grass won't flourish! This is one I hear a lot "I'M TIRED," and sometimes I hear it from the same people over and over. I have to ask myself Does the sun ever come out in your world? Here is an old saying, "If it looks like a duck  , walks like a duck  , talks like a duck, smells like a duck  , Chances are it's a _ _ _ _. If you don't know ask me! So if your having trouble seeing the sun than you need to make an attitude adjustment. The last thing I needed for the grass at the pool was the fertilizer to help in the growth process, and this is where your parents, coaches and teammates come in. They give you the guidance, strength, and support to build your confidence, but you have to willing to let the fertilizer soak in to be effective. Hopefully after months of work, the grass at Lee Graham will be as strong and ready to bloom as will the swimmers in these two groups are sure to be! HAVE A GOOD WEEK! BE SAFE ON WEDNESDAY! MIKE |
Monday, October 29, 2007
OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 4
