News For
SWIM PARENTS
Published
by The American Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21
Ave.,
___________________________________________________________________
The Myth of an Overnight Success �
Real Success is a Result of Establishing Building
Blocks Over a Long Term Development
By Nancy Hennessy
ASCA Level 3 Age Group Coach
Gator Swim Club,
When
Mary was 12 she qualified first in the preliminaries at the championship
meet. Never before had she qualified for a championship final.
�WOW!�
�That
came out of nowhere.�
�Unbelievable.�
Such
were the comments that Mary received. Her coach, though very excited, was
not at all surprised. Mary�s �overnight success� had been a long term
developmental process in the making for 6 years. Only now had Mary begun
to tap into her potential.
Mary
began swimming at the age of 6. When she turned 7 she began swimming at
the local year round club. In her first year, Mary swam 2 days a week
with the beginners� group where stroke technique was the primary focus.
The group was designed with a lot of kicking and drilling and FUN!
In
the summer Mary swam primarily with her summer club but still continued to practice
with her year round club 2 days a week as her parents and year round coach were
seeking consistency in coaching and the continued encouragement of the year
round coach. Mary remained in this group for 4 months following the end
of the summer season building upon her skills and aerobic base while laying
down the first block of her foundation.
In
the early spring of her second season, Mary moved to the next developmental
group in her year round program. She was now legal in all four strokes
and displayed the strength, desire and ability to move up. At this time
she began swimming 3 days a week. The emphasis remained on kicking and
stroke drill work with a bit more intensity aerobically and lots of FUN!
Most of the stroke drills were repetition for Mary. As she grew stronger
and more aerobically fit, Mary was able to do the stroke drills for longer
durations with greater proficiency. In a sense, this was a review for
Mary, only a bit more demanding. She spent 2 years in this group.
She maintained very consistent attendance during both the short course and long
course seasons while still being able to enjoy her rewards in summer league
swimming as well. The second layer of cement was drying.
In
the fall of the next season, Mary moved into the next developmental
group. Due to her consistent attendance and much repetition in the
previous group, the transition into this group went smoothly. It was
quite challenging, but with sound fundamentals, she was able to take on the new
challenges and up the ante aerobically. She was now practicing 3-4 days a
week for 1 and � hours per practice. Most of the stroke drills were
repetitious in nature but there were added steps to each drill and more
conditioning while performing the drills. In her first season with this
group, Mary had 100% attendance over the holiday training period. With
this commitment she immediately added another block to her foundation. At
this level Mary was now becoming more accountable for her swimming, more
frequently making stroke corrections without a coach�s request, knowing and
staying on intervals and beginning to keep a log and knowing her best
times.
During
the long course season, Mary, again regularly attended the recommended number
of practices, continued to improve and learn stroke drills, and aerobically
improved her ability to train due to the challenges of long course
training. She repeated this cycle in her 2nd year with this
group adding one day per week more consistently. The foundation was
growing ever stronger.
In
Mary�s 5th season, she entered the top group in the age group
program. Her stroke drills were very proficient though she continued to
improve them and make stroke corrections. She was aerobically very fit
coming off a summer of long course training and high attendance percentages
throughout her time in the sport. Because of these, she was very well
prepared for the rigors of the training at this level. At this time she
stepped up her attendance to 5-6 days a week and in her first year in this
group won an award for 90% attendance for the year. This was a big goal
and accomplishment for Mary.
Now
in her 6th season and a top 3 finisher at a championship meet, it
comes as no surprise. All of Mary�s coaches have participated in her
�overnight success� over the past 6 years. Each season she has made all
the necessary adjustments and raised her level of commitment. Some came
more easily than others, mentally as well as physically. As she grew and
matured, as she became more aerobically fit, and as she faithfully built her
blocks and securely cemented them into place, Mary�s �overnight success� could
only be explained as PREPARATION.
Mary
always participated in meets along the way and usually improved yet never set
the pool on fire for many to notice. She was patient, she had very loving
and committed parents, and she listened to her coaches. She quietly and
cheerfully built her blocks, with a broad base, one on top of another, that has
become a solid foundation for many successes to follow.
Congratulations!!