Registration for the 2015-2016 swim season began in August at our club. Our club has a new head coach and he has made some changes in the structure of the club. As parents we were anxiously waiting to find out what that meant. In mid-August I found that the club was slightly restructured by age instead of named groups. My daughter falls in the 10&U group. I also found out that my daughter had been moved to a new squad called "black." The new squad would meet about 6 days a week. The practices would be longer and the demand would be higher. My daughter was elated. I was not.
We started the short course season on the new squad. These girls swim faster and at higher volume. My daughter wanted to keep up with the girls in the new squad. She started to swim faster and after each practice she was exhausted. I noticed that her technique has started to suffer. Because my daughter wanted to swim at the same speed as others on the new squad she started to move her arms faster. She increased her stroke rate which meant the stroke length decreased. The ultimate goal is to increase one and maintain the other. The new squad also uses different swim aids like snorkels in their training. My daughter cannot figure out how to breath and is constantly lifting her head. It is frustrating to watch my daughter struggle and I just felt totally helpless.
The only way to channel my frustration was to do something for myself. I decided to sign up for Masters Swim in Oregon. I have been an open water freestyle swimmer (in a wet suit) which is totally different than swimming in a pool. I do not know how to do flip turns, butterfly, or breast stroke. I have a lot to learn. Masters Swimming offers so much for adults as their motto is "Encouraging Adults to Swim," They send helpful articles in a newsletter if you sign up. https://www.usms.org/ I read an article about setting goals for the season. I made some goals of my own. My goals are to take lessons to learn how to do flip turns, butterfly and breast stroke. I would also like to swim with the masters swim group at the local community center.
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