Storm Forecast for January 29th, 2025

Michael White

Prepping for The End of Season, Pt 2  -- The Chase for State

As we get to the final stretch of meets, we see a lot of swimmers and their parents stressing more and more about achieving a state cut.  Some because they had a cut last year, and expect to be back again this year.  Others because their friends or siblings have achieved the cuts and they’re actively comparing.  We’ve touched on this before, but I want to be very clear on the topic: state cuts, especially those for 12&U swimmers, vary wildly from year to year and are not a sign as to whether or not a swimmer is progressing.  They are not the mark of whether or not a swimmer is “good enough.”  If our team was located 2 hours southwest, nearly 60% of our swimmers would have state cuts.  If it was 2 hours southeast, it’d be closer to 5%.  These are arbitrary standards used to fill a natatorium.  We see many swimmers “chasing” state cuts before they achieve their first BB cut, or even their first B cut.  We have notes from parents about event requests for swimmers that genuinely aren’t at a state level.  If those swimmers are expecting state cuts now when it’s not in the cards for them, and they don’t reach that mark they’ll view an otherwise successful season as a failure, and that’s not fair to anyone.

 As coaches, we keep multiple databases to track a swimmer’s progress towards all sorts of standards, from their first B cut to their percent within state or sectionals. 

We make all of our decisions for end-of-season meets with this data.  We’ll always put the swimmer in the best possible situation to succeed.

Practice Changes

Thursday, Jan 30

AM -- Senior / Performance / Masters 5:30-6:50A at SP West
PM –  TYP/ SR/ PERF Dryland 5:00-5:55P at JJs               Thunderstorm 2 5:00-5:50P at EMH
               Cyclone 5:50-7:00P at EMH
               Tropical Storm 6:15-7:10P at Sun Prairie West
               Hurricane 7:00-8:00P at EMH
               Tsunami / Typhoon 7:10-8:15P at Sun Prairie West
               Performance (No Senior) 7:10-8:40P at Sun Prairie West

Friday, Jan 31

AM -- Senior / Performance / Masters 5:30-6:50A at SP West
PM –  CYC/ TSU/ TYP Dryland 5:00-5:55P at JJs               Thunderstorm 1&2 6:05-6:50P at SP East
               Cyclone / Tsunami 6:15-7:15P at SP West
               Hurricane / Tropical Storm 6:50-7:45P at SP East
               Typhoon / Senior / Performance 7:15-8:35P at SP West
 

 

Saturday, Feb 1

Senior / Performance 6:30-7:50A at SP East
Cyclone / Tsunami / Typhoon 7:50-9:00A
Thunderstorm 1 & 2 / Tropical Storm 9:00-9:50A

Upcoming Events & Meets

Date

Meet

For

Status

2/5

Panera Bread Share Night

2/8

BAC Groundhog Meet
Madison West High School

All

Signup Closed

2/15

BCSC Championship
Sun Prairie West

All non-State

Signup Open

2/21-2/23

WI LSC Regional Champs
McFarland High School

All without full state lineup

Signup Open

2/28-3/2

WI LSC Senior Champs
Brown Deer, WI

15&O with State Cuts

Signup Open

3/1-3/2

WI LSC 10&U Champs
Verona, WI

10&U with State Cuts

Signup Open

3/7-3/9

WI LSC 11-14 Champs
Pleasant Prairie, WI

11-14 with State Cuts

Signup Open

3/13-3/16

Central Zone Sectionals

Senior/Performance with Sectional Cuts

 

3/28

Knights of Columbus Fish Fry

3/29

Start of Spring Session

Planned Events:

April 5th – Parents Practice
April 6th – Annual Banquet
April 12th – Swim School Challenge
April 26th – Kalahari Day
May 3rd – Home Meet
May 4th – Golf Scramble

 

Dryland Promo Code: SWIMFAST24