Coaches Note 8-04-09

-First Practice: August 31

Please make sure that you have gone to our website, clicked on the "Attend this Event" button, and have signed up. The primary reason for doing this is to familiarize yourselves with how we will do meet signups this year; plus it doesn’t hurt to play around on the website. Make sure that you log in to your account.  Instructions are found on the website.

-Tryouts for New Members: September 14

If you know of any friends or neighbors who are interested in joining the Waves, please let them know that we will be having tryouts on Monday, September 14 beginning at 5:30 PM. Anyone who is interested can be directed to our website: www.spokanewaves.org

-Western Zones Championship Meet

Coach Kevin and 11 swimmers from the Waves are in Hawaii right now for the Western Zone Championship Meet.  Please click here to read all about it and to follow the team!

-USA Junior Nationals

Rachel Millet is still going to practice, preparing for next week’s Junior National Meet in Federal Way, WA. This meet is also the World Youth Cup Trials--the top 2 finishers in each event are selected to the Junior National Team which will travel to Stockholm, Sweden and Berlin, Germany for a pair of swim meets this November. Keep her in your thoughts this week as she continues to prepare, and next week as she begins competition. Another big meet, the US Open, is also being held this week in Federal Way.  For more information on these two big events, click here.

-Swim Suit Controversy

Our club has avoided a lot of the controversy surrounding the full body technical suits, but I think it is incredibly important that we all understand what the deal is.  I have posted an article, written by John Leonard of the American Swim Coaches Association, that does a great job breaking down the hoopla and explaining why this is such a critical issue within the sport. Please take the time to check it out.

Thanks again for such a fantastic summer; we hope that you all return next fall ready to hit the ground running. Make sure that you are not just sitting around eating chips and watching television--get out, ride your bike, go on a walk, do some pushups or crunches...anything so that when it’s time to come back, you are ready to roll. These breaks are designed to help keep swimmers engaged in the sport and to teach lifetime fitness, not for you to just sit around and do nothing! We’ll see you soon.

Keddy