GVAS Newsletter Tuesday June 9, 2009

Hi Everyone,

The year’s summer season of swimming has started off with a BANG!! We have had our first meet, lots of quality practices in AND out of the water and are on track for a VERY fun and successful next few months. Read what’s made the Headlines for his addition of the Newsletter…

Congratulations!!!

Our first of many summer swim meets went very well last weekend in Duncan. Lots of best times were set and the swimmers who attended represented the club very well.

Congrats to Ashley Bingham, Josh and Julianna MacDonald, Gabe Lowe, Naomi Roth, Jess Coukell, and Sean Hunter.

Congratulations are also in order for the two Jets representing the club at the Vancouver Island Regional Championships last weekend in Nanaimo. Jessa Coukell and Josh Macdonald had fantastic swims and gained some great high level meet experience.

Best Time Kick Boards.

At every meet this summer, two swimmers (a Senior and a Junior) will be presented with the BEST TIME KICKBOARD. The kickboards are awarded to the swimmers who set the most personal best times during the meet. After signing and decorating a section of the board, the swimmers get to use them in practice until the next meet. At the end of the summer season, the simmers with the most best times will be presented with the boards to keep.
Jessa and Julianna achieved the boards from the last meet. Nice Work Ladies!!

Swim around the Island Challenge

GVAS swimmers will be attempting to follow in the Footsteps of Rob Dyke over the next few months. Rob swam 1400 km around Vancouver Island in 3 months in 2005 to raise money for the Red Cross and water safety. He had an amazing story and we were fortunate enough to hear it from him in April when he spoke to the club. We obviously won’t be out in the ocean trying this feat, but will be try to accomplish the same distance in our practices. Sharon and I have been keeping track of every length each swimmer has been swimming in each practice. We are adding up all the distance and showing each swimmer’s progress around the island. You can view the progress on the GVAS bulletin board. Prizes will be awarded to the first swimmer at several destinations including; Nanaimo, Port Hardy, Tofino and a Grand prize to the first swimmer to complete the entire journey. So far leading the way we have

Sr. Female – Ashley Bingham 34.2 km
Male – Josh Macdonald 22.1 km

Jr. Female – Jenna Stacey 17.4 km
Male – Patrick Dayton 10.3 km

Master – Lance Hurrell 18.3 km

Jr. Coaching Program

Calling all GVAS members 13 years and older interested in giving back to the club. If you would like to learn about why Coach T or Coach S give you those crazy or those killer practices come on out and learn. Swimmer interested in volunteering their time to work along side Travis or Sharon will gain valuable insight into theory behind practices and practical experience.

The goal of the Jr. Coaching program is to offer mentorship to swimmers interested in becoming a certified swim coach.

After 30 hours of deck time with Sharon and Travis and some minor assignments along the way, Jr. coaches will be eligible for the following:

· Subsidized future coaching development courses.
· Volunteer GVAS coach T-shirt
· Letter of recommendation from Head Coach Travis Chater
· Possibility of employment with the GVAS swim club

Anyone who is interested, please see Travis or Sharon on deck or e-mail Travis at tchater@telus.net

2009 GVAS Swim-A-Thon
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 - 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Juan de Fuca Pool

Our Swim-A-thon is not only one of our major fundraising events throughout the year, but it is also a great opportunity for our members to showcase our team in the community.
In lieu of credit to a swimmer’s fundraising account, prizes will be awarded for this event.

The goal for the swimmers is to either complete 200 lengths of the pool (which is equal to 5000 meters) or two hours of swimming, whichever the swimmer achieves first.

The fundraising portion of the Swim-A-Thon works as follows:
1. The swimmer receives their information package from their swim coach
2. The swimmer works on collecting pledges (either by the length or as a flat rate for the event) from their friends, family members, neighbours, parents’ co-workers, or anyone else they can think of;
3. The swimmer brings their pledge form to the Swim-A-Thon on June 30th and participates in the Swim-A-Thon;
4. The coach signs off on the Pledge Form, confirming the number of lengths swum by the swimmer and the time it took to complete;
5. The swimmer collects the pledges from all of the people who sponsored them for the event within two weeks following the Swim-A-Thon;
6. The swimmer returns their completed pledge form and collected pledges within two weeks (ie. by July 13th, 2009) in order to be eligible for their prizes; and
7. The coach will hand out all of the prizes earned by the swimmers as soon as the prizes arrive to the team.

We encourage all of our members to participate in the event as it is an easy way for everyone on the team to have a lot of fun and challenge themselves, while also raising money for the club. And, as an added bonus, those members who are very ambitious in collecting pledges have the opportunity to earn a wide variety of awesome prizes that any swimmer will certainly be able to use. We also will be providing refreshments after the swimming portion of the Swim-A-Thon concludes.

Everyone in the club is more than welcome to participate, regardless of their level. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early (ie. by 4:45 p.m.) in order that we can have parent / volunteer counters arranged and have the swimmers organized into their lanes.

Please email me or call me if you have any questions.


Tammy Fraser
Vice President / Registrar
Greater Victoria Aquatics Society

Ph: (250)217-8127
email: jessasmom@shaw.ca


Upcoming Meets

Oak Bay this weekend

Courtney June 27 and 28 – Please contact Travis or Sharon for more information.


Note from Coach T

Remember, practice does not make perfect. Only PERFECT practice will make perfect. This goes for everything, but especially in our strokes and turns. Use every opportunity available to practice perfect technique. This includes streamlines off the wall, perfect turns, and focused stokes. You are all doing extremely well, lets keep it up!!!