The Soggy Log ~ January 18 – 23, 2010

NWO Regional Education & Training Camp, January 15, 16, 17, 2010 in Thunder Bay ~ A long weekend, and an excellent swim camp. Our swimmers did a minimal amount of swimming (in terms of “hard” work in the pool) but lots of time was spent working on skills and basic training concepts such as “even” splitting (maintaining even or constant speed during a race), “even” stroke counts (maintaining the same or nearly the same stroke count for each length of a race, which is very difficult to do especially when a swimmer becomes fatigued), “negative” splitting (swimming the back end or the second half of a race faster then the first half) and “descending” sets in training (starting repeat swims slowly, and getting progressively faster on each ~ i.e. 4 x 100 Free with a swimming speed of 1:30, 1:25, 1:20 and 1:15, etc.). This is all stuff we work on here all the time, BUT it was important for our swimmers to hear this from a different coach(s). The camp also had a huge focus on Dryland Training, both in terms of stretching for joint stability and injury prevention and for strength building with plyometrics and exercise ball work. Overall I felt that the weekend was a very positive experience for all participating swimmers.

Manitoba Marlins New Years Swim Meet, January 23 & 24, 2010, Pan Am Pool Training Tank, Winnipeg ~ Ten KSS swimmers will compete this weekend in Winnipeg at the MB Marlins New Years Invitational Swim Meet. After all the work our swimmers have done during our KSS Christmas Training Camp and this past weekend in Thunder Bay, I am looking forward to some extremely good racing from all of them. A Reminder ~ Warmup Times this weekend are 12 & Under ~ 7:00 – 8:00 AM; 13 & Over ~ 11:30 – 12:30 PM.

Please Note: A Schedule Change ~ On our KSS Winter Session Schedule we have listed a special KSS Skills and Social Evening scheduled for Saturday January 23/10. Because the MB Marlins New Years Swim Meet dates were changed to this coming weekend we must CANCEL this special session. Our next Skills & Social Evening is scheduled for Saturday February 13/10 ~ 4:30 – 6:00 PM. We will be working on Starts & Turns in preparation for the NWO Regional Championships in Thunder Bay later in February.

Masters Time Trial & Social ~ Saturday January 30, 2010, 4:30 – 6:00 PM. All KSS Masters swimmers are encouraged to participate in this special session. We will be taking times in the 25’s and 50’s of all four strokes plus any other distances and strokes you may wish. Afterwards we will go a local watering hole for snacks, etc. Please mark this date on your calendar and make a point to get some “times” in January 2010.

REMINDER ~ Travel Permission Forms for the FFAST Winter Chill Swim Meet are due on Saturday January 23/10. Our entries will be processed and sent at 7:00 AM on Monday January 25/10. Please do not be late with your KSS Travel Permission Form for this swim meet.

2010 NWO Regional Swimming Championships ~ February 26, 27, 28, 2010 in Thunder Bay. KSS Travel Permission Forms have been handed out this week and will be posted shortly on the KSS Website. All KSS “competitive” swimmers should compete in this swim meet.

$ Help For Haiti ~ All KSS swimmers are asked to donate a portion of their weekly spending money for both the remainder of this week and next week to help with the Haiti Relief efforts. We will also have a Jelly Bean Jar at the pool starting this week on Friday and continuing until next Saturday (January 30, 2010). On Saturday January 30/10 at 10:00 AM we will have a draw to see which swimmer wins the Jelly Bean Jar. Tickets to enter the draw will be $1.00. All proceeds from our Jelly Bean Draw will be added to our donation jar and will be sent to a charity that is directly involved with on the ground Haitian Relief. Please do your part to help make our KSS donation a fairly sizeable one; every $ will go a long way to helping these poor people.