Profile by Suzy Simonetti
Coach: Youth Group

March 2010

At the Youth group we continue to work on developing stroke efficiency and work on building good racing habits by practicing perfect streamlining, breath control, fast turns and Olympic finishes for each and every set in practice. They are working on learning to be out of their comfort zone in order to achieve their very ambitious goals. However, there is a fine balance between the energy and fearlessness needed to train with intensity while still being mindful of their technique and skills.

The youth group practices five times a week. They train at high intensities working towards competition at the central regions and junior provincials. Their practices include dryland strength training, skill and stroke development, aerobic and anaerobic training as well as speed development. They work on getting faster and being able to sustain that speed over longer distances. They practice relay take overs, and racing. Here are a few of their favourite sets…

I have high expectations for these swimmers, not only for their swimming but also for their behaviour and attitude. They not only represent the Youth group, but NYAC as a club. This season we have been working a lot on respect. Respect, they are learning, comes in many forms. From the obvious of respecting school property, and treating people kindly, to the less obvious and less intuitive of respecting time and training with best effort.

Warm-ups at swim meets can be very busy and chaotic. Often swimmers will find that they are in lanes with swimmers from other clubs and have to deal with being grabbed, swum over and kicked. By not responding with similar behaviour demonstrates a high level of respect and maturity. I have been immensely proud of how my swimmers have dealt with such occasions by demonstrating respect towards their fellow competitors.

However, there are smaller actions that occur daily that also demonstrate respect. Punctuality is one. This demonstrates a respect for others' time. As swimmers, we dedicate a lot of time towards practicing our sport. When you are late to practice you are telling your team mates that your time is more important than theirs. They made the effort to ensure that they arrive on time in order to participate in the full program. Coming in late disrupts the flow of practice; whether it is dryland training, getting instructions, or swimming sets. Sometimes despite our best efforts to arrive on time, we are late. It is expected that if this happens, you change quickly and quietly find out where your lane is in respect to the practice and get yourself into the set.

Coming to practice with a positive attitude, ready to try your best is also a form of respect, not just to the coach, but to all of your team mates. What makes training with a team great is the energy that everyone brings to practice. You feed off your team mates energy to enable you to push harder to make challenging pace times, to perfect your technique, and to swim farther in endurance sets. By not working hard and trying your best, you rob your team mates of that energy and support. Your team mates count on you to be at a certain speed and be performing to your best. They need that person there to challenge them. I try to group lanes together with swimmers who will challenge each other. Often who you are swimming beside is as important as who you are swimming behind.

I am happy to report that the Youth group is beginning to pick up on these points and are starting to use their team mates to help them in their training. In the next few months, you can expect to see them swimming stronger, smarter, and faster than ever!