Blog 1611: Camp 2014

Following the success of our 2013 camp we are hoping to go ahead with a camp in February 2014. Obviously we need to get this booked as soon as possible and there will be a list on the notice board at West Park for interested parties to put their names on. The cost should be in the region of £750 again looking at current flight prices and the estimate from Sports Abroad we have received  We are looking at going somewhere in the period of 9-25th of February for a week and hopefully not in half term time to keep the costs down. Remember schools will support this external education as they did with Jo and Sam Parker last year.  As with last year, the camp is open to all Long Eaton swimmers who are 13 or above at the time of age group regional's in June. Once we have an idea of numbers etc we will hold a camp meeting to discuss matters further and collect an initial deposit of £200 so please fill in the sheet on the notice board ASAP.

Blog 1609: Squad Loose Change Challenge

Each squad has been given a container in which to collect as much small change or foreign currency by Club Champs weekend, where the winning squad will be announced.

All money raised will go towards club funds and help keep monthly fees down. So lighten those pockets and purses, as every penny counts.

Thank you

Blog 1607: City of Derby Level 3

An amazing weekend for Long Eaton swimmers at COD level 3 meet with nearly every swim being a PB. The team of around 20 swimmers took the 4th place in the top club event only behind teams of 40-50 swimmers. In the individual age group all round events, Madison Walker was 3rd, as was Oliver Tipping, Joshua Beech was 1st, Megan Smart 3rd, Erin Dilks 5th Chloe Blaydon 6th, Rebecca Smithurst 2nd and Bethanie Dennis 3rd. With Josh Beech coming 6th overall in the males. I popped down and sat in the crowd as a spectator on the Saturday afternoon and whilst I tried not to coach I couldn't help it. I was mainly speaking about skills and race pacing. Having the courage to go for it on the 100 and 200 events and hold on instead of leaving everything until the last length and getting out saying, "I could have gone faster". As for skills, despite me moaning about details I have to say that our clubs skills were the best on display at the gala and it was interesting overhearing and watching other teams coaches giving feedback, some compared their swimmers skills to ours and other feedback was as extensive as a well done. We have some of the best coaches around and the feedback they give is detailed and of the highest level. It is your job as a swimmer to take that feedback and use it to keep improving. Erin Dilks became the 17th swimmer in the home prorgamme to obtain this years Regional times in the 100 and 200 backstroke.  Just 3 more to meet the target I set of 20 for the  home based swimmers of the club.

Blog 1606: Session Cancellations

To clarify the situation regarding session cancellations:

Sessions are cancelled when galas are on. We only cancel the session or joint session for the squads that are meant to be competing at that gala.

We keep these cancellations to a minimum.

Coaches cannot be in 2 places at once and priority is given to the competitive side of the club.

These cancellations are taken into account in your fees and so you are not losing any money on them.

The gala programme on this blog is regularly updated and if you keep an eye on it you will know which galas to enter and what sessions will be cancelled. Blog posts are a reminder of which sessions are cancelled.

I hope this will stop any further confusion.

Blog 1603: Diddy League

Having attended the A team gala at Queens I was extremely impressed with the progress the junior end of the club is making. In a gala where we would of finished 4th at best last season some incredible performances and countless victories put us into 2nd place a mere 6 points behind the winners. What was noticeable were the skills we had compared to the other clubs. The underwater and finishing skills were second to none on the night. That being said those 6 points came from areas where our skills were not above the opposition. Make sure when you're coaches are giving you instructions regarding streamlining, stroke counting, diving or turns make sure you try and do them every repetition in training and next round lets push forward for the victory. The reports I have had from the B team are of a similar nature all very positive. These galas are a great learning curve for all swimmers and hopefully this will encourage more of you to compete in open meets.

Blog 1575: Disability Championships

Long Eaton had 3 swimmers at the Disability Championships at Ponds Forge last week. Greg, Rob and Alex all did personal best times with Rob winning 4 golds and Greg 3 silvers along with an appearance on BBC news.

Blog 1569: Trent College

Please could all parents that take their swimmers to Trent College not enter any other buildings other than the Swimming Pool.

Thank you

Debbie

Blog 1561: Gym T Shirts

The gym T shirts we used on camp have proven to be popular, so, if swimmers wish to order them for land work, or just to wear, I have arranged a price of £9 each with my supplier. These T shirts are the coolwear fabric and come with the sayings on the back and the Long Eaton shark logo on the front, together with a choice of nickname. The female ones are fitted, so bear that in mind when choosing you size. I need 20 before I can order them so if you want one please email me with your choice of colour, size and name. As soon as I have 20 I will place the order. I am awaiting stock of the medium size bullett hats to come and will be ordering 12 as soon as I hear they are in. Hats and wigs do not come with the t shirts.

Blog 1561: Counties

Just the relays to go this Saturday (final teams will be posted once I've updated the PB database and taken into account those that cannot make it from the original list) and some great news. We have already surpassed our Gold medal total for last year and equalled our total medal count for last year; 62 golds this year 57 last year. The fact that it is taking me a while to update the pb database is a credit to all the swimmers that have smashed their PB's this counties. Remember improvement in times win medals not hopes and dreams. Several coaches have commented to me on how good our skills were looking but there is always room for improvement, so sharpen up those turns, drive harder of the blocks and straighten the legs on those dives, use the underwater skills and focus on improving your technique, These areas will give you long terms success and not just a victory this year. A big thank you once again to the team of volunteers that help make these galas a success, officals, back room staff, health and saftey, team managers and everyone else that has helped out.

Blog 1559: Credit

The club recently received this email and it is probably one of my proudest moments in the 30 years I have been involved in swimming - Thank you.

Hi,

Our family shared two flights to Fuerteventura with members of your club and I just wanted to say what a polite and well behaved bunch they were.
It was refreshing to see teenagers who were clearly enjoying their trip but felt no need to misbehave or disrupt other people.
They were a credit to your club.

Please pass on my compliments to the students and their leader, who I believe was wearing a shirt with the name 'Beast'.

Kind regards,

Dean Dakin.

Blog 1558: Monthly Squad Fees

A reminder that from the March payment, your monthly fees should drop  back to just the squad fee as follows:

Youth & Senior	£50.00
Junior 3 Prestige	£50.00
Junior 3 Plus	£48.00
Junior 3	£47.00
Junior 2 Plus	£44.00
Junior 2	£43.00
Junior 1 Plus	£40.00
Junior 1	£39.00
Development Plus	£36.00
Development	£35.00
Learn to Swim White	£32.00
Learn to Swim Blue	£30.00
Masters	£39.00
Triathlon	£25.00

Can you please ensure that your bank amend your payments accordingly, PARTICULARLY THOSE THAT HAVE RECENTLY CHANGED SQUADS AND HAVE NOT YET INCREASED THEIR PAYMENTS.

Any queries, please contact me on treasurer.lesc@hotmail.co.uk

Helen Akers
Hon. Treasurer

Blog 1551: Camp day 7

The last day on camp :( . Some very sad swimmers who have had an amazing time had their last day on camp today. Tomorrow we fly home. Today started with a 2k kick set for groups b and c and then everyone in for a Pyramid Sprint challenge set. Some cracking morning swims given how tired the swimmers were. This afternoons Cross fit challenge set loomed heavy on the minds and then in a moment of madness I challenge the squad to do a 17 x 50m free relay against their short course times setting them a target of 9:40 to get out of the cross fit challenge. Some amazing swims saw the swimmers come in on time of 8:46 with 12 of the 17 beating their short course pb's and the other 5 beating their long course times. The cross fit was scrapped and replaced by the harlem shake and some recovery stuff, even I joined the swimmers for a paddle. This has been a massive learning curve for the swimmers and they have all taken a lot away from it. So here's to the next one and many more to follow.

Blog 1543: Camp Day 6

Another great day on camp today, 30 degrees in the sun music playing on pool side - yes call me maybe got an airing! A lot of tired swimmers pushed through and still managed threshold sets, double distance sets, 2k kick sets and the big boys doing the Aurborn puke set, actually managing a greater fluid intake than the world class sprinters at Aurborn. There is a video of it but it really isn't pretty so we'll leave that one youtube. Great chat at the nightly meeting and a massive confidence boost for all the swimmers as the Nova guys were nodding at the hard work our swimmers were putting in. Last day tomorrow and its a cross fit challenge set based around the Navy seal challenge. A trip to the bowling alley last night was good fun even though the balls kept getting stuck and the screens went blank halfway through. Alex Brown was the eventual over all winner on 117 however I'm pretty certain the pins were glued down on my lane!

Blog 1539: Day 5

After a nice relaxing after and evening and lie ins all morning we hit the pool hard this afternoon, with the sprinters doing a no1 threshold set, the IM'er's doing the same set IM and the distance girls hitting a massive double distance set of 10 x 150 of hard turn arounds followed by 12 x 200 with 1200 kick before hand. Everyone was on fire despite being very sore still with Alex making a short course Midland time in a long course pool and Adam holding 35 for 50m Breaststroke 20 times in a row, Nova joined us in the pool today and a German National team after us. The trip to the beach was interesting to say the least as some of the locals were not very fond of clothing. and SuperRob having a comic fall in the sea however Ryan came to his aid.  Ten Pin bowling tonight after dinner then 2 more days of training. The sun is back out after our little spot in the rain and back up in the late 20's.

Blog 1538: Camp Day 4

Very Sore Very Tired!

With the break looming everyone was so happy to get the 5th pool session and 3rd gym session over with. The little ones cracking out a 6.8k set including 8 x 400, whilst the sprinters were grateful for a nice DPS session working on the technique points pointed out on the video review. PB's in the gym all round on the bench press with Callum hitting 3 at 105k, Adam 1 at 100k Spen 6 at 115k, Alex 3 at 50k, with the younger ones doing weighted dips and working well together as a team. Even team manager Sue got in the benching and dead lifiting. This morning we had something we havent seen; Rain during the session only 5 minuets worth and it was nice and warm. Its now back up to 25 degrees and we are of to the beach for an afternoon of relaxation and fun before a meal out tonight and a celebration of Charlies 18th. A nice lie in tomorrow then we hit it hard again through to a challenge set on Friday. The swimmers having been taken out of their comfort zone are really coming into their own with time management massively improved.

Blog 1537: Camp Day 3

Another solid day in the pool with video work being done and a VO2 max set for some very tired sprinters. Lots of locals looking very strangely at us lifting weights as they have no idea what they are doing :). Out the pool the guys have been well behaved and the league of Justice, SuperRob SpiderGreg and Kyeman saving the day once again with some great comic relief. The food has been great and everyone is tucking and filling their faces.

Blog 1536: Day 1 and 2

Close of day 1 dip in the pool

Great first day on camp, awesome team spirit and behavior, the guys are doing the club proud. It is windy out here but nothing to do with nature more the airplane food. Evening meal followed by a great chat on nutrition with everyone picking up a few bits. Credit to the young girls Lauren, Megan and Chloe who were the only ones to remember washing up liquid at the shop.A Massive Challenge set to start the week with descending 100's by 1 second each with Sam Parker making 56 and finishing on a turnaround of 1:15 making up the main park of a 7k welcome to the pool for the swimmers. Adjusting to the salt water has been a massive learning curve with the swimmers getting used to the taste of it. Vaseline supplies are rapidly running out as the swimmers are using this to prevent the salt chaffing against their costumes and Sue has had to buy the local chemist's total supply.

Blog 1535: Day 1 Camp

All arrived in one piece, Rob has been the star so far walking into tables and chairs and if you ever get him to do his E.T. impression its well worth it. The WiFi is quite poor so I will update with pictures when I can. The day consisted of traveling, booking in and finding our bearings. After a trip to the shop we all went to the pool in afternoon temperatures of 27.5 degrees where the king of belly flops was crowned - I'll let you guess who won :). Off to dinner now and a camp meeting afterwards. Then early to bed for a nice 7k minimum session in the morning.

Blog 1533: Entering Galas

Upon my return from camp myself and Debbie will be running a meeting on how to enter galas and when.

NO swimmers are to enter any galas that are NOT on the gala programme or that have NOT been sanctioned by their coach under any circumstances. This is a very dangerous practice as swimmers will lack the guidance and support of their coach and if they have a bad swim this could take years to overcome mentally. There are more than enough opportunities for swimmers to compete and we as qualified and experienced coaches will add galas we see fit to, to the gala programme.

Blog 1532:Updates, Photos and Publicity

Parents please keep us ALWAYS informed of any change in contact and medical details.

  In addition let Sue Parker, our Welfare Officer, know if you have any objections in the future to your child's photo or possibly name being publicised.
welfare@longeatonswimmingclub.org.uk

Thank you