My Coaches

A huge factor in successful swimming is the coaching involved. Luckily, my coaches are truly amazing. They literally keep me going and striving to drop time. The workouts they come up with, are specially made to fit the needs of us swimmers. I love it when my coach critiques my stroke. This therefore has helped my times and stroke improve. If it was not for my coaches, I probably would not stay as motivated during practice, and at meets. They really are the best!

FINS!

Not only are fins vital in the ocean, but at swim practice they are a very important training device. Using fins helps body position. ankle flexibility,improves kick strength,and helps by moving a person faster through the water. There are many different types of fins that target different muscles in the your leg when using them. For example, Shortblade fins like Zoomers, make you work harder and is less stressful on the ankles. The fins that are used in the ocean are not the best for training in practice. This is because the length of scuba fins are meant for slower movements.

Snorkeling

Snorkeling is another form of swimming. It is a leisure activity one might participate in especially on vacations. To snorkel the gear required is goggles, a snorkel, and fins (optional). A great place to snorkel at is the Caribbean Islands. The crystal blue water and the ornate design of the coral reef makes the ocean quite intriguing. My favorite experience was snorkeling on the Disney Cruise Line at their private island called Castaway Cay. They had sunken Mickey Ships within the ocean to explore.

Teaching Lessons

Teaching little kids to swim is detrimental to saving lives. A few months ago, I worked many hours as a swim instructor at Midtown. Here, I taught little children all the strokes. I instructed butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle techniques. I loved this job opportunity because working with little ones can be challenging but rewarding.

Why is swimming the best possible thing ever?

Swimming is an activity that anybody can do at any age. It is a healthy activity that can be continued throughout a lifetime. It burns many calories and is mentally beneficial by making a person feel refreshed after a practice. It helps a person focus, set goals, manage time, and have self-discipline. Endurance and muscle strength is built in effect to training. It also is beneficial outside of the water because it helps a person focus and persevere with reaching a goal.

Pull Buoy

A pull buoy is a great training device for focusing on the catch, hand entry, and elbow. It also helps a swimmer focus their attention on streamlines, breakouts and pushing off the wall. A pull buoy goes between the legs of a swimmer. It prevents the person from kicking. This training device is used to focus only on swimmers arms, which works on upper body strength. It also gives the legs a heavy feeling in the water, which better positions it. A swimmers head position when using this, is looking down and just slightly forward.

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is an amazing swimmer! He had won 14 Olympic gold metals! Overall he has won 16 Olympic metals. His arms span 6 feet 7 inches which is disproportionate to his height, which is 6 feet 4 inches. He also has an extremely long torso. His best event would probably have to be the 200 meter butterfly. In reality, he is the best in the world and is fantastic in several events!

COOL QUOTE

"In training everyone focuses on 90% physical and 10% mental, but in the races its 90% mental because there's very little that separates us physically at the elite level."- Elka Graham


This quote is totally true! When your at such a high level or even any level, it is easy to psych yourself out of a race. The mental training shows focus, and determination in a swimmer. The focus that a swimmer has helps the person achieve more and work hard to reach the finish line. Although the physical aspect is very important, the mental state a person is in can result in a positive way or maybe even the complete opposite.

Sailfish

The world’s fastest fish is the Indo-Pacific sailfish. It can swim up to 68 miles per hour. It feeds on fish like sardines, anchovies and mackerel. It grows to over 3.4 m in total length. It is 100 kg in weight. It's coloring varies. On sides of the body are bright blue spots. It is dark blue on top, silvery underneath, and brownish on the side.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame

The International Swimming Hall of Fame, in Fort Lauderdale, promotes the importance of swimming. It shows how it is key to water safety for kids, fitness, and good health. It is a not-for-profit educational organization. This Olympic size pool was created in 1928. It achieved national attention two young swimming stars that won Olympic Fame from this pool. It was Elbert Root and Katherine Rawls. In 1963 the Hall of Fame was built. Because an Olympic size pool was rare in this era, its size got it further recognition. The facility includes 2 pools, a diving pool, a stadium, and the museum itself.

Swimathon

Tomorrow, April 16, the biggest event called the Swimathon is taking place. Over 500 pools around the country are getting ready to host this! 19,000 places have already been taken up for and limited places are still available to still sign up for. The events available are the 1.5k, 2.5k and 5k distance challenge events. “Swimathon provides motivation and a personal challenge to swimmers nationwide. It also offers a goal to train for, a target to achieve and a great cause to support,” stated Duncan Goodhew, Olympic gold medalist and Swimathon President. The program is aimed as a fundraiser and this one is supporting Marie Curie Cancer Care. sign up!

Stretching

Stretching before and after practice is a very important factor to swim the best you can, whether it is for practice or for a meet, it is very important. Some coaches say to stretch right before you get into the water and others say get out in the middle of practice to do it. Some also have their reasoning for just doing it after a swimmer is done with the workout. The advantage of stretching is it prevents injuries, makes swimmers faster and more efficient, and helps a swimmer maintain a better technique.

Swim With Dolphins

I know that this has nothing to do with competitive swimming but it has to do with swimming. One thing I have always longed to do is swim with the dolphins! I think that it sounds like such an amazing experience! One time I was driving down to the keys and my family and I stopped off at a place just to see what it offered. At the place we stopped off at you can swim with them, do tricks with them, or sit and pet them! I really would love to do that soon! I am pretty sure this is the place we stopped off at....http://www.dolphins.org/

Goodbye swimmer's tan but not for long! :(

I may exaggerate it a little bit, but a swimmers tan is a very hard thing to get rid of. I mean it is not the worst thing. The only issue I have with it, is that sometimes if i choose to wear a bikini, it looks a little odd. Fortunately, this spring break I went to the beach a lot! I got rid my intense tan lines and got noticeably tan ! The best part about it, is that I did not burn because I wore sunblock the whole time and still managed to get an pretty amazing tan! :) I love the beach so much

A boy who swims would make an excellent boyfriend! First of all , they are in fantastic shape, which means they have an amazing body. This is because swimming literally works all of your muscles.The have fantastic abs, legs, back, and arm muscles. Secondly, swimmers are really dedicated, which is a good trait. This also shows how they are extremely focused and motivated. Their self-motivation shows how caring they really are.

BUMPER STICKER!

I found this bumper sticker on Facebook! I think it is hilarious and totally true!

I think that Michael Phelps is the person swimming in the background. The stroke he is swimming so gracefully, is Butterfly. Swimming fly, is probably one of the hardest strokes. It really requires a lot of upper body strength and muscle! It also uses a dolphin kick. Although it is a super interesting stroke to watch, my favorite is still Breaststroke!

Trying Out the New Drill

A few weeks ago, one of my coaches lent me this swimming technique video. From the video, I really got a lot out of it! I learned this new breaststroke drill that works mainly on the kick and body position. What I had to do was place my hands on my side and on every kick make sure that my feet touched my hands. This drill also focused on my body position because it forced me to make sure my head was aligned with my spine. This drill also forced my kick to remain strong to the end and put more emphasis on my glide. I love working on drills in practice, because it shows my body similar ways to improve technique within my stroke.

MARCH !

This month is a busy swim month! I have two big meets coming soon! I am swimming in sectionals, which is in two weeks, and I have Senior Champs, which is in three weeks! I am so excited! I am not sure if I am going to get a new racing suit of use my " knee skin”? I am pumped and curious to see how my times will turn out. I really hope that my new training and the amount of effort I have been putting in will begin to show! I also am curious to see where I will be listed on the heat sheets. I am ready to begin tapering so I can therefore be ultra prepared and focused on my upcoming races!

Pretty Awesome Pool!

For fun, I decided to Google pools. I know this sounds a little random, but it actually was interesting. There are all sorts of cool looking pools out there! For instance, in this pool to the right, looks like it is on top of a mountain. The view must be fantastic! It probably is awesome swimming up there! There is a huge difference from a backyard pool and an actual Olympic size pool! In the pool in my backyard, I probably could take about 5 strokes to get across. Doing a lap in a backyard pool is barely getting me any sort of exercise. What I also admire in this pool is how the water basically is at the same height as the floor. It looks super unique.

Wednesday's

I have been so exhausted from swim practice! Last week was definitely the hardest practice week of the season so far! There is always one day in the week that saves me, it actually is today. Wednesday's are always recovery days. This means that my swim sets are a little easier and that I do not have fitness right after swim. This recovery day is essential for my body. Without one easier day, I literally think that I my body would be even more physically exhausted than it is now. Wednesday's the sets have been very technique oriented and are on slower time intervals. This without a doubt makes practice less stressful on my body. It also helps me recover for tomorrows practice, which is going to be hard!

Swim Tan?

Sometimes, I wish I did not have a swimmers tan. During the summer, I worked super hard by wearing practice 2 pieces to swim practice. The first day that I decided I wanted to wear a 1-piece bathing suit again, there went my perfect tan! :( Some of my friends call my uneven swimmers tan the big circle on my back or "the whale tan". Although I am used to it, I just am in shock how easy it is for this tan to come back in so little time. This is quite an issue for many swimmers when wearing a regular bathing suits (bikinis)! Actually I think this is pretty funny issue Relative to some of my other swimmer friends, my uneven tan is nothing compared to theirs. One of my friends is literally beyond white on her stomach and as tan as possible on her legs and arms! She looks like an Oreo cookie! This summer I am positive that I will not be able to get rid of it, unless I decided to hide out from the pool, which is not going to happen.

SWIM OUTLET!

Whenever I am on the hunt for new swim gear, a lot of times I use this website...... http://www.swimoutlet.com/. This site has amazing suits, caps, googles, and even beach gear at great prices! It also has " meet food " and ribbons. They have all the special suits, like aqua blades and fast skins! When i first started swimming , one of my friends showed me this site, and I literally felt like it was " swimming heaven." I mean it is an awesome site to get ideas from as well. They next thing that I think I want to buy is a parka! This way I don't keep freezing when I get in and out of the water at practices or meets during these cold fronts.

Swedish Goggles?

Many of my teammates I have seen wear these Swedish goggles. They are cheaply made, so why do people like them so much? They are small, have no support on them, which means the goggle edges are around your eyes. It is known to take about a few weeks to get used to, which really means for bruises and or cuts to go away after wearing them. WHO WOULD WANT TO WEAR THAT? I mean, I have heard that once you get used to them, you would never want to touch another pair of goggles. Weird enough, I researched about them too, and found out they were created in the 1970's in Malmsten, Sweden. But I think that the main advantage I constantly hear about is that no water ever gets in them, and they rarely ever fall off. Although this sounds like an amazing advantage, I think I am content with my Vanquishers, which have more support on them.

History of Competitive Swimming!

Swimming was known to be originated in England. I actually had no idea of this until I researched a little about it. I was very interested to find out that competitions were started in the late 1830's with only six "pools". It was organized by the National Swimming Society. By the 1880's, as swimming continued to gain popularity, over 300 member clubs formed! I am still surprised that this sport emerged so late in society. In 1896, swimming became an Olympic sport for men only! Oddly, the only events were the 100 meters and 1500 meters freestyle, which was in open water (ocean) Soon, more strokes were added like more freestyle events, followed by the backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and the last was the IM (individual medley).More than anything, I was shocked about the fact that women were not included in the 1896 and 1906 Olympics! By the time of the 1912 Olympics, women's swimming emerged, which in effect formed the International Olympic Committee.

Another thing that stunned me about the first Olympics was that there were only 4 events, which 3 out of the 4 were freestyle? I cannot even begin to fathom how short of a meet that must have been! It also must have been boring only swimming that 1 stroke. At the second Olympics I found out that the competitions consisted of 3 very different types of "competition". One of them consisted of an " underwater obstacle course? " Nowadays, that tactic is not used. Swim meets now have 32 swim races, which means 16 for women and 16 for men. That is a heck of jump from the beginning, which only consisted of 4. I was super surprised about the transformation, and how competitive swimming has evolved.

The " Phelps" Diet

The most important things for me to consume as a swimmer is carbohydrates and protein! By having these nutrients in my body, this insures good musular growth and endurance. Unlike many people, I live on bread, pasta, and many sandwiches. These calorie packed meals that I consume on a daily basis is probably about half or maybe a little less than half the amount that Michael Phelps eats. Michael Phelps, who has won 11 gold metals in the Olympics, eats about 12,000 calories each day! For breakfast alone, a typical meal consists of three fried egg sandwiches topped with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise, toast, an omelette, porridge, three pancakes and two cups of coffee. That sounds like a meal for 5 people! It isn't all eaten at once though. Before practice, he consumes cereal or oatmeal, and then after practice, it’s the eggs and the omelettes!

ALL ABOUT ME IN THE WATER

Hey I'm Nicole and I love swimming! Swimming is the best sport to keep a person in amazing shape because swimming literally works outs every muscle in the body. I swim or exercise everyday, and race very frequently as well. My reasons for swimming is not for anybody else or because of force, I do it because I love it. I learned to swim when I was in elementary school, but my interest completely came out when I came to high school. My friends at times call me "part fish" because I am always in the water. My favorite and best stroke is breaststroke, which I greatly enjoy practicing! I love the feeling that I get after a workout, which is relief and accomplishment. The amount of daily exercise I do does make myself very tired , but it is totally one-hundred percent worth it! Not only does swimming depend on the physical state and conditioning a person has, but mental attitude has major effects as well. My "can do" attitude and self motivation has pushed me to keep working hard everyday.