How to Palm Springs

For those traveling to Palm Springs this weekend, bring your woollies.

Tip #1 - As you arrive at the pool, you will turn off Baristro Road onto Pavilion Way, which dead ends with a turn-around at the pool's main entrance.  Don't enter there.  Instead, just before the turn-around is a square parking lot on the right.  It has a circle where passengers can be dropped off.  That's where you want to enter.  The sidewalk leads into a courtyard between two buildings, and eventually to the pool.  Enter at the green arrow, not the red arrow.

Tip #2 - The restrooms on the far east end of the pool (red star on map) are open air with stainless steel toilets, and the lows will be in the 40's ... catch my drift?  Luckily, a more modern set of restrooms are located by the courtyard (green star), although they typically don't open them until Saturday morning ... go figure.

Tip #3 - Parking can suck.  It will be worse Saturday and Sunday mornings than Friday evening, and worse yet after noon, when the second session swimmers arrive before the first session swimmers leave.  If a softball tournament, at one of the ball fields in the area, happens to pick the same weekend, it can make things much worse.  In that case, get there early or be prepared to park 1/2 mile away ... you have been warned.

Tip #4 - Eat at the pool.  The host team cooks all day and offers some pretty good food.  If you leave to go get food, don't expect to find a convenient parking spot when you return (see tip #3).  They use a ticket system to pay for food.  You can buy tickets at one of the tables (usually by where they have the raffle items) and redeem them for food in 25 cent increments.

Tip #5 - Your swimmers must check-in each day when they arrive to let the host team know they are present.  They will be scratched from the session (not allowed to swim) if they fail to check in.  A table will be set up, usually in the courtyard (look for the long lines), for checking in.

Tip #6 - Parents are allowed to gather on the turn end of pool and that's the best place to cheer on your swimmer(s).  Also, pictures are not allowed from behind the blocks but are allowed on the turn end.  It gets crowded down there and sometimes people are slow to vacate when their swimmer finishes, blocking you from getting close to see your swimmer.  You sometimes need to be a bit assertive to make your way through the people.

Tip #7 - Consider buying a meet T-Shirt, as they customize it for your team (DART) and your swimmer.  They transfer the names of several team's swimmers onto the back, ensuring DART is one of the teams, then they place a star beside the swimmer of your choice.  Its a cool idea that the kids seem to like a lot.

Tip #8 - Bring chairs.  The facility has a large deck and quite a bit of grassy area, but provides no seating.  You will need a chair for everyone attending.

Tip #9 -  It can get cold in the mornings and in the evenings, especially for the swimmers.  Swim parkas, sweatshirts/pants will be needed ... and don't forget their feet!

Tip #10 - Swimmers who practice inside (like DART swimmers) often struggle with backstroke events in outdoor pools, as there is no overhead reference to help steer them and the sun can be brutal.  One way to help them is to bring dark tinted goggles.  The meet always has a vendor onsite if you don't have some already.

Wanted: A Small Army

DART's chairman, Monica Moreno, recently sent out an email asking parents to sign up to help at the DART IMX meet in a couple weeks.  Sometimes it seems a bit too much, doesn't it? ... monthly fee$, suit$, cap$, goggle$, fin$, fundraiser$, meet fee$, coaching fee$ ... and now I need to volunteer my time, too?  In a word, yes.

DART isn't a corporation of paid employees.  DART is a group of parents purposed to serve their own kids.  Aside from coaches, nobody on DART gets paid anything ... nobody.  Everything that happens out of the pool gets done with volunteered hours.

The person who takes care of billing - a parent volunteer.
The people who organized the Swim-A-Thon - parent volunteers.
The person who takes T-Shirt orders ... the person who maintains the website ... the board of directors ... the people who organize the annual banquet ... the person who pays the bills ... well, you get it ... everything that gets done, gets done because a parent volunteered their time.

So, everything that doesn't get done, doesn't get done because no parent volunteered.  It takes a small army to host DART's annual IMX Challenge Meet properly, and without you, something that should get done, won't get done.  The team needs you, so please enlist sign up to help.  Just sign onto the DART website and click "Job Signup" next to the DART IMX meet ...

Swimsuits - Part One - The Basics

Buying a competitive swimsuit in 1973 ...

1.  Find the right size
2.  Pick the color/design
3.  Buy the suit

Fast forward forty years and things get a bit more complicated.  Advances in the science of swimming have been paralleled by advances in the science of swimwear.  First the basics ...

1)  Competition suits differ from recreational suits, in that they always fit snugly.  Any material that flaps as a swimmer moves through the water creates drag ... and drag is public enemy number one in the science of swimming.  Buy only suits designed specifically for competitive swimming, even for practice ... your swimmer will like you more (teenagers will hate you less).

2)  Boys have the choice of "brief" or "jammer" style.  Until one considers high priced technical suits, the choice here is purely preference.  Some boys like the sense of swagger that comes with briefs.  Mom's typically like the modesty of jammers.  That battle is yours ... but some brands have started producing mid-length jammers as a compromise.

3)  Girls also have two basic style choices, standard "one piece" and "kneeskin", where kneeskins extend down the legs to the knees.  Girl competition suits can look similar to recreational one piece suits with one distinction.  Competition suits are cut higher in the front to prevent the suit from filling with water on the dive.  Again, except for technical suits, neither style can claim much advantage over the other, though kneeskins rarely get offered at the lowest price ranges.  Girl suits also get offered with various strap widths and back patterns, and each girl tends to develop preferences over time.

USA Swimming Structure - Part Three - Swim Meets

Geography and governance create a framework, but at some point swimmers need to compete before swimming can be called sport.  Swim Meets are what DART does ... what USA Swimming does.  The picture below depicts the ladder of swim meets a swimmer can climb, given enough talent, the right genes and the will ... and quality coaching, great teammates, supportive parents, lots of money a boatload of pool time, and a healthy portion of luck.

Intrasquad Meets - Most DART swimmers have participated in one of the team's DART vs DART intrasquad meets.  They provide a training ground and represent the lowest level of competition we see.

Invitational Meets - The never ending supply of club-hosted swim meets provide a staple for most swimmers in the US. The overwhelming majority of swim competitions in this country come in the form of invitationals, dual meets and mini meets.  All DART-hosted meets fall into this category, as do 95% of all Utah and Las Vegas meets.

Qualifier Club Meets - A small percentage of club-hosted meets attempt to raise the bar by requiring qualifying times (Time Standards).  While time standards squeeze out swimmers without the necessary speed/experience, the format provides a raised level of competition for those who do.  It also provides motivation to achieve faster times.  DART has attended several such meets in recent years.  The Lost Dutchman in Chandler Arizona and the Grand Junction Invite have become regulars on the DART meet schedule.  The CHAT Invitational and DRAT's BB Qualifier provide such choice in Utah.

LSC Championship Meets - Each LSC holds two championship-style meets, one at the end of each swimming season.  Invitation to these meets comes via attaining qualifying times only.  Meets follow a Preliminary/Finals format and boast the top swimmers in the LSC.  Utah's State meets represent the highest level of USA Swimming competition within Utah's borders.  From here, the levels get increasingly more challenging and the qualifying times get increasingly faster.

Regional Meets - Before USA Swimming became USA Swimming, regional meets provided some of the highest levels of competition offered.  Out west, the grand-daddy of such regional meets, called "Far Western Championships", still thrives despite swimming's structural changes.  Meets take place in Morgan Hill California, twice annually.  The meet has an 88 year history worth reading about and has hosted some big named swimmers/celebrities.

Zone Meets - The four zones exist to organize high level meets.  Each season, the Western Zone holds age-group (age 14 and under) and senior (age 15-18) championship meets, that pit LSCs against one another.  For the age-group meets, Utah assembles a unified "all-star" team of its best swimmers and travels to "Zones" as a unit. Senior Zones meets first came about this year, so its unknown if Utah plans to do the same for the seniors.

Sectional Meets - The four zones also host the highest level USA Swimming meets, short of the national level.  Sectionals do away with age groups ... women versus women, men versus men.  Western Sectionals draw the best high school-aged swimmers in the west, along with a few crazy-fast 13 and 14 years olds, some college kids, and a handful of older swimmers.  Most top college swimmers compete in the NCAA championships ... the college equivalent of sectionals.  While the Senior Zones meets also draw high school-aged swimmers, they serve as consolation meets for those unable to qualify for Sectionals.  Since Speedo sponsors the sectional meets, they are often called the Speedo Series.

National Level - At the top of the USA Swimming food chain are two sets of meets, each held semiannually.  Junior Nationals hosts the fastest youth (18 and under) swimmers in the country, and Nationals hosts the fastest swimmers in the country, period.  Nationals supersedes the obsolete US Open meet, though the US Open still exists.  During Olympic years, Summer Nationals transforms into the Olympic Trials, considered by many as the most competitive swim meet in the world, believing the depth of swimming talent in our country exceeds the depth at the Olympics.

International Level - FINA controls world swimming competition, including the Olympics and the World Championships.

DART 5th Annual IMX Challenge Meet

What:  DART's 5th Annual IMX Challenge Meet.  Meet Flyer

Where:  The SHAC.  This is DART's biggest home meet of the year.

When:  December 6th and 7th

Who:  Mandatory for all DART swimmers.

Why:  Swim meets are fundraisers for the teams that host them, and the IMX Challenge represents DART's biggest fundraiser meet of the year.

Sign up deadline is Sunday, December 1st

Last year, 275 or so swimmers walked through SHAC's front doors for our biggest IMX Challenge meet ever.  Several larger teams from northern Utah and Las Vegas have committed to attending our meet again this year.  This should be one fun meet.

IMR? IMX? I M Confused.

In a little over three weeks, DART will host its 5th Annual IMX Challenge Meet, but what exactly does IMX mean?  

Youth swimmers evolve as they mature and learn.  The freestyle might be a swimmer’s best stroke at age ten, but they could develop into a top backstroker later on.  Similarly, a swimmer might not realize their penchant for endurance until their coach introduces them to longer distance events.  Consequently, young swimmers should avoid specialization until much later in their development, or run the risk of never discovering their true talent.

For that reason, USA Swimming encourages all teams and all coaches to promote all strokes at all distances to all swimmers.  They covet complete swimmers.  It's good for the sport.  To support that desire, USA Swimming created two scores called IMR (IM Ready) and IMX (IM eXtreme) to assess the "completeness" of swimmers.   To acquire a score, a swimmer must have attained times in each of five or six events, that include all four basic strokes and IM events.  The specific events required are different for IMR and IMX and depend on the swimmer’s age.

IMR Events

Ages 10 & Under:          100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)

Ages 11 & 12:               200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)

Ages 13 & Over:            200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

IMX Events

Ages 10 & Under:          200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

Ages 11 & 12:               400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

Ages 13 & Over:            400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM

An IMR or IMX score is simply the sum of Power Points for the required events.  If a swimmer had power point scores of 150, 200, 250, 50 and 300 in the required five IMR events, then their IMR score would be 950 (150+200+250+50+300).  If a swimmer lacked a time in one or more of the required events, they would have no score.

USA Swimming uses IMX and IMR scores to rank swimmers at the club, LSC and national levels.  These rankings can be seen on Deck Pass.  Also, they reward member clubs through the Club Recognition Program for having a high percentage of its membership with IMR/IMX scores.  They even conduct a series of swim meets, called the IM Xtreme Games, where swimmers must have an IMX score of 1500 to qualify.

As for the DART IMX Challenge, special awards will be presented to athletes with the highest IMX scores accrued during the meet (per age group).  Remember, one must swim (without DQ) all the required IMX events, to even have an IMX score, and the IMX Challenge is no different.

Attention All DART Swimmers

Intra-squad meets provide a forum where coaches can teach proper swim meet etiquette, a topic difficult to explain in a non-meet setting.  Swimmers learn things like ...

waiting for the long whistle, before climbing up on the blocks
staying in the water until all swimmers finish the heat
staying still on the blocks once they take their mark

All the above are rules as well as etiquette and can be subject to disqualification at a strict meet.  Intra-squad meets also provide a training ground where DQs can be caught and discussed before they become DQs in a sanctioned meet.  Practices are great for stroke technique and building endurance, but meet experience can only be acquired at swim meets, and Intra-squad meets provide a low stress meet format for inexperienced swimmers.

DART holds intra-squad meets several times throughout the season and they have one coming up this week.

What:  DART Intra-squad meet
Where:  Our beloved SHAC
When: Friday, November 15th at 6:00 PM
Who:  All DART swimmers
Why:  Meet experience

Sign up today, but you will need to log on to the DART website to see the meet listed.

Quote 'O the Month

"For myself, losing is not coming second. It's getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I've been in." 
--Ian Thorpe

Some swimmers get out of the water after a race, in tears, struggling with the fact they lost to someone they thought they should beat.

Some swimmers get upset when their coach delivers a harsh critique after a race.

Some swimmers feel disappointment when they fail to achieve a goal time.

Ian Thorpe suggests that putting in your best effort equals success, and that success should feel like victory ... not disappointment or other ill feelings.

If one enters the water determined to do their very best, to swim their hardest, to incorporate what they've learned in practice, to focus on pre-race strategies - then they can get out of the water completely satisfied with their effort.  They can be satisfied regardless of who won, regardless of the time on the scoreboard, and regardless of what anyone else says. Being satisfied with their own effort means ...

A coach's harsh words become a valuable learning opportunity

Getting beat becomes an opportunity to be gracious in defeat

Falling short of a goal becomes incentive to work harder

Ian Thorpe, aka The Thorpedo, lead a vocal and talented Australian team in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic games winning three gold and two silver medals.  He continues to swim competitively but failed to make his country's 2012 Olympic team. 

Power Up, with Power Points

Swimming, often called a "black and white sport", has an impartial scoring mechanism based on precise timings to the hundredth of a second.  Swim meets don't determine winners based on judgement ... and there are no points for style.  The swimmer who touches the wall first, wins ... period ... the end ... black and white.

But what if a twelve year old barley out touches an eleven year old in a race?  The twelve year old wins the race, but the eleven year old likely had the better performance given his/her younger age.  Enter the Hy-Tek company, with their concept of Power Points (tm).

Hy-Tek developed an algorithm that attempts to quantify the "quality" of a swim.  The algorithm calculates a normalized point value between 1 and 1100, given a swimmer's gender, age and swim time for a specific event.  The higher the power points ... the better the swim.

In theory, power points can be compared across gender, age and event boundaries.  200 power points equals 200 power points, regardless of who swam what event.  That means a ten year old girl swimming the 50 backstroke could race a thirteen year old boy swimming the 400 IM, and use power points to determine the winner ... in theory.  In reality, it seems the more dissimilar the swims, the less accurate the comparison would be ... but maybe that's just my skepticism.

Try out USA Swimming's  Power Point calculator for yourself.  Warning:  A swimmer's power points will be one (1) until the swimmer starts approaching the 'B' time standard for their age.

Web Page O' the Month

Last month's Web Page O' the Month introduced you to Deck Pass, which among other things, contains all your swimmer's meet times.  Yesterday's post showed you how to look up your swimmer's meet times on the DART website.  Last Thursday's post mentioned an easy way to see your swimmer's personal best times with this line ...

The Top Times Report on DART's website under the Swimmers tab (must log on to see it), displays the personal best times for every active DART member, and their highest achieved time standard.

 This month's Web Page O' the Month presents you with yet another path to your swimmer's meet times.  USA Swimming Individual Time Search page lets you find the times for any USA Registered swimmer since 2001 ... including your swimmer(s).  Here's what the search looks like ...

With a bit of luck, and a unique name, the page will display the times for the entered name and criteria ... like Missy Franklin's top 200 Back times from last year ...

If you search for a name that is not unique, the results will list all the USA registered swimmers with that name, one of which you must select to continue.  Did you know there are multiple swimmers named Michael Phelps?

The Michael Phelps we all know hails from Baltimore, so he would be the last entry in the list.  Clicking "Continue" next to his entry would display his times.  Hmmm, his middle name is Fred?

Track Your Times

If you're one of those Microsoft Excel gurus, you probably have all your swimmer's times neatly row'd and column'd, sorted and formatted, with the top times highlighted. The rest of us will just have to look them up, old school.  Here's one way ...

After logging on to the DART website, click My Account, then My Meet Results, and all your swimmer's times will appear, most recent on top.  If you have multiple swimmers, use the Member drop down box to select which one to display.

After just a few meets, the list can start getting long and cumbersome ... time to use the Search feature to slice and dice results.  For example: Specify a date range and get times from only that period ... or see only times for a single event by specifying a stroke and distance ... or see your swimmer's top times by setting the Top Times option to "Top 1".

To see how far your swimmers is from qualifying for JOs, use the Time Standards feature and select "[UT] 2013: 2013 AG State".  Doing so, will compare your swimmer's times to the State qualifying times, then display the deltas.  The delta will be highlighted green if your swimmer qualified or orange if they haven't.  Like this ...

Another useful Time Standard is the Motivational time standards option "2013: 2013-16 AG MOT SCY".  It's the first item in the list.  It calculates two deltas, one in green for the highest standard attained, and a second in orange for the next standard not yet attained.  See below ... Tina has an "A" time in her 50 yard freestyle and she needs to drop 0.78 seconds to get an "AA" time.

 Let's see your Excel spreadsheet do that!

November Birthdays

The crystal ball goggles foresees cake and ice cream in the near future for several DART swimmers ...

Jonathan Parker turns 8 on Monday the 4th, just in time for the first Tuesday of the month.

Daxton Green hits double-digits on the 13th.  Happy 10th, Daxton.

Savannah Longmore celebrates her 14th on the 14th.  How cool is that?

Helene Morford ages up to the 11-12 age group on the 21st.  Congrats on turning 11.

B BB A AA AAA AAAA

At one time, USA Swimming categorized swimmers as 'A', 'B' or 'C', referring to advanced, intermediate and beginner levels, respectively.  Labeling swimmers did little to inspire advancement, so they scrapped the whole scheme.  Some old timers continue to use the terminology, most notably with the term "BC meets", referring to meets designed for novice and intermediate swimmers.

The concept of Motivational Time Standards replaced the old ABC notation, by labeling swimmers' times, rather than the swimmers themselves.  USA Swimming now publishes a set of six times for each gender/age-group/event combination, and labels them B (slowest), BB, A, AA, AAA and AAAA (fastest).  

A swimmer can now compare, say, their 100 yard backstroke best time to the Time Standards and see where he/she ranks.  If their time is faster than the BB standard but slower than the A standard, they are said to have a BB time in that event.  In theory (and in practice), the swimmer would then be motivated to achieve the next higher standard.  A swimmer can have a B time in one event, an AA time in another, and nothing in another.

That's a lot of times USA Swimming has to come up with ... 2 genders x 5 age groups x 15 or so events x 6 standards.  Actually, they have to do it all three times, once for each pool configuration 25-yard (SCY), 25-meter (SCM) and 50-meter (LCM).  That's 2700 or so total times, but they didn't stop there.

Beginning this year, they decided to create motivational time standards for each single age, not just age group.  Those Time Standards can be found here.  In either document, one must wade through the many times to find the right gender/age group/event.  You'll get used to it ... just make sure you scroll down to the right pool configuration to start. 

The Top Times Report on DART's website under the Swimmers tab (must log on to see it), displays the personal best times for every active DART member, and their highest achieved time standard.

USA Swimming Structure - Part Two - Governance

A Board of Directors takes responsibility for the conduct and administration of swimming throughout our fine country.  They do this from USA Swimming's headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO.  While they "own"  the ship, several dozen committees at the national level steer that ship, impacting many facets of the sport, from formulating the rules, to standardizing officiating, to promoting the sport, to guiding LSCs and member clubs, to keeping our athletes safe, to funding our national team.  A list of those national level committees can be found here.

Viewing the geographic breakdown of USA Swimming in Part One of this series, one might logically assume HQ governs the Zones and Zones govern LSCs, but that's not so.  LSCs and Zones both get their direction directly from the national level.  Zones don't actually govern anything.  Instead they plan and conduct a series of zone level championship meets throughout the year.  The org chart might look something like this ...

LSCs put into motion what HQ envisions, pushing rules and policies down to the member clubs.  They sanction meets, ensuring clubs follow strict guidelines designed to promote fair play and safety.  They process athlete registrations, certify coaches and officials, validate LSC records and initiate background checks on all non-athlete members with access to our children.  In addition, they plan and hold several LSC level championship meets throughout the year.

Member Clubs, like DART, govern their teams like franchises of the Utah LSC, adhering to  guidelines set before them, while promoting their own "brand".  Many national policies, especially those designed to keep our athletes safe, materialize into team policies that can be found and read on DART's website.  You can find more nationally inspired verbiage in meet information files that define how DART-hosted meets will be conducted.  They influence just about everything we do as a team.

DART Records Fall in Las Vegas

Two DART 12 year olds pecked away at the team record book this past weekend.

Stephanie Dansie bettered her own 50 Fly record (30.90) and set two other new marks in the 100 Fly (1:07.79) and the 200 IM (2:27.36).

Leon Weingartner also got in on the record setting business setting the 50 back record to a new low (31.10).

DART swimmers have broken seven different records so far this season.  See all the DART short course records here.

Congratulations to Stephanie and Leon.

Results - Sandpiper Pumpkin Meet

DART's split-squad weekend has come to a close.  While some DART swimmers went across town to the SUSA Spooktacular, most of the Advanced Silver and Gold members traveled to the west side of Las Vegas, looking for new personal best times.

Swimmers who had double-digit drops from their seed times:

Kayla Bevers - 50 & 100 free, 100 Back
Cambria Callaway - 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 IM
Jack Capra - 100 Free, 100 IM
Stephanie Dansie - 200 Free, 400 IM
Hallie King - 200 Free, 200 IM
Silvia Leon-Moreno - 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly, 200 IM
Leon Weingartner - 500 Free, 400 IM

David Leon-Moreno made his debut by having clean swims in all four strokes.  Pretty darn good, David

Hudson Towler followed up her debut in Park City with several personal best and got to swim some 25 yard events for the first time.

Although it can be difficult for Gold group swimmers to post best times, Clay Hatch swam six of them.  Way to go, Clay!

Camden Snow had a rough meet (by his high standards) but still managed to swim a few personal bests.

Rhiannon Ruesch, working her way back after taking the summer off, squeezed a best time out of her breaststroke.

Results - Spooktacular Meet

Put it in the books ... the Spooktacular meet has ended, the candy is all gone, and everyone has headed home.  Hopefully everyone had fun.  Here's a recap of our swimmers' many accomplishments ...

Nine year old Kylie Barber had JO qualifying times in seven events. Wow!  We should check her birth certificate.

Isabela Cecena, swimming in her first meet, had clean swims in all four strokes.  Is there a promotion to Silver in the near future?

Gracie Cecena dropped over a minute in her 200 Free and had several other big drops. Way to go Gracie.

Nicole Christensen dropped about 3 seconds or more in five events, big drops for a gold swimmer.

Seven year old Peyton Fairchild took on the difficult 100 IM and won the battle ... no DQ!

Ryleigh Foggin shows what 5 practices a week can do, enduring 1450 yards worth of races. Yikes.

Jay Garff tackles his first meet and proves one can successfully join competitive swimming as a teenager.  Just watch his times drop as he gains endurance and perfects his technique.  He already has the size.

Spencer Goff not only pounds out a 500 yard freestyle for the first time, he had negative splits, indicating he picked up the pace throughout the race.

Jordan Goff, who also joined the sport relatively late (are you listening Jay?), had double-digit drops in four events.  He's really starting to hit his stride.

Nathan Gubler survives his first meet just fine, having clean swims (without a DQ) in the free, back and fly.

Kathryn Gubler survives her first meet just fine too, having clean swims in the free, back and breast.  Wow, it's like you two are siblings.

Jarod Heap, another latecomer to the sport, puts up some quality times, too.  Didn't he just recover from a broken arm?

Jessica heap swims in her first meet ever and nails both the 100 IM and 200 IM, two DQ-happy events for first timers. Nice job.

Race Day Nutrition

It's race day.  Let's see ... a 7:00 AM warm up time means a 6:40 show up time, which means a 6:20 departure time, so the alarm gets set for 5:OMG AM.  Squeezing breakfast into that busy race day schedule can be a challenge.  Things don't get much easier at the pool.  Often what you bring to the meet will be all your swimmer eats for the next 5-6 hours.   So, how do you fuel your athlete before they go to give their all between the lane lines?

Nutrition expert and registered dietitian, Jill Castle, has you covered in an article she wrote for USA Swimming.  Jill discusses breakfast and what to pack in your race day cooler.  Here are a few quotes from her article and a link to the web page where you can read the whole thing:

Save “meals” or large quantities of food for big breaks between events.

It’s better to have more food options than a large quantity of only two or three foods.

If you are competing in the morning, be sure to keep it [breakfast] light. 

 Plain and flavored milk are great recovery drink choices after the meet.

Don’t experiment with high fiber foods on race day; sort this out during training season and avoid tummy trouble when it matters most. 

SMART EATING FOR SWIMMERS ON RACE DAY

SUSA Meet This Weekend

Tomorrow evening sixteen DART swimmers will enter enemy SUSA territory for the annual Spooktacular meet.  For the first time this will be a mixed meet, where swimmers get seeded without regard for gender ... boys and girls in the same heat. This format seems to have increased in popularity, and I personally like it, especially for smaller meets.

Who's going:

Peyton Fairchild (7)
Kylie Barber (9)
Isabela Cecena (9)
Taylor Hatch (10)
Jessica Heap (10)
Spencer Goff (11)
Kathryn Gubler (11)
Jessica Te (11)
Nicole Christensen (12)
Gracie Cecena (12)
Ryleigh Foggin (12)
Nathan Gubler (12)
Jay Garff (13)
Miranda Wells (14)
Jarod Heap (15)
Jordan Goff (16)

Wish them luck.

Pictures wanted from this meet.  You take 'em, I'll post 'em.

Heat Sheets

Swimming's unwritten rule number one ... don't miss your race.

Sounds easy, no?  No!  This summer's Utah Long Course State Championship meet spanned five days, including nine sessions and 128 events.  Hundreds of swimmers generated thousands of heat/lane assignments, and some heats launched from the east of the pool and others from the west end.  For each of those thousands of heat/lane combinations, a swimmer had to be at the right end of the pool, at the right starting block, for the right event at the right time ... odds were high that someone would miss their race.

Not all meets match the complexity or size of a championship meet, but even the smallest of meets present challenges.  The swimmer still needs to be at the right place at the right time ... and missing a race is like a punch in the gut to a swimmer. So, how does a swimmer (parent) make sure they get where they need to be?  Two words:  Heat Sheet.

Heat sheets show the lane assignments for all swimmers in every heat for every event.  Going to a swim meet without a heat sheet is like going to the airport without knowing your airline, flight number or departure time.  You're going to miss your flight race.

For a dollar or two, most meet hosts sell printed heat sheets just before each session starts.  That will be the best dollar or two you will ever spend from your swimming budget.  Bring a highlighter and mark your swimmer's events and follow along as the meet progresses.  Knowing which event/heat is in the water at any given time is key.  In addition to selling heat sheets, they typically tape a copy to a wall somewhere on deck (Look for the mob of people).  In addition, Meet Mobile, a free swim meet app, sells digital heat sheets from your smart device.

Psych Sheets

Many meet hosts will generate and distribute a Psych Sheet report before a meet.  The psych sheet contains the list of swimmers in each event with their respective seed times.  Seed times typically reflect a swimmer's personal best time when the entries were submitted..  The swimmers in each event are then sorted by their seed times, where the fasted seeded swimmer gets listed first.  From the report's name, one supposedly gets either psych'd or psych'd out, while viewing it depending on where they rank.

Psych sheets are fun to look at, as one can see where their swimmer ranks in each of their events.  The reports have particular meaning to those who swim in a fair number of meets.  Familiar names appear, perhaps those raced in the past ... friends, foes and friendly foes.

The Sandpiper team just released the psych sheet for their Sandpiper Pumpkin Invitational, to be held this weekend.  See where the DART swimmers rank among the Las Vegas teams.  Click here to take a look.

Otitis Externa, aka Swimmer's Ear

Swimmers ear occurs when certain bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) decide to settle down and raise a family in your swimmer's ear.  They cause an irritating combination of pain and itching, never pay rent, and won't leave without force.

Treatment

There seems to be a direct correlation between how long one waits to start treatment, and how long it takes the treatment to work. Quick response is key.  Doctors can prescribe drops, dense with antibiotics, that work well.  If treatment starts soon after the symptoms appear, the ill-mannered tenants die in just 2-3 days.  Procrastinate, and the cure can take considerably longer.

Prevention

The first line of defense, beyond the pool facility's chemicals,  would be to limit how much bacteria carrying-water gets into the ear.  A tight fitting cap pulled down over the ears goes a long way toward prevention.  DART swimmers have had relatively few bouts with swimmers ear (with a few notable exceptions), so we can thank the SHAC staff for that ... but we don't always swim at the SHAC.  Away meets are good place to pick up a few Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.

Every "Coaches Corner" Coach Bob has ever produced, includes advice on preventing swimmers ear.  Daily drops of an equal part isopropanol and vinegar solution, can keep the irritating little boogers from moving in.  This preventive approach must be done routinely, after swimming and showering, to be effective.

Parent Education Meetings

Beginning in November, DART will be conducting Parent Education meetings every two months or so.  The meetings will be relatively short (about 30 minutes) and will be held at the Santa Clara library (near the pool) during practice.  Each meeting shall focus on a single topic and be fairly informal where questions can be asked and answered throughout the session.

The first couple of meetings will target parents of swimmers in their first year or two of year-round swimming.  Future topics may delve into more advanced subjects, but the intent is to have all meetings contain enough content, that every parent can garner something by attending.

The first topic?  You decide, from four options.  Please vote on which topic you'd like discussed in the first meeting.  The voting ends October 24th at 9:00 PM.

Which topic should be the subject of our first Parent Education Meeting?

Learn From It and Be Better Next Time

If you're fairly new to the swimming world, brace yourself for the inevitable.  At some point, at some meet, perhaps next weekend, a person you may not know will deem your swimmer’s efforts unworthy.   The swimmer will get disqualified, aka DQ’d, perhaps for the first time.   It may seem unfair and unnecessary, but DQ’s are anything but unfair.  In fact, they help keeps things fair.

Regardless, your swimmer may want to cry.  You may want to cry. 

Most DQs materialize as mechanics violations, where a swimmer fails to demonstrate all the components that define a stroke.  One may turn onto their stomach at the end of their backstroke, for instance.  If they do, a judge, donned in white shirt and khaki pants, will raise their hand.  Newer swimmers, with less experience in swimming mechanics, become more susceptible to disqualification.  

How you and your swimmer react, matters.  A DQ presents an opportunity to learn … to correct a technical flaw.  Coaches, who receive a copy of the DQ slips use that info as feedback, identifying specific areas that need attention.  DQs are good.  DQs can be an essential part of a swimmer’s development, even if they do make you want to cry.

By the way, virtually every swimmer has gotten DQ’d, and DQs happen at all levels in the sport.  This past summer at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, the USA Men’s 400 Medley Relay team, got disqualified. Olympic gold medalist, Matt Grevers, responded moments after the race … “Learn from it and be better next time.”   Great attitude, Matt. 

Here’s that relay team’s reaction as the DQ flashed on the scoreboard (Think they wanted to cry?) …

From left to right:  Adrian Nathan, Ryan Lochte, Kevin Cordes, Matt Grevers

2013 Piranha Agua Caliente Invitational

A large lollipop-shaped tree grows in a grassy area on the southwest corner of the Palm Springs pool facility.  For each of the last few years, DART has claimed this tree and the shade it provides, for three days in November.  The Agua Caliente meet is one you won’t want to miss.  Why?

1. The Piranha team has been hosting this meet for decades and really knows what they're doing … best run meet we will see all year, opinion mine.  Food, music, vendors and more, provided by a wonderful host.
2. It’s the only travel meet on the schedule that can fully accommodate all DART practice groups.  They have 25-yard events for the 5-6 age group.  Yes, they have a 5-6 age group.  On the other end of the spectrum, southern California has some fast swimmers who can challenge DART’s best.  Every swimmer will have someone with equal ability to race. 
3. Palm Springs in November … great weather … great destination … great fun … Bill’s Pizza.

Perhaps the best reason you should attend has nothing to do with the host, the meet or the location.  This meet promotes camaraderie like no other … by far.  Coaches, swimmers and families group around that tree.  For three days, swimming stops being an individual sport, DART gels as a family, friendships form and teammates bond.  The social aspects of our team takes root to the point  DART parents will find themselves gathered at the end of a lane, cheering a swimmer they didn't know two days earlier.  How could you not befriend someone who does that?  Signup deadline is this Sunday, October 20th.

Last year, we met Marilyn ...

Bill’s Pizza?  You’ll just have to ask someone who went last year (especially the swimmers).  

How to Sign Up for a Meet

With two signup deadlines fast approaching (the SUSA meet and the Palm Springs meet both end this Sunday), it looks like a good time to post about how to sign up for a meet.

1.  Log on to the DART website using your email and password.
2.  Under Upcoming Meets on the Home page, click Attend/Decline next to the desired meet name.

3.  Click the name of the swimmer you want to sign up.  Note The Commitment defaults to Undeclared.

4.  Click on the drop-down box to display the commitment options.  The screen will sometimes contain additional information, but the procedure will be the same.

5.  Declare that you plan to attend this meet.

6.  Enter any additional information you feel necessary in the Notes box.  Coach Bob reads these notes.

7.  Click Save Changes in the lower right corner.

At this point, your swimmer is signed up for a meet.  If you have more than one swimmer, you will need to repeat the process for each child.

The Attend/Decline button next to the meet will now display Edit Commitment.

You may change your mind by repeating the process as many times as you wish up to midnight of the deadline date.  Once the deadline passes, all swimmers signed up will be charged for the meet, even if you change your mind afterward.  The reason is, DART sends a non-refundable check and swimmers' entries to the host team the day after the deadline.

 As stated in Step 4, the declaration screen sometimes contains extra information.  Sometimes it will list the sessions, so you can signup for specific sessions but not others.  The screen may also list events for your swimmer.  It will appear like you can pick the events you want.  In reality, Coach Bob selects the events for every swimmer, so your choices could get overwritten. He usually has specific and logical reasons when selecting events.  If his selections seem questionable, please contact him.

One last note:  If you know your swimmer(s) will not be attending a meet, please notify DART by selecting No Thanks in Step 5.

SUSA Spooktacular Meet

What:  The 6th Annual SUSA Spooktacular Meet

When:  Friday, October 25th (evening) and Saturday, October 26th (morning).  The sign up deadline is October 20th.

Where:  Washington City Community Center (WCCC), 350 North Community Center Drive
Washington, Utah 84780

Why:  It has a Halloween theme, and they have candy!  Do you need another reason?

Who:  You.  Every Bronze and Silver swimmer, not going to the Las Vegas meet, should attend this meet.  It is one of only a few local meets offered on our schedule.  Do not miss out.

This meet presents a  perfect opportunity to swim in your very first sanctioned meet.  Our cross-town rivals, SUSA, will have many inexperienced swimmers there too, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming.  Did I mention they have candy?

USA Swimming Structure – Part One – Geography

When you pay the annual registration fee, your swimmer becomes a member of USA Swimming … the same USA Swimming that produces the nation’s Olympic swimmers.  It’s a large organization with 400,000+ members.   Most of your $65 fee helps feed this beast.

USA Swimming segments the nation into 59 geographical pieces called LSCs (Local Swim Committees), numbered 2 through 60 ...  I’ve always suspected they reserved number one for USA Swimming itself, but that’s just a guess.  Some of these 59 LSCs follow state borders, just as the Utah LSC follows Utah state lines … Others, not so much.  LSCs can be a state, a portion of one state, or include parts of several states.

Click here for information about every LSC and to view a larger map.

USA Swimming also divides the nation into four “zones”, Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern Midwest.   Midwest?  Arkansans probably don’t consider themself “northern”.  The Utah LSC finds itself smack dab in the middle of the Western Zone.

So where does the rest of your registration fee go?  To feed a smaller beast, LSC number 55, the Utah LSC.

Everybody Loves Pictures

Swim-A-Thon

First, they swam ...

... and they swam.

And parents counted ...

Then they rested long enough for a few pictures ...

Then they swam some more, some in perfect unison ...

... and parents counted some more.

Camden's dad stole a baby and the number 15.
Until they were done ...

 ... and they lifted their goggles ...

... and they removed their caps.

Now they could smile ...

 ... and smile some more.

One of them glowed ...

... and Rhiannon slapped Leon ... wait ...what?

Finally they ate ...

Some had cake ...

 Some had frosting.

Some hypnotized the boys.