Persist Without Exception By Jackson W. Leonard A common essay prompt I have seen for many years is “Explain a single pivotal moment in your life and its impact”. After consideration, I have decided that prompt is a poor one. In my life, I have found that often a single moment does not alter one’s life but one’s actions and mental determination over an extended period of time are what really direct the course of one’s life. This can be seen in my pursuit of a state championship in the...

I am sure you will agree that one of the components of happy organizations is good communications. My aim is to regularly send you information via email, and included in that information will be education about our sport and how we will be approaching things with your child at SwimFast. Email is pretty convenient for most of us, I think and I will also post this information continuously at our website, www.swimfastteam.com. That website is a work in progress, so please bear with me as we get it functional. Our...

This morning i want to talk about a subject that is important to understand, and, i am sure "counter-intuitive" for parents. The most common reaction we have as parents when our child is very successful in an event, is to want to see them swim it "right away" again in the next meet, anticipating watching our child once again shine. Its something we ALL want to see happen. But most of the time, its the worst thing we can do. To understand the process, lets consider why a swimmer improves:...

A During the past great summer of swimming, the best 4x 200 meter freestyle swims by American Women Swimmers were as follows: 1.58.02, 1.58.50, 1.58.7, and 1.59.3.. Needless to say, that’s pretty doggone slow. The good news is, the rest of the world is just as bad as we are. The bad news is, “someone” is going to catch fire and leave everyone else in the dust. That “someone” needs to be American Swimmers. Explanation: The “traditional” splits, discussed for decades among coaches, is the first 100 split being swum...

spoke today with the Coach of the Olympic Champion in the 100 meters for women, Jodie Henry of Australia. (Coach Shannon Rollason) Prior to Athens, Jodie was working for 40,000 a week in 8-9 sessions a week. today, she is at 30-35,000 a week, in 7-8 sessions. In other words, basically 5,000 a practice, but many practices. This is, i believe a workable formula for good sprint performance. NOT for middle-and-distance swimmers, but a good 5K a day beats lousy 10-14-18K a day at slow speeds. To swim fast, you...

1. One arm drills - i use one arm drills in free, fly and back for a number of reasons. These include isolating one limb at a time to focus on correct positioning and correct motion and correct timing. "A drill done 99% correctly is 100% wrong" Third immutable law of improvement..."Do Things Correctly.". 2. Breathing. The first need of any human and therefore our highest priority, is to keep on breathing. Breathing mechanics in swimming are vital to both securing enough air to compete AND maintaining perfect body position...

A quick note this week on one of the most important topics in swimming... which is... "how hard should I 'push' my child?" This question has been around since the beginning of Age Group Swimming in the late 1940s. And there is no clear-cut, definite answer, but time has been kind enough to grant us some insights, in no particular order, here they are: 1. USA Swimming Research conducted in 1996 confirms that parents can enhance swimming fun by providing a push. 2. Careful though, as it is a fine...

Today I'd like to spend a few minutes of your valuable time discussing the equipment that I believe is important for your child to bring to practice. While everyone's funds are limited, and I realize not everyone can purchase everything immediately, please move in the direction of getting the following for your child. Any questions, of course call me at 954-684-3024 and I'll be happy to help. First, everyone, regardless of group, needs some basics. They are: 1. Competitive swim suit for training. Boys should have jammers (knee length tights),...