WSY Swimming Daily Blog

Thursday, July 10, 2008

WSY swimmers performing well at MA senior Champs

Many of our Senior level swimmers have been performing well at the Middle Atlantic senior Championships at Bucknell University. This meet is a four day prelim/final meet, and we are using it as a final preparation meet prior to Y Nationals. We have had several swimmers make a few more qualifying times for Y nationals. Real Time Results are here. We are half way through the meet and thus far we have had 53% lifetime best times from the WSY swimmers at the meet. The WSY swimmers have been having fun supporting each other at night at finals (picture gallery here).

Monday, July 7, 2008

Final night at Trials

The 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials has come to a close. The USA Olympic team was named tonight, and they depart in the morning for their training camp in Palo Alo, and then they will go to the international training camp in Singapore before finally arriving in Beijing for the games. This meet was the fastest swim meet in the history of the sport. Some will say the new suits played a part, and yes I believe some of it, but I think a bigger part of why our sport has gotten so fast is athletes are staying in the sport for much longer. For an example in the women's 50 free tonight, there was not one athlete under 20. The age ranged from 20-41 (Yes....Dara Torres put on a show this week), and I fully expect her to win at least the 50 in Beijing. It will be funny to see her racing Cate Cambell (from Australia who is currently the 2nd fastest in the world at 16 years old). In looking ahead to the 2012 trials (in case you are marking the calendar, the dates of the 2012 trials are June 17-24, 2012) both Joe and Leah were talking about how they are looking forward to that meet. As I mentioned in previous posts, how many other WSY swimmers will be joining them??

Joe had a tremendous race this evening. The field that swam the 1500 tonight was the fastest field of 8 in American swimming history, and Joe was part of it. Joe started out a bit slower (at the 400 he was 4:03 vs 4:02 yesterday), however he made up for in in the back half of the race. Joe ended up 8th (where he was seeded), however he did improve his time to finish at 15:21.84 (results). Joe had 3 races and had a personal best in all 3 races....a great accomplishment. Joe's college coaches at UNC were very excited for his accomplishment, and his future.

The UNC Coaches (Rich, Catherine, and Mike) are great to work with in a partnership to get the athlete where he/she needs to be, and I thanked them for their work with Joe as well as any WSY athlete that could attend UNC in the future!!

In closing, as I mentioned previously, this meet was a totally different experience in American swimming. Total, there were over 160,000 fans that watched this meet, not to mention all of the fans that saw swimming on the nightly telecast on NBC. This is huge for our sport, and I know personally in my 17 years being involved as a coach, I have seed this sport changing for the better. The suits are simply part of it, the athletes are working harder, forming long term goals, staying in the sport longer, and finding a way to get their hand on the wall first.

After we move through the next few weeks with many WSY swimmers participating in Summer League Championships, Senior Championship Meets, sectional Meets, Y National Meets, US Open Meets, I hope everyone will tune in to NBC and watch the American swimmers (beeg begins 8/8/08) at the Beijing Olympic games. After the Olympic games conclude attention will be refocused to the 2012 games in London. I know it is hard to think about swimming at that level, but being at this meet I have seen so many athletes that at one point swam in their summer leagues, high school teams, and then moved through the National level meets and ultimately to the Olympic team. There were many athletes that swam in this meet (a few of which made the 2008 Olympic Team), who did not even qualify for this meet in 2004, so I know with focus and preparation it can happen!!

Wishing everyone a great end of the Summer!!

Mike

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Final days of 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials

My apologies to everyone for not blogging over the last two days. I have received all of your texts and emails. We have been having a huge amount of success here at the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials. As I had written in my last post, Leah had a very successful 200 Fly, getting a top 8 swim at night, and swimming her lifetime best time. Leah also secured another Top 8 swim in the 800 free last evening, which I know many of you saw on NBC. I wanted to take some time to go over what happens when you get a final 8 swim at the Olympic Trials.

We usually get to the pool about 5:30pm, and swim our warm-up of about 1,500 meters. The finals session is scheduled to begin at 7pm (local time). Most of this is dictated by NBC. There are some nights where we were to begin the session with some semi-finals heats, and NBC wanted to begin their live broadcast with a "Finals Heat", so we did begin a few nights at 6:45pm, so we could go live at 7pm. During the evenings of Leah's finals swims, we ended warm-ups about 6:10pm, and Leah had some time to get her racing suits on, get water, and had a few minutes to talk with me. Most times about 6:30pm was the last I talked with Leah. She went back to the warm-up pool area, where there is no media, only other swimmers and coaches. She would remain back there until she was about ready to swim. All athletes must report to the "Race Ready Room" at 15 minutes prior to their swim. This is a room where all 8 finalists sit prior to the race. There is a TV in this room where you can see the actual meet, and some times the athletes may say a few things to each other, but for the most part the swimmers usually have their head phones on, and are preparing for their races. About 5 minutes prior to the race, the athletes will be led to the "chute", which are stairs which lead to the main pool deck in the arena. When the music starts, this is the signal to begin walking out of the chute. Here the athletes will see 2-3 TV camera's, and then hear the crowd. Imagine 13,000 people screaming and yelling, and lots of bright lights. The key here as I mentioned to Leah is to keep your head set on, and block out the crowd. After all of the names have been announced, it is time to swim, and over all we have had some fantastic swims. Leah's 800 last evening was a second opportunity for her to get a Top 8 finals swim, and she learned some valuable things which will help her as she prepares over the next four years for the 2012 trials.

BIG JOE's MILE - WOW.......Joe knew his event was on the last day, so we have used this

week to continue to prepare him. We kept his volume a bit higher most of the week in preparation for this event. In talking with Joe, we knew it would take about 15:15 to get a Top 8 finish. Joe's best was 15:31. The metric mile has become a very fast event for American swimming. Joe's goal all Summer was a Top 8 finish, but we knew it would be a very large task. Mid way through the week, Joe time trialed the 400 free. His previous best time was 4:02, and in his time trial

he broke 4:00, and went 3:59, so he really felt ready for the mile. Joe was seeded in the 2nd to last heat of the pyramid seeding. He looked relaxed and ready to swim at yesterday's (Saturday) prelim session. As he entered the water, he was 4:02 at the 400 mark (which up until this meet was his fastest time), he held 1:01's most of the way, and was well on his way to a 9 second improvement. When he finished, he was in 5th place out of all of the heats (results) going 15:22.45. We had one heat remaining!! About 1000 meters through the last year, we knew Joe had a shot at Top 8. His college coaches at UNC were very happy. Joe accomplished his goal, and now was ready for another shot at time improvement. Hopefully everyone will be watching tonight as Joe will be swimming on National TV (NBC 9pm- Heat Sheet is here). Joe is ready for his big race!!

This meet has offered a huge amount of experience for Joe, Leah, and Tricia. In the last four years, each of these swimmers has prepared for this meet, and I think we had some huge successes. After tonight, all three swimmers will return home as Joe prepares for the US Open with his college teammates, Tricia will end the year at the Eastern Zone Sectional meet at Penn State, and Leah will joining the other WSY swimmers going to Y nationals at University of Maryland. I know all 3 swimmers are looking forward to 2012, and taking the experiences from this meet and using them over the next four years. The question we have for all WSY swimmers is who will be joining us in 2012, as we prepare for the 2012 London Games.

After Joe swims tonight, we will make one more entry to our Blog. Thanks to everyone in Central Pennsylvania for all of your supportive emails, texts, and phone calls. I know Joe, Leah, and Tricia appreciate them. Our flight is out tomorrow (Monday), and we will see everyone at the WSY Outdoor Center on Tuesday....complete with bugs, leaves, frogs, and birds singing!!!

Thanks for following

Friday, July 4, 2008

The last two days have been super for WSY

Actually at present I am not really sure what day it is any more. I look at my watch and I see it is July 4th, but I feel like it is July 31st. The Summer seems to be in over drive. This marathon meet we term USA Olympic Team trials is really beginning to unfold. As many of you are seeing on TV (schedule is here......now we move to NBC 8-9pm East Coast Time LIVE), there are so many turns in this meet. How many of you saw PA native Brendan Hansen get 4th last night in the 200 Breastroke. Of course he was very happy for his two teammates that made the team, but less than 2 months ago, this guy held the world record. There have been so many other surprises. In the men's 100 free, 19 year old Nathan Adrian tied for 9th in the semi's, and had to have a swim-off 9with Sam Goldsmith's college teammate Alek Riggi). Nathan won the swim off, and then went into last nights finals and got 4th, which means he made the Olympic Team. The guy went from not making an evening swim to actually being selected for the team. This is what I call "taking advantage of an opportunity"

Leah swam very well last night in the final. One of the goals coming into this meet was a Top 8 swim. Leah accomplished that. I could tell last night when she walked out on deck that she was a bit nervous. As one Olympic coach told me "Everyone at this meet is nervous, the key is to learn how to contain that nervousness". Leah was very happy with her swim. We had a great warm up today, and then it was time for Leah's 800 free. Joe and I were sitting in the stands and I thought it was going to take about 8:35 for an evening swim (Leah's lifetime best was 8:36). Going into Leah's heat, the 8th place time was 8:40, so I knew if she was going to advance she was going to have to hit a great swim. The rest was up to her. Feeling good she took it out at 2:06, was 4:17 at the 400, and then almost even split going 4:18 on the final 400. Her last 50 split was 30. (the fastest of anyone in the field), so I knew she has it in the tank for tomorrow evenings final for a great swim!! Her final time was 8:35.86 (tied for 5th and 31st fastest time in the world as of today)

Tricia swam the 200 back, which was a very fast event. Tricia's time going into the event was 2:17, and she swam a great race, improving her time going 2:16.61.

Tonight is an off night for WSY swimmers, however we are excited about watching some very fast swimming. On Saturday morning prelims, big Joe will swim his mile. Joe has been here supporting everyone (both WSY, his college team mates, and basically everyone he knows). The swimmers can always hear Joe when he is showing his support, and at a meet like this you need that support. Joe's big day will be Saturday AM, and Joe looks really good in the water. The men's 1500 is a stacked event, and Joe knows he will have to have the performance of his lifetime

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Leah advances to Thursday evening Finals in 200 fly

Ok.......so I think I have heard 10 times today "See Mike......I told you I liked 200 fly and not distance freestyle". Well, Leah definitely made her point to me. She was in the 2nd heat of the 2-heat semi finals. I had mentioned to a few coaches earlier today that I felt it would take a 2:09 to make the final 8. It was darn close. After the prelim session today, Leah seemed very calm (even after we had some hail storms out here). She had a great warm-up, joked around with Joe, and really stayed relaxed going to the night swims. She told me she was excited, and I mentioned that she needed to "contain the excitement", which she did. When she walked out on the pool deck after being in the ready room, she looked very confident. The first semi heat was very fast, and then I new she would definitely need a 2:10 to make it back, but I did not know how fast Leah's heat would go. She took the 100 out a bit faster than today, and really stayed with her stroke the entire 2nd 100. She was mentally focused, and really contained her excitement, and any nerves that she had going. She hit the wall, and I turned to Parkland Coach Erik Posegay to get confirmation that she was 8th. Although all I really had to do was look 20 feet away and see the smile on Leah's face, and then I knew she had advanced to the Top 8 tomorrow night (Thursday). Leah finished with a 2:10.43, lifetime best by 3 seconds, and now top 35 in the world in that event.

Tomorrow (Thursday), Tricia will swim her 200 back, and most likely Joe will "time trial" a 400 IM, just to keep with some racing before his mile. On Thursday evening Leah will swim in the big 8 of the 200 fly (a first for WSY......a top 8 finisher at Olympic Trials).

Thanks to everyone for your texts and email. I know Leah really appreciates it. I heard the news made its way to the Hot Heats 10 & under Meet as well. Thanks to all of the WSY 10 & unders at that meet for your support. In talking with Coach Derrick, we had some awesome times at the Hot Heats meet. The communication goes both ways out here, and we are very proud of our WSY 10 & Under swimmers

We have our own WSY camera crew out here. I think Kim and Steph Kinsey, Karlee and her mom Michelle have a picture of every Olympian here. Tonight as I was leaving the pool area, I saw they had Brendan Hansen signing every piece of clothing they could find. These guys are really great about that stuff. As soon as I get the pictures I will upload them to the web site.

Thanks again to everyone for following. It is great to continue to get the texts and emails!! We will update again on Thursday

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Had our first semi-finals qualifier

As we were building into this meet, and Joe and Leah are getting faster as the meet goes on, we saw Leah qualify 9th for tonight's semi finals in the 200 fly. She took her 200 fly out with her best 100 fly time (1:02.87) and then came back hard for a final time of of 2:11.25 (previous best was 2:13) (Heat Sheet for the event tonight is here). Now Leah will navigate through the semi-finals where the top 8 will advance to the final tomorrow night (Thursday) for a chance to make the Olympic Team. (Patriot News article). We will follow up with tonight's results after she swims!! Watch the event tonight on USA Network (NBC). Here is an interview from FloSwimming

Tuesday was a day of excitement at Olympic Trials

Today was a day filled with excitement. The weather here is getting warmer. Today it was in the 80's, but in the Quest Center there were fireworks going off tonight as we saw more world records being broken at finals. Here is an amazing fact that happened. We had a world record broken yesterday in the prelims of the women's 100 backstroke, then Natalie Coughlin came back in the next heat and re-broke the world record. We got through semi-finals (at this meet in all events 200 and less you must go through semi-finals after prelims before you get to finals). Tonight at finals......the athlete that originally broke the world record yesterday (Hayley McGregory from Texas) did not event make the Top 2, which means she missed the Olympic team. This same swimmer got 3rd place in Long Beach in 2004 as well. That is how fast this meet is moving.....break a world record, and the next day, not even make the US Team going to Beijing.

On the other end, you have athletes making the team that in 2004, did not even make the 2004 Trials. Tricia's teammate (Christine) did not even swim the 100 fly in 2004 as she did not qualify for the 2004 trials, and now 4 years later she won gold at trials and secured a spot on Team USA. It really shows you what 4 years of hard work can do. At this meet there are so many emotions that are running through the minds of every athlete. Not only athletes but coaches. I had the opportunity to ride the elevator with a coach

who is on the 2008 Olympic Coaching staff, and he said to me "No matter how many world records, or gold medals your athletes win, as a coach, you will always get nervous at Olympic Trials."

As far as WSY swimmers, Leah swam a great 200 free today. She went 2:01 and almost equaled her tome from US Nationals last Summer. She took her race out much faster (she was 58 at the 100 mark), which showed a good amount of confidence as she moves into her remaining two events (200 fly and 800 free). Joe swam his lifetime best time (by 3 seconds) in the 400 freestyle. Joe had not made the qualifying time for this meet in the 400 (q time was 3:59.99), and Joe's best was 4:02. We wanted to time trial an event to see where we are in the preparation process for his mile on Saturday AM. Joe went 3:59, and looked real strong, especially his turns, which sets him up for a great mile on Saturday. So today was a big success for us.

Tonight at finals, not only did we see a great amount of fast swimming, I was sitting in the athlete section, and right beside me sat Mike Golic (interview) from Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN. Mike was a great football player from Notre Dame, and a few Pro teams including the Eagles. I listen to his show every AM, and it was great to talk with him. His daughter swims (she has sectional cuts and does very well) for a team in Connecticut), so that was fun for me to meet him. Coach Alyson has a great story about her elevator ride with Brendon Hansen (his room is right beside hers) and how he walked her to the room......you will have to get the entire story from her. I can only imagine that as I am typing this that Coach Alyson is waiting in the lobby for Brendon to come to the hotel, so she can have her elevator ride. As for my roomate Coach Tim Verge (Head Coach at Shippensburg University), he is doing his job every day which is to go to the Starbucks and have me a large cup of coffee by 7:20am. (Don't worry Coach Kim.......I will not be asking this of you)

So we continue to swim well at the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials. I continue to think what WSY swimmers will be

at the 2012 Olympic Trials to prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Four years will be here before we know it. Will you be preparing??

Leah has the 200 fly on Wednesday, so I will write again after she swims. Good Luck to Coach Derrick and Gillian and the WSY/NYAC 10 & unders as they represent our team at the CV Hot Heats meet at CV high School. 2-4-6-8 WSY

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Continuing to move along at the 2008 Olympic Trials

We continue to see some very fast swimmers in Omaha. I was thinking last night about the 2004 Trials, and how much faster everyone is swimming in 2008. There are some events that if you got 2-3rd place at the 2004 trials, you would not event make the final heat in that event at the 2008 Trials. The pool has been constructed to be very fast. I know you may hear alot about the new "Technical Suits" that are bring worn, but I think there is more to it. Since 2004, all of these athletes at this meet (in 2004 there were about 800 athletes at the trials, and without really changing the cut times in 2008, there are over 1200 athletes at the trials, so I am expecting the cut times for the 2012 trials before London to be a bit faster) have been thinking about this meet, making sacrifices, and training hard for this meet. The excitement here is awesome. When they get back, ask Sam and Alex Apa, Steph Kinsey, Karlee Hoke, Emily Weaner, and of course Coach Alyson. They are seeing the fastest swimming in the world on a very intense scale. There was a statistic released to the coaches today that so far 50% of the swims at this meet are faster than their seed times. In 2004, that stat was 17%. We will see how that stat changes as we move through this meet.

Leah had a good swim yesterday, I think she wished she could have gone faster, but at this meet (as like I talk at Y Nationals), we have to move forward for the remainder of our events. Tricia had a good 100 backstroke swim as well, and she will now move on to swim her 200 back on Thursday. Today (Tuesday......I am typing this here in the stands at the meet) Leah will have her 200 free (which the 6th place time in 2004 would not even make the Top 12 at this meet) and Joe will be time trialing the 400 free (his best time is 4:02.....so we are looking for a bit faster)

Good luck to those WSY and NYAC swimmers who will be swimming in the Hot Heats meet on Wednesday. Those 8-9 year old swimmers will be 13-14 years old for the 2012 trials, and if we are really looking forward those same swimmers will be 17-18 year olds in 2016 (where the Olympic games may very well be back in the USA).

Thanks again for following not only the WSY swimmers but all of Team USA........More later

Monday, June 30, 2008

Day one complete with some good swims

Tonight there was some great excitement in the air. We saw two new world records, and a new American record. The crowd (estimated by the folks here in Omaha at 12,200) was on their feet with every race. After the new world records were set, we saw flames of fire all around the pool. When the new Olympic team members were introduced, the lights in the facility went dark, and we saw blue and rose colored lights over the pool. In talking to Sam and Alex Apa, they thought the swims were awesome. One of Tricia's teammates at University of Tennessee is going into tomorrow's finals seeded first in the 100 fly, which is always exciting.

Hopefully everyone was able to see tonight's events on NBC. I believe the remainder of the finals through Thursday are on USA network, and then Friday-Sunday are back on N BC. These are exciting times in American Swimming, and it is great to see all of the fast swimming going on.

We have some big swims on Monday with Tricia swimming the 100 backstroke, and Leah swimming the 400 free. Thanks to everyone for following. The trials picture gallery is here

Sunday, June 29, 2008

First Prelim session complete

We started off the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials on a good note. Leah was very happy with her 400 IM (results). She placed 22 going 4:48.59, just off her lifetime best of 4:47. After the race she told me she was glad to get the first swim out of the way, and is now more relaxed to go through the remainder of her even t schedule. Tomorrow (Monday) she will swim the prelims of the 400 free. Joe had a great workout today as he continues to prepare for his 1500 on Saturday. Tricia will also swim her 100 backstroke prelims on Monday.

Arriving in Omaha today were Coach Alyson, the Apa family, and Bob, Sue and Emily Weaner. We also hadthe arrival of Steph and Kim Kinsey, and are waiting to hear if Karlee Hoke and her mom Michelle have arrived. The WSY cheering section is ready for some fast swimming.

Today we saw some very fast swimming. The 400 IM tonight with Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will be super. It is interesting to see these great athletes, and when they prepare for their races they are so "zoned in" on what they have to do. Even though there are many world class athletes at this meet, they still take time to mentally prepare for their races. Their warm-up routines are the same before each event. Everything seems well rehearsed. However there are "challenges". I saw one swimmer who was on a previous Olympic team, who just before she swam a prelim race today, her cap ripped. She was prepared. In her pocket was an extra cap. As I mentioned, she was prepared. Always have an extra cap, goggles, and some of these athletes even carry extra suits in case of a suit rip, tear etc.

Don't forget to watch the N BC Web cast of the prelim session. It is always exciting watching some of the fastest swimming in the world, and it is great we have many from our WSY family in attendance to watch!!

As Ashlyn tex'd me today 2-4-6-8 WSY

Saturday, June 28, 2008

4 years of waiting begins tomorrow

Well tomorrow (Sunday) starts what will be the fastest meet in the world over the last 4 years. It seems like just yesterday we were in Long Beach at the 2004 Trials. This meet will be even bigger. 13,000 fans watching some very fast swimming. We had our coaches technical meeting today, and were told about all of the pyrotechnics that will be happening

when world records are broken. Tomorrow and the remainder of this week will change athletes lives. There are 1,250 athletes at this meet. This represents one half of one percent of all USA swimming registered athletes. Of these 1,250 athletes, 26 men and 26 women will be chosen to represent USA at the Beijing Games (selection procedure here). We had two great workouts today, and both Leah and Joe looked and felt really good. I was also talking with Tricia's coaches as we were watching her swim, and her backstroke looks really good, and she was riding very high on the water. On Sunday, Leah will swim the 400 IM. Remember NBC will be web casting the prelims.

In our technical meeting today we talked about the media attention for this meet. Over 250 media have been credentialed for this meet, and all of the major TV, Print, Radio, and new media are in attendance. There is an aura to this meet like no other in the world. It is great to have WSY represented at the fastest meet in the world.

One of the stats that we all have to keep in mind regarding the pressure at this meet......at the 2004 trials in Long Beach, only 18% of the swims were faster than the seed times. Athletes must really keep the stress level down, and well as the nerves calm.

Joe spent some time tonight at dinner with his college teammates at UNC, and Leah spent time with her family in the "Aqua Zone" here at the meet. I went for a nice dinner with my room ate for the week Tim Verge (Head Coach at Shippensburg) who is spectating this week. Tim is a good friend who is doing some great things with Shippensburg Swimming and being here at this meet, he will experience some fast swimming.

continue to get updates from the swimmers at the Penn State meet. We have had some new Y national qualifiers, and some fast swims. We have a photo gallery of the meet here. Continued success to everyone.

I will update after prelims on Sunday.......GO WSY!!!!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Remembering 3 weeks ago and the late night Tornado

At about 4pm we ventured to the pool, after Joe and Leah spent the afternoon walking through a local street fair. We got to the pool (which was a bit more crowded this evening as more athletes are arriving). The plan was to do the actual warm-up portion of practice in the competition pool, and the remainder of the workout in the less crowded "warm-up pool". Well, we got the warm-up portion of practice done when the PA announcer told all athletes to get out of the pool, and everyone (about 4-500 athletes, coaches, and support staff) had to go down to the lower levels of this very large Quest Center. Reason.......a very large section of tornado's were moving very fast through the area. I thought.....Oh great, here we go again. So all athletes were down in this small area, actually having fun and talking. These are the times when everyone is just an athlete, you see swimmers that you all know (Michael Phelps, Brendan Hansen, Natalie Coughlin, just sitting and tackling to friends). We were down here about 30 minutes,and then felt cold winds coming through the hallway. Word started to make its way through the athletes that damage had been done

to the building. At that point we started to hear a very loud howling, and the lights started to flicker. At this point we were all instructed to move to the other side of the building that the arena had suffered damage, and water was running into the building. After another 30 minutes, the tornado has passed, and the sun was out. We were told the Quest Center was being closed for the evening. We got our gear and went back to the hotel. On the way out of the Quest Center we saw the extensive Damage done to the building, and several members of the security detail were roping off the areas.

We had a nice dinner at Spaghetti Factory, and Joe, Leah, Tina and Dave did a bit of shopping in the "Olde Town" section of Omaha. We are going to workout in the AM, and hope for a bit of better weather. Here is some pictures of the damage

Up at warming up at 8am

We woke up today so that we could swim about 8am. Sunny day here in the 60's. Purpose of today's warm up was basically 1,000 meters swimming in the new suits. Took both Joe and Leah about 15 minutes to actually get the suit on. Suits felt great. We met up with Tricia and the Tennessee crew (had to give her the WSY outfitting as well......yes Emily gave her one for you as well). It was not real crowded in the pool today, so both Joe and Leah had their

own lane (those of you at WSY Outdoor pool........no bugs or leaf's either) . After we swam we checked out the other parts of the facility, as there have been a few changes since we have been here a few weeks ago. There are 2 hot tubs for swimmers, and we also saw the coaches hospitality area where there is another large hot tub (darn....I forgot my suit) and it seemed like a 60 inch plasma, with nice leather couches, but no Guitar Here like the swimmers hospitality area...oh well. We will be back at the pool at 4pm for our main workout for the day. Leah will begin to drop in total volume, and we will keep Joe motoring along as his actual event is not swum until next Saturday (1500 free). Leah's first event is 400 IM on Sunday. We will update again later tonight.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

We arrived in Omaha and had a great practice today

We finally arrived in Omaha. Leah, Joe and I, as well as Leah's parents Dave and Tina left Baltimore at 8:30am on our way to Omaha. After a brief stop on Minnesota, we arrived with partly sunny skies about 80 degrees. Almost nice enough to be swimming outside. We got to our hotel for the next 9 days, made a brief stop to unpack, and then Joe, Leah and I headed to the pool (about 6pm). Tonight the plan was to swim the same volume we had been swimming back at home, although this pool is 50 meters of course (in comparison to the 52 meters at the Outdoor pool). On the way to the pool, of course we ran into Tricia and the Tennessee crew....we talked a bit, but then the light turned green so off she went. Joe, Leah and I went to "check in" for the meet, get our credentials (gotta have them with you at all times), get the goodie bags, and then it was time to warm-up. There were a few changes since we were last here, but for the most part it was exactly the same. As Joe and Leah were warming up prior to their workout, I went to the Speedo booth to get the new Lazr suits for both Joe and Leah (as one of WSY sponsors, Speedo is providing Joe and Leah with "the suit"). Pictured here is Natalie Coughlin in one of the custom Olympic Team Lazr Racer's. If you make the team, you will receive a few of these custom made suits. Heard some interesting opinions on the suits.

Most of the athletes are in town getting adjusted to the area that is about to be the largest swim meet in the world. Lots of media (remember this town hosted the College World Series the last few days) in town. NBC trucks all over the place (TV Broadcast schedule is here). I will do my best to upload some video, but it is tough here. NBC owns the rights to all broadcast here and they are very protective of websites streaming video. SwimNetwork will also have some good footage of everything going on here.

After our workout (about 120 minutes) we had dinner, and relaxed. We will have a very simple "wake up" swim in the morning. We are going to wear the new suits simply to get adjusted to wearing them in the water. Joe (who wore the suit in the Open Water World Championships in Spain) says the suits take about 10-15 minutes to get on.

Good luck to those of you at Penn State this weekend. Many of you are swimming in that meet, and we will be following from here. Several WSY family's will also be making there way out here (WSY will have a great cheering section).

That's about it for tonight. I will do my best to add to this a few times each day

Saturday, June 14, 2008

WSY has a great weekend of swimming

We had many swimmers at two meets over the weekend. About 30 swimmers participated in the Trident (F & M College) Summer Storm (results), where we saw some great long course swimming. This was a 2.5 day meet running from Thursday through Saturday. We had several WSY swimmers make their first YMCA long Course National qualifying times at this meet. When swimmers reach 12-13 years of age, this is a big goal for everyone. Congratulations to Ryan Turner, Carrigan Eckels, and Jess Burkett who made their first qualification time for the National meet that will be held at the University of Maryland in August. It is always an exciting time when you get to represent our team at a National level competition. We will have full results later on Sunday, and update the National list at that time.

38 WSY swimmers along with Coach Alyson, Coach Derrick and myself drove to Dallastown High School for a Summer League Dual meet with Wildcat Swim Club (results). It is always great to see our friends from Dallastown. Their Head Coach (Richard Howley) is a WSY Alum (from way back when Coach Kim and Coach Alyson swam at WSY), and every time I talk to Coach Howley, he talks about his fun times he had as a swimmer at WSY. Today I saw so many smiles at the pool from WSY swimmers. We had a few WSY swimmers that swam in their very first swim meet.....everyone seemed to have alot of fun. We have such a strong group of 8 and unders and well as 9-10's. This is the future of our team, and it is really great to see the fast swimming and the great technique. Coach Derrick, Alyson, Gillian, and Guy have been doing a great job with these swimmers. In six or seven years, these swimmers will be making their National Qualifying times. I know many of our WSY swimmers are representing their local summer league teams as well. It is always good feeling for me when I get results, text messages or phone calls from the kids telling me how well they did at the Saturday morning Summer League meets. Keep up the great work!!

A great weekend of swimming by all WSY swimmers, and it could not have been done without the help of the wonderful WSY parents who continue to "step up" and volunteer at swim meets. We are very fortunate to have supportive parents at all of our events.

The week ahead of us will be busy with a Summer League meet on Saturday, and then our WSY Cuda Classic on Sunday. Be sure you have registered for everything, and see you on the pool deck......Coach Mike

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Saturday Prelims

We talk alot in practice about the eyes being down on breastroke (and freestyle), here is a great photo of some breastrokers with their eyes down, getting a good amount of power on their underwater pull and kick.

We had some great swims today on our second full day of competition. Joe (video) and Leah (video) both has great 400 IM's making it back for evening swims in those events. Leah also had a 200 free (video). In her official event, Stef swam her 100 back (video/results) and actually tied her best long course 100 back time.

We have our evening session tonight, and then our final day of competition will be Sunday.

Friday Finals

Some fun thoughts from Mike:

It does get a bit crowded at warm-ups. Something else we noticed tonight, there is so much electronics at this meet, there are no "back-up timers", I guess meet management feels that with back-up video for the touch pads, they do not need actual persons with a stop watch......just something I noticed today. We did have a few more spectators in the stands today, I estimate about 3,000, however in an arena that holds 14,000 it did seem a bit empty. Had a two races tonight that we had near American Records, so that was fun to watch. This morning during prelims, watch Leah's 100 fly....to the left is Amanda Beard who always has a crowd follow her. It is fun to watch Steph and Claire watch all of the USA Olympians walk by and warm-up with them in the same lane. With all of the planning (over 2 years) that went into this facility, they forgot to put an actual clock in the "main pool area", however the meet management is so receptive to suggestions that after I made this suggestion, two large digital clocks appeared tonight, along with many other changes and improvements that have been made in preparations for the USA Olympic Team Trials in three weeks. I never knew Downtown Omaha was so big. I would estimate it is about the size of the Greater Harrisburg area, but it is very lively and busy. As I type this blog (11:30pm local time), it is very busy in downtown Omaha. The coaches hospitality here is awesome....they really feed us well. In the swimmers hospitality area there are two 60 inch televisions with "Guitar Hero" and other video games, as well as a computer center with about many PC's. OH and yes we had some swimming this evening. Joe and Leah swam their 400 free, and went into the race with a different "race plan"....Joe (video) wanted to go out a bit faster, yet still finish fast, and Leah (video) wanted to "back off" a bit on the front end, but be able to "come home" a bit faster. Both accomplished their plan. We also swam a great 400 free relay tonight, and Steph, Claire, Kayla, and Leah had lots of fun. I will have video in the AM.........Good Luck to the Senior practice group back home as you workout on Saturday at the Outdoor Pool. I hear Coach Kim has a good amount of fun planned.....That is it for tonight....more in the AM.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Friday Prelims

We had a great prelim session today. After all of the tornado's passed through the area, the Mid West is very nice, mid 70's and not too much humidity. Breakfast was great, and then it was off to the pool. We had a great warm-up, and then had to wait through the 100 free's and 200 breastroke's before the 400 free's. Leah is coming back seeded 12th tonight in her 400 free (Results/video), and Joe had a great 400 free, grabbing a night swim going in seeded 18th (results/video). After a quick turn around, Leah swam a lifetime best time in her 100 fly (results/video). Kayla and Claire swam right beside each other in their heat of the 400 free (Results/video) and had some great swims. Steph and Claire also time trialed and event (Claire 200 free and Steph 100 fly, where Steph swam a lifetime best time (Video)). Tonight, as mentioned Joe and Leah will swim their 400 free, and Claire, Leah, Kayla, and Steph will swim a 400 free relay. Remember, their will be a live video cast of the meet on SwimNetwork.com. We will update again after tonight's finals

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Day 1 with some great swims

Today we had some great swimming. We woke up and had a great morning swim (and not real early....more like 9am wake-up swim). We took some more time to get adjusted to surroundings, and go over all of the specific about this meet. We are using international rules (as like Beijing), some there are a few items that are different such as (1) all swimmers must report to ready area at least 10 minutes prior to your event, and then you get marshaled to ready room (read room is used for finals only). You must have your credential with you at all times. As you walk up the ramp to the pool you have one of the "handlers" would will take your credential, and sweats and return them after you swim. They have volunteers that dry off the blocks before each heat.

(2) The pool deck is totally clear, other than 5-7 officials, meaning all swimmers and coaches in the stands (that takes some adjusting. Warm-up music is great, and they even play some great tunes during Kayla and Joe's swim tonight. Kayla had a great mile (results/ video), and Joe had his best "in season" 800 free time (results/video), and placed 4th over all. So we started the meet off with two great swims, and Claire, Leah and Steph got some more great swimming in these amazing pools. We had another evening of wicked tornado's out here, and Steph's parents surprised her and flew out to watch. Friday (Heat Sheets) will be another great day of swimming here in Omaha. Check out SwimNetwork for a live webcast of finals, where they will also have "On Demand" video as well.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

We arrived in Omaha

After a few problems in Minneapolis with planes getting re-routed, we finally made Omaha. What a great city. The funny part we learned when we arrived here is that from the airport to the hotel (which is only 6 miles), you actually leave the state of Nebraska and drive one mile through Iowa, and then back to Nebraska. Everyone made it safely, we had a quick dinner, hotel staff was great about getting us into the room, and then it was off to the pool. Pictures are here. This facility is awesome. After we got into the Quest center, we roamed around for about 10 minutes until we finally found the credential area (at these meets you need to wear credentials with your photo). Security is very tight, complete with National Guard as security. The facility is so large that we were in the building for 20 minutes and still did not find the pools. Imagine being in a building, knowing there two 50 meter pools somewhere....you can smell them, but can not find them. We finally found them, and wow...what an awesome experience. 13-14,000 seats watching a swim meet, and not one bad seat in the house. 6 jumbo tron scoreboards with more video that anyone can imagine. There is an athlete lounge with about 5 leather sofa's and 8 computer stations for communicating with everyone. Air quality is great, with water temperature at 80 degrees (I hear the WSY Outdoor pool is mid 70's right now, so I know Coach Kim will have fun with practice on Saturday).

Right now, Steph is "flipping out" as there are major tornado watch's out here and we have some wicked weather out here in the mid-west. Steph is rooming with Claire, so I am sure Claire will take care of her. Tomorrow (Thursday), Joe will swim the 800 free, and Kayla will swim the mile, so we start the meet off with some great distance events.

I will continue to post pictures, and video's. More in the morning!!