Carleton Masters Swimming Newsletter #138                        Saturday, March 4^th, 2006

 

To:  Carleton Coaches (11 addresses)

 

Bcc: Those Registered for Fall 2005 / Winter 2006 and Alumni: High Intensity (4 addresses), 6:30am Earlybirds (12 addresses); 7:30am Earlybirds (34 addresses), 8:30am Earlybirds (23 addresses), 6pm Whitecaps "A" (55 addresses), 6pm Whitecaps "B" (40 addresses), Nightcaps (39 addresses), Masters "Alumni" (41 members).

 

 

6:30am Earlybirds Start

The 6:30am Earlybirds program starts on Mon Mar 6^th.  There is still space in this group.  If you wish to join, you can register on-line or through the Customer Service centre.

 

 

Easter Cancellation

There will be no Earlybirds workouts (6:30am, 7:30am or 8:30am) on Fri Apr 14^th, due to the Good Friday holiday.  There will be just one public swim offered at Carleton that day from 11:45am-3:30pm.  Masters runs as usual on Sat Apr 15^th and Mon Apr 17^th. 

 

 

End of Winter Session

As several people have already been asking, the Winter session ends Thu Apr 20^th / Fri Apr 21^st.  The pool is closed Apr 22^nd through May 7^th for annual maintenance (no $3 workouts as there will be no water in the pool!!).  The Spring session starts Mon May 8^th.  Details on programs offered and registration start date to be announced.

 

 

Swimmer Notes   

 

Gilbert and Sullivan:  Whitecaps “A” swimmer, Lisa Hans, will be performing in the Savoy Society’s “HMS Pinafore” to be presented at the Centrepointe Theatre Mar 31, Apr 1, Apr 2^nd (matinee) and Apr 5-8^th.  Tickets are $24.75 for adults, $14.75 for youth and students, and for the matinee for children 10 and under it is $11.25.  Groups of 10 or more get a $2 discount.  Talk to Lisa at the pool, or visit the web site to buy tickets on-line: http://www.centrepointetheatre.com. 

 

Painting Exhibit:  I got this information too late to allow you to see the exhibition, but I still thought it would be of interest.  Penny Estabrooks (8:30am Earlybirds) had her paintings on display at the Manotick Public Library for the month of February. 

 

BIG Swim for Arthritis: This swim for arthritis (promoting the benefits that swimming has for those with arthritis) is being held April 20-23, 2006 at pools across Canada. For more information visit http://www.bigswim.ca or call 1-877 BIG SWIM.  Volunteers and swimmers needed!

   Melanie Scantland (Whitecaps “B”) is participating in this event by doing the 5000m swim.  She is collecting pledges at the pool or you can contact her via e-mail: Scantland.MM@forces.gc.ca. 

   Also, for those of you who know Vincent Richer (Technosport), he is going to swim 40km (two 5km swims each day) over the four days in support of this cause.  Check out his web site at: http://www3.sympatico.ca/vricher/.  As each 5k swim is going to take him 3 hours (he’s a steady but certainly not fast swimmer!), this quite an undertaking.

 

Obituary:  Alain Laliberte, 62, LaSalle Masters, suffered a heart attack after completing a 400IM at the LaSalle Masters meet on Sun Feb 19th.  He died in hospital a week later.  See: http://www.fnq.qc.ca/fichiers/20060227deces.html.   

 

Support Cancer Research and Coach Kristi:  On July 21-23, 2006, Kristi Dean will be participating in a very special event called The Weekend to End Breast Cancer.  She'll walk 60 kilometres over the course of one weekend with thousands of other women and men. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, and services through the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.  She has agreed to raise at least $2,000, but has set her personal goal at $3,500.  More info at:
http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR?px=1210135&s_redId=13435&fl=en_US&s_tafId=13970&pg=personal&fr_id=1160

 

Carleton Swim Suits:  Price is $70 for the women's suits ($55 for girl's) and $35 for the men's (cash or cheque payable to "Carleton University").  The men's suits range from size 28 to 38.  The women's suits range from girl's size 22 to women's size 40.  If you would like a suit, please e-mail me at least a day in advance to arrange a time (preferably when I am coaching) so that I can have the suits ready for you. 

Nose Clips for Sale:  Cost $5.  Contact Lynn if you are interested.

 

Xmas Party Lost and Found:  Did you go to the Masters Christmas party?  Have your hands been cold since then?  If so, perhaps you left your gloves (adult brown and white knitted pattern)?  Let Lynn know if these are yours! 

 

 

Winter Session Information

This is where the winter attendance stats are listed along with information on upcoming special workouts (e.g. time trials).  The regular workout themes are posted on the web site. 

 

Good job by the Earlybirds and Whitecaps “A” on their 4x100 on 5:00 this past week.  It was easy to tell the sprinters (some of  whom were nearly 15 seconds faster on #1 than #4 – no names mentioned!) from the distance swimmers (a few of whom descended all four: Cheri, Francois A, Jamie).

 

Congratulations to the 7 swimmers with perfect weekday attendance to date:

 

6:30am Earlybirds (Mar 1^st- 3^rd; 2 workouts ($3); range 9-10; avg: 9.5)

Attendance stats start next week when the group officially starts.

 

7:30am Earlybirds (Jan 4-Mar 3^rd; 26 workouts; range 10-22; avg: 15.1)

Perfect Attendance: Leona

Missed 1 Workout: Francois A

 

8:30am Earlybirds (Jan 4-Mar 3^rd; 26 workouts; range 8-18; avg: 14.1)

Missed 1 Workout: Alan H

 

6pm Whitecaps “A” (Jan 3-Mar 2^nd; 26 workouts; range 23-38; avg: 26.6)

Perfect Attendance: Don W, Francois P, Gi, Joanne D

Missed 1 Workout: Pete L

 

6pm Whitecaps “B” (Jan 3-Mar 2^nd; 26 workouts; range 14-26; avg. 20.0)

Perfect Attendance: Christiane W

Missed 1 Workout: Mariette, Suzanne L

 

8pm Nightcaps (Jan 3-Mar 2^nd; 18 workouts; range 10-22; avg. 15.9)

Perfect Attendance: Elizabeth P

 

High Intensity (Jan 4-Feb 22^nd; 20 workouts (14 HI2; 18 HI3); range 2-13; avg: 7.1 [excluding Varsity])

Missed 1 Workout: Francois A (HI2)

[Note that the High Intensity program is finished for the season, and will start again in September.]

 

 

Update from MSC (Masters Swimming Canada):

   As you probably are aware, MSC, the governing body of Masters swimming in Canada, is now a Club based organization, controlled by the 300 Masters Clubs in Canada.

   The latest issue of Waves is on the website, http://www.mymsc.ca/index.jsp, a paper copy has been mailed to each Club Contact [Ed. Note: that’s me]. This includes the Nationals Meet Package and information about the upcoming election.

   The nomination call is included. Are there any potential MSC Board members in your Club?  I would be happy to answer any questions.

   Yours in swimming

Chris Smith, President, Masters Swimming Canada (chrismith32@hotmail.com)

 

Masters Swimming Competitions

You must register annually with Masters Swimming Ontario (MSO) if you want to compete in Masters Swimming competitions.  Cost is $26 for a registration good until Dec 31/06.  Contact Lynn for details.  Note that you must register with MSO at least 3 weeks before your first competition. 

 

Some preliminary information on upcoming local and championship meets for the season is given below.  Full details on all Ontario Masters competitions can be found at: http://www.mastersswimmingontario.ca/competition/schedule01.htm.  For Quebec competitions see http://www.fnq.qc.ca/calendrier.html (Masters meets are shaded grey). 

 

 

Sat Mar 11th am Technosport Arthur Inglis Invitational Sprint Meet (Ottawa U)  7:45am warm up, 8:30am start, 10:30am finish.  Events: 200fs, 50fl, 100bk, 50br, 50fs, 100br, 50bk, 200IM, 100fl, 100fs, 200MR.  Cost: $30 (unlimited events; can pay on the day).  Deadline: Wed Mar 1^st (late entries accepted!). Register on-line at: http://ca.geocities.com/technosport@rogers.com/forms/seriesmf.htm (or follow links from: http://www.technosport.ca) and e-mail: coachduanejones@technosport.ca to confirm that your entry was received.

 

Sat Mar 18^th  Dollard-des-Ormeaux (Montreal) meet.  Full details at: http://www.fnq.qc.ca/fichiers/0603_MDDO_Inv_Maitres_StPatrick2006.pdf.  Entry deadline: Mon Mar 6^th.  Rob T reports that you can e-mail your entry to robert.lambert@videotron.qc.ca and bring a cheque to the meet ($5 per event, 5 events max.).

 

Fri Mar 31 - Sun Apr 2nd  Ontario Provincial Championships (St Catharines).  Full details at: http://www.eqadvantage.com/ontmastersprov/.  Entry deadline: Fri Mar 10^th.

 

Sat Apr 8th am  Technosport Sprint Meet (Ottawa U)

 

Fri Apr 21 – Sun Apr 23^rd  Quebec Provincial Championships (Montreal).  Full details at: http://www.fnq.qc.ca/fichiers/0406_Invitation_Champ_prov_maitres_Manuvie_2006.pdf.  Entry deadline: Mon Apr 10th.

 

Sat May 13th am  Technosport Sprint Meet (Ottawa U; LC)

 

May 19-22^nd, 2006  National Championships (Calgary).  Full details at: http://www.cascadeswimming.com/2006CanadianMastersChamps/tabid/105/Default.aspx.  Entry deadline: Fri Apr 28^th.

 

Sat Jun 3rd am  Technosport Distance Meet (Ottawa U; LC)

 

Aug 4-11th, 2006  XI FINA World Masters Championships, Stanford, California, USA.  Details at: http://www.2006finamasters.org.  Entry deadline: Sat Jun 3^rd.

 

 

Race Results: (Please send in your results!!)

  

Sat Feb 18^th – Sun Feb 19^th Keskinada Ski Loppett, Gatineau Park

Margie B (Whitecaps “A”) did the 25k classic race on Saturday (309 participants).  Jose (Whitecaps “A”) did the 29k skate race (283 participants) and Sheila K (Whitecaps “A”) did the 53k skate race (434 participants) on Sunday.  Full results at: http://www.sportstats.ca/.  Here’s how they did:

Margie: 131^st overall, 31^st woman and 3^rd in women’s 30-34 in 2:02:13.5

Jose: 257^th overall, 178^th man, 21^st in men’s 50-54 in 2:33:06.5

Sheila: 49^th overall, 4^th woman (in a very competitive field), 1^st in women’s 40-44 in 2:38:46.1

 

Sat Feb 25^th Gasparilla Classic 15k Race

Here’s a race report taken from TriRudy written by x-6:30am Earlybirds swimmer, Louise Rachlis.  You can find full details on this race at: http://www.tampabayrun.com/. 

   There was a light wind in both directions for the Gasparilla 15k in Tampa Saturday morning, but there sure wasn't any wind chill like I hear you have in Ottawa. It was 78F.
   My biggest challenge on the easy, flat, out and back course along the water was deciding which t-shirt to wear for the race and keeping the suntan lotion from dripping in my eyes as I ran. A nice change from whether I need long underwear with my tights.
   I decided on my fluorescent Utica Boilermaker shirt because it was the only other 15k I'd done.
   Among the thousands of runners, as usual, no one was my speed, so I focused on my feet which were doing okay (thanks, Ryan from Solefit) and the digestion of my new Accel energy gel (not so okay.)
   Along the same line, the lemon/lime sample package of new Clif Bloks I got at the race expo was delicious, but they should come in a reclosable package.
   I didn't always have the genetic modification that makes me ask "is there a race there?" whenever I'm going out of town. But now I can't help feeling that a trip without a race is "just" a vacation. It's automatic to at least investigate the racing possibilities.
   So when Kristin and I had planned our fifth annual Florida trip to kick off "training season", I had my eye on the Gasparilla Marathon, although I didn't know what a Gasparilla was. (Last year the Bay to Bay 12k in St. Petersburg filled the same purpose.)
   However as the travel date approached, I knew my haphazard winter running didn't merit the marathon distance, so I downgraded to the 15k.
   There was a large race expo in the Tampa Convention Centre, with the usual assortment of shoes, clothing and booths for a few other marathons, none Canadian.
   The Florida Sports magazine they give out had an article on "How You Can Still Run Fast As You Age", but the type was so small and pale I couldn't read it.
   At the finish line were bags of popcorn, chunks of bread, bananas, and a half dozen live male and female pirates to pose with. What could we have in Ottawa to liven up finish line photos? Mounties? Politicians?
   (Gasparilla is named after Jose Gaspar who pirated in the port of Tampa.)
   The race was very well organized with lots of police, street closures and information. There were male and female start locations, merging later on. A lot of effort for just 3,500 15kers and 1,300 marathoners the next day. But their gimmick is their 'ultimate running weekend' promotion for multi-race participants. There were 73 registered to do the 15k and 5k Saturday and the marathon Sunday, and 170 to run the 15k, 5k and half marathon. Next year?
   After the race we drove up to the Pinellas Trail bike shop where for the 3rd year I rented the same bike for a week.
Then a swim in the heated pool, and I'm on my way to my lazy goal of an "Ironman in a Week." No, I'm not doing one 7 days from now, I'm planning to swim 4k, bike 180k and run 42k over the week I'm here. Not quite Rudy's boot camp.

 

 

Ask the Coach

 

Dear Coach:  I keep getting leg cramps during workout.  I do my stretching, drink water and eat bananas.  What else can I do?  Cramping Swimmer

 

Dear C. Swimmer:  We had lots of good suggestions for our readers on this one (see last newsletter).  One final one from Shirley is to do lots of stretching but do not overstretch, especially if you have been running.

 

Dear Coach:  When I swim backstroke, I tend to bob up and down quite a bit.  Any tips to avoid this?  Want to be a Better Backstroker

 

Dear W.t.b.a.B. Backstroker:  Try to keep your head still and move your arms in a continuous flowing motion to avoid pushing your head lower in the water as your arm enters.  You can also think about keeping your entire spine flat in the water (just rotate around that axis), and try 1-arm backstroke drills to eliminate the bobbing.  That said, I saw Audrey Lacroix swim freestyle at the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) Swimming Championships last weekend.  She is a great flyer (:59 100 fly, 2:08 200 fly) and her freestyle looks just like 1-arm fly with a huge bobbing motion.  She set a new CIS record in 100 free swimming it in 55 seconds, so “pretty strokes” aren’t always the fastest J !

 

Dear Coach:  When the theme is long distance freestyle, I find that I lag behind my lane-mates (compared to short freestyle and other strokes).  I wonder if I am not breathing properly?  Is it best to do a bi-lateral breathing pattern?  Do you have any suggestions?  Freestyle Freak

 

Dear F. Freak:  First, you may be a natural sprinter, and thus better suited to shorter swims.  Secondly, your pacing could be off (e.g. starting too quickly and thus slowing down a lot as the repeat progresses).  Finally, it could be a breathing thing.  Note that distance swimmers and sprinters do very different breathing patterns, so you may need to adjust how often you breathe (distance swimmers tend to breathe more often).  Or it could be that you are not getting enough air each time.  Ensure that you breathe out fully while your face is still underwater so that you are not wasting time with your mouth out of the water in breathing out so that you can use all that time to breathe in.

 

Dear Coach:  p.s.  Is it best to do a bilateral breathing pattern in long distance free swims?  Freestyle Freak (again)

 

Dear F. Freak (again):  It is indeed best to breathe the same number of times on each side over the course of the workout.  However, some find that for longer swims, at a fairly high effort level, breathing more frequently (e.g. every 2 instead of every 3) is much easier.  Some swimmers can hold a 3 pattern even at high speeds over long distances, but many can’t.  So I’d suggest experimenting with your breathing pattern.  If breathing more frequently helps, you can counter the extra breaths on your favourite side by doing more breaths on the other side in warm up and warm down.

 

 

Private and Semi-Private Masters Swim Lessons

Winter Availability:

Mon 9:45-10:45am: Feb-Apr

Mon 3-4pm: Feb-Apr

Tue/Thu 7:30-8:30am **NEW**: Mar-Apr

Wed 8-9pm: Mar-Apr

Fri 9:45-10:45am: Feb-Apr

 

2005-2006 Prices:
Private:
Non-Members: $55 for 1 hour, $100 for 2, $140 for 3, and $180 for 4 hours, all plus GST.
Semi-Private (2-3 swimmers; per swimmer):
Non-Members: $35 for 1 hour, $65 for 2, $90 for 3, and $115 for 4 hours, all plus GST.
(Carleton Members get a 25% discount on the above prices.)
Contact Lynn for bookings.

 

 

Reminders 

 

Winter Term Registration: If you have not yet done so, please register for the Winter term as soon as possible, to ensure that the coaches have up-to-date class lists.  You can register on-line 24 hrs/day at http://www.carleton.ca/athletics, or by phone (520-4480) or in person (main floor) from 8:30am-4:30pm M-F.  Note that those registered in the current High Intensity groups are paid up until February.  All other groups require re-registration for January.  Whitecaps is full for the Winter term, but all other groups have space.  You can also register now for the 6:30am Earlybirds (starting in March).  The workout themes for Winter 2006 are posted on the web site: http://carletonmasters.tripod.com.

 

Web Site Links and Newsletter Archive: Some swimmers reported that they had problems viewing some of the recent photos.  It's sometimes easier to access the web site pages, by going to the main page (http://carletonmasters.tripod.com) and then clicking on the link of interest (e.g. recent photos). 

Also, if your copy of the newsletter does not arrive or is accidentally deleted, you can view all the old newsletters on the web site.

 

Newsletter: An e-newsletter (like this one) is sent out about every two weeks.  If you have new lane-mates, please mention to them that they should give their e-mail address to their coach if they'd like to receive it.

 

Suggestions for Workouts or Interested in Making up a Workout or a Set?: If you have suggestions for the workouts (something you like that we never do, or something you dislike that we do too much!), or if you'd like to try making up a workout or a set in a workout, just talk to your coach. 

Interested in Copies of the Workouts?: Are you interested in getting copies of Lynn's workouts ahead of time?  Let me know.  I usually e-mail out two week’s worth of workouts on alternate Sundays.  (Note that these are only the workouts that Lynn coaches.  If Lynn is not your coach, the workouts will be different from the workouts your coach gives you!)

Weekly Social Events: All swimmers are invited to join us for:

Thursday Dinner (after Whitecaps workout): Meet by the Control Desk around 7:45pm

Thursday Drinks (after Nightcaps workout): Meet by the Control Desk around 9:30pm

Saturday Brunch (after 9-10am workout): Meet by the Control Desk around 10:30am

Triathletes: Check out Rudy Hollywood’s website: http://www.trirudy.com and subscribe to the daily tri-news e-mail.

General Information: Program information, photos, old newsletters and the Carleton Masters records, among other things, can be viewed at: http://carletonmasters.tripod.com.

Your input to this newsletter is most welcome, especially for the Swimmer Notes, Race Results and Ask the Coach sections!  To be added to or removed from the receiver list, just let me know (lynnmarshall@sympatico.ca).

Happy lengths!

Lynn

lynnmarshall@sympatico.ca (or for quicker response: lynnmar@sce.carleton.ca)

Club website: http://carletonmasters.tripod.com