The York Y Rambler,
By Coach Michael
3 February 2008
We have a busy week ahead of us:
PARENTS’ CLUB MEETING
On Wednesday we will have an Aquatics Club meeting from 5:30 until 6:30 in the Loucks Room upstairs. The agenda has been distributed to all families by email.
SWIM/GYM SPECIAL!
This Thursday we will have our second and final Swim/Gym special, in which we train from 4:00 until 5:15 p.m. in the pool, with a short and very sweet workout, and then repair to the upstairs gymnasium for a dryland session until 6:00 p.m.
FRIDAY MIX-UP
Because most of our team will be racing at either the Annapolis or the Delaware meets this weekend, we will be adjusting our schedule a bit. Athletes from any group who will be racing will train on Friday from 4:00 until 5:15 p.m. Athletes who will not be racing over the weekend will train from 5:15 until 7:30 p.m. (Seniors) or from 5:15 until 6:45 (Juniors).
SEPARATE DIRECTIONS SATURDAY
a. Many of our swimmers will be racing at the Annapolis meet (Coach Andy is the point-man, with Coach Tim as backup).
b. Many others will be racing in Wilmington at the DST Sweetheart meet (Coach Nate is the point-man, with Coach Clyde as backup).
c. There will be no regular practice on Saturday, but swimmers racing next weekend at the Missouri Grand Prix will be training with me on Saturday morning at the regular time, from 9:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
RACING DILEMMAS
This year we have two sets of challenges regarding our championship meets: first, the Middle Atlantic Junior Olympics – which is a major target meet for our age groupers – occurs at the same time as the YMCA State Championships; second, the YMCA National Championships – which is a major target meet for our seniors – runs from Tuesday to Friday, thus requiring our student-athletes to miss a week of school. Both of these obstacles can be overcome, I think.
JO’s and States
The Junior Olympics meet is at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology (GCIT) in New Jersey, just south east of Philadelphia. The meet runs from Thursday afternoon (distance events only), then all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 13 to 16. From Friday to Sunday, 11 & Overs race prelims in the mornings and finals at night (with relays in the mornings only); 10 & Unders race timed finals in the afternoon.
The Y States meet is at Penn State University, and runs Saturday and Sunday, March 15 & 16, according to the usual schedule: 10 & Unders on Saturday morning only, then 11-12’s on Saturday afternoon, then 13-14’s on Sunday morning, and finally 15 & Overs on Sunday afternoon.
The challenge is obvious. It is impossible to be in two places at once, and racing in both meets requires starting at GCIT, driving to State College for either a morning or an afternoon, then driving back to GCIT for the conclusion of the JO’s.
I very much hope that despite the logistical complications, our families will decide to race at both meets. Both meets are good meets and important meets, but in the broader view of things the JO meet is the better and more important of the two for our program and our swimmers, for a number of reasons:
At the Y State meet, you may swim two individual events and one relay; at the JO’s, you may swim 10 events and several relays, so you can race across the whole spectrum of events and improve along a broad front.
At the Y State meet, the only events are sprints; at the JO’s, you may choose from all events, sprint and distance. Since we base our training program on distance and IM, the events that most of our swimmers excel in are not even offered at the Y meet.
At the Y State meet, it is easy to get an inflated idea of how fast you are, since the competition is not as strong or as deep as at the JO meet. The JO meet includes just about every Y team in the state, as well as all the other USA Swimming teams. I think it is good to challenge yourself against the best in the area, and the best congregate at the JO’s.
I realize that it will be a hassle to “do both” over one weekend, but I think that if families are willing to car pool and help each other work out the conflicts, it can be done. Further, it only happens this once, and then we have a break from meets for a while. I want every York Y age grouper who has qualified for these championships to be able to race in them and represent our program.
Y Nationals
With regard to the Y Nationals, I understand the concern with missing a week of school. I understand the situation is not ideal, and that making up so much work is difficult. But I also understand how important this meet is to our program, and to the swimmers in our senior group who are focusing their training on that meet. We have a lot of kids who have been working very hard and positioning themselves to go to the meet and score points for the team; I want that to happen. You do not get the boost in motivation or performance if you do not swim the race. Here are some tactical suggestions for making a difficult situation less difficult:
The more lead time you give the principal/headmaster and your teachers, the more willing they are to work with you. Talk to them now; don’t wait until the week of the meet.
Let them know that you plan on doing the work – very well – beforehand; you are not trying to get out of doing work.
Many local schools have their spring breaks or Easter holidays just before our meet. This time off from school represents a huge block of time during which you can accomplish your pre-emptive homework strike. Let them know this.
Let them know how big this meet is, and how special you are for having qualified for it. You aren’t going on vacation, but to a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! Most school administrators will feel proud of their national-caliber students and want to tout their accomplishments.