NEWSLETTER 2018-19 ISSUE 7

WORKOUT CHANGES

Wednesday Oct 31 Age Group Blue NO workout

The last workout before the Holiday Break will be Sunday Dec 23, the holiday schedule will be posted next week.

COACHES REPORT​

Congratulations to everyone on some great time trial racing and on your great and many accomplishments in 2017-18, as recognized at our annual banquet. 

The banquet always signals the next phase of our swimming year. The hectic start-up and registration process is behind us, on Sunday evening we took one last look back at a memorable 2017-18, and now it is time to look resolutely, determinedly, and confidently forward as we embark on the next big block of training, before we head into our fall racing season. Our banquet guest speaker, Olympic gold medalist Alexander Kopasz, made many great points in his talk to us about his journey. The big things to take away: 

1) be prepared for a long journey, and a journey that will be sometimes frustrating and even demoralizing, but remember that when you're going the tough stretches (as everyone does) it's important to keep moving. Alex's direct quote was: "THERE IS NO MOMENTUM WITHOUT MOTION."

2)  be willing to take risks and try things that take you out of your comfort zone. And always remember that failure should be understood as a stepping stone, not a stopping point.

3)  Hold yourself accountable to the tiny details in your preparation. And work on developing the same consistent routines in everything you do, this will strengthen your reliability and ensure that you are better able to maintain your focus on race day.

4)  Finally, celebrate the successes of your teammates and always remember to HAVE FUN!

Please see the "News" section of the website for a re-cap of our 2017-18 award winners and some photos. And many many thanks once again to our banquet organizer Jane Callon.

Finally for this week, we want to remind all parents, especially new parents, that while we (the coaches) need you to support your swimmer in the most positive way possible in the pursuit of their swimming dreams, during competition (unless you are acting in an officials role) you must support them from the stands or bleachers, and not from the pool deck. Your children are in good hands with their coaches, in both practice and competition, and it is important that your children are given the opportunity, by themselves, to develop a relationship with their coaches.  The messaging on your child's swimming must come primarily from their coach, and it will be a message underpinned by positivity, care and safety (see the LAC mission statement.) It is actually a rule of competition that parents (other than those officiating) are not permitted on the pool deck except in an emergency situation. We respectfully ask that everyone abide by this rule, and thank you in advance for your attention to it at all future meets. 

CONGRATULATIONS to first time Regional Championships qualifiers at the time trial: Baris Kartoglu, Tolga Kartoglu, Tony Kim and Vivian Liu.

AGE GROUP GOLD/SILVER NUTRITION SEMINAR

Sheryl Ross will be conducting a seminar on nutrition on Sun.Oct.28 from 11am-noon in the pool level meeting room at the Western University Student Recreation Centre. All Age Group Gold/Silver swimmers (and a parent) are welcome to attend this presentation at no charge. Sheryl is a registered kinesiologist and nutritionist, currently coaches elite-level triathletes, and was an elite-level swimmer herself. She will talk about the basics of good sports nutrition in terms that young swimmers can grasp.

SPIRITWEAR ORDERS

Spiritwear orders have now been placed, please watch the newsletter for order arrivals and pick up dates. The next order will be in the new year.

SWIMMER ACCOUNTS

Next swimmer account statements will be sent out November 5th. Any concerns need to be sent to Donna [email protected]

IT’S OFFICIAL!​

Fall Start-Up:  Hey!  Sunday was a great beginning to the season with a fully staffed time trial.  I just love these early season meets with everyone so eager to get started!  Thanks everyone.  I am sure the swimmers appreciated us putting on this great little event for them!  A great job again by Dmitrij Zagidulin as Meet manager.  Thanks Dmitrij!

Upcoming Meets:  I am the Competition Coordinator for the 2 remaining Time Trials that are scheduled prior to Christmas and also for the Nothers Fall Invitational.  It is never too early to request positions as a senior official as long as you are or will be qualified by the meet.  To be qualified, you must have taken the clinic for the position that you wish to work.  To sign up for these positions you email the competition coordinator with the meets, sessions, and positions that you would like to work.  I already have people from LAC and other clubs asking for spots!

Officials Clinics: For those who missed them, we had 3 excellent Intro clinics this past weekend with 3 different instructors and 50 students.  That is an awesome Official start to the season.   This weekend we have two more clinics scheduled, see below.  The following weekend will be a break and then I am planning on 2 more clinics on each of the next two weekends.  I will announce these in next week’s newsletter but I will attempt to follow the same pattern of Friday evening and Saturday morning.  As they are scheduled, sign-ups will appear.  For more information on the different positions, sign on to the LAC website, hover the cursor (do not click) over the Officials tab at the top of the home page, and, when the drop-down appears, select Levels/Positions.  Some of the other selections are out of date, but this one is current.  I will be updating the officials tab soon.

Judge of Strokes and Turns: Friday, October 26, 6:00 to 9:00 PM, CGAC, Entry Level Meeting Room, maximum enrolment 40 students.

Chief Timekeeper: Saturday, October 27, 7:00 to 9:00 AM, CGAC, Pool Level Meeting Room (bottom of stairs), maximum enrolment 14 students.

Timing System Operator: This is one position that is learned by on the job training only.  This is a great job.  You are positioned looking right down the finish line, you don’t get wet, and it is interesting.  Yes, there is a computer involved, but if you can operate a cell phone, this is far less complex.  If you are interested in learning this job, email me to let me know.

Last Chance for Name Tags for Officials: I will be placing an order this week for the name tags that many officials wear at meets.  These are ordered through me.  Level 2 and above officials get them for free as a small thank you.  The price for everyone else is less than $10.00.  If you are interested then email me listing the correct spelling of the name(s) to appear on the name tag(s) being ordered.

If you have any officiating questions please contact me, Mark Lukings L.A.C. Co-Club Officials Chair at [email protected]

UPCOMING MEETS

LAC SESSION CREDITS

Club hosted meets help to reduce membership fees by 20-25% as well as reducing travel costs by attending fewer out-of-town meets. To ensure the Club has sufficient resources to host meets, most LAC swim families are required to work a minimum of 22 sessions* during club hosted meets (please see below for exceptions). These sessions may be worked through officiating or working at the club’s food canteen, awards or other positions. Any unfulfilled session credits will be billed at a rate of $40.00 per session to the swim family’s Swimmer Account at the end of the season. Please note that this is not meant to be a “fundraiser” but rather an incentive to participate in the running of home meets. Swim families may receive up to 5 donated session credits from another club family to complete their credits, however any more than the 5 donated session credits must be approved by the board. Session commitments are waived for first year swim families with no prior competitive swim club affiliation, as well as for introductory and post-secondary students training full time with the club and for varsity swimmers, although assistance during swim meets from these groups is greatly appreciated.  First year families ARE required to fulfill the LAC orientation program. This includes participating in an Introductory to Swimming clinic during the swim season and a follow up “on-deck” mentoring session.

*** Families of Development swimmers who are not in their first year of competitive swimming who do not have a swimmer in another level are required to fulfill only 11 of the assigned session credits.***

*The number of session credits will be reviewed by the board in the fall upon club enrollment and may be subject to change.

There is a session credit FAQ under the "Parent Info" tab under "Session Credits.

LAC EQUIPMENT

Instructions for ordering swim equipment can be found on the LAC website under “Swimmer Equipment” tab. Also found on the website is the TAS shark card, you will need this card when purchasing Team Aquatic Supplies merchandise at swim meets or in their stores. There is a list of equipment needed for each group is also listed.

If you have any equipment questions please contact [email protected]

SWIM EQUIPMENT SHARK CARD

The 2018-2019 Shark Card is now available on the LAC website under the “swim equipment” tab. This offers a 15% discount off all regular priced goods. You MUST have this card with you at the time of purchase. Either as a pdf saved on your phone or a printed hard copy. The new online coupon code is listed on the cards as well this year. This code will be valid on the new website/webstore which is in the process of being launched. It offers a 15% discount on all regular priced goods listed on the site/store.

NEWSLETTER

Information for the newsletter should be emailed to [email protected]  by 10 am Monday mornings.