Head Coach Season Recap
Dear swimmers and parents,
I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this past season and give everyone an update on what we have accomplished. USA Swimming just announced the 2019 Club Excellence Award Winners and for the third year in a row, WEST has been awarded the Bronze Medal making us one of the top programs in the country (click here to read the full article). We are one of only four PNS teams on this list and there is no consideration of team size in the determination.
We had a very busy Championship Season this year with swimmers representing WEST at multiple regional and national level competitions. Swimmers have done an amazing job of working incredibly hard and staying consistent with our training plans despite significant travel. The coaching staff has really come together this year and our teamwork is evident by swimmer performances across all our championship meets. The grind of three championship meets back-to-back put increased pressure on coaches, swimmers and parents. Everyone’s sacrifice to during this time is greatly appreciated.
As a small club team, participating at national meets brings great exposure for WEST and provides opportunities to meet more college coaches, something that will benefit future generations of WEST swimmers. Our swimmers that attend these big meets bring back excitement, an increased knowledge of the sport and confidence that is shared with the rest of the swimmers on the team. This translates to more swimmers making Sectional and Regional times and eventually continuing to put more swimmers on the national stage. The number of swimmers we took to nationals make up almost 6% of our team, an incredible fact given the industry standard of excellence is 2%. As the team continues to progress, we will continue to support the dreams of all our athletes and WEST will continue to be a team where swimmers can realize their full potential.
Winter Nationals
As a club team at this meet, we were by far the minority. Most teams and swimmers at the meet were either college teams or post-grad professionals. Both Alex Flores and Brandon Stride made finals in their events and were some of the fastest 18 & Under swimmers at the meet.
Junior Nationals
Elli Straume, Ava Collinge, Justin Limberg, Brandon Stride and Alex Flores all did outstanding, with many best times and several swims in finals. For some of our swimmers this was their first time at a national meet and simply going a best time under the added pressure, was a big accomplishment.
PNS Senior Champs
We finished 5th on the women’s side and 7th on the men’s side. Strong finishes keeping in mind this includes all of PNS and Washington teams from Inland Empire LSC. We had many best times and several podium finishes including the women’s 200 free champion. We had several new qualifying swims, getting a few new swimmers Senior Sectionals and existing swimmers making more events.
PNS Age Group Champs
WEST finished in 15th place overall and had more swimmers at the meet this year than last. We had several top place finishes and provided a great learning experience for those swimmers who swam at this meet for the first time.
Divisional Championships
The greatest number of performance gains were at our Divisional Champs meet that we hosted at Kamiak. We had a few kids pick up Senior Champs qualifying swims and had many significant drops and lots of swims in finals. Hosting this meet, while swimmers competed at Nationals and Husky Invite presented certain challenges, but our volunteers and coaches did a great job of pulling it off.
Holidays & Training
These next couple weeks of training are some of the most important of the entire year. We have a short opportunity to correct technique and build new training habits. We are running an intense practice schedule and doing special practices, such as Dryland Only Training at Engineered Sports (12/27 & 12/28), underwater filming and using power specific equipment. We appreciate the swimmers making it to practice and giving their best effort everyday. Those that are traveling, stay in shape so you don’t fall behind when you return. Development kids: enjoy some time off with family, grow and get ready to work hard when you return in January!
I am proud to be part of such a dedicated and hard-working community. The contribution and continued support of our parents are crucial to the success of our swimmers and team. As a program aimed at being the best we can be, it is crucial we all continue to support each other and commit to the path towards greatness.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Thank you for your contribution towards making WEST great.
Coach Nick
