Delmar Dolfins Blog

May 21, 2009

2009-06-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

This message concerns the number of practices swimmers attend each week. The number of practices offered for each group each week is the recommended number of practices swimmers should attend to have the greatest chance of success. That means a Group 1 or 2 swimmer is recommended to attend up to 4 practices each week; Group 3's recommendation is 5 practices/week; Group 4 & 5's recommendation is 6 practices/week. Dolfins do not have practice requirements and families can decide how many practices they wish their swimmer to attend.

In order to be successful and competitive in swimming as Dolfins get older, they need to attend more practices. This is not a rule; it is a fact of swimming. At this point, Group 4 swimmers average 4 to 6 practices/week. The work they do during a practice session is quite challenging. In order for a swimmer to gain the endurance, strength, and skill level to move from Group 1 to Group 2 to Group 3 by a reasonable age (let's say moving to Group 3 during their 11th year), the swimmer must be able to handle a fairly difficult workout or he/she will not be able to keep up with the other swimmers. Some swimmers are strong enough to be able to handle a Group 3 workout during their 11th year attending fewer than the recommended number of practices/week, but the majority of our swimmers cannot do this.
Eventually, most swimmers will be able to enter Group 4. Most swimmers could enter Group 4 by 8th or 9th grade if they attend the recommended number of weekly practices throughout their swimming career with Dolfins, and some could enter earlier. However, those members who attend practice once or twice each week and miss weeks at a time, may not be strong enough to move to Group 4 until they are much older.

The Dolfin program tries to be as family friendly as possible. Unfortunately, the sport of swimming is not as family-friendly. I know most families are not interested in their swimmer becoming an Olympian, but the sport is driven by the "more is better" philosophy and that actually works. A swimmer may be motivated to become very committed and they will improve quickly. If another swimmer is not interested in making the same commitment, he/she will most likely fall behind but still improve at a slower pace.

The point I'm attempting to make here is that a swimmer may not have the necessary training to easily move from group to group without attending enough practices each week. I'm confident all our swimmers will eventually have the ability to move into Group 4, but it will most likely take longer if they don't attend practice enough.

March 8, 2009

2009-06-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

It was great to have Derek Brown at practice Thursday and I'd like to thank the Ginsburg Family for inviting him to talk to our swimmers. It was short notice for Derek and he had family members at home who were under the weather, but he made time in his busy schedule to visit with us. We all watch sports on TV from pro football and baseball to the recent Olympics and I think we don't understand that these athletes are regular people with incredible talent, so it was nice to hear Derek's story from when he was a 6'5" sophomore in high school to the fact that he played more soccer than football in his early years.

We had a bunch of good questions from our Dolfins and two stood out in my mind and I mentioned them to our swimmers later in practice. Belle Hettie asked Derek how he balanced academics and sports. Derek went to Notre Dame and played on their National Championship team so he was attending a very demanding academic school while playing in an arena that was the very top of that sport's elite. His answer was great: you know what you have to do and you just do it. You find a way to balance your life and you can be a great athlete in a demanding program and still manage to handle a challenging academic program. I'm always amazed that our most dedicated swimmers always find time to get outstanding grades and handle all that work while rarely missing practice. Another swimmer asked Derek if he ever considered quitting. I think the swimmer was referring to quitting the sport, but it was as if Derek couldn't understand what she was saying because that thought had never entered his mind. Instead, I think he interpreted the question to mean quit on the playing field, like being so tired or overwhelmed that you just stopped playing hard.

And that led to an even more interesting response. As many of our swimmers know, I received the Michael Phelps book from the Melewski's as a Christmas gift, and throughout the book Michael states that he hates losing. After a while, it was like, OK Michael, we get it! Move on to something else. But when Derek answered Nicole's question with that same comment, "I hate to lose", his emotions came to the surface and I was just blown away thinking that's probably the same way Phelps would have said it! Derek then went on to say how, after a loss, his teammates just couldn't believe they had lost the game and some were so mad and ticked off they were actually crying over it. So, thanks go to Derek and I hope he keeps finding the time to talk to the young athletes in our area.

February 10, 2009

2009-06-16T13:59:00.002-07:00

We have a great group of young swimmers on the team and I have had quite a few conversations about expectations and swimmer progression lately. It sounds like families may need a little more direction than I've provided in the last couple of years.

Age group swimming is looked at more as a swimmer's career, rather than viewing our young members in their current state, and we tend to look at them in a developmental way. For example, our 10 and unders are not miniature Michael Phelps' or Katie Hoff's. In fact, when Phelps was a 10 and under, even he was considered a work in progress. Because improvement doesn't happen in a nice, orderly fashion, it's more important to make sure our younger members focus on skill improvement (and remember, they are youngsters and don't always learn skills as quickly as we would like!), gaining a nice work ethic, and making sure they are enjoying the sport, rather than winning or being compared to other swimmers. A USA Swimming survey of why kids swim showed the main reason 10 and unders swim is the social atmosphere and having fun. As they get older, goal setting and reaching standards becomes more important. So, when I look at a young swimmer, I look at what that swimmer will be down the road and don't get too concerned with their current state. Of course we want our young members to improve and set goals, but part of life is failure and they need to understand that happens to everyone and they need to deal with it in a positive way. All athletes have peaks and valleys and that's just something we have to understand.

Two factors have huge impacts on swimmer development that people often overlook. One is growth. First of all, kids don't grow in an orderly way. Sometimes the legs grow and the torso stays the same. Or one swimmer has a huge growth spurt that leads to great improvement while another swimmer can't catch a break and ages up to 11 while still inhabiting a 10 year old body. There's not much you can do except wait to see what happens next. What I do know is that everybody eventually grows. Girls have their growth spurt early and you'll see big improvement in the 11-12 age group while the 11-12 boys have to wait until they are usually 13 to see their growth spurt. This ticks off the boys in the 11-12 age group when the girls are faster than they are, but it ticks off the girls in the 13-14 age group when the boys they used to beat overtake them.

The other factor is commitment. Very often, especially in the 10 & under age group, some swimmers who do not come to practice very often still do well in meets. I can guess it's probably a natural ability and strength that makes the difference. What I do know is that, eventually, swimmers who work hard and come to practice catch up and often come out on top.

When I look back to who the local top swimmers were in the 11-12 age group three years ago, I see an almost entirely different group of swimmers leading the way in the older age groups today. Some of those good 12 year olds are still hanging in there, but many are not as dominant as they once were. Many swimmers who struggled in the 11-12 age group but loved swimming enough to keep trying and working hard are now right up there with the leaders.

November 3, 2008

2009-06-16T13:59:00.001-07:00

Congrats to the Ocean Blue parent volunteer staff for a great meet! It
was a real team effort and you pulled it off without a hitch! Also great
job to all our new swimmers! It was pretty crazy on deck but meets only
become easier and more fun after this point. We want interest in meets
to continue with our new members so I will extend entries for the
Pilgrim's Pride meet. New entries for this meet must be dropped off at
BCHS or AA by this Tuesday for me to enter them in time. If you just
drop it off on Wednesday, I will be unable to get to them

September 21, 2008

2009-06-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

tThe meet season is about to start! Entries for our first meets are all

due on Monday 9/29. Here is a review of those meets:

*Autumn Breeze at Ravena (10/11)is a developmental meet and the swimmer's
best times must be SLOWER than the cut off times listed on the meet
entry. I would like all returning Group 1 and 2 swimmers to enter this
meet if they qualify. Group 3, 4, and 5 swimmers are also welcomed to
enter this meet. I CANNOT ACCEPT LATE ENTRIES FOR THIS MEET, SO PLAN TO ENTER EARLY OR ON TIME.

*Newburgh Sharks Red, White and Blue Invitational (10/18) is a Metro meet
and I would like only Group 3, 4, 5 swimmers to enter this meet. John
and I will attend this meet. Click here for the meet announcement.

*Kingston Hurricane Invitational is a meet we have attended for years.
Jen will be at this meet if we have enough kids to go. I would encourage
our Group 2 swimmers to enter the longer open events. There are many
younger swimmers who enter open events at this meet, so there will be
plenty of peers in their races.

*We have been attending the North Shore Swim Team Team Invy at MIT for a
few years now. It is an age group meet with pretty good competition.
There are qualifying times but they are not difficult for our better
swimmers. For meet info, go to northshoreswimclub.com and click onto the
link for "2008-09 Short Course Hosted Meets", scroll down to the Dec.
11-14 meet and click onto "info" and the meet announcements will pop up.
Entries will be due 10/27 and I would advise getting a hotel in
advance-talk to Powhida's, O'Donnell's, or Powell's about hotels they
like.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2008

2009-06-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome back, Dolfins! I hope everyone is ready to get started with our
2008-09 Short Course Season! The meet schedule is up on the AD web site,
although no announcements are available at this time. We have added two
new coaches to our current staff (Nicole, Melissa, Teresa, Kate, and
Lauren) and they are the brother and sister duo of Jen and John Keats.
Both are St. Rose grads who swam under coach Keith Murray. Introduce
yourselves to them and help make them feel part of the team! Our staff
is excited about the upcoming season and we are looking forward to seeing
all of you again on deck!

AUGUST 16, 2008

2009-06-16T13:56:00.002-07:00

As most of you know, Matt Kav, our asst. coach, has taken a position as
asst. coach with Union College. When I was planning for the 2008-09
short course season, I knew the possibility of Matt finding a full time
job was very good and I was prepared in case this happened. I haven't
finalized what change will be made, but I have a pretty good idea of what
I want to do. We have 3 weeks before we start and I will let all of you
know what will take place well in advance. Most likely I will coach
Groups 3-5 to start out and see what happens. I have a couple of
coaching prospects but will not subject Group 3 to another coaching
change at this time.

Most of our families have only been with Dolfins for two or three years
and have experienced a nice stretch of stability. However, all age group
clubs go through coaching changes on a regular basis. Part of Matt's job
at Union will be as an asst. coach with the Schenectady Sharks, who were
looking for someone and were lucky enough to hook up with Union. Since
I've been coaching Dolfins, Connie Miller was a main asst. coach for us
for a good 4 years. Dave Burns and Erica Sottosanti held those kinds of
positions for about the same length of time. At the beginning of each
season when I attend the first meet, I see many new faces on deck
coaching for the other clubs in Adirondack. Heck, my old team, the Glens
Falls Y Gators, are on their 3rd head coach since I've been with Dolfins!
What's happening to us at this point is far from being the end of the
world and we will work through this change and end up in good shape.
Just enjoy the end of your summer and leave the worrying to me!

JUNE 4, 2008

2009-06-16T13:56:00.001-07:00

Well, our season is off and running! This past weekend saw Dolfins at
the Colgate Invitational and the Meter Madness meet. Entries for the
Colgate Classic are due and summer is right around the corner! The USA
Olympic Swimming Trials will be televised on NBC and USA channels, which
should be exciting for members of our sport. We will attempt to have a
social outing for the team wrapped around one day of the trials on Monday
June 30 (info on our web site). We've never done this and I'm hoping the
response is good. Sometimes it appears that Adirondack gets left out of
the mix with USA Swimming and I think it's important for us to feel a
part of the bigger picture. Adirondack has had a number of swimmers at
Trials over the years and a few just missed making the team in the past
-Jim Wells (New Hartford/Peddie School, USC), Richelle Depold
(Scotia/UCLA), John Trembly (Shaker/Tennessee).

We've been taking practice attendance on a pretty regular basis this year
and I'm pleased to see that many Group 1&2 swimmers have been coming to
practice a lot this season! Although it's easier to get the Excellent
and Perfect attendance in Group 1&2 because only 4 practices are offered
each week, it's also tough because the practice days change each week so
I'm sure it's difficult to plan for each week. Our goal, of course, is
to try and motivate our members to continue reaching for the Excellent and
Perfect attendance as they move up into Group 3 and finally into Group 5.
Group 5 is a little sparse right now and I'm hoping it will expand over
the next few years (Group 5 has a minimum practice requirement of 5
days/week). Swimming is one of those sports where the more you practice,
the quicker you improve, and there is always someone out there who wants
to do more to stay on top and forces everyone else to follow their lead!
In the recent Splash magazine, an elite swimmer who competed in the
1960's and is now swimming Masters, noted that he is actually swimming
more yards now than when he was on top of the swimming world 40 years
ago! Our top members come to 6 practices every week unless they are ill
or have a school or family obligation, and most will find a pool or do
some dryland work if they have to miss a workout. There is no hiding
when it comes to swimming! I think it builds character for our swimmers
to reach for goals that are not easy to make and not take the easy way
out. An old saying was mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal
article: Character is who you are when no one is looking. In another
article I found in the Boston Globe that is relative to our sport, Kahill
Gibran (the nephew of the philosopher who was a well know artist and
recently passed away) was quoted as saying "I believe talent is a grace.
You don't deny it, you don't affirm it. But if you don't work at it, you
can lose it. The only sin is in squandering talent." Not everyone will
make the Olympic Team, but everyone has the ability to fulfill their
potential in our sport if they just make the commitment to themselves to
give 100%. Many a Group 4 or 5 swimmer has felt the "wrath of Doug" by
making the mistake of telling me they are missing a practice to go to the
mall, or get a haircut, or buy a prom dress! As I tell them, using poor
judgment to miss a workout never affects me. I'll be at practice
everyday whether they are there or not. But it does affect their ability
to reach their goals. Anyway, enough soap box stuff! Have a great
summer and see you at the pool!

APRIL 22, 2008

2009-06-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome back, Dolfins! I hope everyone had a well earned break and are
ready to begin a new season! The meet schedule is pretty much complete
and starts up in a few weeks. This is what it looks like so far:

May 31-Colgate Invy. All 13 and older swimmers encouraged to enter.
June 1-Meter Madness
June 13-15-Webster Meet (Rochester). The meet announcement isn't up yet,
but this is an age group long course meet.
June 20-22-ESG Trials
July 4-6-Colgate Classic
July 12&13-Hawks
July 17-20-Speedo
July 24-27-Empire State Games
July 25-27-Districts
Aug 6-9-Summer Zones

We will hold practices at the Bethlehem Town pool in the mornings. These
practices are only open to those swimmers who are members of the Dolfins
for the long course season. Practice times are 6:30-8:30am and are open
to all Dolfins. However, the pool conditions are often cold and the pool
will be set up long course most mornings, so all swimmers need to be able
to handle these conditions. The main problem we have with this pool is
setting it up for long course. All swimmers are expected to arrive on
time and help set the pool up. Any swimmers who cannot arrive on time
and do not help in the set up will not be allowed to swim at the morning
practice. Our regular practices in the evening will still be held.

See you at the pool!

MARCH 18, 2008

2009-06-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

Well, we have basically made it through another short course season!
Silvers were a good meet for us and, with the completion of a long Gold
Championships, Dolfins retain our status as one of the top teams in
Adirondack with a 3rd place finish in women's, men's, and combined point
standings. We had a healthy share of gold medals earned this weekend
with many exciting swims in prelims and in finals. Alex Lednev won the
high point award for 13-14 boys and Bethany Powhida was the runner up
award winner for 13-14 girls. Last weekend, Katie O'Donnell had a
successful meet at the Speedo Championships on Long Island. We also have
a group of Dolfins who are continuing to compete as they now train for
the Eastern Zone Championships in Buffalo April 3-5: Grace Ayer, Haley
Goodrich, Tara O'Donnell, Bethany Powhida, Wyatt Pritchard, Erin Dewey,
and Lily Powell. Congratulations to our graduating seniors who attended
finals Sunday to be recognized by the Adirondack swimming community-Katie
O'Donnell, Jenna Melewski, Laura Vecchio, and Nate Foley. It was also
great to see some of our college swimmers who stopped by to wish us
well-Sean Kennedy (Geneseo), Paul Cafiero (NYU), and Derek DeLisle
(Columbia).

We will continue to train and I'm hoping our swimmers come to the
available workouts over the next 3 weeks. This week is limited because
AA is closed for cleaning, but the more practices our members attend, the
better shape they will be in when the long course begins the week of
April 21. We are hosting a 1 week clinic for brand new swimmers but
Dolfins will be on a much needed 2 week break before starting long
course.

I do have to bring up one problem that we experienced this year and it
was a real concern at Golds. We had a number of Dolfin families make the
decision to skip warm ups and bring their swimmers to the meet late. This
decision by parents has a negative impact on the effort our coaching
staff is making to provide a great program for our members. The "team"
philosophy our coaches are trying to instill in our swimmers should be an
important goal for our families and is undercut when parents decide to
bring their swimmers to meets late. The obvious benefits of the warm up
to prepare a swimmer for a race and prevent injuries is also set aside.
On a number of occasions this weekend, John and I spent a good portion of
the warm up period frantically searching for a swimmer whose parents
decided to come late. The 10&unders had positive check in and, if we
checked a swimmer in and they didn't make the session, they would be
excluded from the next day's events, so we were walking all over RPI
looking for them and enlisting other parents to help. We even had one
late swimmer get knocked out of the meet because of this. Our relay
cards have to be turned in before the meet begins, and I had sent out and
posted the relays to families, so when these swimmers were not on time,
we had to make last minute decisions to either go with the relay we had
planned and hope the swimmer made it on time, or change it and substitute
someone else. We had to cancel a relay that prevented three other
Dolfins from participating because a swimmer was a no show. The families
who faithfully brought their swimmers on time were the ones who were
affected the most because we were distracted and spent a valuable part of
the meet looking for swimmers who were late instead of concentrating on
those who were there. I have a feeling that these families who make
decisions to skip warm ups think no one else is affected by their
decision, but this is just not the case. I know that our Dolfin families
really appreciate what the coaching staff does for their children, but
this practice really undermines our confidence in knowing all families
are on board with our efforts.

JANUARY 19, 2008

2009-06-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked by a Dolfin parent how many practices should a
swimmer attend per week. Since only Group 5 has practice requirements
(and they are very lenient), I guess there is no real yardstick to make
this decision with. The way the team is set up, for instance, is if you
are in Group 3 where 5 practices are usually offered each week, a Group 3
swimmer should come to 5 practices/week. In Group 1&2 where 4 practices
are usually offered each week, a Group 1 or 2 swimmer should attend 4
practices/week. Group 4&5 swimmers should be coming to all 6 practices
each week. Although we don't have practice requirements, until about 2
1/2 years ago we had a good core in each group who attended all the
workouts their group offered. As that core of swimmers have gotten older
and graduated, the number of swimmers taking advantage of our program has
decreased. I think we have two swimmers who attend all 6 workouts each
week and a few more who attend 5/week on a regular basis. Apparently
more swimmers on Dolfins tend to have other activities that occur during
our practices and are content to juggle schedules to include these
activities, or they enjoy attending fewer practices/week than past
members. The coaches would obviously like to see more of your swimmers
each week, but we do the best we can with what we have.

On another note, however, we are a competitive swim team, not swim
lessons, and we are all about practices leading to meets. We have good
but limited resources. Our pool time is pretty good for a team of our
size (123 members) and we have a good size coaching staff, but we do not
have enough of either to have members who never attend meets. I've often
wondered why someone would join a swim team and not go to meets! Meets
are the best part for our younger swimmers! What could be better?! You
get new stuff all the time with suits, sweatshirts, goggles, T-shirts.
Your parents wake you up for the meet but you probably sleep on the way
to the pool. Then they serve you the entire time you are there! They
get you food, drinks, make sure you are enjoying yourself. Adult coaches
give you tons of attention. You get up on a block and hundreds of people
are watching you perform! You get ribbons and medals and everyone tells
you what a great job you did! At practice, coaches yell at you to get
your rear-end in the pool then make you swim lap after lap after lap
after lap....! Go figure!