The definition of a nail-biter

Congratulations to all the athletes that participated in the Mini-Loo this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and there were some nail-biting races at the end that kept us all glued to those hard, hard seats. Thank you to all the volunteers, the coaches and to Lisa for making this event happen. I hope that the Mini-Loo provided a good introduction to WAVE families and athletes on what to expect at swim meets. It was great to see everyone’s arms marked up and ready to go! Well done!

Effortless swimming is not easy. There is a small percentage of the population who are more comfortable in the water than on land, the water babies amongst us. They do exist. The rest of us have to convince our minds and bodies that the water is the right place to be. Regardless, everyone has to adapt to the water and it takes time and constant repetition.

And then it happens. It clicks. Rodrigo and I talk about it almost every week, the click. We see it every week – so far this month it was Diego (13U) and Liam (15U). Both have been with us for two years and it finally happened. Everything just started to work, they were no longer fighting the water. Parents will come up to us and say, “What happened?”, well, it was the click.

It will happen, just encourage your child to listen and stay dedicated. We’ll make them water babies…strong ones.

Perth

We have 60 swimmers going to Perth looking for record times and record amounts of candy.

Please bring a canned good/diapers/feminine hygiene product to the meet as The Stingrays are collecting for the local food bank.

There are relays for this meet. If you need to drop out of the meet and you are in a relay, please let me know as soon as possible.

Cornwall

Cornwall takes place the week after Perth. The entries will be posted tomorrow – expect some surprises. For those athletes that are swimming in their first meet, I have entered you on the Saturday only.

There is also a need for volunteers – Cornwall Snowflake Swim Meet: Call for officials

Athletes that are in the running to make the 17U NCL team have been told to stay in Ottawa for training. Contact coach@ottawawaterpolo.com if you need clarification.

Petawawa

WAVE will be attending the Petawawa Poppy meet in November (LINK). This is the same weekend as the Shadow Cup water polo tournament and the NCL water polo tournament in Montreal for our senior athletes.

It will be a very busy weekend for the club and most, if not all, coaches will be engaged in those events – if you remain in Ottawa, do not expect business as usual.

There are 25M races at this meet, so I encourage all the novice swimmers to attend if they are not attending the Shadow Cup. This will be a fun meet similar in spirit to the Mini Loo.

13U Dryland

13U dryland continues this Thursday at BMRC (7:15 PM). We will meet at 7:05 at the bottom of the stairs to the pool. Please bring appropriate clothing and footwear, a ball, and a mat. And if you are responsible for the tunes, bring those as well.

Development Camp

Congratulations to Abi and Yaro for being selected for the 12U Development Swim Camp being held in Perth on November 19. The camp is being put on by the Eastern Ontario Swimming Association and brings together swimmers and coaches from all over the valley for a day of training. Well done.

 

Life is always better in the water,

Fraser