Carleton Masters Swimming Newsletter
#39
Saturday, June 8th, 2002
To: Carleton Coaches
Bcc: Early Birds (64 addresses); Whitecaps (74
addresses),
Nightcaps (39 addresses), Varsity registered with Masters (13
addresses), Very
Early Birds (36 addresses)
Brewer Park Towing! If
you park at
Brewer Park, please note that the areas where you are allowed to park
have
changed recently. If you park in a tow-away zone, you could be
towed. Read the signs! If you have trouble getting a spot in
the
parking lot right next to Bronson, you might try the lot by the river
(behind
the baseball diamonds) -- after you turn off Bronson, take the first
right.
Feedback Forms Information (Part
4):
Here is the final instalment of information from the 86 feedback
forms
received in April:
Facility (all these comments
have been
passed along to Athletics):
Pool: We have a great pool (2 people). The pool
could be
cleaner (the ends of the pool are sometimes dirty) (1 person). The pool
shuts
down right before Masters Nationals every year which is poor planning (1
person).
Pool Deck/Equipment: Replace the whirlpool (or
reduce
fees) (4 people). Can we get more pace clocks with minute hands (1
person)? [Ed. Note: Analog minute hands are not easy to read while
digital
seconds don't work well, so you ideally need a digital minute
hand and
analog seconds!]
Change Rooms: Fix the men's showers (1
person). Fix
the women's showers (1 person). Clean the women's locker room more
often/thoroughly (2 people). Regulate the temperature of the
women's
change room (1 person). Can we get an additional plug in front of
the
large mirror by the washroom in the women's change room as there's a
line up of
those needing to plug in hair dryers in the morning (1 person)?
Can we get
a suit spin dryer (1 person)?
Parking: Free parking would be nice (1
person)! Any
suggestions about parking (1 person)? Can we do something about
parking at
Brewer (1 person)? [Ed. Note: See the information on towing at Brewer
Park
above.]
Program (these comments have
also been
passed along to Athletics):
Workout Times/Length: Times are convenient and
flexible
with wide choice (15 people). The new 6:30am time is great (5
people). Longer workouts (1.5hrs or 1.25hrs in the a.m.) would be
nice (3
people). [Ed. Note: Coming in Fall 2002, you will likely have an
option to
do 1.5hr workouts 3 mornings a week with the Varsity team
Sept-Feb.]
Suggestions for New/Changed Workout Times:
Add workouts Tue/Thu a.m. (1 person). Add a
mid-afternoon
session (3x/week) (1 person). Add a 50m pool workout (1
person).
Keep the 8-9am rather than 9-10am Saturday session in
July/August (1
person). [Ed. Note: Based on current numbers, pool
availability, and
demand, these are not currently options we are considering.
However, if
you'd be interested in any of them, send in your vote!]
Coaches/Varsity Athletes: Thanks for including
Varsity
athletes (1 person). Restrict Masters to those who pay (no
coaches, no
Varsity). [Ed. Note: Attending Masters for free is a benefit we
offer all
coaches. Current Varsity Athletes are can participate in Masters
for free
to keep in shape. Coaches and Varsity do the same workout as
everyone
else!]
Moving Between Groups: Don't allow swimmers to
switch
between groups (1 person). How about a Masters pass so that we can
attend
any group's workout (1 person)? [Ed. Note: Swimmers are allowed to
attend
a different group if they have a legitimate work/family commitment that
prevents
them attending their normal group. Those registered in a group
have first
priority if the pool capacity is reached. Ask your coach for
details.]
Fees: The program is expensive compared to other
clubs
when you include the Carleton Membership (4 people). The program
is
affordable (good price/value) (3 people). An option to pay for
only one
workout per week would be great (1 person). A pay as you go option
(e.g.
$5 per workout) would be nice (1 person).
Swimmers per Lane: Coach moves people to
slower/faster
lanes as appropriate (1 person). Good number of swimmers per lane
(2
people). I'd prefer fewer swimmers per lane (1 person). [Ed.
Note:
See below for statistics on the number of people attending each group --
you
could perhaps choose a less crowded group.]
Dryland: Weights for Swimmers class was good (1
person). Offer a flexibility and weight program to do at home (2
people). Provide strength and flexibility testing to identify
problem
areas (1 person). [Ed. Note: These programs are offered by
Athletics, but
are separate from (and outside the scope of) Masters. A Weight
Training
for Swimmers class will be offered in the Fall, if there is enough
interest.]
Safety Supervision: Great idea (2 people).
It's
working well (4 people). The kids are cute (1 person). The
supervisors are terrific (1 person). The small children on
deck can be a hazard and distract the coach (1 person).
It would
be great if the bigger kids could always stay in the diving well (1
person).
General: I've improved much more quickly than I
expected
(2 people). The e-mail newsletter is great (4 people). The
program
has improved in the past year (2 people). The club is very good
compared
to others in the city (1 person). The club is child-friendly (1
person). Swimmers are encouraging; pleasant social atmosphere (3
people). I'd like more social interaction (1 person). [Ed.
Note:
Check out the weekly social events listed at the end of the newsletter,
and
attend the club parties!]
Mini Swim Camp:
The mini swim camp will be held: Saturday, June 15th 5-7pm
and
Sunday, June 16th 8:30-10:30am. The details of the camp
were
e-mailed to all participants on Friday, June 7th. If you are
interested
and didn't get the e-mail, please let me know ASAP. There is a
very
limited amount of space available.
Fun Swim Meet:
The meet scheduled for: Saturday, June 22nd 5-7pm
has been
cancelled due to lack of interest.
New and Nearly New Swim Equipment For
Sale:
There are still caps, a pair of goggles, and some women's
suits
available for sale. The caps are priced at $1. The goggles
$4, and
the suits $10-$20 at the buyer's discretion. Ask to look at our
"boutique"!
Club News:
Don't forget
Mary Ann O's (Winter Whitecaps) house
cooling
party:
Saturday, June 15th, 8pm to late at Apt
2-264 Flora
Street (ring the top ringer). BYOB and friends. Parking is
available
on Flora and Percy streets. RSVP by e-mail (
maryann.oberthier@c=
ommunication.gc.ca)
or phone 233-2785. Mary Ann has promised to send those attending
the swim
clinic home early so that they'll be awake and at the pool for 8:30am
Sunday,
June 16th :-) !
Michelle (Safety Supervision) daughter of
Nicole
D (Whitecaps) will be appearing in "The Dance Connection"
(performed by
Le Jazz Hot Dance Co.) at the Centrepointe Theatre at 7:30pm on both
Saturday,
June 22nd and Sunday, June 23rd. Tickets are $22 ($20 youth) and
are
available from the box office or by phone 727-6698.
John Waring (Whitecaps/Nightcaps/Varsity Coach)
and his
wife Caroline are hosting a (pre-)Canada Day party on
Saturday,
June 30th, 4pm to late at their home at 608 Tourelle, Orleans. All
are
welcome (BYOB, and something to BBQ).
Session Notes
After 5 weeks (12 weekday workouts which
excludes the
ones Lynn missed), here are the attendance leaders for the Spring
session.
There are still 15 swimmers with perfect weekday attendance,
and 10
who have missed just one workout. (Please let me know if I've
missed
anyone.) The range in attendance and average number of swimmers at
each
workout is also shown next to each group:
6:30am Earlybirds (13-25, average
19.0):
Perfect: Dave Bourdon, Jen G,
Ross
Missed 1: Alice, Andrew K, David M
Missed 2: John Westdal,
Rocio
7:30am Earlybirds (15-30, average
19.1):
Perfect: Bernie, Gosia, Jeff,
Julie
Missed 1: Barb M, Rudy
Missed 2: Jacinthe, Lisa O, Mike
B
8:30am Earlybirds (8-13, average
11.3):
Perfect: Alan, Jo-Ann, Margaret, Penny,
Renee
Missed 1: Claire
Whitecaps ("A": 12-20, average
17.1; "B" to
be reported next time):
Perfect: Cam, Debby O, Joanne
D
Missed 1: Don W,
Joanie
Missed 2: Patricia
Nightcaps (6-13, average
10.0):
Missed 1: Lisa G,
Sylvie
Missed 2: Joe P
All groups will have the option of doing time trials
this
month. We'll do time trials of shorter (up to 400m) distances from
June
11-12th, and June 17-26th. You get to pick the event(s). The
idea is
to try the same events next time and see if you've improved
(or swim
the same events that you did last time). On Thursday, June 14th /
Friday,
June 15th we'll do a long freestyle timed swim (800 or 1500m) for
everyone. On the last weekday of the Spring session (Thursday,
June 27th /
Friday, June 28th) we'll do some fun relays at the end.
Note that there is a Masters Invitational Open
Postal Event
being held as part of a big aquatic event (LatyCar 2002) in Cuba.
The
postal events are 1500m, 1hr swim, and 1hr team swim. (There are
no pool
swimming events, although there are open water races.) It costs
US$5 to
enter each postal event, and you just mail in your times/distances by
mid-July. If anyone is interested just let me know. Full
details are
at: http://www.lat=
ycar.org/LatyCar02/english/2002.htm,
and the postal event information is at: http://=
www.latycar.org/LatyCar02/common/Postals_ONLY.pdf
Masters Etiquette
As we have quite a few new swimmers, it is worth
reviewing the
Masters lane etiquette. If there are only one or two people in a
lane, you
can swim side by side and need not be at exactly the same point in the
workout. However, much of the time our lanes have three or more
swimmers,
so co-operation is important, and everyone must stay
together!
If you arrive late, please join in with the others at
whatever
point they are in the warm up (perhaps doing a few lengths of freestyle
first,
but being careful to keep out of the way of those who were on
time). If
you get ahead of your lanemates during the warm up, do an extra
50. If you
fall behind your lanemates during the warm up, skip a 50.
During a set where you are doing repeats on certain
pace times,
you must do what's on the board for your lane (unless you have an injury
which
prevents you from doing a certain stroke)! If you are unsure of
the
anything in the set, just ask. If you are getting too much rest,
or not
enough rest, let the coach know and the lanes can be adjusted. If
you
cannot see the pace clock, get prescription goggles and/or a watch
with a
stopwatch that you can synchronize with the wall clock before
workout. If
you have trouble calculating when the time is up, keep working at it,
and ask
your lanemates to help. If you are having trouble keeping track,
let
someone else in the lane lead, and follow him/her. If you fall
behind
occasionally, it is ok to skip a 50 and join back in. That is
much
better than "doing your own thing", which can incur the wrath of your
lanemates!
If your or someone in your lane is having trouble
following the
workout, just ask the coach for
help.
=
Race Reports and
Swim Meets
(please let me know if I've missed anyone or any
races!)
June 1st Technosport Meet:
Congratulations to Patricia M
(Whitecaps) on a great 1500 at the Technosport distance
meet!
Patricia completed the 1500 in 21:45, nearly 1 minute faster than she'd
hoped!
Winterlude Ribbons and Point Scores:
The Winterlude official ribbons and point scores have finally
arrived (the
meet was February 9th)!
Carleton placed 2nd out of 19 clubs
with 563 points
(1st place was Nepean, the hosts, with 43 swimmers and 1080 points, so
we did
have more points per swimmer!).
Those who placed in the top 5 in their
age groups
(based on overall score) were:
1st: Clara T (Varsity)
20-24;
Lynn (Coach) 40-44; Will L (Varsity)
20-24
(all with 36 points3D four 1st places)
2nd: Morgan
(Varsity/Earlybirds)
20-24 (34); Warren T (Varsity) 20-24 (34);
George (Whitecaps) 75-79 (33)
3rd: Brock C (Varsity)
20-24
(27)
4th: Katie
(Varsity/Earlybirds)
20-24 (24); Tarek (Coach/Whitecaps) 35-39 (27);
Bernie (Earlybirds) 50-54 (25)
5th: Jeff F
(Earlybirds) 30-34
(18); John Waring (Coach/Whitecaps) 35-39
(25)
If you competed in this meet, ask me for your ribbons!
Open Water Races:
There are two open water races (open to all) being held by
Technosport in
Meech Lake this summer -- a 3km race on July 13th and a
4km race on August 17th. More details nearer the
time.
I also have the official entry forms for the MSO Ontario Open Water
5km Championships to be held in St. Marys Quarry (near
Stratford) on Sunday, September 8th (the Sunday after
Labour
Day). It's a fun swim (11 triangles) and a group from Toronto
usually
organizes an outing to Stratford on Saturday, plus a stay in a B&B
near the
quarry on Saturday night, as well as a mandatory stop at an ice cream
parlour
after the post-race feast!! To participate in this race you must
be a
member of MSO. Ask for details...
Cabot Trail Relay May 25-26th:
Congratulations to David Barclay (Very Earlybirds)
who was
a member of this year's winning team, the "Ottawa Nice Guys". It
sounds
like it was quite an experience! The team finished in 17:15:41,
over half
an hour ahead of second place (Aquafina Rocky Road Runners in
17:52:16).
The "Ottawa Nice Guys" held an average of 3:44 per km (6:00 per mile)
for the
276.33km (172.28 mile) course!!
Upcoming Events:
Best of luck to Ross W (Very Earlybirds) who is
competing
in the Long Course (Swim 2km, Bike 55km, Run 15km) Muskoka Triathlon in
Huntsville on Sunday, June 16th. I expect there are other club
members
taking part -- let me know if you are!
Also, good luck to Rudy (Earlybirds) who is
off to
France on Tuesday, June 11th and will be participating in Ironman
France on
Saturday, June 22nd. The race is being held in Gerardmer in the
Lorraine
region (East), 2.5 hours from Paris by train.
Dear Coach: When I'm
swimming I try
to feel for asymmetry in my stroke and work on correcting it.
Should
I be doing that or is it better to just focus on time/speed and
number of
lengths? To Feel or Not to Feel
Dear T. Feel: "Feeling" the water is a key part to
improving
your technique and should definitely be the focus during warm up, warm
down and
moderate paced swimming. When you're swimming hard the effort
(pain!) will
likely make it more difficult to concentrate on your form. When
swimming
hard, I find it easiest to focus on one or two key things that tend to
deteriorate when going fast (e.g. stroke length and streamline off the
walls).
Dear Coach: What should I eat
before
morning workout? Hungry Swimmer
Dear H. Swimmer: It is definitely a good idea to eat
something
before morning workout. Eating something (anything) is better than
nothing. Ideally you want something that is easy to digest and
will
provide fuel during the workout (e.g. carbohydrates). Experiment
with
various foods until you find something that works for you. Also,
make sure
that you are drinking lots of fluids (and remember that coffee is a
diuretic!).
Dear Coach: Could the coaches please
ensure
that they write LARGE for us visually challenged swimmers? Poor
Vision
Dear P. Vision: Let the coach know if you can't read
the board
and he/she will re-write the part you cannot see or explain the
"pattern" which
may make it easier for you. Being able to see the pace clock is
more
important than being able to see the board. If you can't see the
pace
clock, I highly recommend prescription goggles. There was some
discussion
on them in previous newsletters which are all posted on the
website.
Dear Coach: I'm new and don't
understand many
of the abbreviations you use. Is there a list somewhere? Not
Up On
Acronyms
Dear N. Acronyms: Yes, I have a list and it is now
posted on the
club web page.
Miscellaneous
For those who are into gadgets, you might be interested in reading
about
the "Aquapacer" at
http://www.aquapacer.com. It
sounds
like a metronome for swimmers and is used to allow you to keep your
stroke rate
constant. I haven't tried it and have no idea what it's
like. I
think the beeping would drive me crazy, but the swimmers who have used
it, claim
it's ok! Thanks to
Gwen (Earlybirds) for bringing
this to
my attention.
As most of you know, I was off for most of last week due to a
partially
detached retina. I'd done some reading on this subject, and those
who are
short-sighted have a much higher risk of having a
detached
retina than the general population. Some sources say it's as high
as 1/20
if your prescription is -6 or worse. Even in the general
population it's
1/10,000 (so it's not really that rare). Anyway, if you ever
experience
lots of flashing lights in your vision and/or a sudden increase in the
number of
floaters, seek medical help immediately. If your retina does
detach, you
have about 24hrs before irreversible vision loss may occur.
Private and Semi-Private
Masters
Lessons
Spring (May-June) remaining available times for
private
and semi-private Masters lessons with Lynn are as follows:
Monday 9:45-10:45am June 17th and 24th
Tuesday 3:30-4:30pm May 28 to June 11th and 18th
Thursday 3:30-4:30pm June 13th
Summer (July-August) times are:
Wednesday 6-7pm July 17, August 7, 14 & 21st
Prices for private lessons for Carleton Members
are $35 for
1 hour, $65 for 2, $90 for 3, $112 for 4 and $132 for 5 hours, all plus
GST. Private lessons are also available to non-Members at a higher
cost
($50, $85, $115, $142 and $162, all plus GST, for 1-5 hours,
respectively).
For those who want to take semi-private lessons
(2-3
students), the cost per student for Carleton Members is $21 for 1 hour,
$39 for
2, $54 for 3, $67.20 for 4, and $79.20 for 5 hours, all plus GST.
Semi-private lessons for non-Members cost (per student) $30 for 1 hour,
$51 for
2, $69 for 3, $85.20 for 4, and $97.20 for 5 hours, all plus
GST.
Contact Lynn for availability.
Reminders
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?: If
you are interested in getting copies of the Earlybird,
Whitecaps and/or
Nightcaps Masters workouts ahead of time? Let me know.
I
usually e-mail out the week=92s workouts on Sunday.
Social Events: All swimmers are
invited
to join us for:
Thursday Dinner (after Whitecaps workout): Meet
by the
Tuck Shop around 7:45pm
Thursday Drink (after Nightcaps workout): Meet
by the Tuck
Shop around 8:30pm
Saturday Brunch (after 9-10am workout): Meet by
the Tuck
Shop around 10:30am
Triathletes: Check
out Rudy
Hollywood=92s (Earlybirds/Whitecaps) website: http://www.trirudy.com and
subscribe
to the daily tri-news e-mail.
Weight Training for Swimmers:
A six-hour program on strength
training for
swimmers was offered 11am-1pm Saturdays January 12th, 19th and February
2nd. This course was poorly attended (4 people) and the Athletics
department is reluctant to offer it again, unless attendance is
up. If you
would be interested in this course next Fall, please let me know.
Also,
let me know what time/day works best for
you.
