Heartland Aquatics had an outstanding weekend at the Midwestern Championship Qualifier/8&Under Final and the coaches wanted to thank everyone who made it out. Without a doubt the most successful Qualifier Meet HLA has had since I arrived in 2008 in terms of attendance, attitude, support and results!
The coaches agree that all of the credit goes to the swimmers this weekend as they truly showed what HLA is capable of. Not only was this the best qualifier meet in terms of results, but team support as stated earlier. The entire coaching staff is in agreement that the results from this
weekend are 100% a direct reflection of the support the swimmers showed
each other. If swimmers weren't getting ready for their race or racing, they were behind the lanes cheering on their teammates and the coaching staff couldn't be prouder!
We also want to thank all of the parents for doing a great job of cheering for their swimmers and each others swimmers. Its this kind of support of each other that is going to take Heartland Aquatics to new heights. We are expecting to see the very same support in three weeks as we take on the Midwestern Championship Meet! We encourage all families of qualifiers to bring as many friends and family as possible to one or all sessions your swimmers are in at the Championship Meet. Heartland Aquatics families who do not have swimmers in the meet, we would love to see all of you at one or all sessions to support those who qualified. If you bring your swimmer, send them down on deck to cheer on their teammates, the more, the merrier. If you can't make it but your swimmer wants to go and is available, consider sending them with a qualifier to come out and support the team. When you come out to the meet to support our swimmers, don't forget your team gear and to sit together in the stands!
Qualifier Meet Results:
100% of HLA Swimmers raced to a best time!
31 Swimmers Successfully completed a new event!
23 MW Championship Qualifying times!
Over 200 best times!
Congratulations to everyone! All the way, HLA!!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Lessons about swimming from a child's cartoon?
As long as swimmers are figuring it out in the right way, they will end up getting the most out of this great sport. Letting swimmers compete for the fun of it early is key. Their competitors are there to help them get the most out of themselves, not just someone to beat. It is the personal improvement and life lessons we learn as swimmers that is most important at an early age in practice and swim meets, not a medal or some trophy destined for a shoebox. I have a few shoeboxes myself and don't remember much of the individual races from the early years. I do remember how much fun it was to hang out with everyone in between races, being encouraged to be loud, traveling out of town to swim in different cities and going to practice with a bunch friends everyday!
The kids figured out, hopefully all us adults have as well..
-Coach Erik
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Open mouth....... Insert fin
Continuing with our Swim Parent Series, our newest post is from a former swim parent offering another bit of advice through a personal experience. Enjoy!
-Coach Erik
Your heart drops. Remember. You are not the one doing the work in the pool. You are the love, the warmth, and the keeper of all things sacred – lucky goggles, lucky snacks, pasta boiler, and more. You are support.
-Coach Erik
Swimming is hard work. Even when your swimmer isn’t working
hard, it’s hard work. Meaning, a cold can affect her performance at
practice. A bad day at school cannot
always be diffused by drills in the pool.
And, being thrown a Now or Later in the midst of chlorinated peers
doesn’t always rejuvenate fatigued muscles. As a parent, you are the driver to
practice and meets, the pasta boiler and the cheerleader. You keep old heat sheets and religiously
videotape swims and post ribbons on the refrigerator. But, you are not the one
doing the work in the pool.
Fast forward to the next meet.
This race is her specialty. Striving for a personal best.
Not in an outside lane, thank goodness. She’s on the blocks, lucky goggles on.
Muscles taught - she looks like a rubberband ball of muscles. The gun goes off with a crack! Breathing is
there, head position correct. Perfect
turn and streamline off the wall.
Focused. Yet, speed is illusive.
She finishes strong, but not the personal best hoped for.
She comes up into the bleachers chewing on her goggle
strap. So forlorn. And what does her
loving mother say? “What is the matter?
What happened? What the heck - were you even trying? “ She bursts into tears
and yells, “I did try hard. I did. Could you do that?” And down the bleachers
she flees.
Your heart drops. Remember. You are not the one doing the work in the pool. You are the love, the warmth, and the keeper of all things sacred – lucky goggles, lucky snacks, pasta boiler, and more. You are support.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
3 Mistakes I Made When My Kids Started Swimming
From time to time, Heartland Aquatics will have
guest writers cover topics that are important to not only the team, but
swimming in general. One of our segments will be from swim parents from
my past or currently involved in the sport of swimming. They will be
writing about aspects of their experience and how it can help anyone
from the most experienced to the newest of our swim parents. We hope you
get something out of these posts and remember to start the conversation
in the comment section provided.
Thanks and enjoy!
-Coach Erik
3 Mistakes I Made When My Kids Started Swimming
We all make mistakes. To not make a mistake would be impossible. As a parent you always “feel” like you are doing what is best for your children even when you are not. I am a highly competitive person and when my kids began swimming I made several mistakes that could have hindered their enjoyment of the sport. Luckily, I was able to acknowledge my shortcomings so my kids and I could begin to really experience the joy that swimming brings to our lives.
First, I found myself surrounded by other parents who were constantly focusing on times. My kids’ times, their kids’ times, other kids’ times, and it became exhausting. When this happens you can’t help but start to compare your child to others and start putting pressure on them to be someone else. Every child develops differently and as long as your child is working hard and maintaining a positive attitude, good things will happen. So, I learned to trust the coaches, put the stop watches away, and allow the timers and coaches to worry about the times. After all, there are at least 3 or 4 watches/clocks on your kids, how many more do they need?
Secondly, I caught myself trying to analyze my kids’ races. Why? I wasn’t a swimmer. What in the world did I know about swimming? I began watching other parents who did the same and I noticed that their children begrudgingly walked toward them after swimming, as if to brace themselves for what they would hear. I also noticed parents feeling like they had to be the last one to speak to their kids before they swam in an almost frantic attempt to get the last word in. I knew I didn’t want that type of relationship with my kids so I had to learn to leave all analysis up to my kids and their coaches. This gave my kids the opportunity to be down on deck with their coaches and teammates which is where they should be. I tell my kids before they head for the deck “swim hard and do your best” and I don’t typically see them until the meet is over.
Last of all, when my kids first started swimming, I expressed disappointment whenever they didn’t drop time. This is such a bad habit to get into and you are just setting yourself up for disaster. No one wants to watch the sulky little kid on the side of the pool who didn’t drop time AND no one wants to sit in the stands next to the sulky parent who is trying to BRIBE the kid who didn’t drop time. Now I tell my kids good job after every meet, NO MATTER WHAT, and we talk about the fact that you are not going to drop
time every race PERIOD! Learning how to handle this early is good for kids so they know how to deal with adversity, if as parents we try to sugarcoat it and expect constant time drops we are making no effort to truly understand the sport of swimming.
Making these changes early helped me to really step back and enjoy watching my kids participate in a sport they absolutely love. Had I not made these changes I don’t know that my kids would have continued to enjoy swimming and I would have been a wreck at every meet. It has allowed them to take ownership over their swim careers and it has made room for the coaches to develop good, solid bonds with my kids. If you don’t sit back and enjoy it, you are missing the most important parts!!
Thanks and enjoy!
-Coach Erik
3 Mistakes I Made When My Kids Started Swimming
We all make mistakes. To not make a mistake would be impossible. As a parent you always “feel” like you are doing what is best for your children even when you are not. I am a highly competitive person and when my kids began swimming I made several mistakes that could have hindered their enjoyment of the sport. Luckily, I was able to acknowledge my shortcomings so my kids and I could begin to really experience the joy that swimming brings to our lives.
First, I found myself surrounded by other parents who were constantly focusing on times. My kids’ times, their kids’ times, other kids’ times, and it became exhausting. When this happens you can’t help but start to compare your child to others and start putting pressure on them to be someone else. Every child develops differently and as long as your child is working hard and maintaining a positive attitude, good things will happen. So, I learned to trust the coaches, put the stop watches away, and allow the timers and coaches to worry about the times. After all, there are at least 3 or 4 watches/clocks on your kids, how many more do they need?
Secondly, I caught myself trying to analyze my kids’ races. Why? I wasn’t a swimmer. What in the world did I know about swimming? I began watching other parents who did the same and I noticed that their children begrudgingly walked toward them after swimming, as if to brace themselves for what they would hear. I also noticed parents feeling like they had to be the last one to speak to their kids before they swam in an almost frantic attempt to get the last word in. I knew I didn’t want that type of relationship with my kids so I had to learn to leave all analysis up to my kids and their coaches. This gave my kids the opportunity to be down on deck with their coaches and teammates which is where they should be. I tell my kids before they head for the deck “swim hard and do your best” and I don’t typically see them until the meet is over.
Last of all, when my kids first started swimming, I expressed disappointment whenever they didn’t drop time. This is such a bad habit to get into and you are just setting yourself up for disaster. No one wants to watch the sulky little kid on the side of the pool who didn’t drop time AND no one wants to sit in the stands next to the sulky parent who is trying to BRIBE the kid who didn’t drop time. Now I tell my kids good job after every meet, NO MATTER WHAT, and we talk about the fact that you are not going to drop
time every race PERIOD! Learning how to handle this early is good for kids so they know how to deal with adversity, if as parents we try to sugarcoat it and expect constant time drops we are making no effort to truly understand the sport of swimming.
Making these changes early helped me to really step back and enjoy watching my kids participate in a sport they absolutely love. Had I not made these changes I don’t know that my kids would have continued to enjoy swimming and I would have been a wreck at every meet. It has allowed them to take ownership over their swim careers and it has made room for the coaches to develop good, solid bonds with my kids. If you don’t sit back and enjoy it, you are missing the most important parts!!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Welcome to the Heartland Aquatics Blog!
Hello Everyone!
Coach Erik here with our first ever Heartland Aquatics blog post. I want to thank you all for being a part of HLA. Whether it be as a swimmer, swim parent, donor/sponsor, family member or friend of one our swimmers, we appreciate all that you do to make HLA what it is. If you aren't a member of HLA, you should be! If you live too far away to be a member, that's cool, just keep reading!
This blog will be another resource for everyone to learn about what's going on in HLA, the wider world of competitive swimming and what ever might interest our editors and writers at the time. We hope it is as entertaining for you to read as it is for us to write. If there are ever any topics you wish to read about, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thank you!
-Coach Erik and the Heartland Aquatics Blog Staff
Coach Erik here with our first ever Heartland Aquatics blog post. I want to thank you all for being a part of HLA. Whether it be as a swimmer, swim parent, donor/sponsor, family member or friend of one our swimmers, we appreciate all that you do to make HLA what it is. If you aren't a member of HLA, you should be! If you live too far away to be a member, that's cool, just keep reading!
This blog will be another resource for everyone to learn about what's going on in HLA, the wider world of competitive swimming and what ever might interest our editors and writers at the time. We hope it is as entertaining for you to read as it is for us to write. If there are ever any topics you wish to read about, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thank you!
-Coach Erik and the Heartland Aquatics Blog Staff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)