As we settle in to the new schedule and all the grumblings that come along with that, it’s important to remember the big picture — our kids are having fun.

They are also building their own temple of fitness. One that they will not want to see crumble but rather maintained through a lifelong commitment to their physical and mental health.

The swim practices are tight. But that is OK from a coaching perspective. Our training program for swimming is based on a methodology called Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USRPT). Because we split our time between the two sports, we needed a training methodology that got right to the point — racing — knowing that the water polo training will help build athletes’ endurance as well. I encourage you to look into this methodology for yourself and to discuss it with your athlete. If you have any questions, please reach out to Coach Fraser.

For some of the Junior Waves (and most of the 13Us) we will have our team’s first swim meet on May 7. The coaching staff are looking forward to this event as I am sure most of the athletes. This will be a fun meet but one step up from our usual Yellow & Blue meets. The times will count in the Swim Canada database. There will be a larger swim meet in early June called Regionals for all swimmers with the required times. Here is a list of the times. Do not expect your swimmer to make these times on their first meet. Some will, no doubt. A lot will not. But, it’s always good to have goals, especially if they are in black and white. I encourage you to print out the list of required times and bring it with you to the meet and refer to it (discretely).

Coach Rodrigo and I have also been in discussion about the Summer schedule and this is about to be finalized. We are working on going to a swim meet at the end of June either in Belleville or Montreal, so we’d like to encourage all athletes to continue until that time. This current session ends on June 12 but we have got some outdoor pool time booked and ready to go (as long as it doesn’t snow!). There will also be another Yellow & Blue meet in June for everyone.

We will have a meeting with all swimmers before the meet on what is expected of them. We require that they all wear the club suit (but not the polo suit with zippers for the girls). We also require team wear and the yellow cap if you’re wearing one. Parents in the stands, bring a pen and a marker and download the Meet Mobile app on your phone. It’s fun to follow along the swimmers from the entire club and see them progress as well.

That is all for now. See you poolside.