2013 march april newsletter 2

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet” March/April 2013

Fleet Swimming and Fleet FIRST Swim School

Upcoming Events: • Open Meet (hosted

by TWST) April 19—21 • Aggie Swim Meet April 20—21 • Fireside Chat April 24

Cy Fair Swim Club

Congratulations to Mitch Martin!

Fleet would like to give a big congratulations to Mitch Martin for being selected to participate in the US Paralympics Swimming Community Camp. Mitch will represent Fleet in San Antonio the weekend of April 12-13th. Mitch will be attending the camp with Coach Chris Woolsey.

Coach Chris

• Swim-a-thon April 27 • Awards Banquet April 28 • Open Meet (hosted

by CFSC) May 3—5 • Senior Circuit (hosted by TWST) May 18—20 • Shreveport June 7—9

Inside this issue: Senior Season Conclusion

2

Senior Season Highlights

2

Coach Jack

3

Coach Matt

4

FLEET FIRST

4

Coach Alex

5

Coach Dustin

5

Coach Maryanne

6

Awards Banquet

6

Coach Andy

7

Swim-a-thon update

8

Ge ng M.A.D

9

FLEET has a tradition of being the home of many successful swimmers; Olympic competitors, Olympic Trial hopefuls, State Champions, Sectional and TAGS swimmers. All are great individuals in their own right. Today we have another FLEET first and potential future Paralympic Swimmer.

The U.S. Paralympic Swim Committee has selected Mitch Martin from our Junior team under Alex Rayner for participation in a camp next month in San Antonio. The USOC is looking for new athletes to compete in the U.S. Paralympic Swimming realm and they want to see if Mitch has the right stuff to compete against the best in the United States and the World during International competition.

Many of you know Mitch as he has competed in the Texas Gulf LSC for eight years. You’ve

seen him at practice with one fin or around the pool at swim meets, but few of you know

what motivates him. Mitch found early success in the swimming pool as a means of recovering from a bout with Cancer in 2001. As a result of the Cancer treatment, Mitch developed bone growth issues on his lower right side, lost a significant amount of muscle in

his thigh and the ability to develop those that were left.

As he has grown, the disability has proven it more difficult to chase the ever illusive time standards of USA swimming.

Today, the camp selection has provided a new boost of enthusiasm and confidence in his ability to compete. He sees this opportunity as a chance to swim against peers of comparable disability in a pool where everyone is equally challenged.

He will face competitors across the United States and if he can reach the top he will eventually compete against others from around the world.

We know Mitch and Coach Chris will represent FLEET well in San Antonio and give the club exposure to the realm of Paralympic swimming.

Go Mitch, Go FLEET, Go Team

Fleet Coaches

www.FleetSwimming.com

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Page 2

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Senior Short Season Conclusion

“The most

The short course season has come to a conclusion for our senior swimmers as they left the deck on Sunday night in College Station. Fleet had a strong showing as they had numerous second swims and established many new time standards. Having this meet a travel trip for these athletes also created a great team atmosphere on deck. Fleet was led by Stuart Sharp who won the 200 Free and led the charge by scoring over 60 individual points for CFSC. The Boys squad tied for 6th with Alamo Area Aquatic Association and Fleet finished 12th place as

a team. Ashley Johnson led the girls by scoring in the 100 Free and setting two new team records for the 15-16 girls age group. Ashley broke Camille Adams record in the 100 Fly with a time 55.32 and broke Ashley Richter’s 100 Free record with a time of 51.38.

As a season comes to an end, athletes start mapping out their goals for the upcoming long course season. Some athletes start to dream bigger, while others have a cathartic moment and reevaluate how they might produce a different outcome in July.

We will sit down as a group and talk about these goals individually and collectively. The most important thing for all of these athletes is to have a purpose when they arrive at practice everyday. This comes in the form of setting goals, which are realistic and attainable, based on the work each athlete is willing to do. The bottom line is that goals are not attainable if the proper action is not taken to achieve them.

So enjoy the break, and let’s get ready to climb the next mountain.

GO FLEET!

important thing for all of these athletes is to

Senior Season Highlights

have a purpose

practice

New Team Records Ashley Johnson broke the 1516 Girls 100 Fly and 100 Free Team Record!

everyday. “

New NCSA Junior Cuts

when they arrive at

Kieren Tuff-1000/1650 Free Andrew Ellison-1000/1650 Free Ashley Johnson-100 Back Stuart Sharp-100 Back Ben Hardisty-200 Breast Hunter Gildart-500 Free

Individual Athlete Top 32 finishes

Ashley Johsnson-11th Place100 Free, 20th-50 Free 25th100 Fly, 27th-100 Back

Kieren Tuff-20th-1650 Free and 22nd-1000 Free Andrew Ellison-21st-1650 Free and 25th-1000 Free

Alex Layne-100 Fly

Hunter Gildart-500 Free

Austin Van Overdam-100 Fly

Evan Schmitzberger-15th-100 Breast

Stuart Sharp-50/200 Free

www.FleetSwimming.com

400 Free Relay-15th-Karoline Eckhart, Courtney Connelly, Ashley Johnson and Tori Karker Boys

Austin VanOverdam-9th-400 IM,11th-200IM, 15th-100 Back and 17th-200 Back

Tori Karker-=30th-1000 Free

Austin Van Overdam-200 Back

Girls

Stuart Sharp- 1st-200 Free, 3rd50/100 Free, 6th-500 Free

Drew Riebel-50/100 Free and 200IM

New Summer Junior National Cuts

Scoring Relays

400 Free Relay-7th-Stuart Sharp, Drew Riebel, Alex Layne and Austin Van Overdam 800 Free Relay-5th-Stuart Sharp, Drew Riebel, Hunter Gildart and Austin Van Overdam 400 Medley Relay-5th-Austin Van Overdam, Evan Schmitzberger, Alex Layne and Stuart Sharp

Ben Hardisty-25th-100 Breast Drew Riebel-15th-100 Free, 22nd-50 Free and 26th-100 Breast

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Page 3

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Coach Jack My reflection from this short course season is one of optimism for the future. As I explained at the parent meeting, it’s an exciting time to be a part of Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club.

The coaching staff has brought forth a lot of new ideas that will be implemented over the next six months.

With a club over 450 swimmers, sometimes that can be a precarious situation.

It’s our goal as a staff to communicate our vision weekly in our announcements, monthly in our newsletter, three times a year in our swimmer evaluations, and Bi-annually with our parent meetings. We will be 100 percent transparent with our process, but as coaches we are driving the bus with this vision and we need you to be our support mechanisms.

Everything we do is based on what is best for each athlete and how it works in the confines of being the best team possible. The reason I came to Fleet was not to have a couple great individual performances, but to create a new legacy of comprehensive greatness.

There is one area, especially at the senior level part of our program, where we can improve greatly. I believe that we can be tougher mentally at championship meets when it came to second swim opportunities. This was even more apparent when it came to people being on relays at Gulf Champs, 13-Over Champs and Sectionals.

When we go to a championship meet it is the expectation of the Fleet staff that every swimmer will be available to swim finals and be on relays at night. It is a privilege to swim at a championship meet; and it is an honor to get a second swim and opportunity to be picked for a relay. Remember when it’s a championship meet; we are here to win and every swim counts and RELAYS ARE DOUBLE THE POINTS! When you have this opportunity it’s imperative that you take care of yourself so that you can come back at night and swim faster, whether it’s for an individual event or a relay. Taking care of yourself means warming down properly after your last event (this should take 10-15 minutes of straight swimming),

getting a good healthy meal at lunch and lying down to take a nap.

As you get prepared to head to the pool for finals make sure you wake-up two hours before warm-up so you are physically and mentally ready to get in the water when you get to the pool.

Whether you are in an individual event or on a relay, when you put on the red Fleet cap at night, you are swimming for something bigger than yourself.

You are swimming for a tradition that goes back nearly 40 years. We need to embrace that tradition, and have it really mean something in the Gulf, the Southeast and the rest of USA Swimming.

We recently finished 13th at Senior Sectionals and 16th at TAGS; those are respectable finishes if you have never finished in the top 10 before at those meets before. For a club of 450 swimmers and with our facilities, we need to have bigger goals for our program. Moving forward, we need to make excellence the norm, and that norm should be that we are competiting for the podium on the last day of every championship meet. It’s when we take this step forward that we will embrace the greatness of the past, set a dynasty for the future.

GO FLEET!

Families of Fleet: One of my biggest goals for our program is for us to communicate our philosophy and vision as much as possible. So on Wednesday, April 24th I will host my first Fireside Chat with the families of Fleet in the conference room.

This Fireside Chat will run from 6:30-7:30pm.

The focus of this chat will be long term development of the age group athlete, why we do what we do as a program.

I will be there to answer any questions, or just have some healthy dialogue about the future of Fleet. I hope to see you there.

Coach Jack www.FleetSwimming.com

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

“The reason I came to Fleet was not to have a couple great individual performances, but to create a new legacy of comprehensive greatness.”

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Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Coach Matt: Changes

“The current staff that we have in place is exactly what we need to continue on to even higher successes.”

As I reflect on this past season, the most common word that comes to mind is change. With all of the changes that have happened over the course of the year, our team has been challenged probably more than ever in its entire history, at least in the past decade. Being the coach on staff who’s been here the longest, I can certainly attest to the fact that things are different around here.

But change isn’t necessarily a negative thing. In fact, I can honestly say that this is the most motivated, reliable, and organized coaching staff that I have ever worked with. Don’t get me wrong, some of the great coaches that have come and gone over the years have been absolutely instrumental in the amount of success that Fleet has had and helped us become one of the best teams

in the United States, as well as helped me become the coach that I am today. But the current staff that we have in place is exactly what we need to continue on to even higher successes.

As coaches, we are constantly trying to get swimmers to make changes that will ultimately make them better swimmers. For some swimmers, this is difficult because they’ve been doing the same thing for such a long time and have difficulty trusting in the new way of doing things.

But those who commit to making those changes and adjustments will soon see positive results. Those who refuse to make these changes will make much slower progress, if any.

Looking back on our season of changes, it is very clear to see those who embraced the changes on our team and those who refused to go along with them. Those who were willing to move forward were VERY successful this season. All of those who have been slow to accept our newly renovated program have suffered for the most part.

Fortunately, I feel that the majority of us have stuck together and are ready to take on new paths and achieve greater success. I’m very excited about the future of our program that has definitely become my second family over the years. Let’s continue pressing forward achieving new heights, and have some fun along the way!

FLEET FIRST – Why It’s So Important Many of you may not even be aware that located in the building right behind the office is our FLEET FIRST swim school. This school is by far the most important part of the Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club. CFSC is actually composed of three distinct businesses. FLEET FIRSTFIRST- the swim school, FLEETFLEET the swim team and often referred to as the “competitive” portion of the business and the Masters Program.

Program What is most important to understand is that the revenue generated from FLEET FIRST is critical to the overall success of our club and in fact makes it possible for us to have a competitive swim club. While we do generate revenue from swim meets, the swim-a-thon and monthly dues, www.FleetSwimming.com

much of the operating expenses, maintenance and improvements are made through the revenue generated by FLEET FIRST. In short, without FLEET FIRST, the swim team would look very different. We can’t take them for granted.

Every member at FLEET is valuable and important, but our FLEET FIRST Members are unique and our actions need to reflect it. Remember that the parents, who are arriving at FLEET to take their small children to swim lessons, need to be given easy access. Please leave all of the parking spaces on the asphalt, especially along the fence line facing the pool, open for FLEET FIRST. This is especially important in the

evening! Often these parents are struggling with several children as they make their way back to the school. We should keep the walkways as clear as possible. It can be overwhelming for a small child to walk through a bunch of energetic teenagers waiting to start practice. Swimmers should use the new expanded walkway to leave bags or stand and chat before practice. We want FLEET FIRST customers to tell their friends that they had a good experience with us, so encourage your friends to give our swim school a try. Your swimmer will directly benefit as more customers utilize FLEET FIRST. If we work together, we can all reap the benefit.

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

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Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Coach Alex: End of Season Success The short course season can be one of the most hectic periods of time in a swimmers already busy schedule, and this past short course season was no different. Representing Fleet in over 10 meets within the last 4 months has taken its toll on the swimmers, parents, and coaches alike, and as a team we have all enjoyed a well deserved break. Now that we have had a week off to unwind and relax, there are several key points that I as a coach would like to reflect upon. One of those points is being able to

understand the relationship between attendance and work ethic as they pertain to success at meets. It’s easy to motivate yourself to come to practice as a season winds down. The workouts get easier, the mood lightens, and it’s during this time that you get to experience the fun side of the sport. However, as we enter what promises to be a demanding long course season, it is important to remember that your meet suc-

cess largely depends on what you as an athlete are willing to put into the workouts each and every day. This is a sport with a multitude of variables and angles, but across the board, over the short course championship season, we saw a correlation between high attendance and work ethic with end of season success. Set yourself up for success! There are no easy routes in this sport, and nothing will come easy. If you are willing to bring your best, however, you will reap what you sow at the end of the long course season. Congrats on a great short course, Fleet! Let’s get ready for what’s ahead!

Coach Dustin: Reflection of 2012-2013 Short Course Season “We saw a At the conclusion of a season, you always look back and reflect on how it went. Did you achieve what you set out to do?

If you did, what were some of the important things you did, that got you where you wanted to go? How can you improve upon that to ensure you have success again next season? If you didn’t reach your goals this season, did you still make improvements?

Not reaching your goal doesn’t mean you didn’t have success, as long as you made positive steps in the right direction. And failing to reach your goal isn’t always a bad thing. A lot of times it intensifies our hunger, and makes us “want it” even more. But if you didn’t achieve what you set out to do, why not? What were some

www.FleetSwimming.com

things that needed to be done, but you didn’t do a good job at?

How can you make those positive changes next season?

These are all questions that as coaches, we ask ourselves, and it should be questions that as swimmers you ask yourself as well. Don’t be afraid to talk to your primary coach about how your season went. They can help guide you through the reflection process, and set goals leading into the next season.

Looking back at this short course season, a quote comes to mind: “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” I think it’s safe to say that for many people on Fleet, this sea-

son has been a roller coaster of sorts, full of changes, surprises, and more changes. Most swimmers – and coaches too – like and need consistency with training, so with all the changes that happened, it definitely wasn’t easy to stay focused and motivated. But, like the quote above says, it is when we are faced with adversity that we are able to show what we are really made of. Despite everything that Fleet has gone through over the past six months, I believe we persevered, and came out on top. We had a ton of great swims at our championship meets this short course season. Going through what we’ve gone through, and still swimming the way we did, shows a lot about who we are and what we’re made of. The coaches are proud of everyone for that, and you should be proud of yourselves.

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

correlation between high attendance and work ethic with end of season success.”

Page 6

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Coach Maryanne: High Attendance comes with Benefits I am so proud of the success that the Bronze 2 and Silver 1 group had this season. I was able to get the kids out of their comfort zone and swim new events, we had first time TAGS qualifiers, an incredible amount of new “A” times and we had fun doing it all!

“Continue pushing your kids to swim new and different events.”

I set a goal at the beginning of the season for every swimmer to have a time in every event.

We didn’t quite make that goal, but we came very close! My favorite way of accomplishing this goal was swimming an event as a group. We train together, so why not race together as well? As we move forward into the next season I would like to encourage everyone to continue pushing their kids to swim new and different events. Don’t confine them to only being good at one stroke!

Promote the other strokes and praise the swimmer when they try new things.

Another area that the Arnold group was amazingly success-

ful in was attendance. The perfect attendance award was a much anticipated presentation each month and the swimmers really responded to the challenge of making at least one month of perfect attendance. I even had two Bronze 2 swimmers achieve 6 months straight of perfect attendance! That’s an entire season without missing one practice! Congratulations Andrew Meadows and Andrew Wang!!

High attendance comes with benefits. Those that came to practice every day for an entire month were able to see the results at their next meet. Time drops are always the best positive reinforcement for working hard and attending practice.

But it did go the other way, too.

I was able to teach those that

missed often that they cannot expect to swim fast without practicing. It is important to keep expectations in line with commitment in anything that you do, and this is a great way to learn such an important life lesson.

I have had an amazing time coaching this year and I have learned so much from my swimmers. I want to say a huge THANK YOU to my swim parents that bring their children to my pool every day and trust me with their child’s swimming. You are the most important cheerleader in their swimming career and without you they could not accomplish the things they have this season. And I think next year I will start handing out an award to the parents of a perfect attendance swimmer as well.

See you at the pool!!

Awards Banquet – Save the Date!

Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club will host its annual Awards Banquet on April 28th, at the Sterling Country Club located at 16500 Houston National Blvd, Houston, Texas 77095. Our annual Awards Banquet has been a tradition at FLEET for over 15 years. It’s a day on which we can stop to acknowledge our athletes and our graduating High School seniors to give recognition for the hard work and dedication that they have put into their sport. www.FleetSwimming.com

All swimmers that have participated in either Long Course 2012 or Short Course 201220122013 Championship meets will be awarded and recognized. All Fleet or Gulf Age group record breakers will also be recognized. Special recognition will be given to the graduating class for their many years of service to the sport. Their individual memory posters will be on display and these are always inspiring and fun to view. This is a wonderful time for our coaches to reflect over the season

and congratulate the swimmers for their accomplishments.

A lunch will be served at the banquet and there will be a silent auction of baskets prepared by the Swim-a-thon Committee available for bidding.

We hope that you can attend this event and take a moment to give back and reflect on the athletes that give so much to be the best they can be in their sport. We look forward to seeing you there. Watch your email and our website for signup information!

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

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Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Coach Andy: A Season In Review Now that the short course season in over and I have had a chance to sit back and reflect, I’m most drawn to the end of the season and how well we did in such a short time. Okay, okay I know the season is long, but we have to remember I started mid season. At that point, we were short staffed and I was stretched thin trying to help meet the needs of as many groups as I could. Finally, in December, our new staff was in place, and I could really get focused. As I said before, we had a short season together, mid-December – early March.

Ours swimmers should be highly praised for being strong and

staying the course with FLEET through all the changes. In a very short time, most swimmers adjusted to my coaching style/ system and got focused on working on their strokes and making positive adjustments.

The end reward was great results for many swimmers.

Again, they did all this in a short amount of time.

mers achieved new TAGS times.

A few swimmers also made the time standards to swim at the 13 and Over Spring Champs.

Number of Swimmers: 157

B: 60

The “Champs Season” was a lot of fun to coach. Our Fleet hosted Spring Champs meet was crazy good! Most heats had several Fleet swimmers in them. Our Fleet swimmers stepped up to the plate and crushed a home run. We won the meet and had several swim-

Number of swims: 940

BB: 73

Number of best times: 715

A: 47

Percent of best times: 76%

AA: 43

Number of DQs: 24

AAA: 7

Number of No Shows: 10

AAAA: 0

Here are some stats:

Entry Information

New Time Standards Achieved

TAGS: 9 Sectionals Bonus: 0 Sectionals: 0

At the 13 and Over Prelim/ Finals Spring Champs Meet, Fleet swimmers once again did an awesome job and finished in 5th place. Our swimmers did a great job of getting up on the Entry Information

blocks and racing their way into finals and then showing up in finals and finding a way to go faster.

Here are some stats:

New Time Standards Achieved

Finally, we had TAGS. Fleet swimmers did a great job dealing with the pressure of being at a big meet and found ways to out swim their competitors and made it into finals. Our relays Entry Information

were outstanding and scored a lot of points carrying Fleet into 16th place.

Here are some stats:

New Time Standards Achieved

Number of Swimmers: 33

B:

Number of Swimmers: 33

B:

Number of swims: 193

BB:

Number of swims: 193

BB:

Number of best times: 154

A: 47

Number of best times: 154

A: 47

Percent of best times: 80%

AA: 47

Percent of best times: 80%

AA: 47

Number of DQs: 2

AAA: 18

Number of DQs: 2

AAA: 18

Number of No Shows: 6

AAAA: 0

Number of No Shows: 6

AAAA: 0

TAGS: 3 relays qualified

TAGS: 3 relays qualified

Sectionals Bonus: 0

Sectionals Bonus: 0

Sectionals: 0

Sectionals: 0

I can’t wait to have a full season of training with our team. I know we did well, but I also know we can get better and score more point at the big meets. We will do this by working hard at practice every day, improving technique and racing hard at meets. I am very proud of our Fleet swimmers! Good job everyone and lets do even better next season. There are great rewards for those who stay the course…GO FLEET!!!

www.FleetSwimming.com

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Page 8

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Swim-a-Thon Update - The Water is Heating up!

Come catch a wave! Our 2013 Swim-a-Thon is getting closer to shore and the waves are getting bigger. We have raised over $19,000 of our goal since the letter writing party (this includes online and offline totals). Don't be left out to sea!

There are many ways YOU can participate. * Bring in donations when you have them to count towards your swim group's total for the March 31st group incentive date - the group that brings in the most donations by these dates will receive a cupcake party, donuts or ice cream sandwiches. YUM! The Swim-a -Thon donations box is on the table in the main office. * Follow up on outstanding donation request letters or emails. If you have not yet tried out the super easy online donation module through TU Money, give it a try and setup your swimmer's donation page today. Just click on the green Please Help button by the Swim -a-Thon logo and then import your email addresses through the Promote tab. It is that easy! * Donate an item or gift card for the silent auction. Gift cards still needed are: $25 Barnes and Noble, $20 Silverado or Cinemark Movie Thewww.FleetSwimming.com

ater, $25 Charming Charlies, $25 manicure/pedicure, $25 massage service, $25 PF Changs, $25 Cheesecake Factory, $25 Best Buy, $25 Olive Garden, $15 Orange Leaf, $15 Smoothie King, $25 Panera Bread and $25 Texas Roadhouse. YOUR donation is greatly appreciated. Email Gretta Karker at gkarker@comcast.net if you are able to donate a gift card towards our auction.

THANKS to all who have already donated. :o) If you have an item to donate towards our auction, please email Gretta Karker to coordinate delivery of the item. Thank you to Patrick Leung and Jill Bennett for their auction donations. :o) * Be or find a lane sponsor.

Lane sponsorships are available for $250 and entitle the lane sponsor with signage under one of the blocks on Swima-Thon Day, inclusion on the Thank You banner to all our lane sponsors that hangs at the FAC all year, and inclusion on the Thank You page to all our lane sponsors in the heat sheets of all FLEET-sponsored meets from May 2013 through

April 2014. Lane sponsorship forms are available on the FLEET website under the Swima-Thon tab. NOTE: Lane sponsorships count towards the family fundraising requirement, but do NOT count towards Swim-a-Thon prizes. * Mark your calendar for Swim -a-Thon day on Saturday, April 27th and come enjoy the festivities while the kids swim laps, eat with their teammates and win some great raffle prizes. A few volunteers will be needed to help with Swim-a-Thon day and the job sign-up will be posted mid-April.

Congratulations to Coach Dustin of the Silver II group for having the most percent of his group at the Letter Writing Party. He wins a $50 AMEX gift card. Way to Go and thanks for encouraging your swimmers to attend!

The waves are getting closer to shore and the water is warming up. We still need YOUR HELP. Every Drop Counts!

NOTE: Current top donors listed on the online donation page ONLY include online donations. We have been trying to get this deleted to no avail. All checks and cash donations dropped off at the FLEET pool have been counted through Feb. 24th and recorded. We have all donations accounted for so please be patient as we work through this new system, too. :o) We WILL start posting an updated donation list by swimmer and group on the 15th

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

“We have raised over $18,000 of our goal since the letter writing party“

Page 9

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Getting M.A.D.

By Dr. Aimee Kimball

MOTIVATION

I read a research article once that suggested when people diet, if they set a goal like “I want to lose 10 pounds in 3 months,” that today’s choices don’t matter as much to them.

That is, when dessert comes they tend to think, “I still have three months to work off this cake,” as opposed to, “this cake isn’t part of my weight loss plan.”

This season you may be motivated by state championships, pool records or personal bests.

However, when you’re looking at succeeding in your sport long -term, you need a different type of motivation. You need to do it because you love it. You need to work hard simply because you want to see how good you can be. You should want to compete and train because it’s a part of who you are. Medals and records can be one source of motivation but ultimately you have to enjoy the pursuit of excellence. If you don’t love competition, you won’t last.

What does this have to do with swimming, you ask? A lot.

What you do today does matter, because every day gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal, keeps you in the same place, or knocks you back a step.

Daily decisions like attending practice, food choices, or even your diet, add up to create the competitor you will become.

Looking ahead to the end of the season, to next season, or even to four years from now, you have to know where you want to be and what it’s going to take each day to get there.

Athletes don’t just train for the short-term. They don’t train just to be their fastest this weekend. They train to reach their potential and to develop themselves for the future. Training for the future is just as much about your mental toughness as it is your physical training.

Athletes who are in it for the long-term need to set goals and to pursue effectively those goals they need to get M.A.D. (motivation, attitude, dedication) day in and day out.

www.FleetSwimming.com

ATTITUDE Those who last longest in their sport and who see the most success also have a winning attitude. “Lazy” has never been used to describe them.

“Competitive” and “driven” are words you will often hear in conjunction with swimmers who have long-term success. To be competitive and driven means you approach each day as an opportunity to get better, faster, stronger, and look forward to working to become your best, no matter how hard that work is.

DEDICATION Long term success comes from saying to yourself, “I have what it takes to be successful, and I am going to do what it takes to achieve my goals.” You don’t cut corners. You live a lifestyle that helps you succeed rather than holds you back. You get up at 5:30 a.m. You see soreness

as a signal of hard work. It’ s like playing poker. When you make the commitment to go “all in,” there’s some risk involved, but you know the reward is going to be pretty fantastic. You give your sport all you have because, in the end, you want to see what you’re made of.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS FOR THE LONG TERM Mentally, it’s often easier to train for short-term because it’s a limited amount of time and effort required for success.

When you’re looking ahead to the end of the season or to four years from now, thoughts like, “Am I going through all this for nothing?” or “What if I fail?” may run through your head. If Olympic athletes stood on the blocks thinking, “I better not screw this up. I’ve trained for years for this moment,” they are bound to have more anxiety than swimmers who mentally and physically trained. Whatever your goals for the future, make sure you are also training your mind to deal with the pressure that comes from having expectations. Challenge yourself each meet by focusing on swimming specific times, and train to focus on your own race.

This helps to prevent overwhelming anxiety. Work on relaxation techniques. Use visualization on a daily basis. Master the art of positive self-talk.

When you combine proper mental and physical training with the right Motivation, Attitude and Dedication, the path to long-term success is easier to find.

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Aimee C. Kimball, PhD, CC-AASP is the Director of Mental Training for the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine. She is an Associate of Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the United States Olympic Committee’s Sport Psychology Registry, the USA Swimming Sports Medicine Network, and the NCAA Speakers Bureau. She works with athletes, coaches, and parents to help them achieve success in sport and life. For more information contact: kimballac@upmc.edu, 412432-3777, tinyurl.com/ UPMCMentalTraining

This article was reprinted from the January/February 2013 issue of USA Swimming’s Splash magazine.

“You need to work hard simply because you want to see how good you can be.”

Cy Fair Swim Club Street Address 14654 Spring Cypress Rd. Cypress, TX 77429 Mailing Address 11659 Jones Rd., PMB #351 Phone: 281-376-2372 Fax: 281-251-6160

“Home of the Fleet”

Mission Statement To provide members and residents of the NW Houston area with the best quality swim programs that develop the physical, athle c and personal poten al for all ages and levels.

This is accomplished through the following principles: • Provide an environment where swimmers of all ages can reach their desired poten al based on a philosophy of “longer range development”.

• To teach all of our members the value, rewards and poten al that aqua c a vi es provide.

• To provide a safe aqua c environment for members of the team and the community.

• Provide coaches who are good role models for the purpose of goal se&ng, mo va on, a&tude, enthusiasm, morals and maturity.

• Provide an environment where coaches and athletes may establish realis c goals and objec ves and measure their progress against established standards as benchmarks for improvement.

• Provide a link to the local community that improves the value of both to their members.

• Con nued growth of the membership and as well as facili es for training and development.

www.FleetSwimming.com www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Coaching Staff Jack Maddan, Head Coach & Elite Team Coach coachjack@fleetswimming.com Andrew Korda, Head Age Group, Senior & Gold Coach coachandy@fleetswimming.com Matt Hone, Lead Developmental Coach coachmatt@fleetswimming.com Dustin Myers, Elite Team Asst. Coach, Silver II Coach coachdustin@fleetswimming.com Maryanne Svoboda, Bronze II and Silver Teams Coach coachmaryanne@fleetswimming.com Camilo Orellana, Bronze I & Competitive Prep Coach coachcamilo@fleetswimming.com Alex Rayner, Junior Team & Competitive Prep Team coachalex@fleetswimming.com Ambar Fernandez, Bronze Team Coach coachambar@fleetswimming.com Jeff Carder, Copper Team & Pre-Competitive Team coachjeff@fleetswimming.com Chris Woolsey, High School Prep Coach coachchris@fleetswimming.com

Send Off to Sectionals The sectionals meet group had a carb load pasta party catered by Olive Garden on Monday, Feb. 25th in the dry land facility to get pumped up before leaving on the team travel meet to the Senior Sectionals meet at Texas A&M Thursday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 2nd.

Good luck to all of the swimmers and here's to fast swimming and best times! Go FLEET Go!!!

Submit ar cles and photos by the 25th of the month to Fleet Communica ons Coordinator toddhdavis@gmail.com for considera on in the next month’s newsle0er.