GVAS

WOW!!

2011-09-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a pretty cool video...but it is missing one important sport!!

Season ends with a bang!!

2011-08-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic final meet of the season last weekend at the BCSSA Provincial Championships. Congratulations to all who competed. Below are some of the highlights of the meet.

Sean Hunter 8th Div 7 boys 100 Back and 8th Div 7 boys 100 Fly

Rachel Campbell 11th girls O Cat 2 100 Free and Bronze in the girls O Cat 2 Free relay

Jenna Stacey 5th girls O cat 2 200 IM and Bronze in both the girls O cat 2 Medley relay and Free relay

Kira Stacey 4th girls O Cat 2 100, part of the O 2 Girls silver medal Regional Relay and Bronze in both the girls O cat 2 Medley relay and Free relay

Vienna Nguyen 10th O 2 girls 100 Br and Bronze in both the girls O cat 2 Medley relay and Free relay

Erica Campbell Bronze girls O Cat 2 Medley Relay

Gabe Lowe 12th O Cat 2 boys 50 Fr and 11 O Cat 2 Boys 50 Fly

Girls O Cat 2 Bronze Medal Medley Relay
Erica Campbell Back
Kira Stacey Breast
Vienna Nguyen Fly
Jenna Stacey Free

Girls O Cat 2 Bronze Medal Free Relay
Kira Stacey
Rachel Campbell
Vienna Nguyen
Jenna Stacey

Well done everyone!! Full results can be found at http://www.bcsummerswimming.com/realtime2011/

See you all upon start up SEPT 19.

Coach T

Summer Season Success!

2011-08-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Lots of racing and fun in the last few weeks.

Thanks to everyone for your support with our Family Fun Fest. It went really well and I know I had a blast!!

We have seven swimmers that qualified themselves to compete in the Provincial Championships this weekend in Richmond. Check this blog all this weekend for updates and Royals results.

Qualifications were made two weeks ago at the Vancouver Island Regional Championships in Nanaimo.

Congratulation to Kira and Jenna Stacey, Vienna Nguyen, Rachel and Erica Campbell, Gabe Lowe, and Sean Hunter for qualifying!

It was an awesome meet in Nanaimo. Congratulations to all Royals that competed. Some of the highlights are below:

Vivienne Nguyen: 7th Place Div 2 girls 50 Fly
Vienna Nguyen: 3rd Place O Cat 2 girls 10 Br
Sean Hunter: 1st Place boys Div 7 100 Fr
Kira Stacey: 1st Place girls O Cat 2 girls 100 Br (and received the Sr. Kickboard)
Gabe Lowe: 2nd Place boys O Cat 2 100 Fr
Jessica Coady: Huge best time in her 100 Fr and receiving the Jr. Kickboard
Erica Campbell: 4th Place O Cat 2 girls 100 Br
Rachel Campbell: 3rd Place O Cat 2 girls 100 Fr
Jenna Stacey: 2nd Place O Cat 2 girls 100 Fr

WELL DONE ROYALS!! HOO, HA, HA!!

Royals Hosted Regional Meet a huge success!!

A massive thanks to the entire club for hosting an amazing Vancouver Island B and C Regional Championship meet last weekend at Crystal Pool.

Congratulations to:
Jessica Coady, Jenna Peterson, Kylie Peterson, Anna Starkl (also receiving the Jr. Kickboard), Sammy Mitchell, Rachel Campbell, Erica Campbell, Vienna Nguyen, Vivienne Nguyen, Gabe Lowe, Nicolas (received the Sr. kickboard, and Julianna!!

GGOOOOOOO ROYALS!!

Splash and Dash results

2011-07-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Please look under the links section of this page to find results from our splash and dashes. Well done to all that have participated so far...SMOKING FAST!!

Royals Rock Again!

2011-07-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

We had nine swimmers compete in this past weekend's meet in Nanaimo. This was one of the bigger meets of the summer, attracting more than 300 swimmers from the Island and Mainland.

Special congratulations to Jessica Coady for earning the Jr. kickboard for her efforts and HUGE best times!

Also a special congratulations to Kira Stacey for setting a meet record in her 100 breaststroke and Gabe lowe for earning the Sr. best time kickboard.

Everyone competed very well and no one left without at least one best time. Nice swimming and congrats to Vienna and Vivienne Nguyen, Erica and Rachel Campbell, Jenna Stacey and Coach Sean.

Off to the Hootenany next weekend. Have fun folks!!

Courtenay Crusades!!

2011-06-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had four Royals compete in the Courtenay Summer Swim meet.

Congratulations to Jordan Dakai! This meet was Jordan's first time competing as a Div 1 swimmer and she did amazingly well. She broke the fifty second mark in her 50 Fr. Well done Jordan. Jordan also received the best time kickboard.

Also congratulations to Vienna Nguyen who tied Coach Sean for the best time kickboard and legitimately beat him in a show down of rock scissors paper.

Vivienne Nguyen also represented the Royals with and awesome weekend of swimming!

Well done everyone!

On to Nanaimo next weekend.

Have a fun and SAFE Canada day everyone!!

Making a splash!!

2011-06-20T10:13:00.001-07:00

We had a very fun and successful weekend! Our Royals competed in the Oak Bay Orcas hosted swim meet at the Commonwealth Pool Saturday and Sunday last. Congratulations to everyone that competed!
Jordan Dakai, Sheyda Shams, Ida Shams, Brittney McMahon,and Grace Brown were all first time summer meet competitors and fared extremely well.

Congratulations to the Stacey sisters for their efforts in attaining all best times and receiving the Sr. Kickboard.

Congrats to Jessica Coady who had a stellar meet (also setting huge best times) and earning the Jr. Kickboard.

I also wanted to recognize the invaluable help of Vienna Nguyen. Vienna has been a volunteer coach with the Royals since February and has shown exemplary leadership to our young swimmers. Vienna helped all our Novice swimmers this weekend, even swimming along side them for support! She also had a great meet setting best times and acting as a true Royals emissary! THANKS VIENNA!!

Coming up is The Courtenay Meet this weekend and then the Nanaimo swim meet July 1-3.
Please e-mail liz.lowe@shaw.ca to enter either or both of those meets.

See you at the pool!!

Coach T

Summer Season!!

2011-06-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We just completed our second swim meet of the season at the Crystal pool in Victoria and It went very well for all swimmers.

Congratulations to Jenna Peterson and Vivienne Nguyen for receiving the Jr. kick board (which is based on setting personal best times). Also a congratulations to Erica and Rachel Campbell and Vienna Nguyen who will all get to include their names on the Sr. Kick board.

Our next swim meet is this weekend at Commonwealth Pool! It is not too late to come and compete. You can join us on either Saturday or Sunday and swim your choice of events for just $6! For more information speak with either coach Travis, Sean or Maryann.

Please check this blog with regularity as it will keep you updated with all the latest news on club activities and success at meets.

Welcome Back!!

2011-01-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had exceptional Holidays and has had a great start to the New Year!
To fill you in, we had another Jets Meet before the break. The meet was held at Commonwealth and had more than 600 swimmers!! Congratulations to
Erica and Rachel Campbell, Kira and Jenna Stacey, Josh Macdonald, Gabe Lowe, and Ashley Bingham. All swimmers competed very well.

full results from the meet can be found on the Pacific Coast Swimming website at www.pacificcoastswimming.com

Kira, Jenna, and Josh made their AA times and have qualified to represent GVAS at the Vancouver Island Regional Championships Jan 21 -23 2011 at Commonwealth Pool.

It would be great to see you all there to support our swimmers.

Our Junior coaching program will commence Jan 11 at JDF. Junior coaching workshops and volunteer coaching will be at JDF on Tuesdays and Thursday from 4:30 - 6 pm. This is a great opportunity to give back to the club and to begin the progression towards coaching certification and employment with the club. In order to be a part of this program, paricipants need to fill out and submit the Jr. Coaching Application form (found under the links section of this blog), be 14 years of age and commit to a minimum of 30 min per week of volunteer coaching.

Please e-mail me with any questions.

Thats all for now folks...until next time, "stroke softly and carry a big kick"

Coach T

2010-11-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

For all those Beaber lovers out this, you might not find this that funny...but for everyone else ahve a good laugh!

We have had one Winter meet so far. Kira and Jenna Stacey and Gabe Lowe competed in the Nanaimo Spring Invitational two weekends ago. All came out with best times. Well done you three!

Halloween Howl was a Howel.

Thanks to all parents that donated their time and made the meet fun and successful...and thanks to Michael Phelps for the surprise visit.

Please find under the links section of this blog information and application for the Junior Coaching Program.

Water Laps against my skin
Each stroke I take, I take to win
Money’s not my driving force
The love of sport defines my course
With blessing of the waters grin
I’ve conquered thee, I’m Marilyn

Marilyn Bell was the first woman, at sixteen, to swim accross lake Ontarion.

2010-10-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

I dont actually have to know anything about coaching....I just have to use alot of big,confusing words!

Swim Swim Swim!!

2010-10-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here are our swim videos from the past week. Have a look. They are in order of days that they were filmed.

New Season

2010-09-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back to another season. I hope everyone enjoyed their break from swimming and is charged up for another great season! Welcome all our new members.

Please check this blog, and more specifically the calendar of events to the right hand side of the page for information on all upcoming events and acivities.

This is a picture from my break at the end of the summer.

Provincials 2010 Day 1

2010-08-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our Girls "O" Cat 2 Medley Relay team for winning the silver medal!
Jenna Stacey - backstroke
Kira Stacey - Breaststroke
Ashley Bingham - Fly
Rachel Campbell - Free
233.14

Other results for the day:
200 IM
Kira Stacey - 16th "O" 2

100 IM
Jenna Stacey - 6th "O" 1

50 Free
Jenna Stacey - 6th "O" 1
Gabe Lowe - 11th "O" 2
Sean Hunter - 15th Div 7
Rachel Campbell - 14th "O" 2

Provincials Day 2

100 Fly

Ashley Bingham - 14th
Sean Hunter - 15th
Josh Macdonald - 6th

50 Bk

Jenna Stacey - 6th

100 Bk

Erica Campbell - 13th
Kira Stacey - 11th
Sean Hunter - 9th

Regionals

2010-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all 16 Royals that participated in the 2010 BCSSA Vancouver Island Regional Championships August 6th and 7th. From those 16 that competed, 9 qualified to compete in the 2010 BCSSA Provincial Championships in Kamloops August 20-22.
Congratulations to:
Vivienne Nguyen
Erica Campbell
Rachel Campbell
Jenna Stacey
Kira Stacey
Josh Macdonal
Ashley Bingham
Gabe Lowe
Sean Hunter
Michelle Park

Live results will be posted on the blog daily... so stayed tuned to read about all the ROYAL success!!

MMMMMM JELLO!!!

2010-08-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Also during the Senior Summer Training camp...

2010-08-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Royals demonstrate that if it is a sport in water...THEY ROCK! This was a team building activity during the 2010 Senior Royals summer training camp.

2010-07-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

Splish Splash!! What a great summer Season so far! Far too many highlights from the past few meets to list...but a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all Royals who have come out and swam at the meets.

Some Special Notes

Josh Macdonald has qualified to compete in the BC Summer Games next weekend in Langley. He will join the other 3300 athletes of various sports from the Province. Good Luck Josh!!

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!ROYALS!!

Making Waves!!

2010-06-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have had a great winter season and a great start to the summer season!!

Congratulations

The Jets had an awesome showing at the Vancouver Island Long Course Regional Championships last weekend in Victoria.

Ashley Bingham competed in her first meet as a Senior female (15 and older). She faired very well against the stiff competition setting a best time in her 100 Fr.

Kira Stacy set best times in her 100 and 200 Backstroke and placed 10th in her 100 Br.

We rounded the Jet's winter season off with an awards and recognition night. Congratulations to all Jets swimmers for a great season of training, racing and just being good people. Special Congratulations go out to this years awards recipients:

Samantha Gialet - Most Improved Junior
Gabe Lowe - Junior Jet of the Year
Kira Stacey - Most Improved Senior of the Year
Erica Campbell - Team Spirit award
Rachel Campbell - Team Leader award

We had four Royals compete in the first summer meet of the year June 5,6 in Duncan.
Congratulations to Sean Hunter, Erica and Rachel Campbell, Ashley Bingham, Jenna and Kira Stacey. You all "set the bar" for the rest of the summer.

Good luck to ALL THIRTEEN Royals competing this weekend at Commonwealth.

Note from Coach T

I would like to take a moment to stress the importance of personal goals. Goals are very maliable. I think we often lose sight of what forms our goal can take. We are constantly bombarded with pace times, A, B, and C time standards, and even crunching away at our own personal best TIMES! Goals equally as important as bettering those times can be in the form of our subjective feelings at meets and in practices, or how we organize ourselves before events or plane and simply...ARE WE HAVING FUN!!?? It is very important to analyse these goals as well and recognize that goals can change daily, weekly or seasonally. We need to always assess what we are puting into our training and what is a realistic expectation of the outcomes. Dont be afraid to forget about times for a little while and focus on yourself.

Coach T

Welcome to the Summer Season!!

2010-05-03T17:11:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all as excited as I am about the summer season! There will be lots of fun activities in the next few months....and oh yeah, some swimming too!

Here are some of the things that have been going on over the last month:

Awesome Albernie Meet!

We had six Jets swimmers compete extremely well at the Port Albernie Meet April 11.
Here are the highlights:
Erica Campbell - ONE HUNDRED PERCENT BEST TIMES and 4th in her 50 Breastroke
Kira Stacey - Gold in the 100 Breastroke
Ashley Bingham - AA time in her 100 Breastroke and a close Silver to Kira
Josh MacDonald - Gold in his 50 Backstroke AND 50 Fly
Rachel Campbell - Bronze in her 50 Breastroke
Jenna Stacey - 15th in a stong field of the 50 Free

Well Done all Jets!!!

Busy Weekend of Running and Swimming

Congrats to all those who participated in the Times Colonist 10 Km which had over 13000 participants.

We also had 4 Jets swimmers compete in the Wave Maker Meet at Commonwealth.
A special congrats to Alex and Melanie Bouchard. The meet was there very first and they did amazingly well!
Alex made finals and placed 7th in her 100 Breastroke
Melanie was 9th in her 100 Breastroke
Gabe Lowe palced 5th in his 200 Breastroke
Ashley Bingham placed 7th in her 100 Breastoke

Well Done Everyone!!

Note from Coach T
I will be away next week May 8 - 16. I am coaching, for my fifth straight year, at an Ironman training camp in Penticton. I will be connected to the internet, so you can e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns while I am away.

Coach T

Run GVAS, RUN!!

2010-03-30T19:43:00.001-07:00

27 Days and counting...

I hope that everyone's training is going well. I hope that the above video has inspired us a little. I have been watching Kenenisa Bekele run for years and he has the most beautiful, flawless technique I have ever seen. This week's focus is on improving our running / walking form to alleviate unwanted tension on our muscles and save energy.

Here are you training tips for the week:

Runners:
Proper posture will allow you to run more proficiently. Here are some tips to think about in your two runs (10 min longer than normal) this week.
Head - Refer to the video and think of looking about thirty feet in front of you when you run. You want to think of having your head over your shoulders and in line with you pelvis. In other words, keep your posture tall.

Arms - Again, refer to the video and think of swinging a relaxed fist to your hip and then swing your elbow back to your hip. A relaxed full arm swing will add momentum to your strides.

Torso - ....watch the video. All movements when you run should be directed forward. As you run this week, monitor for any side-to-side movements and try to control them.

Run / Walkers:
Your workouts this week are two forty-five minute run walks consisting of 3 min walking and 2 min of running. Complete this nine times.

Walkers:
Complete two forty-five minute walks. Think of the posture points for running, as they are applicable to walking posture as well.

KIDS!!
More running around, but start trying to add additional activities. Try skipping, jumping, running backwards and in zig zags. Again, your focus is just getting out and running around. Enjoy running. Enjoy the freedom!

Coach T

March Madness!!

2010-03-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Little to report this post other than some awesome training in the water and an anticipation of a successful summer season of swimming.

Welcome Maryanne!

Maryanne will be helping us out with practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was a Royals swimmer for many years and has been a swimming instructor at Juan de Fuca for the past many years as well. She will be an asset to the coaching staff as she will bring her passion for swimming to each practice.

Note from coach T - Times Colonist 10 km Tips

We have twenty people signed up as part of the GVAS Jets / Royals Team for the 2010 Times Colonist 10 km April 25.

We have four weeks to prepare ourselves for the event. I will be posting weekly training guidelines for the different ages and abilities that will be participating as part of the team.

The first thing we must do is dertermine what our goals for the race are: Do you intend on running the whole thing, part of it, or walking it? Be sure to set realistic and attainable goals based on your current run / walk fitness - Ten kilometers can be a long hard way if you are striving for unrealistic goals.

I will break the weekly training into four categories:
1) Runners - I reccommend this category ONLY for those that have been runing over 30 min at least once per week for the last 6 weeks.
2) Run / Walkers - For those that have not been running in the past 6 weeks but are kean to do a little as part ofthe event.
3) Walkers
4) Kids! Those that are under the age of 10 and do not participate in activities involving running

After we have set some realistic goals and you have determined which category you fall into, here are some training guidlines for this week:

Runners - start incorporating a breathing rhythm into your run. A smooth, full breathing pattern can help you control your effort, pace and concentration throughout a running event. In your runs this week (that are 5 min longer than your usual run duration) time your breathing to your footsteps. See how many foot strikes you can get in a full exhalation and a full inhalation. You should be able to time your breathing (one inhalation or one exhalation) to a minimum of three footstrikes. If you can not achieve this, your breathing is too shallow and will cost you precious energy in you race.

Run / Walkers - Your biggest step this week will be determining how long you will be running and how long you will be walking during the event. My reccommendation is to start with two fourty minute run / walks this week that consist of 4 min of walking and one minute of running. Do this eight times and see how it feels.

Walkers - Try to complete two fourty minute walks this week. Try to think about your rhythm as well. Try to maintain your posture and footspeed regardless of undualtion and varried terrain.

Kids! Get Running! Engage in games at school and after that simply get you moving. Run every chance you get; to the car, in from lunch, out to the playground or around your backyard afterschool.

More tips next week - have a great week!

Coach T

FANTASTIC FEBRUARY!!

2010-02-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It has been an exciting month for the GVAS club. Here is everything that has been going on...

Success at Campbell River Eliminator Meet!

Six swimmers represented the Jets club at the Regional Meet in Campbell River with victory last weekend. We came away from the meet with eighty percent best times which is an outstanding performance. Some of the highlights of the meet are listed below:

Gabe Lowe achieved best times in all the events he swam. He placed 4th in his 200 Br, 5th in his 400 Fr, and 6th in his 100 Br.

Rachel Campbell, competing in her first winter club meet, placed 11th in her 200 Bk, 12th in her 100 bk and 12th in her 200 Fr.

Erica Campbell, in her first competition with the Jets, placed 12th in her 200 Br, 16th in her 100 Br and 25th in a fiercely competitive 100 Fr.

Kira Stacey placed 2nd in her 200 Br, 3rd in her 100 Br, and 6th in her 100 Bk.

Ashley Bingham placed 3rd in her 100 Fr, 4th in her 400 Fr and 6th in her 200 Br.

Jenna Stacey placed 13th in her 200 Fr, achieving her A qualifying time, 15th in her 400 Fr, and 17th in her 100 Fr

NICE WORK and CONGRATULATIONS to all the Jets swimmers!

83rd Annual Elementary / Middle School Championship Meet Monday March 1

GVAS has three swimmers, from John Stubs school, that have qualified to compete in the school championship meet on Monday. Nicole Smythe, Julianna Macdonald, and Gabe Lowe will be heating up the lanes. Best of luck to the three of you.

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Tuesday March 2
Team Meeting 4:30 -5 pm at Juan de Fuca (on deck) followed by an all-inclusive swim (minis inlcuded) from 5- 6pm. This practice will include team building, and peer coaching activities.

Summer Swimming Registration is just around the corner. Spending a season with the GVAS Royals is fun and rewarding. The meets are a blast! If you have any questions about the practice or meet schedule throughout the summer, please speak to Coach Travis or Sharon on deck.

Note from Coach T - "The intricacies of our finely oiled machines"

If we view of our body, our mind and our spirit as three synergistic parts of an efficient and productive machine, than it is important that we keep all three parts active and attenuated to all the time.

Very often one of these parts will lose momentum, slow down, or stop running all together because we have started to overwork another. We may not notice the effect this has on the other parts of our system until service is beyond repair.

Success will result from proper balance of these things. As swimmers, we can often lose sight of the non-physical parts of our system. Swim practices and meets are only a small gear in a multi-component machine. It is crucial that we keep in sight the importance of school, friendship, emotional well being, health and personal identity in order to maximize our success in the sport or swimming.

- Coach T -

2010-01-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

What a great January!!

Lots has been going on this month. We have had test sets, where all the kids completed a series of test swim sets that measured improvements in endurance, speed, and efficiency. I am happy with the results!

Congratulations!!

Three of our Jets competed in the Vancouver Island Regional Championships in Duncan. Josh Macdonald, Kira Stacey, and Ashley Bingham deployed themselves as fantastic ambassadors of our club. All of them came away with 2 or more best times.

Highlights:

Josh - 8th in his 100 Bk, and 7th in his 200 Fr
Kira - 17th in her 100 Br and 21st in her 100 Bk
Ashley - 22nd in her 10 Fly and her 400 Fr

Nice work Jets!!

Reminders:

Campbell River meet (Jets) Feb 20-21
Nanaimo meet (Jets) Feb 7

Please let Travis or Sharon know your intent of competing at these meets.

Tuesday Feb 2 will be our Team Meeting from 4:30 - 5 pm and an all-inclusive (with minis) practice including peer coaching, fun and games from 5-6 pm.

Note from Coach T

Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight. Blood contains almost 70% water, body fat contains 10% water and bone has 22% water. Skin also contains much water. The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females.

That's a lot of water!!

At EVERY swim practice, it is ESSENTIAL that we have a water bottle on deck to allow us to have the most productive swim workout possible.

What can happen without enough water in the body when we exercise?

One consequence is a decline in workout effectiveness. The fluid lost through sweat originates in blood plasma. Plasma is the means of transportation for red blood cells. They hold the oxygen that is essential for muscle performance.

Another consequence is a need for more effort by the heart. If our body begins to become dehydrated then our blood begins to thicken. The heart has to pump harder and faster in order to get all the blood that our working muscles require.

Bottom line guys is you should be making sure to drink during the day so that you come to practice hydrated and have a water bottle on the deck to make sure you STAY hydrated.

Coach T

Sources:
http://www.solveyourproblem.com/senior-fitness/avoid_dehydration_while_exercising.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_water

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2010-01-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!! I hope everyone enjoyed their Holidays and were able to relax and enjoy the down time. Read below for updates on club activities.

Christmas Camp 2009:

12 GVAS swimmers participated in the three - day Christmas training camp. The camp was a blast! Participants Swam at the Commonwealth, Crystal, Juan de Fuca and Naden Pools. They hiked to the summit of Mount Work and all the way to Beachy Head at East Sooke Park. They had a tour of the new Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence and were introduced to some great new core strength exercises. The extra curricular activities such as skating at Pearks, movie at Silver City and capture the flag at Royal Roads made the hard work of the camp worthwhile.

Thanks to all the participants for representing the club with maturity and integrity. Looking forward to next year's...Here is a video of some of the highlights of the camp...enjoy!

Congratulations:

We had six swimmers compete in the Pacific Coast Swimming Christmas Cracker Meet. Our swimmers excelled among the 600 swimmers from across the country. Congratulations to Jessa, Jenna, Kira, Ashley, Gabe and Josh. Everyone left the meet with best times.

Josh and Kira also set AA times. Josh in his 100m backstroke and Kira in her 100 and 200m Breaststroke. Josh and Kira will be representing the club in two weeks at the Vancouver Island Regional Championships in Duncan.

Nice Work Everyone!!

I am looking forward to a great 2010 Season!!

See you at the pool,

Coach T

GVAS News October 28, 2009

2009-10-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

What a great and exciting last couple of weeks. Training has been awesome, and the racing even better!! Read on to find out about all the action over the last couple of weeks.

Howloween Howl was a a Scream!!

Before recaping on the fun we ALL had on Sunday, I would like to make sure that the driving forces behind the event get a HUGE Thanks!! We could not make these events happen without the tremendous efforts of the parents who volunteer their time. Thanks to all the timers, those taking care of registration, and those responsible for the DELICIOUS breakfast!

The meet was a blast. We had some awesome costumes (Sponge BOB Kev), and some great swims. Also a thanks to Pender Island for their participation in the meet.

Oh...and Sean, we'll have a re-match SOON!

Congratulation to the Jets for their performances at the first winter meet of the season in Nanaimo.

We had a very strong showing of Jets at our season opener meet last weekend. Nice work to Ashley, Gabe, Jenna, Kira, Jessa, and Raymonde! Everyone came away from the meet with at least one best time.

Upcoming Events

Today, Wednesday October 28, Junior Coaching Workshop Naden Pool 4:45 pm

Tuesday November 3, 2009 - Team Meeting With guest Olympic speaker 4:30 -5 pm Juan de Fuca - Wayne Kelly (1984 LA Olympics) will be speaking to us about what it takes to be an Olympian and some of his challenges and experiences. Dont miss it!

Sunday November 8, 2009, Island Swimming 12 and Under Jamboree - Sannich Commonwealth Pool
If interested in competing please e-mail Liz lowe ASAP with entries.

Saturday November 14, 2009, Duncan VIR meet. If interested in competing please e-mail Liz lowe ASAP with entries and to request meet information.

Saturday November 28, 2009, Masters Meet Nanaimo. If interested in competing, please speak to Coach Travis for more details. This is a great opportunity as next year's National Masters Swimming Championships will be in Nanaimo as well (May 2010).

Note from Coach T
What's the point of armswings anyway?

You may wonder why we make you flail about on the pooldeck before each swim practice...It is because we need to warm the body up PROPERLY.

When we do armswings we are actually stretching the muscles around the shoulders.

Stretching?? But I thought stretching was when you dont move and you reach for your toes...

That is stretching too, but that is called static stretching and should NOT be done before a practice.

Hold on!... I'm confused. You want to stretch before a practice, but you dont want to stretch before a practice? How do I know what to do AND when?

Stretching before a practice should be in the DYNAMIC form. That means "stretching with movement" (arm swimgs, leg swings etc.)We do this because we only want the muscles stretched to the length they need to be for swimming and NO LONGER! If you strecth your muscles beyond the length they need to go to swim, you actually make them weaker. Weaker muscles wont be able to support your joints as well...and you might get injured:(

Stretching after a practice should be in the STATIC form "stretching without movement". Here, our goal is to stretch longer, because the more flexible you are the least likely you are to hurt yourself. This is when you would sit down and reach for your toes.

Coach T

GVAS News October 16, 2009

2009-10-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

It's been a great last few weeks of training! Everyone seems to be keeping the effort high and attitude positive as we have begun to have some challenging workouts.
Nice work to everyone who completed the timed 400! The group average was very good and we will be retesting in several weeks with the goal of inproving that group average. I hope everyone has enjoyed their first recovery week of the season and is ready to ramp things up for a few weeks.

News, updates and reminders:

Royals Awards re-cap:

Congratulations to the following award recipients:
Gabe Lowe - Team Leader Award
Kayvon Delarom - Most improved Junior Male
Julianna Macdonald - Most improved Junior Female
Andrew Paone - Most Improved Senior Male
Naomi Roth - Most Improved Senior Female

Sean Hunter - Andrew Paone Memorial Award

Well done to all Royals for an awesome summer of swimming!!

Upcoming Meets and Events:

Nanaimo Invitational Meet (Jets) Saturday October 24, 2009 Meet details:
Warm-up: 9:00 – 9:50 am
Start: 10:00 am
Time out: Approx 3:00pm

Halloween Howl Fun Meet Sunday October 25, 2009 7-9 am JDF. Make sure to e-mail Liz your your entries and breakfast orders ASAP!!

Jr. Coaching Workshop Wednesday October 28, 4:45 - 5:15 pm Naden

Team Meeting and Fun swim Tuesday November 3 4:30 - 6pm. Reminder that the meeting will take place during the Mini's practice time. Mini's will be allowed to swim from 5-6 pm with the Royals.

Saturday mornings oh yeah!!!

I know it's early guys, but having the ENTIRE pool to ourselves (including the WATERSLIDE) is awesome! I really reccommend you try AT LEAST one of these fun morning practices.

Note from Coach T

It's flu season... here are some suggestions to try and help you stay healthy.

As athletes we are more suseptable to getting sick because we work our bodies HARD! You dont just get sick from pathogens (germs) entering your body. You get sick when your immune system is weakened AND you let germs into your body.

How does your immune system get weakened?

Your immune will become weak, as I mentioned from training hard. Immediatly after practice you should try to avoid places that have a greater chance of allowing germs into your body. Public transit, for example, would be a good place to avoid immediatly following a hard workout.

Mal-nutrition will decrease the effectiveness of your immune system also, especially around practices. Make sure to have had a snack within an hour of starting a practice and within an hour after your practice. Hydration also needs to be kept in check. Try to be sipping on a water bottle (or two) throughout the day and make sure to have a water bottle on deck at EVERY practice to keep your immune in the best shape possible.

WASH WASH AND WASH your hands!! Like I said you get sick when your immune system is down AND your let germs into your body. All it could take would be a scratch of the eye or pick of the nose after handling a germy surface (payphone, keyboard, pin pad or even desks at school) and you could be facing the snivells.

Lets stay healthy guys.

Coach T

GVAS News September 20, 2009

2009-09-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I hope everyone had a great break and rest of the summer. The season has begun!! It is great to see so many people returning and also so many new members. I am excited for another great season.

Congratulations to all Royals who attended the BCSSA Provincial Championships in Burnaby. It was a late season meet and although I am sure you were all feeling the cumulative fatigue from the season you, once again, represented the club as a force to be reckoned with. Nice work everyone!!

Upcoming events:

Bring a friend swim Sept 29 - see coaches or Kevin or Tammy for more information
Royals awards night and Team Dinner October 8, 20 6:30 p.m or Royal Roads Cafe

Reminder:

Friday Naden Practices are for Jets (Winter Club Swimmers) only.

Junior Coaching Program

We will be holding our first coaches workshop on Wed September 23 at 4:45 at Naden. All those who are 13 years or older and interested in getting involved with coaching are welcome. If you are interested, but unable to make it on Wed, please let Travis know as soon as possible.

Note from Coach T - Practice what you preach"

Well, sometimes that just isn't possible.

I left off the last blog post advocating the benefits of taking some down time, not doing anything to stress the body or the mind and allowing yourself to rejuvenate for the long season ahead of us.

What began, as an attempt to accomplish the above for me didn’t really go according to plan.

As we have done for some 11 reasonably consecutive years, my parents and Katie and I planned a Trip to Topaltos Beach. Topaltos is a magical, beautiful expanse of soft fine sand located in Barkley Sound. Getting to the beach entails a boat ride from Port Albernie, followed by an arduous 3-hour hike from Bamfield along some gnarly West Coast trails. The reward of being able to sit on the beach in complete solitude, listen to the calming surf and watch the sun sink below the horizon is well worth the hike.

A traditional pastime of ours has been to play a game of beach baseball while we are there. We find the best piece of driftwood to serve as our bat, draw some bases in the sand and have at er.

This year we had a new addition to the camping party, our 9-month-old collie. Collies instinctively like to heard anything that moves, goats, sheep, horses or people. Needless to say Remi, made it a little more exciting trying to run for home base.

Around the bottom of the 7th, mom hits a good one to left...beach. She's off around first...second and heading for home when you guessed it, Remi decides to suddenly start playing outfield taking moms feet right out from underneath her.

Mom went down hard and we immediately knew the game was going to be postponed. Her chief complaint was her knee. She couldn't stand, and it started to swell up almost immediately.

We were able to put a splint on it, ice it and give her some painkillers. We decided to wait to the morning to make a decision as to what to do as it was becoming very apparent that the possibility of her walking out was not going to be an option.

The next morning, we made an emergency call to Tofino radio, which patched me through to The Victoria Rescue Center. We explained the case, and they said they would try to get a helicopter to her that day. We waited, waited and waited, but there was no sign of the chopper. Apparently it was too foggy for it to take off, so they were going to try again the next day.

Thankfully they (Parks Canada) were able to get a zodiac in the next day and transport mom out. Katie, Remi and I hiked out and met them at the Bamfield nursing station.

After mom finally got some x-rays and advice from some specialists we learned that she had shattered (their words) the head of her Tibia, torn her ACL, LCL and meniscus and, to top it all off, had sprained her ankle.

In retrospect it is hard to believe that she spent two nights out there with a broken leg.

Topaltos still holds a special spot in our hearts and despite the turn of events we will be back. As for my mom right now...it is a good thing she retired from teaching (elementary) at Christmas, because she is completely immobile with a giant brace on her leg.

So I do hope that you were all able to get a little more relaxation in than I.

Coach T

GVAS NEWS August 19, 2009

2009-08-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

I cant beleive this will be my last post of the season. We will officially be on our break after this Friday's am practice. Practices will resume on Monday Sept, 15.

It has been quite a season. I came in late, but was quickly made to feel as though I had always been member of the family. We have had tons of success and I am excited to carry the momentum forward to 2009 / 2010 and have another progressive, positive and successful season.

Regional Championships massive success!

We took 10 swimmers to the BCSSA Regional Championships August 8-9 in Nanaimo and had one of the most successful meets of the year. Congrats to the 9 Royals who qualified to compete in the Provincial Championships in Burnaby this weekend.
Josh, Gabe, Sean, Nicole Smythe, Emily Smythe, Julianna, Naomi Roth, Ashley, Sharon (Go Coach S), and Andrew Sean Paone (in spirit).

We also had 8 swimmers compete in the B& C Championships on Salt Spring last weekend. Congrats to Jessica, Kavon (first meet), Julianna, Nicole Smythe, Emily Smythe, Ben Roth and Naomi Roth.

In rememberance of a special Royal swimmer.
Andrew Sean Paone was a devoted, fun, interesting and truly loved member of the Royals Family. He will be missed to no end, but his spirit will always be with us in the water, at our meets, and in our hearts.

Some words from coach Sharon...

First I would like to start off by saying thank you to all the swimmers. You have all found ways to honor Andrew, whether it has been by remembering or dedicating your swims to him. A week ago, we had regionals and you all swam fantasticly. You truly did swim for Andrew!

I have known Andrew for a long time. I am glad I got to know him as a fellow swimmer as well as a swimmer I had the privlage to coach. Andrew, quite as he was, most of the time would greet us (the coaches) every practice with a joke or little story (which I have to admit most of the time I didn't get them), but he of course would explain. Sometimes even with the explanation I still didn't get it and would just say "Andrew get in the pool"

one morning I told the swimmers that once they finished 2 sets on the board I would take them for breakfast at Tim hHortons. Well Andrew heard "finish", and "set". , breakfast. He raced through the set skipping all the rest when he finished set #1 He started to get out of the pool, looked at me and said "ummm I'm done". I laughed at him and said "no your not you still have one set left" he said "but you said when we were done so I'm done " I laughed again at him trying to find a loop hole to get out faster and told him to get back in and finish his set. He did and we all went for breakfast, he ordered two strawberry-jelly donuts and an XL hot chocolate. We all had a great time at breakfast everyone was talking (once the food disappeared we are swimmers the food was the focus ) and laughing it was a great morning.

I have always believed that a swim team is a family. We spend most of our time together, we see each other at our best and our worst, we are there for each other , we cheer for each other, share joy together, and we mourn together. We have lost a part of our GVAS family and he will always be in our hearts.

Sharon
Assistant coach
GVAS

Note from Coach T

Best of luck to our swimmers competing at Provincials this weekend. You guys have done the work. You are focussed, driven and should go into each event confident that all that work will pay off.

Remember from past posts that recovery is an invaluable tool that you need to use at appropriate times. The end of season trasition phase is one of those times. For some that have been swimming 6-8 times per week, you are probably wondering "what do I do with myself?" The answer is relax, have some fun. You can go swimming, but no pace clock, structured set or echo of coach T's "Want a deck of cards.....so you can deal with it". Try some other sports. The main thing is that you come back to the pool deck in September refreshed, rejuvinated and motivated to have a successful season.

If you want to swim do it vicariously by watching videos at www.swim.ee

Coach T

GVAS NEWS July 27, 2009

2009-07-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wow has it ever been hot over the last couple of days. Also scorching is our summer season of swimming. Our performances are heating up! Things have been progressing very well. We have put in some great training over the last few weeks and thing are right on track for some phenomenal swims at Regions in two weeks.

Congratulations:

We had a fantastic swim meet in Campbell River last weekend. I was very impressed with all the swims. Great work from Sean, Ashley, Gabe, Naomi, Nicole, Emily, Andrew, and Ben.

Walking away from the meet with every swim a best time was Nicole Smythe. Nice work Nicole. Nicole will be using the best time kickboard at practice until Regionals.

Receiving the Sr. Best time kick board was Gabe Lowe with 3 new best times! Nice work guys!!

Josh Macdonald stayed home this weekend to compete in the Thetis Lake open water swim. Josh place 7th in the 1500 meter swim with a time of 23:47. Nice work Josh!

We are still plodding along with the Swim around the Island Challenge. We have had a recent lead change. As of the end of last week, Josh Macdonald is leading the pack around the Island. Josh has swum 108.6 km since the beginning of the summer season.
Josh needs to watch his heels because Ashley trails him by only 7km at 101.6 km. Nice work guys!! The first prize will be awarded once you have swum 150 km (Nanaimo).

Upcoming FUN activities:

Pizza and Movie Thursday July 30. After practice we will have pizza in the main foyer of JDF and then catch the city bus up to the Caprice theater to view the 7:15 showing of G-Force (Disney movie rated G).

Please let Travis know by Wednesday if you plan on attending. Kids can be picked up at approximately 8:45 from the Caprice Theater in Langford.

Cost is will depend on numbers of kids participating. Cost details will be mailed out Wednesday night. (Pizza, movie and bus will be approximately $10 - 12)

Beach Party!

On Thursday August 6 after practice there will be a beach party at the Esquimalt Lagoon from 7-9 pm. Come on down, roast some weenies and have some fun.

Thetis Lake practice:

On Tuesday August 11 our regular practice will be re-routed to Thetis Lake Park, where all kids will do their practice in the lake.

Water slides!!

Barring enough interest we will have a team visit to the All Fun Water slides on Tuesday August 18 from 11 -2 pm. More details will follow.

Note from Coach T

There is a lot that can be said about the benefits of back-up plans and being versatile.

I competed in the Peach Classic Triathlon last weekend, where I experienced one of the hardest swims ever! The swim was a straight out and back along the shore totaling 1.5 km. There were wind waves about a foot and a half high traveling towards the shore. Every single time I went to breathe I would inevitable (because I only breathe to one side...another lesson for future blog posts) swallow a huge gulp of water. The waves also made it very hard for me to sight (see where I was going.

I came out of the water a ways down the shore and ended up having to dolphin dive my way back to the swim exit. I came out of the water MAD!!

Anger can trigger a release of adrenaline, but it is short lived (which I found out).
I hammered the first couple km of the bike, only to die half way up the first hill when the nerves dissipated.

If I had just kept my cool, I would have been able to conserve energy and probably would have had a better bike ride as a result, but hey we are all always learning.

I think a very important skill we can work on is rehearsing (mentally) a plan B. When we focus on our events, we are always looking at the ideal outcome, but what if that goggle strap breaks, they put you in a wrong heat, or you have forgotten to put your swim trunks on under your warm up pants...yet another blog post for another time.

You need to picture yourself composed in all situations. Then when the unexpected happens, you're prepared and don't die half way through your event.

T

2009-07-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

GVAS Newsletter Tuesday June 23,
2009
www.gvasnews.blogspot.com

“Can you pass the iced tea?…..Please!

Well, summer is officially here according to the new GVAS summer schedule. Things have been in full swing since Monday and have started out really well. I hope to carry the momentum right into Provincials. Read who and what has made the newsletter this week.

Congratulations:

We’ve had two great meets since you read the last newsletter. We had 9 Royals endure the weekend at the Courtney Meet. Despite the frigid and damp conditions on the Saturday our team still represented the Royals name well. Congrats to Daniel, Victor, Jenna, Kira, Sean, Ashley, Nicole, Andrew, and Gabe.

Congrats to Nicole (her first meet) and Sean for receiving the best time kickboards from that meet.

We also had a great meet in Nanaimo this last weekend. Congrats to all who competed. Ashley, Nicole, Emily, Andrew, Sean, Josh, and Gabe. Everyone set at least one Best time.

A special congrats to Ashley Bingham for setting a new Meet Record for her 200 IM.

Well done to Josh and Emily (her first meet) for getting the Best Time kickboards from this meet.

Swim – a – thon Recap:

We had a very successful swim a thon this year. Thanks to all who collected pledges and a special thanks to all parents who helped out with the timing and counting.

A special thank-you should go out to Marilyn Bell. Marilyn, one of our Masters was our top fundraiser. She raised $540 to help the team. Thanks Marilyn!!

Summer schedule:

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the new Royals schedule for the remainder of the summer. The schedule is posted on the bulletin board.

Royals T-shirts

We are putting the finishing touches on our club t-shirts for this year. We hope to have them ready for Regionals. If you are interested in ordering a club t-shirt, please see Travis or Sharon.

Up - coming events and activities:

Tuesday July 14 / 2009 – Club scavenger hunt 3:30 –4:30 as part of pre-practice dryland.

Thetis Lake Open Water Swim July 26, 2009. Please see Travis or Sharon for more details

Campbell River Summer Meet July 25, 26 2009. Please submit entries to Liz Lowe by Sunday July 18 at the latest. This is a great meet. The best part of this meet is the Saturday air band contest. Get your ideas going and let Travis or Sharon Know of them.

Note from Coach T – “The importance of recovery”

If you train, train, train until you can’t train anymore you will actually see your overall fitness and strength decrease. It’s not the training that makes you fitter and stronger, it’s the recovery you take on the other side of your training. You train to impose a demand on your body and break it down. Your body then responds to this demand and rebuilds itself stronger in hopes of being better suited for future demands imposed. Little does it know that Coch T and Coach S are going to impose even more demands for it to cope with it.

If you don’t follow some very easy steps to help your body recovery, it will just be continually broken down and NEVER get any stronger.

There are three essential aspects to recovery, SLEEP, NUTRITION and HYDRATION.

After hard workouts or meets it is very important to get adequate sleep. I recommend a minimum of 8 hours.

Don’t forget about your window of opportunity. Within one hour of a hard workout make sure you are getting some food in you.

Water is the most important thing you can put in your body. It is your natural coolant, oil and fuel addative. Water bottles should ALWYS be on deck, and you should be having at least 750 ml of fluid after each hard workout.

If you have had a hard workout or meet and you are not able to meet these three basic necessities of recovery, you should not be attending the next workout. You will just break your body down even more.

Happy Laps everyone!!

Coach T.

GVAS news June 23, 2009

2009-06-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

“Dude…..Where’s my flippers?”

Summer is officially here! Many of you are now out of school and only a few have a couple more days…YAHOO!! I am excited about a great summer season of practicing, racing and having FUN! Read on about what’s new and all the great things club members have been doing.

Congratulations!!

We had a fantastic showing of Royals at the last summer meet at Commonwealth June 13th and 14th. My highlight of the meet was how well Sharon’s buddy system worked. It was great to see a senior swimmer paired with a junior or novice swimmer and to see them being so supportive and encouraging. Thanks guys!

A special congratulation to Daniel who had the fastest reaction time off the blocks. He EXPLODED out off the blocks in his 50 Backstroke in 0.63 sec.

Congratulations to Kira and Naomi who will be using the Senior Best Time kick boards this week and to Jenna and Victor who will be using the Junior boards.

Also, congratulations to Gabe Lowe for winning Sharon’s Water Safety poster contest.

Nice Work everyone!!

Upcoming events and activities:

Reminder – There is no practice at Naden Friday June 26

Swim – a – thon Tuesday June 30, 5 – 7 pm Juan de Fuca
There’s lots of awesome prizes for fundraising, so get out there and collect some pledges!!

Jets Awards night - Thursday July, 2 6:30 – 8:00 pm Royal Roads Café to celebrate a successful winter season of swimming.

T- shirt design contest
Get those creative juices flowing guys. Have your design featured on the 2009 Royals team shirts. Please submit designs to Travis by Friday July 3

Courtney meet this weekend

Open Water swim practices - Travis will be coaching open water swim practices at Thetis Lake Wednesdays from 11- noon.

These swims are open to kids who can meet a swim standard of 8:00 for 400 m freestyle

Note from Coach T “putting things in perspective”

I took part in a relay as part of the New Balance Half Ironman this weekend. I swam 2.0 km in Elk lake to help my team along. About half way through the swim…when I had probably ingested 250 percent of my daily recommendation of Coliform bacteria, my arms felt as though there were going to separate from my body and I could no longer see where I was going due to the right side of my goggles being completely filled with water, I thought to myself “why on earth am I doing this?” I mean, I could have slept in. I could have been sipping a beautifully blended cup of Organic French Roast java and reading the Sunday funnies in the comfort of my own home. No, instead I decided to put myself in something that would look like a human feeding frenzy from the air as a flailed along side over 600 other swimmers.

I truly think this is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Why do we get up at 5 am to swim our butts off? Why do we push our selves to do more when our heart feels like it will beat right out of our chest. What drives us to punish ourselves and them come back looking for more.

For me, having completed the swim Sunday morning and then taking about 2 hours to be able to fully extend my arms over my head gave me a sense of accomplishment and pride. Our team wouldn’t win. There would be no medal for us at the end of the day. I would not receive anything tangible for my efforts. My only reward was the feeling of health, happiness, friendship and self-esteem.

To me this was well worth the pain, the brutality of other swimmers stroking right into my head and the smorgasbord of goose poop and weeds.

I think this is an essential perspective us athletes must look deep into. Being driven by the extrinsic values of medals, money, and pressures placed on us by others is limiting. To be truly driven you need to find your own reasons for doing it. Something intangible that will always be there in every practice and every competition. The only person who can determine this is YOU.
Trav’s Trivia
The first person to answer the following trivia question either by e-mails or in person will receive a prize.

How many years has GVAS been a sanctioned summer club??

GVAS Newsletter Tuesday June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

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!!!