BEST: January 2008 Archives

First To The End
Freestyle Finishes

At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer tied for first in the women's 100 meter freestyle. The two Americans shared the victory stand and both were awarded the gold medal. At the 1972 Olympics, American Tim McKee wasn't so lucky. He and Swedan's Gunnar Larsson tied for first in the men's 400 meter IM. Race officials took the times out to the thousandths and awarded Larsson the gold medal by two one-thousandths of a second. That's less than the length of a fingernail. You can avoid agonizing finishes like McKee's by either growing your fingernails or by fine-tuning your finish with the following steps:
1. Stop Breathing: Figure out how far you can swim at your race pace without breathing. When you are that far from the wall, stop breathing and finish hard.
2. Bury Your Head: Keep your head in a neutral position and your eyes on the bottom through the whole race and especially at the finish.
3. Learn To Lunge: On the deck, stand with your back to a wall and reach as high above you on the wall as you can with one hand. Tilt your opposite shoulder down. Now do the same on your finish.
4. Finish With Your Fingers: Stretch your fingers forward, slightly flexed, to absorb the impact and avoid jamming them on the wall. If you palm the wall, you have to reach more than five inches farther than if you hit it with your fingertips.
Practice these and you will have the BEST finish.

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Attached are the results from the meet in Chicago. The meet was a success both in and out of the pool.Our swimmers swam fast and survived the sub zero temperatures, and the pool with a broken heater. Thank you to our coaches Kevin and Liz for the long days and endless enthusiasm. The trip wouldn't have gone as smoothly if not for our amazing parents. Thanks to everyone who made our team trip just a little bit better.

If you haven't placed your personalized cap order yet, this is your last chance. Email me this weekend (slee@brophyprep.org) and we will get you on the list. I can put the amount owed on your monthly statement. We will not be placing another order until June.
2 latex caps $15.13
2 silicone caps $25.95

Age Group
Saturday Start 2:00 p.m. Finish 12 & Unders 5:46 P.M. 14 & Unders 6:39 p.m.
Sunday Start 2:00 p.m. Finish 5:44 p.m.

NEW START TIME FOR SENIORS: 7:30 A.M. WARM UP; 8:30 A.M. STARTSenior
Friday Start 6:00 p.m. Finish 6:37 p.m.
Saturday Start 8:30 a.m. Finish 12:17 p.m.
Sunday Start 8:30 a.m. Finish 11:46 a.m.

We need your help getting some video and still pictures of the kids in the meet this weekend. If you want to be in the team video at the banquet in the spring, please take some video and pictures and get them to us. This especially applies to the kids in the senior session of the meet as they are the ones who usually are under represented. Thank you in advance for your help.

In the past few weeks there have been a few items missing from the girls' locker room. On January 3rd there was a pink Razor cell phone taken. The week of January 14th a black parka with red fleece interior was taken from the picnic tables on deck. It was brand new and unmarked (no name/no BEST patch). On January 22nd there was a USA sweat top and Vans shoes that turned up missing from the girls' locker room. Please check your belongings and if found, return these items to the office. It is a little disturbing that personal belongings seem to be disappearing even though BEST swimmers are the only ones using our facility at this time. Please respect other people's belongings.
If you have a parka that you are no longer using and would like to sell, please contact the office.

NEW START TIME FOR SENIORS: SATURDAY & SUNDAY 7:30 A.M. WARM UP; 8:30 A.M. START
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We'd like to congratulate Chris and Celine on making the Western Zone Select Roster! Check out the link.

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The schedule for Monday, January 21st afternoon:
3-5:00p.m. Small Pool=Blue & Red;
3:30-5:30p.m. (Gold=6p.m.) Long Course=Gold/Silver/Bronze
5-6:00p.m. (White=6:15 or 6:30) Small Pool=White & Rising Stars

Just a reminder to parents of the BEST TEAM POLICIES on "Pool Deck Coaching and Management":

Pool Deck Coaching and Management
Parents are requested to refrain from consulting with the coaches or swimmers during training and competition. A distraction of this kind could prevent the coach from providing the supervision required by the other swimmers. Consequently, parents will be expected to remain the designated spectator areas. During certain meets, the team area may be restricted to competitors only and family members will be encouraged to sit in an adjacent section. Again, consistent with the need to establish a focused, distraction free environment for the swimmers, parents who wish to occasionally watch the workouts will be requested to do so from under the building eaves or in the grassy areas surrounding the pools. The presents of a parent at the training sessions on a regular basis is generally counterproductive to the progress of the swimmer. Brophy policy requires that the folding chairs be restricted to the meeting rooms.

Thank you for your cooperation.

2008 Zone Select Camp swimmers announced (1/11/2008)

USA Swimming has selected the swimmers eligible to participate in the 2008 Zone Select Camps. Camp locations and coaching staff are being finalized and will be announced shortly.

See complete roster at www.usaswimming.org

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In January, all BEST swimmers twere assessed a $56 fee for the 2008 USA Swimming Registration fee. To avoid putting both annual fees on one statement, we have chosen to put the $50 BEST Annual Registration fee on the February statement. If you have any questions regarding either registration fee please let us know.

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The U.S. National Junior Team won eight medals – three gold, four silver and a bronze – on the first night of competition Friday at the 2008 Victorian Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Leading the way for the Junior Team was Ashley Evans, who took first in the women’s 1500m free in 16:39.19.

The women’s 800 free relay led the team with a gold and silver. The quad of Dagny Knutson, Ashley Evans, Lauren Perdue and Kate Ziegler swam to gold in 8:09.17, while the team of Emily Kelly, Katie Gardocki, Stephanie Peacock and Natalie Adams scored silver in 8:13.29.

Natalie Adams collected a bronze medal in the 200 butterfly (2:12.38). Kaia Simmons followed in fourth place (2:12.80) along with Ashley Evans in sixth place (2:15.42).

U.S. swimmers flexed their long distance muscles on the fourth day of the meet, led by a sweep in the women’s 800 freestyle. National Teamer Kate Ziegler set an example for the Junior Teamers to follow when she posted the winning time of 8:28.66. Katie Gardocki followed suit in second place with 8:42.31. Ashley Evans closed the event out at 8:43.43 to earn the bronze.

We will keep you posted on more results.

For more details on the meet go to the USA Swimming website at www.usaswimming.org

Please wish Coach Jennifer a very happy birthday when you see her on deck today!

LOST
Pink Razor Cell Phone
in girls’ locker room
on Thursday, Jan. 3rd
REWARD
contact the office