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As 2010 draws to a close, we take a moment to reflect on the accomplishments of USA Swimming and its athletes, both in and out of the pool. In the pool, 2010 saw a dominant performance by the U.S. National Team at the year’s biggest international event, the Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships. Team USA topped the medal count with a total of 51 medals (27 gold, 17 silver and seven bronze) and broke 23 meet records. The U.S. team’s performance dwarfed the competition with second place Australia finishing...
RECRUITING & RETAINING VOLUNTEERS WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS Not a swimmer? Not a coach? No worries! You can still join USA Swimming, the nation's premier competitive swimming organization. Dive into the fun, friendly world of competitive swimming, without getting wet. Volunteers are the backbone of our organization, especially at the club level where all types of clubs rely on volunteer support to succeed. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD VOLUNTEER GREAT Recruit Volunteers. Don't wait for volunteers to speak up-take the first step and approach people to serve on a committee...
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES A volunteer is a person who is willing to help perform any one of the necessary jobs in USA Swimming and your club. Your role as a volunteer is important to our sport. You can be actively involved in your child's swimming program and can also be instrumental in strengthening swimming in the United States. With a positive attitude and a willingness to lend a hand, you will also have a great impact on your child's athletic environment, and love of swimming. There are unlimited opportunities to get...
Resistance Water resistance affects a swimmer in different ways. One way is through the impact of water with a swimmer and the subsequent flow of water around the body. This is called “form resistance.” Another way is through water turbulence and waves that are created by moving water. This is called “wave resistance”. A third way is through water sticking to a swimmer's suit or skin and creating “friction resistance”. These three resistance components all have a negative effect on swimming performance and should be reduced whenever possible. Form resistance...
Nutrition for Sprinters The demands of sprinters are much different than those of distance swimmers, both physically as well as mentally. Being fast while being relaxed, and swimming strong while not trying too hard are often challenges sprinters face. This article will focus on the mental demands of sprinters and offer some quick tips to be mentally tough. Controlling Your Arousal Most sprinters need some physiological arousal to perform at their peak. The difficulty arises when they are unable to control this arousal and their anxiety/excitement gets the best of...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michael Alexandrov set the American record in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke Saturday at the AT&T Short Course National Championships, turning in a time of 1:51.73. It bettered the former mark, set in 2006 by Olympian Brendan Hansen, by one-hundredth of a second. It was Alexandrov’s second win and second American record in as many days at the Ohio State University’s McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion. He also set the American record in the 100y breast Friday night, a performance that earned him the ConocoPhillips Performance of the Meet award....
P is for Perfectionism By Dr. Aimee Kimball, Mental Training Consultant Wouldn’t we all like to be perfect and live a Ferris Bueller type of life? Of course we would, but reality makes perfection pretty hard to achieve. I know far too many swimmers who, when they don’t have the perfect race, are extremely hard on themselves. This article will focus on the concept of perfectionism and how to encourage individuals to be OK with being slightly less than perfect. Striving for Perfection Are you one of those swimmers who...
Relay Starts with Coach David Ellinghaus of the BEGNW Marlins BY KELSEY SAVAGE HAYS Starts set the pace for any race, but in a relay, there are three other people depending on you to nail it successfully. The pressure causes some swimmers to hesitate and others to spring ahead, with splits significantly faster than their individual events. Here’s some advice from coach David Ellinghaus of the BEGNW Marlins for swimmers looking to improve their relay starts: The Arms “It’s important that the starter is confident getting momentum from his arms,”...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Olympians Ryan Lochte, Kara Lynn Joyce and Nathan Adrian each won gold medals Thursday at the AT&T Short Course National Championships. It was the first night of the three-day meet, which is being held at The Ohio State University’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Lochte won the men’s 200-yard IM in 1:42.60, edging out Austrian Olympian Markus Rogan by 34-hundredths of a second. His time was about two and a half seconds slower than the American, U.S. Open and meet record he set in the event in 2007, but...
