Motivational Tools for Athletes and Intrasquad #1 Results

Galen Ziegler

Motivation Strategies for Athletes

As we prepare for our first USA Meet for Marlin, JR, and SR groups, I want to go over some things we are doing to help motivate the swimmers. As some of you know, USA Swimming is more of an individual activity. Team-scored events do not really exist, relays are scarce, and many swimmers are competing in events with a huge number of athletes from a large area. To help with that, we try to find other ways to set goals and stay motivated.  

  1. Team Records
    1. With some of these records dating back to 2015(our first year as a USA Team), your swimmers can look to beat the times of the highest-performing athletes from our team's short history.
    2. These can be found here and are posted on the bulletin board at the swim school.
  2. Conditioning Practice Awards
    1. Four small practice awards/recognition will be given out at each Marlin/JR conditioning practice to recognize athletes who demonstrate proper technique, consistent kickouts, overall improvement, and leadership.
    2. This type of training is hard and tends to be rather boring for younger swimmers. This was designed to give each swimmer something to focus on and an opportunity to showcase their skills or abilities during a challenging set.
  3. State Cuts
    1. These are based on the historical performances of athletes within Maryland Swimming. These are very challenging times; only a few swimmers from our team typically qualify each season. It is a great achievement and a major goal for many of our athletes.
    2. These can be found here and on Maryland Swimming’s website
  4. USA Swimming Motivational Times
    1. These times are based on the historical performance of athletes throughout our country. They are great for setting goals and benchmarks for athletes.
    2. They are also used as qualifying standards for some meets. For example, you may need an “A” time to swim in a certain event or qualify for a championship meet.
    3. These can be found here and on the USA Swimming’s website.
  5. Test Sets
    1. Something new we will be trying soon is test sets. We did one round last Winter where the swimmers are timed on skills or conditioning sets. These will be compiled and posted on the bulletin board for the swimmers.

 

Intrasquad Meet #1

You can see the results report here.

Entry fees will be batched out with the USA Meet on Monday

 

Thanks,

Coach Galen