Update 4/21/24

Neil Romney

Update 4/21/24

 

“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” 

--Bill Bradley

 

Athlete Goalsetting

There are still a few goalsetting meeting slots available: go to Sign-Up Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4BABAC28A7FDCF8-49008669-lake

The goalsetting worksheet and instructional page are available on the home page under the Swimmer Info tab and Goalsetting subtab. 

 

Practice Schedule, 4/22-4/27

Kaijus/Nessies/Godzillas

  • M-F: 4-6 pm
  • Sat: 8-10 am

 

Gremlins

  • M-T: 4-4:45 pm
  • W-Th: 4-5 pm
  • Sat: 9-10 am 

 

Practice notes: We are adding Saturday practice this week. It will include two Saturday-practice staples, peer coaching and Pizza Point Relays (PPRs), both intended to encourage inter-group interaction and a whole-team focus.  

 

Long Course Meet Schedule

Meet

Dates

Registration Closes

Notes

Bozeman

4/20-4/21

Fri 4/5

Only indoor LCM meet

Lewiston, ID

5/17-5/19

Fri 4/26

Race against other LSCs

Missoula

6/20-6/23

Fri 5/31

Close w/ good comp

Helena

7/5-7/7

Fri 6/14

Last chance to qualify

Sr. Sectionals (Gresham)

7/11-7/14

Mon 6/24

Qualifiers only

State (Missoula)

7/18-7/21

Mon 7/8

Qualifiers only--BB times

Senior Zones (Clovis)

7/29-8/2

Apply with MT Swimming

Girls—AA times/Boys--A

AG Zones (Boise)

8/6-8/9

Apply with MT Swimming

AAA times

 

Meet notes:

  1. The Bozeman, Lewistown, and Helena meets require significant drives. We encourage attendance, your family's schedule and budget permitting.
  2. Meet information and event files for June and July meets will be uploaded when available. 

 

Meet Event Selection

At this weekend’s Bozeman meet, several swimmers insisted on scratching particular events with the primary reason cited that doing so would allow them to focus on other events that they or their parents believed they were more proficient at. This kind of focus on a specific few events while avoiding all the others invariably compromises the swimmer’s overall development, lessens stroke and distance versatility, undermines the development of physical and emotional resilience, confuses athletes about their reasons for swimming and whose goals they are pursuing by doing so, and creates friction between and among the parent, athlete, and coach.

 

For these reasons, my event-selection protocol has been and will continue to be as follows:

  1. Coaches select events while inviting athletes–not parents–to indicate one or two specific event requests--versus an entire line-up--when registering.
  2. Injured athletes who cannot compete in specific events without exacerbating their injury should also note those when registering.
  3. Coaches select the athletes’ line-ups (which will usually include the maximum number of events and often prioritize events rarely swum, events in which the athlete has shown promise in practice, and events that are likely to stimulate development of individual attributes and/or swimming skills and capacities that will benefit that athlete long-term) and email a tentative event line-up to the team for review.
  4. Swimmers or parents who notice a discrepancy in the entries, either because of session availability, injury timeouts, or a specific event request are asked to email the head coach asap.

Below are links to five articles by experienced coaches around the country all explaining the multiplicity of reasons for coaches’ selecting swimmers’ events–and the problems associated with allowing swimmers’ and parents’ to do so.
 

  1. https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/how-do-coaches-choose-their-swimmers-events/
  2. https://www.capitalareaaquatics.com/page/news/365546/choosing-events-at-a-swim-meet-how-to-support-your-swimmer-and-coach--about-a-3-minute-read
  3. https://ncaswim.com/how-coaches-pick-events/
  4. https://www.usaswimming.org/news/2017/04/26/5-reasons-to-swim-an-off-event
  5. https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/utpcs/page/parents (scroll to the bottom of the web page and click on  "Why the Coach Picks Events.")

 

Kaijus/Nessies and Godzillas--Goal-Set Cycle 1 Highlights

 

5 x 2 im @ 5, best avg, 4/15/24 

 

Top 3 Kaiju/Nessies

  • Hayden Ricks—2.55.0
  • Grace OIson—3.03.2
  • Isaac Kinnick—3.04.6

 

Top 3 Godzillas

  • Sara Dumouchel—3.31.2
  • Thomas Kinnick—3.45.8
  • Cora Dumouchel—3.57.0


 

3 x 5 fr @ 9, best avg, 4/17/24

 

Top 4 Kaiju/Nessies

  • Hannah--24 @ 1.40
  • Grace--24 @ 1.40
  • Annie--21 @ 1.50
  • Sara—21 @ 50

 

Top 4 Godzillas

  • Sara--21 @ 1.50
  • Cora--20 @ 2.00
  • Macy--18 @ 2.00
  • Avery—17 @ 2.15

 

Lake Monster Donations Sought for Pool and Dryland Equipment

We could use a wide range of equipment from medicine balls and weighted jump ropes to tempo trainers, swim sox, and sprint-assisted and -resisted bungee cords. Lake Monster families who would like to donate for such purchases may write a check made out to MVA, noting on the “For” line that the donation is for the Lake Monster equipment fund, and give that check to the front-desk attendant. We have asked the MVA BOD for funds for these items but their acquisition will be speedier and more complete with swim-family assistance. Any size donation will be appreciated. 

 

Meet Standards and Motivational Times

All motivational standards and meet-qualifying times can be found on home page’s Time Standards tab:  https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/mtlm/page/time-standards