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.

Web Page 'O the Month

This month’s featured webpage … Deck Pass

http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2151&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

Deck Pass seems like USA Swimming’s mild attempt at social media.  It automatically awards digital patches, based on what a swimmer does in the pool, and shares that information with selected friends.  They can see what’s going on in your swimming world and you can see what’s going on in theirs.  One can earn patches for all kinds of things, like setting a best time, meeting a goal, swimming in Arizona, or sillier things like getting a time that ends in 99.  The patches can be fun for young swimmers.

While the whole connect and share part of Deck Pass has limited value (opinion mine), Deck Pass as a whole has real value.  Deck Pass contains a swimmer’s entire swimming history … every time achieved, for every event swum, at every meet attended.   Well, at least sanctioned meets.  You won’t find results from the September DART intra-squad meet in there … it was just a practice meet.

In addition to the history repository, a swimmer can enter and track goal times.  They can see their IMX score and see how it ranks against others.  Hmmm, IMX scores … fodder for a future post.

One can create a free Deck Pass account on USA Swimming’s website with the link below.  You will want to create a separate account for each swimmer, as the creation process will allow the account to be associated with a particular swimmer's history.

https://www.usaswimming.org/Secure/Logon.aspx?

Parents may also create an account, but it has little use beyond tracking orders from the USA Swimming online store.  It doesn’t let you link to your swimmer(s), like one would think.

Happy Patching!

Dick, Melvin and the new guy

Its hard to ignore the disproportionate number of strapping seniors strutting around St George this week.  Of course drawn by the Huntsman World Senior Games, these athletes will strut for two full weeks, starting this past Monday.  Learn more about the games here.

Last year several DART members and parents volunteered to count laps during the triathlon.  Lap counters use a device appropriately called lap counters to count a swimmer's laps.  Say that 10 times fast ... Lap counters use lap counters to count laps.  The time spent helping proved quite rewarding.  Some of the more outgoing competitors can be very engaging, striking up conversations with everyone they meet.  Dick, or was it Melvin, was one such talker.

The two men, clearly friends, live in different states and only see each other at senior competitions.  Dick and Melvin stand out among the other hundred or so triathletes because of their age, being two of only three participants in their 80's, Alan being the third.

This Saturday, Dick, Melvin and the new guy Alan will be at it again and they will need someone to count their laps.  Maybe you should volunteer.  Few things will inspire you more this Saturday morning than helping three men, born during the great depression, as they compete in a triathlon.  Maybe you should volunteer for no other reason than to meet Dick, Melvin and the new guy.

Editorial: Winning Isn't Everything

In most sports, particularly team sports, the pursuit of winning usually becomes paramount at all age levels.  Winning somehow defines a team.  Winning somehow measures success.  Not so much in swimming.  I’ll even take that a step further … frequent winning in the sport of swimming should be discouraged.

In swimming, winning depends heavily on who else takes the blocks.  If members of DART’s Gold group were to race against similarly aged novice swimmers, they would win every race with ease.  Would those wins define them as swimmers?  Could they use those wins to measure success?  The answer to both questions: Absolutely not.   Beating someone, you already know you can beat, defines nothing and measures nothing. 

If a swimmer wants to determine their place within the sport and measure their success, they will need to find greater challenges.  They will need to find meets where winning becomes far less certain.  Furthermore, as swimmers advance in the sport, they will need to advance to even greater meets, also with uncertain outcomes.  That means they could (should) spend almost their entire swimming career against opponents who can beat them.  Consistent winning at any level, simply means it’s time to move up to the next level.  It’s the level that defines a swimmer and measures their success, not winning.

What does this mean for your DART swimmer?  It means they can compete, they can be challenged and they can find success, regardless of their current level and regardless of how often they touch the wall first.

Swim Caps - Part Two

This second and final post about swim caps, follows Part One, which compared latex caps to silicone.  Choosing between latex and silicone doesn't present much challenge, but getting the rubbery, slippery, stretchy things onto your your swimmer's head, can be.

After researching several dozen how-to videos on the subject, there is no one "proper" way to put on a swim cap ... in fact its hard to find two people who do it exactly the same.  Below are a few tried and true approaches and a few that are not so common.

These two people first demonstrate a solo method, then one assists the other.  The two-man approach works well with younger children ...

Click here to see the video


Two different methods for long hair ... one puts her hair up first, the other puts the cap on, then stuffs her hair into the cap afterward ...

Front to back method.  (Notice how she cups her hands inside the cap to avoid poking her fingernails through the cap) Of course it helps when the cap is a big as a boat cover ...

Back to front method ...

Grip it and rip it method (not recommended for latex caps, as it can rip them)  ...

The charging bull method ...

Super fast method ...

If you're still having trouble getting the cap on your swimmer's head, consider putting their whole body in it ...

I told you silicone caps were super stretchy

Park City Results

Winner's Circle 

Tiffany Farris won the 15-16 girls 100 Free event
Leon Weingartner won the 11-12 boys 50 and 100 Breast events 
Camden Snow won the open 200 IM event 


DART Records 

Stephanie Dansie  11-12 girls 50 Fly 31.01 
Tiffany Farris    15-16 girls 100 Back 1:03.52 
Cambria Callaway  10&U girls 50 Free 31.84 


Double-Digit Time Drops 

Cambria Callaway       50 Free 13.04 second drop 
Jack Capra             200 free 13.33 second drop 
Spencer Goff           100 IM 35.12 second drop 
Hallie King            100 Fly 14.51 second drop 
                       200 Free 10.75 second drop 
                       200 IM 10.13 second drop 
Silvia Leon-Moreno     100 Free 10.09 second drop 
                       100 Back 18.77 second drop 
                       100 IM 16.29 second drop 
                       200 Free 16.83 second drop 
Tiaree Towler          100 Free 13.94 second drop 
                       100 Breast 15.18 second drop 
Felix Weingartner      100 IM 10.10 second drop 
Stephanie Dansie       200 Free 9.99 second drop (close enough)


Seven year old Peyton Fairchild had clean swims (no DQ) in each of the four stokes, a rare feat for someone so young in their first ever sanctioned meet.  She did get DQd in her 100 IM, but that was her only one.  Great job, Peyton.

Quote 'O the Month

"I'm thinking that I shouldn't have filed my nails last night.” ― Dara Torres

Torres made this comment after being out-touched by just one one-hundredth of a second (0.01) in the 50M Freestyle at the 2008 Olympic games.  She set a new American record in that race and won the silver medal behind Germany's Britta Steffen. Torres was 41 years, 125 days old at the time.

Would longer nails have helped Dara?  She swam 50 meters in 24.07 seconds, or .020 meters (0.78 inches)  every .01 seconds.  Dara lost by about 3/4 of an inch.   

LIVE, From Park City, Utah

DART Swimmers have arrived in Park City for DART's first official meet of the season.  Tonight's session starts at 5:30 PM and tomorrow's session at 8:30 AM.  Follow along with Meet Mobile (free app).

Sharks in attendance:

Kylie Barber (9)

Hudson Towler (8)

Tiaree Towler (11)

Cambria Callaway (10)

Jack Capra (9)

Jordan Goff (16)

Hallie King (11)

Silvia Leon-Moreno (11)

Eli Blanchard (13)

Tina Crum (14)

Tiffany Farris (16)

Clay Hatch (14)

Rhiannon Ruesch (13)

Camden Snow (13)

Felix Weingartner (14)

Leon Weingartner (12)

Stephanie Dansie (12)

Peyton Fairchild (7)

Spencer Goff (11)

  

Hudson,  Peyton and Spencer will be swimming in their first sanctioned travel meet.  Peyton, the youngest DART swimmer attending, will be swimming in her first sanctioned meet, period.  Luck, to you all.

Official meet name:  PCS Sprint Kick-Off Mixer.

PCS = Park City Swimming
Sprint = No distance events
Kickoff = Start of short course season
Mixer = Girls and Boys get seeded and swim together, aka mixed.

Other teams attending, besides Park City and DART include:

CUDA, CCAT, CHAT, DRAT, EAT, Elko, Layton, RACE, SWAT, UTES, WCST

Weather:  High today: 38, Low tonight: 28  Kudos to the swimming Gods for indoor pools.

Swim Caps - Part One

Pictured below, Mark Spitz on the cover of the September 1972 edition of Time Magazine.  Spitz had just dominated Olympic swimming with seven gold medals, seven world records, and zero swim caps.

Just four years later, Scotland's swimming superstar, David Wilkie, sports a cap in the '76 Olympics.  Times were a changing.

Swim caps have become so common place in the sport, that virtually every experienced swimmer wears them, unless they shave their head.  Older caps were made of various cloth materials.  One can still find Lycra Spandex caps, though such caps have been overrun by more popular materials, namely latex and silicone.  Lycra Spandex is permeable, which creates drag and doesn't even keep your hair dry, the very reasons swimmers wear caps.  Latex and silicone it is.

Latex versus Silicone:  Each have their advantages and disadvantages.  Swimmers usually prefer one over the other for their own reasons.  Here's a comparison to help you choose.

Latex	Silicone
Cheaper	More expensive
Thin material	Thicker material
Stretch easily	Stiffer stretch
Stretchy	Super Stretchy
Can pull long hair	Pulls hair less
Stays on better	Can slide up
Gets sticky in the heat	Doesn't get sticky
Rips easily	Harder to rip
Wrinkles on top (drag)	Less wrinkles
One size fits all	Youth and adult sizes
Less durable	More durable

Top Ten Things that Suck During a Race

10.  Goggles come off in the first 10 yards of your 1650

9.  Cap rips just 30 seconds before your race

8.  Stopping at 150 yards thinking you just finished your 200

7.   Bashing your head into the wall on the backstroke

6.  Leading your heat in the fly, and then realizing everyone else is doing the breaststroke.

5.  Swimming a best time, only to have it erased with a DQ

4.  Missing your race Talking to coach after missing your race

3.  Right heat, wrong lane

2.  Falling off the blocks, in front of everyone

... and the number one thing that sucks during a race ...

1.  Suit ripping in the wrong place at the wrong time

Aging Up

Cambria Callaway swims her last meet in the 10 & under age group this weekend in Park City.  Sunday she turns 11.

Isaac Jones hits double digits a week from today, celebrating his 10th on the 10th.

Nicholas Renstrom also hits double digits, today! Happy 10th B-day, Nicholas.

Camden Snow is the old man of the October babies.  He's turning 14 on the 23rd.

What Time Is It?

For the 19 swimmers going to the Park City meet this weekend, Coach Bob wants you at the pool at the following times:

Friday (Oct 4th):  4:10 PM
Saturday (Oct 5th):  7:10 AM

For those new to the swimming world, there are thee important times associated with every meet.

1)  Show Up Time - When DART expects you to arrive at the pool
2)  Warm Up Time - When teams may officially begin their in-pool warm up
3)  Meet Time - When the first heat of the first event takes place

Coach Bob typically almost always wants DART swimmers to arrive at the pool 20 minutes before the advertised warm up time.  For every meet in the future, and hopefully you will be attending many, plan on arriving 20 minutes before warm ups, even if you don't hear him explicitly say it.

How do you know the advertised warm up time?  It's in the meet information document, posted on our website. Using the Park City meet as an example, here's how to find it ...

On DART home webpage, click on the meet title:

Then click on the Meet Information link:  

 

Warm up times and meet start times are posted in the document:

The meet information document contains many tidbits of useful information.  If you'll notice in the last graphic, it states the pool's address.