I really hope that every single member of the squad and their families have had a nice break. We are now just a few days away from heading back to the pool for next season.
Quite a bit has happened over the holiday, and here are the highlights:
- We are racing at the Lis Hartley Open Meet on 25th & 26th September
- We are racing at Winter Counties on 16th & 17th October
- Some of us
maywill 💪 be racing at Winter Regionals on 6th & 7th October - Arena League is going ahead on the second Saturday of October, November and December
Lis Hartley Open Meet
We have just 3 weeks of training before this competition so we really need to make sure that we're 'ready' to hit the ground running when we return on Monday 6th, no excuses. If you've not been doing any of the following (or you have, but not been doing a great job of it then NOW is the time to get things sorted):
- RMAP. Have you been practicing it? We'll be doing it from our first session back so I hope you're good at it by now.
- Diet. Have you been getting plenty of fruit and veg and not overloading on crisps/sweets/junk food? If not, fix it, you'll be pleased you did.
- Sleep. If you're out of a good sleep pattern, get in one NOW. Do not stay up past midnight and do not lurk around in bed late into the mornings.
- Injuries/illness? If you've hurt yourself or feel a bit under the weather then please rest up now no matter how tempting it may be to engage in fun stuff with your mates.
This will be your last chance to get Winter County qualifying times so you will want to do the best job that you can.
Winter Counties
I'm really pleased that they're going ahead. We need to be smart this year with our entries. In previous years lots of us have entered just about every event on offer, scored lots of points and got ranked in the top X for our age group. There is none of that this year and all of your events will be on one day (10-13's on the Saturday, 14/Over's on the Sunday). If you're 14/Over and think you have a chance of ranking well in the Open Age group for an event then make this your focus at Winter Counties. Why, I hear you ask...
Winter Regionals
There is normally one set of qualifying times (well, 2 sets if you consider short course and long course QT's as different sets) for Winter Regionals i.e. one age group. This year there are no qualifying times, instead, the fastest n swimmers will gain entry into the events and this will be across all age groups. Needless to say, the odds of being fast enough to get in are higher if you are a bit older.
I'm really looking forward to our return to the pool. We do need to be clear on this though... these competitions are VERY close and we need to get on it right away, there will be no time for a soft start to the season so please make sure you are in the best state that you can be in when we return. You'll want your mats and foam rollers for our return too as you'll be using them before you get in the pool. 😀