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Important Reminders About Lane Etiquette |
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Written by Kenny Brisbin
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:28 |
 How can you tell summer is here? The sun is beating down on us, the lanes have become crowded and your lane mates are wearing new suits.
With crowded lanes comes confusion on proper lane etiquette. We (coaches) are seeing more bantering about who goes first, people not turning in the proper spot and not finishing correctly.
So before we get out the "switch" as my dad would say, let's review some lane etiquette.
Lane Leader/Set Leaders
Nothing makes a set more fun and run more smoothly than a great lane leader. The person should understand the set given, the intervals, and be able to read the clock. Please remember that as lane leader, your swimming will affect everyone in that lane, so it is up to you to set a good pace and talk to the coach about adjusting the interval for the entire lane. Lane leaders also help keep everyone involved in the set by setting a good example for others.
Starting/Turning/Finishing
Negotiating starts/turns/finishes leads to a smoother running lane. There is nothing quite so aggravating as having a great swim going when you collide with someone who is being sloppy about a turn or lane pattern. While your own work level and seriousness are up to you, it is important to avoid harming someone else's practice.
There is nothing worse than you feeling great about your swim and the swimmer in front of you just about smack you coming out of the wall or not moving over at the wall so you could finish.
A collision can cause a swimming to lose their focus, rhythm and enthusiasm. Bby following these easy steps everyone's swim can be more enjoyable.
Start - The lane leader always starts on the far right side of the lane. Each swimmer should then move into that far right spot as the their push off time approaches.
Turning - We swim on a circle pattern in practice, so as you approach the wall for a turn, once the people ahead of you pass by cross over to the far left hand corner of the lane. Make your turn in the left corner of the lane, and push off along what is now the right side of the swimming lane. If your lane does their turns this way, you will avoid bumping into each other.
Finishing - When coming into the wall, you need to finish as far left in the lane as possible, and then move across the lane to make room on the left for the next swimmer. ALWAYS be aware of swimmers behind you; give them room to finish into the wall.
Passing - Passing is inevitable, especially in distance sets. Talk to your lane about passing strategy before the set starts. Passing in the center of the pool is dangerous and not recommended. If a swimmer taps you letting you know they want to pass, stop at the next wall in the right corner, let the swimmer turn and then fall in behind them.
Please keep these suggestions in mind at every practice; this will lead to an enjoyable swimming experience for all of us. And please let me know if you have any questions.
Next week I will have more tips for you to review.
GO GRUNIONS!
Kenny Brisbin
Facilities Coordinator and Coach |
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Getting Fit in Six-Minute Intervals? Swimming Rats May Hold the Answer |
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Written by Raul Reis
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:19 |
Fitness & Health CornerWe start today a semi-regular column on fitness, health and wellness issues. Being a social and fitness-oriented swim team, the Grunions are particularly interested in spreading the word on new trends, discoveries and tips on these areas. Our goal with this column is to provide a valuable service to all team members who want to be well informed about fitness and health issues.
The column, which we plan to publish at least once a month, will include original stories and interviews, as well as links to interesting articles previously published by trustworthy sources.
To get us started, I'm pasting below a link to an interesting story published by the New York Times on June 26. Scientists and fitness specialists have long believed that only long workouts can have a long-lasting positive effect on an athlete's endurance.
It seems that now many of those scientists are questioning that old mantra, and they are trying to find out if it is possible to get some of the same fitness benefits with much shorter (but strenuous) workouts at regular intervals. Lo and behold, they're using swimming rats(!) to test their hypothesis. |
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Naples Island Swim Sponsorships Needed |
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Written by John "JC" Werner
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:18 |
 We are looking for corporate and personal sponsors for the 2009 Naples Island Swim on Aug. 16. July 1 is a target cut off for t-shirt sponsors. Copies of the Sponsorship Letter and list of opportunities can be requested from JC at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Team members are encouraged to seek sponsorships from employers or merchants/vendors with whom they have a connection. Please contact JC or Bill Roberts regarding Major Sponsor leads or questions. Go Grunions!
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Heather Wins for the Grunions at National Championships |
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Written by Raul Reis
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:07 |
 One of our Grunions swimmers, Heather Lambert, proudly represented the team at the recent USMS Short Course National Champisonships in Fresno/Clovis, CA, on May 7-10. What follows is an email message by Heather's partner Robyn Utu, where she describes what a great job Heather did at the Nationals. Congratulations, Heather and Robyn!
"I'm so proud, I just have to share. Heather and I headed up to Fresno for the USMS Short Course National Championships, May 7-10. She competed in 4 events and medaled in 3: the 50, 100, and 200 butterfly. That's my girl!
As luck would have it, the 200 fly turned out to be her last event on the fourth of some blazing hot days. She was pretty "spent" by that time, when a fresh breath of Grunion Love showed up out of nowhere. Agnes appeared and caught Heather on her way to the blocks. At first, Heather didn't recognize her. It may have been the heat? Or maybe it could've been a case of dingy tunnel vision nerves? I don't know.
Whichever the case, Heather was armed with a last second infusion of Grunion good cheer, and went on to get her personal best record. Incredible! Later we found out, of the 152 teams competing, LBG tied for 117th place."
Nice job, Heather! Way to represent the Grunions! |
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Written by Brian Kremers
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 08:01 |
Per a few of your requests, I have updated the Ultimate Check-Off Challenge (UCOC) spreadsheet with your recent swims all the way through the short course season. This will now show you how many events you have left to complete both the UCOC and the JV Challenge.
As stated earlier, you have until the banquet (no date set, but normally mid November) to complete these challenges. From what I have seen and heard, we have a lot of swimmers that plan on this being their first time!!
As usual, if any of this information is incorrect, please e-mail me back with the corrections.
Also, in the past I have included other tabs that allow you to log each of your swim meets with your times. This will help with entering future meets, logging your own UCOC goals and tracking your progress in your swimming improvements.
You will find each tab labeled with either 25 Meters, 25 Yards or 50 Meters towards the bottom of the document. These tabs are set up with examples on how to enter your times with my current loggings.
Check-OFF Challenge download here:
http://www.lbgrunions.org/Swim_Times_Log_and_UCOC_2008-2009.xls
Also, congrats to Anita, Bart, Dana & Michael who have already completed their UCOC!!!
For those new, here is what this is all about:
Five years ago, we decided to issue a challenge to any Grunions who were interested in pushing their swimming capabilities to the max. That meant trying new events and swimming farther in some races than one had really wanted. With that we developed two challenges:
Ultimate Check-off Challenge (UCOC) -
In order to achieve this, a swimmer must complete all events offered at meets. Here is a breakdown of the events:
50 free
100 free
200 free
400 OR 500 free (depending on pool length)
800 OR 1000 free (same)
1500 OR 1650 free (same)
50, 100 and 200 back
50, 100 and 200 breast
50, 100 and 200 fly
100, 200 and 400 IM
Just to clear up, you only have to do the 400 METER free OR the 500 YARD free, and not both. Same goes for the 800/1000 and 1500/1650.
JV Challenge:
For the JV Challenge, you remove the 200 fly, 200 back, 200 breast and 400 IM from the UCOC.
The time frames for these challenges are from banquet to banquet each year.
If you complete the UCOC, you will get not only a certificate, but a nice patch we had made. Some swimmers who accomplished it in past years have had them put on their Grunion parkas, which look really nice. You will also get a second patch with the year in which you completed it. This is nice for those who do it each year to add on to their parkas.
As for the JV Challenge, you will be awarded a certificate. But the catch with the JV Challenge is that you are only eligible to complete it once and get recognition. After you have completed the JV Challenge, you must then set your goals higher and aim for the UCOC. This is why its called a "CHALLENGE".
Best of luck to everyone!
Please e-mail me
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if you have any questions. |
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