March 17, 2008
Barracuda News
Well,
our season has come to a conclusion or has it? Not so fast, we still have two
weeks remaining during the short course season. For the next two weeks, the
Barracudas & Stingrays will be working together. The practice time is 4:00
– 6:00 so you might actually get to have dinner before 8:00pm. This time
together will also let the Barracudas see that the Stingrays focus on many of
the same skills as we do.
The
other day during dryland, a Barracuda made a comment
to the effect that we couldn’t be expected to do what a swimmer in the Stingray
group does. I realized there is somewhat of the thought that the Stingrays are
distinctly different than Barracudas. Or that the Stingrays are simply more
gifted swimmers than the Barracudas. I’m a math guy so I like to support my
rationale with data. This was my reply, every Stingray (except two transfers)
were Barracudas. We have been very fortunate to maintain a consistent coaching
staff which has allowed the current Stingrays to have developed from the same
system as our current Dolphins and Barracudas.
In
the past there have been age groups with numerous swimmers who stayed together
for several years. There were two clusters that developed. One cluster would consistently place in the
top eight at the state meet. Another cluster would consistently drop time at
the state meet and possibly score at the state meet. This second cluster also
helped score a great many points in relays.
As
some of the swimmers from the top scoring cluster aged up into the senior group
and again when they graduated high school, the swimmers from the second cluster
forgot it was their time to step up. Two characteristics of sports are to
compete and challenge oneself to improve. An enjoyable aspect of swimming is
that your time is your time. Swimmers always seek to improve your “entire game.”
This way when it is your time to score some important points for the team, you will
be ready. You never know when that time will be or what events will be helpful.
So, be persistent in your pursuit!
This
season’s Divisional and State meets were especially pleasurable for me because
in many cases this evolution was occurring. Swimmers who had not been to Divisionals, made it to Divisionals.
Swimmers who had not placed in Divisionals, placed in
Divisionals. Likewise with respect to the
One
of my proudest coaching moments was at the conclusion of the Long Course 2006
Age Group State meet. The meet was held in
Swimmers
and parents, you all deserve to be congratulated for a tremendous Short Course
2007 – 2008 season. Without your sacrifice and dedication, we would not realize
our fullest potential. To further celebrate, we will have a new end of season
party for the swimmers. The Piranhas, Barracudas, & Stingrays will have
their party on Thursday from 6:00 – 7:00 in Greyhound Station. The group
parties will not replace the CSC banquet. That is scheduled for April 27. The
time and place will be announced in a future weekly update.
Swimmers
let’s remember the secret formula to help each of us improve:
come often, make changes, & work hard. Again, we still have practice until
March 28th. Thank you for reading until the end.
Brian