This past weekend PST Masters hosted the Plantation Piranhas LCM Masters Invite. Highlights of this weekend's meet include Heidi Hester winning the Women's 200 Fly in a time of 3:06.32. This is the first time Heidi has ever competed in that event. Also, Christine Manna was the winner of the Women's 50 Free (30.72) with Heidi Hester (30.78) close behind. On the Men's side, Carlos Ochoa placed 2nd in the Men's 50 Free at 27.59, while Todd Wilson placed 2nd in the Men's 50 Fly at 29.28. In relay action,...

Tips to Avoid Shoulder Pain By Karen Reeder Most swimmers at some time in their career have problems with shoulder pain or soreness. There are a couple of things that can be done to minimize your risk of injury. 1) Bilateral breathing, or breathing to both sides, can even out body roll and help prevent injury. Swimmers breathing only on one side, rotate their upper body more towards the breathing side. For example, if a swimmer only breathes to the right, the left shoulder is usually in an extended position...

Start Maneuvers The start of open water events can be crowded and a bit daunting to swimmers new to open water. Here are some tips: Position yourself properly for the start. If you are fast, go toward the front, slow go to the back and average, place yourself in the middle of the pack. Slower swimmers who start at the front get “run over” and block other swimmers causing congestion. Take a wider approach on the start line. If the first buoy is 300 yards away, starting 50 yards wide...

Pictured Danny Tucci, Sophia Oliva, Megan Abad, Fernando Abad The July 4th Triathlon has become a tradition for many PST swimmers. Monday, July 4th-2011 they again showed supremacy on the waters of Trade Winds Park (Coconut Creek, FL): CONGRATULATIONS to the following PST swimmers. SOPHIA OLIVA triathlon 1st place 15-19 years category , time 1:11:21.2, swim part 500 yards 2nd place overall female out of 150,swim time 5:39 (PST swimmer) MEAGAN ABAD triathlon 1st place 10-14 years category, time 1:16:34.1, swim part 500 yards 2nd place overall female female out...

Tracking Improvement A coach and an athlete need to have measurement points along the way to measure improvement based on the training plan. The obvious first tracking area is the athlete’s performance in swim meets. The key question should be “Is the athlete’s performance in swim meets consistent with expectations based on the training load?” A coach may make necessary adjustments to the training based on performance in a meet. Meet performance, however, is not the only way for a coach to track improvement. Another essential element to tracking improvement...

Understanding Why Kids Swim We know from past research conducted by USA Swimming that kids stay in swimming because it is fun and quit because it is not fun. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but it is important for coaches to know what it is that makes swimming fun for athletes. Recognize that fun can be incorporated into practice without detracting from the training Often, fun and hard practices are viewed as being on separate ends of a spectrum. But, from research, USA Swimming found that kids do...

Congratulations to all PST Swimmers who competed Saturday at the Pompano Beach Ocean Mile Swim. A Special Congratulation goes to Sophia Oliva for winning the Over All Women’s Division. Pompano Beach Ocean Swim PST Slide Show

A Balancing Act By Kathleen Woolf, PhD, RD//Correspondent What you eat can have a big impact on your health and performance both inside and outside of the pool. This isn’t news. Hippocrates recognized the relationship of food and health when he stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. Today, registered dietitians/nutritionists promote the food and health relationship by recommending a balanced diet. What exactly does this term mean? A balanced diet is one where you eat a wide variety of foods in moderation. You consume enough,...

Nutritional Cheat Sheet BY MIKE MEJIA, M.S., C.S.C.S//Special Correspondent Eat Breakfast Start out with a proper breakfast. This does not entail grabbing a bagel with cream cheese and eating it in the car with a large orange juice on the way there. The bagel, especially if it's made with white flour can really jack up your blood sugar levels. Granted, the fat in the cream cheese will blunt this affect somewhat, but add in the OJ and you'll be all fired up for warm-ups and likely crash shortly thereafter. The...

PST 2011 Summer Practice Schedule Starting Monday, June 13, 2011 Coach Jimmy & Dave Monday thru Friday Swim 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Saturday Swim 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Tuesday & Thursday Gym 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. by Coaches Invitation Only Monday & Wednesday Dry land 4:20 p.m. to 4:55 p.m. Monday thru Thursday Swim 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. OFF on Friday nights Coach Terrell Monday thru Friday Dry land 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. (Please wear sneakers, gym short & shirt.) Swim 8:15 a.m. to 10:00...