WASC Newsletter
March 2015
Hardly believable that the fall/winter
season is wrapping up pretty quickly but
on the positive side, spring is right
around the corner. Many of you are new to WASC and USA Swimming; hopefully it has been a
positive experience for you as well as your children. It is great to watch the children grow both
physically and mentally. Since most of you are new to the club not necessarily competitive
swimming, I found the article below very informative:
Notes from the Board:
So This Is Competitive Swimming: For Newer Swim Parents
Russ Sampson
Head Coach, Clarence Swim Club, New York
First, let me start off by saying you have chosen the best sport for your child. The process of
developing in an individual sport supports the life lessons that any parent would like to have
instilled in their child: such as, character traits and lessons like time management, dedication,
communication, goal setting, commitment, self-improvement, sacrifice, overcoming obstacles,
self-worth, and pride. The reason I believe this to be the best sport for development for your
child is simple. Like life, what you put into swimming, you get out of it. Like life, swimming isn’t
always easy; it isn’t always exciting; it isn’t always easy to love or even to like it. But like life,
the rewards that it gives are the best kind: Pride in the journey and processes that you have
taken to bring about a desirable outcome. Note the use of the word “outcome” and not “result”.
Desired results should almost invariably be faster than actual. Desired outcomes take into
account the journey, the friendships, the character growth, the actual results, the training, the
relationships with the coaches, and the respect all that deserves. (I had to put that in bold, so
true!)
I would also like to say that you have chosen the best sport because of the professionalism in
our structure. USA Swimming is the single most decorated, successful and structured of any
youth sport in the world. Our club employs professional coaches with a passion for the sport
and a strong concern for each of our swimmers. Our Learn To Swim program offers the best 10
step process towards not only teaching your swimmer all four competitive strokes and water
safety, but preparing them for success in the competitive side of the sport, should they choose
to continue. Other youth sports are known for using volunteer parents with little or no
background/training in the sport they are coaching.
But patience is needed. Swimming can be a life-long endeavor. Success is relative to the
competition you face, and there is ALWAYS better competition to be faced (one of the beauties
of the sport!) Fast at 10 years old is not fast at 12. Being super-fast at 12 may be marginal at 18
years old. And, often, slow at 10 does not mean slow at 18.
Understanding is needed. Our coaches have a plan, a structure and a direction for your
swimmer. It includes the possibility of swimming in college (if the swimmer wants this) and a
near continual progression through the sport with growth, development and results to bring
about the desired outcome as noted before. Work with the coaches and support your swimmer.
Communicate with the coaches and over time, take a back seat and allow your swimmer to
communicate on their own behalf. (USA Swimming will offer more opportunities for swimming
in college than any other competitive swim league including high school!)
WASC Newsletter
March 2015
Knowledge is needed. Comparing your child to others is not healthy. Compare them to where
they were a year ago, and what is reasonable for them to strive towards over the next year. If
you have a 1st grader learning multiplication, it is not reasonable for them to learn quantum
physics by 3rd grade. If you have two children, you see that they differ in the way they develop,
learn, grow and mature and those differences are what makes them unique and special and not
less or more adequate. Use the same principles when you start to wonder why Suzie, who used
to be slower than your child in the pool, is now seemingly light years ahead.
As we move forward in the sport, take great comfort that your children are surrounded by great
people, from the swimmers they share a lane with, to the coaches and parents that help run this
club. Involve yourself as much as you can in facilitating your child’s efforts in this sport by
getting them to practice and meets on time, by volunteering and/or officiating, by showing
them that you care as much about their involvement as they do. Support them with kind words
and appropriate praise for jobs well done. Let the coaches’ coach, and let yourselves be the
compassionate support system.
Every time I read this, it makes me reflect on how different my three kids are and the different struggles
they encounter daily.
One of the key elements in the last paragraph that we as a club simply cannot stress enough is
volunteering. Unlike many other youth sports, unless you are familiar with other governed USA sports
such as ASA softball, there are two ways we make money, dues and fundraising. Unlike AYSO, Little
League, and many other youth sports, our coaches are highly trained individuals, are not volunteers, and
paid a salary (it costs about $300 to become a certified coach which they must do every one to two
years). Our team Treasurer and Manager are paid positions, we rent the pool(s), and coaches get paid at
meets, the relevance is we cannot do this without everyone’s help! As I say continually, this is
everyone’s team and we prefer to have an open door policy, please always feel free to make suggestions
but most importantly, become involved.
Moving forward, we are gearing up for the summer season. Typically we practice the month of May at
the High School (still waiting for confirmation), and then onto Loyalsock pool once it is open. The
months of June and July we practice in the AM for all groups, however, we have been working with the
Loyalsock Summer Swim Team and they may be willing to give us a couple lanes so we can practice in
the evening (that may just be Bronze, Silver, and Gold groups). The Loyalsock team also offers to the
summer WASC swimmers, a reduced fee to a mere $5.00 to swim with their team at the meets, great
bargain and would advise anyone to consider the possibility, especially younger kids that aren’t as use to
competitions yet. Whether you are swimming with us simply for physical activity, future collegiate
aspirations, or your child enjoys swimming, I would like to take the time to stress the importance of
continuing their training with the same group of coaches. USA coaches continually have up to date
training on safety and proper stroke technique.
Thanks for your time,
Chris, WASC President
Coach’s Corner:
In January we attended the CYA invitational meet at York.
We had an outstanding showing with nearly every event
time was dropped. In the past couple of weeks we
WASC Newsletter
March 2015
attended the NLAC Last Chance Meet and again had a pretty stellar showing with most of the attendees
again setting personal bests and dropping time. You should be proud of the kids, I know I am!
I found the below article and thought it was a nice read and contained some very good points about the
big picture and competitive swimming and setting goals for the individual.
PROCESS VS. OUTCOME: FOCUS ON THE RIGHT THINGS
BY KATIE ARNOLD//NATIONAL TEAM HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT
As most of you reading this are aware, we are less than 18 months away from the first day of swimming
at the Olympics. We are only 16 months out from the start of our Olympic Trials. At this point in the quad,
a lot of time and energy is being put into the goal-setting process, and while the end goal will be different
for every swimmer, I would always argue that the most important word in this sentence is "process."
Unfortunately, for competitors at both Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games, success is most often
judged on the outcome and who gets their hand on the wall first.
So how do you set process-based goals to prepare for outcome-centered competitions? Focus on these
three things:
1. Work on both strengths and weaknesses. Just because you are great at underwater dolphin
kicking, doesn’t mean you should stop working on it. If your turns are great and your starts are
not, you should be working to make both of these things better. All of the best athletes across all
sports work every day to improve on both their weaknesses and their strengths.
2. Make better choices. Maybe you are the hardest worker on your team, and you focus on eating
the right things to fuel your training, but you aren’t getting enough sleep. Or maybe your sleep
habits and training are on point, but your diet isn’t meeting your needs. It could be that you think
you are doing all of the right things, but you aren’t focusing enough on recovery. In my
experience, very few people are making the best possible choices in every facet of their lives.
The key is to identify the choices you can improve, and then to actually do it!
3. Have a plan. The best swimmers in the world become fairly predictable in terms of race strategy
and execution. This is because they have a very specific race strategy which they have executed
over and over again. Stroke counts, dolphin kicks, breathing patterns, and splits are all important
elements of a race plan. The more you rehearse this plan, the more automatic it becomes when it
comes time to race.
WASC Newsletter
March 2015
All three of these suggestions are process-based and can have a positive impact on performance. The
most important part of this is to focus your energy on the things that are within your control (process) so
you don’t waste your energy on things that are outside
Thank you for your time and as always, feel free to ask any questions.
Sue, WASC Head Coach