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Coach’s News Letter - July 7, 2006
Recap of Recent Events
Hello everyone. So far I could not be happier with the progress the team has made this season.
Each of you has shown me that you are willing to work hard to reach your goals and our results
show your dedication. We carry an undefeated record (4-0) into South Hadley Tuesday. We beat
West Springfield and Chicopee by almost 100 points, Palmer and previously undefeated Agawam by
almost 250.
The West Springfield meet was the loudest and most enjoyable meet to date. For the first time
this season our 9-10 girls ‘A’ medley relay of, Ashley Chumbley, Bryanna Veroneau, Caitlin Bernard,
and Claire Nauman came together to take first place in a stellar time of 2:54.24. Much improved
swimmers Kate Mahue and Sarah LaClair provided excellent depth to put the Stingrays ahead in the
meet from event number 3. Westside kept the meet tight until the last ten races.
West Springfield held close but very solid with swims like, Megan Bernard’s 25 back, Chelsea Halon’s
200 free, Justin Gainer’s 100 free, Robbie Lewis’s 100 free, and Nicole Stewart’s 100 fly, the stingrays
were able to build a lead of about 40 points. The last events pulled us ahead by another 40+ points
where the 8&under boys relay of Ben LaClair, Dominic Fioravanti, Dennis Lelic, and Jarred Veroneau
made the best of Dominic’s last 8&under meet. They shattered the 8&under boys 100 free relay team
record set in January of 2001 with a time of 1:49.63. The previous record was 2:06.50! Great job guys.
Other notable swims included: Alan Callaham in the 100 fly, Melanie Goodberlet in the 200 IM, Nicole Stewart
in the 100 fly, Erin Harris in the 200 free and 100 back, Sierra Kenney in the 50 free and 25 fly,
Dennis Lelic in the 25 back, Claire Nauman in the 50 back, Rachael Racicot in the 200 IM, Haley Synan
in the 25 fly, Jarred Veroneau in the 50 free and Alex Stanton in the 100 free, the 200 free and the 100
breast. This was breakthrough meet for Alex and for the team, congratulations to you all.
There were over 70 best times this meet I’m sorry I could not write them all.
Concerning Practice
Every day I see the little things we work on day to day are beginning to pay off. Leading up to the last
few meets we have been working very hard on keeping our heads down and not breathing into the finish of
our freestyle events. The best example of the Stingrays improving on this was Brianna Veroneau in the
100 freestyle where she took 7+ seconds off her time. It is very important that we continue to work on
this for the rest of the season.
Little things affect big things. As we continue to improve it is important to work on all the “little”
things like head position, breathing, and NOT crossing over. Every swimmer should know what that means.
If not, see one of the coaches and ask. Asking good swimming questions is a great way to show the coaches
that you care about your swimming.
I am growing concerned over tardiness. Since school has been out, it seems that there is a steady stream
of people coming late into the pool. This is detrimental to the swimmers coming in late and to the team
in the water. It is a distraction that must stop. One day last week there were 4 people in the water
on time. We are in the water at 3:15. If this tardiness continues further action will have to be taken.
We are all spending a lot of time together these days, so try to do small things like waiting four to five
seconds for the swimmer ahead of you before pushing off the wall to start a repeat. If you are stopped on
the wall, please move to the side of the lane so the rest of the lane can keep moving.
The last few practices have been challenging and the team has responded well to the challenge.
Keep up the great work.
The Big Picture
Taper is right around the corner. I know this doesn’t mean very much to most of you,
so I’ll explain it as best I can. Through the swim season you exercise and your body
gets stronger, but it also gets tired. If you are getting best times it is because you
have better technique or are getting stronger not because you are rested and ready to
swim your fastest. During taper you will notice that we will be swimming less and working
on little things that make a big difference during championships. The results of a good
taper can mean the difference between coming in 8th place and winning. Taper is the most
important time of the season. Because we swim less yards, it is crucial to be at every
possible practice.
In order for taper to work, we will be practicing very hard for the next few weeks.
We will be working on getting ready for championships and that means learning how to
race better and training to get stronger.
Even though we are undefeated we have to maintain good sportsmanship. I would like
to see you all shaking the hands of your opponents after races. Chants like,
“we are the champions” may be fun in the moment, but they aren’t appreciated by
the other teams.
This has been an excellent season and I am proud of all of you.
I am very excited to see each of you swim. Everyday I look around the pool
and I see how wonderful you all are to work with. Thank you for your hard work.
Go get South Hadley!
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