USA Swimming Terms Glossary

USA Swimming has posted a swimming terms glossary on their website. This can be a great way for a young (state of mind) swimmer or new swim parent to learn a little bit more about the sport. Here is the link.

Practice Schedules

Practice Times in Tudor Field-house Pool (Old Autry Building)

Age Group 1:

White Flight: 4:45 - 5:30 Monday, Wednesday and Friday @ RICE

Navy Flight: 4:45 - 5:30 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday @ RICE

Age Group 2:

4:45 - 5:30 Monday - Thursday @ RICE

Age Group 3:

5:30 - 6:30 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Age Group 4:

6:30 - 7:30 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Senior 1 & 2

Mornings - 6:00 - 7:15 am Monday - Friday @ RICE

Evenings - 5:30 - 6:30 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday @ RICE

Saturdays - 8:00 am - 9:00 am @ RICE

Practice Times in Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center (Once Facility is Open)

Age Group 1:

White Flight: 4:45 - 5:30 Monday, Wednesday and Friday @ RICE

Navy Flight: 4:45 - 5:30 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday @ RICE

Age Group 2:

4:45 - 5:30 Monday - Friday @ RICE

Age Group 3:

4:45 - 6:00 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Age Group 4:

6:00 - 7:30 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Senior 1

Mornings - 6:00 - 7:15 am Monday - Friday @ RICE

Evenings - 5:30 - 6:30 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Saturdays - TBA @ RICE

Senior 2

Mornings - 6:00 - 7:15 am Monday - Friday @ RICE

Evenings - 5:30 - 7:15 pm Monday - Friday @ RICE

Saturdays - TBA @ RICE

New Groups and Group Descriptions

Programs

Age Group 1

Age Group 1 is an entry level developmental group for swimmers 10 years and younger. Swimmers in this group typically are legal in one or two strokes and have some knowledge of all 4 strokes. Practices are offered three times a week for 45 minutes a practice. Each practice is geared toward a specific technique or concept that will help with the overall progression of all four strokes.

Navy - Swimmers in the navy group typically are legal in two of the strokes. They have an efficient Freestyle with side breathing and an efficient Backstroke with good buoyancy. Swimmers are able to complete a full 25 yards with out struggling. Swimmers in this group are striving for 2 practices a week.

White - Swimmers have been actively enrolled with RICE Aquatics for a minimum of two sessions. 8 and under swimmers in the white group exhibit good stroke technique in at least 3 of the 4 strokes, consistent practice attendance, and a willingness to learn and improve. They have also competed in at least 2 swim meets with RICE. 9 & 10 year olds are efficient in Freestyle and Backstroke and have knowledge of the 2 other strokes. Swimmers in this group are striving for 3 practices a week with a minimum of 2 per week average.

Age Group 2

Age Group 2 is a group that encompasses an age range typically of 9-12 years of age. This is an entry level group for 11 and 12 year olds. Swimmers in this age range group typically are legal in two strokes and have some knowledge of all 4 strokes. Swimmers in the 9-10 age range are efficient in all four strokes and are working toward BB time standards. An 8 year old swimmer in this group are efficient in all four strokes, have competed in USA swim meets and have GULF BB time standards. Practices are offered four to five times a week for 45 minutes a practice. Each practice is geared toward a specific technique or concept that will help with the overall progression of all four strokes. Swimmers in this group should be swimming the following events at meets. 50’s of all strokes, 100 IM, and 200 Fr.

Age Group 3

Age Group 3 is for the swimmer who can swim all 4 strokes efficiently. Swimmers in this group typically range from 9-14 years of age. A 9-10 year old swimmer in this group has multiple BB/A time standards or equivalent times and has shown good practice habits. Swimmers 11 -14 are working towards BB time standards and set training goals. The group offers swimmers the chance to progress by introducing elements of training and conditioning while spending the majority of their time on improving stroke technique and mechanics. Swimmers should strive for an attendance of 70-75 %. Practices are offered five times a week for an hour and 15 minutes a practice. Swimmers in Group 3 are swimming the 50‘s of all strokes, 200 Fr, 200 IM and 500 Fr.

Age Group 4

Age Group 4 is for the swimmer who has developed a high level of swimming skills and is looking for more of a challenge. Practices are still geared towards stroke technique/correction but strength conditioning and endurance are becoming prominent in the practices. Swimmers in this group are 11 -14 years of age with multiple BB time standards. Practices are offered five times a week for an hour and half a practice. Practice attendance in this group should be an average of 75 - 80%. Swimmers are actively competing in meets and all championship meets. Events being swam at meets are the 100’s of all strokes, 200 Fr, 200 IM and 500 Fr.

Senior 1

Senior 1 is for a High School age swimmer looking for additional training outside of their high school swim team. Swimmers in this group will work on overall conditioning, stroke technique and strength and conditioning. Swimmers are working towards multiple A/BB time standards, test sets outlined in Senior 2 and a consistent practice attendance. Swimmers are competing at high school and year round swim meets. They are typically swimming the 100’s of strokes, 200 IM, and 200/500 Fr. Practices are offered five times a week for an hour in the pm. and 5 x a week for an hour fifteen in the am. Swimmers in this group will be integrated with Senior 2 and our Masters swim programs.

Senior 2

Senior 2 is for the swimmer who has shown the following: consistent practice attendance, complete knowledge of all skills and drills, the ability to train at a high level, and a commitment to RICE and swimming year round. Swimmers in this group are typically 15 years and older. Practices are offered five times a week for an hour and 45 minutes a practice as well as an hour and fifteen minute morning workout. Swimmers in this group are able to complete the following sets: 10 x 100 Fr 1:25 and 5 x 200 3:15. In addition they typically have multiple 15 and Over BB times and if 14 and younger have the equivalent of 15 and over A times. Swimmers are actively competing at year round meets and all Championship meets RICE is assigned. They are swimming the 100’s and 200’s of all strokes, the 500 Fr, 400 IM and 800/1000/1650 Fr at meets.

Rice Aquatics Masters Program

Rice Aquatics Masters is an adult fitness swimming program. We cater to adult fitness swimmers, adult competitive swimmers, tri-athletes and adults who want to be any of the above, but just don’t know it yet. The program offers eight organized swimming sessions each week offered in mornings and afternoons. Masters practices are professionally coached, emphasize endurance and stroke technique, and a positive group effort with other motivated adults.

New RICE Pool

Here is a little video from a recent visit to the new Rec Center at RICE. The video is a little shaky and grainy but gives an idea of how much space we are going to have. Enjoy.

New 50 Meter RICE Pool from Jason Wedlick on Vimeo.

Nothing Postpones TAGS !!!

Looks like a chemical fire that shut down most of Bryan and College Station can't even stop TAGS !!!

“The Big Deal About SwimSuits”

by John Leonard,
Executive Director, American Swimming Coaches Association.

Over the past 18 months, the swimming world has been a frenzy of controversy over the emergence of technology in swimsuits. At the recent World Championships in Rome, the constant and overwhelming refrain about suits, echoed the volume and intensity of the last time we were in Rome for a World Championships, when the topic was doping....drugs distorting our sport...in 1994. Fifteen years later, the emotional topic was the new high tech suits that have swept through the sport from the World Championship level down to the local park district championships in the summer league. The parallels were impossible to miss.

FINA (the international governing body of swimming), in an unprecedented move at its Congress in Rome, banned the use of all “non-textile” materials from suits beginning in 2010, and limited the coverage of the body to “knees to navel for men” and “knees to shoulder straps” for women. 168 nations voted in favor of the restrictions, against a mere 6 in opposition (who apparently did not understand the word “textile”.) This in the face of strong opposition to the move by the sitting President and Executive Director of the FINA organization. Amazing and never seen before. The USA delegation initiated the restrictions and led the opposition. Why such a strong reaction in opposition to the existing plastic and rubber suits?

A parent new to the sport, from a middle class background, might well say “hey, why not? Technology marches on! Equipment gets better. Why not let my son/daughter wear one of the fancy new suits and swim faster?”

Its a valid question that requires a thoughtful answer. Here it is.

The answer revolves around two words, with of course, a considerable amount of “side data” that adds to the intensity of the discussion and the strength of the resolution to end the problem worldwide.

Those two words are “Maximizing” and “Enhancing”.

Quality lane lines “maximize” the opportunity of the athlete to swim fast, with minimum turbulence in the lane. (you should have seen the waves in the pool back in the 60’s and 70’s.)

Good goggles allow the athlete to see the turns, see their competitors, and comfortably compete -- to say nothing of allowing them to train hard for hours which was impossible in the chlorine pool without goggles and in the old days, yardage and performance was a fraction of what it is today. Goggles Maximize the opportunity of the athlete to work hard.

Evolution in coaching techniques in training and biomechanics allow the athletes to Maximize their ability to benefit from their time in the sport.

Swimsuits, up until approximately the year 2000, and certainly until early 2008, were designed to maximize the opportunity of the athletes to go fast. The manufacturers designed suits to “get out of the way of the water”. Less suit, less friction with the water, less drag, tighter fit, and better materials MAXIMIZED the ability of the athlete to perform to their highest earned level.

Beginning in 2008, manufacturers took advantage (and must be applauded for doing so, within the existing rules, which were close to non-existent) of the idea of designing suits to ENHANCE the ability of the athlete to swim faster. A line had been crossed. Designed suits incorporated plastics, rubberized material and new design criteria, to enhance the ability of the athlete to be buoyant in the suits (riding higher makes you faster), wrapped more tightly (compressing the “jiggly parts” makes you MUCH faster) and shed water from the plastics and rubber materials much more effectively, thereby reducing the drag of the suits remarkably.

Since February 2008, 158 world records have been set by elite athletes. Their ability to perform has moved from being “maximized” by their swimsuits, to being “enhanced” by their swimsuits. This rate of improvement is absolutely farcical in the historical context of over 100 years of our sport. At the world championships, new world records were receiving polite applause akin to the “golf clap” for a good shot, rather than the historical roars of appreciation that a swimming crowd used to provide when a human barrier went down, as it infrequently did, by great athletes at the peak of their power.

How does this translate down to the local pool?

Pretty simple. The manufacturers don’t make any money by selling suits to the elite athlete. They give the suits away to them. They count on age group swimmers watching the “big guys” and wanting the same suits and equipment.

And lo and behold, the same miraculous benefits accrue to 12 year old Sam and Samantha when they put on the “magic suits” in their local championships. The time drops are miraculous, the smiles are, literally, “priceless” and child, mom and dad are all happy.

“Wait a second. That suit just ripped. Wow. How did that happen? How much did it cost? Wow! You paid $500 for a suit that Sam just put his foot through, rendering it a $500 broken garbage bag? Uh-oh., well, honey, get him another one. We can’t have Joe Jones’s son Pete beat him in the 200 free tomorrow.” Teeth Grit. “This is a kids sport? We now have $1000 in suits so far”.

And of course, all those magic benefits only last 7-15 swims, so good for maybe 2-3 meets, unless it’s a championship and your child swims 6 events and makes finals in all events, in which case its $500 a meet.

“Let’s see, $500 a meet, we go to 2 meets a month, 10 months of the year....Honey, it’s gonna cost us $10,000 Just for Samantha’s suits this year!”

Well, the solution is simple....just wear the suits for the championship meet and wear your regular suit the rest of the time. OK. Good.

But, Samantha’s 58.5 100 free with the magic suit on, just became a 1:02 100 free with the old suit on. Smiles gone. Gone. From Samantha, from Mom. From Dad. Oh well.

And of course, there are some other objections as well.

First, the magic suit deal is like paying for your child to have instant improvement. Is that what you want your child to learn from the sport? Or do you want them to learn to persevere, EARN improvement with hard work, attention to detail, paying attention to the coach and, shall we say it again...”Working Hard?” Or do you want them to learn that you can always “pay your way” with cash to what you want?

“Earn it, or buy it.” Which do you want to teach? Answer carefully, parents.

Second, the suit does not affect everyone the same. The thin, fit swimmer will benefit marginally by it. The overweight swimmer will swim like a young seal in it. Spending the same $500 on two children will yield radically different results. Not a fair competition at all. Is that what anyone wants?

Third, and it seems unnecessary to say this, but if you just buy 3 suits a year, that’s $1500 or MORE. (Today, purchasing one of the great European suits online from the US will cost you $900...with no guarantee of fit, durability or return-ability, and about 30% of them RIP on the first attempt to put them on...no refund, folks.) Do we really want age group and high school swimmers to have to spend that kind of money to BUY success rather than work for it? It doesn’t make our sport a middle class sport, it makes it a sport for wealthy families.

Are you pooh-poohing that? Wait till your son or daughter gets beat the first time by someone whose mommie or daddie could afford a more expensive piece of plastic and rubber than you can. The bitter taste in your mouth is not fun. Not much in the way of “sport” there.

So, in answer to the local official who asked, “Why are “they” [FINA officials] wasting time with worrying about THAT? Don’t they have better things to do?”

The answer is “NO.” The suit debacle is the most important thing that any of us can attend to. It preserves the heart and soul of our sport....which is reverence and appreciation for the hard work, attention to detail, courage and teamwork required to be a fine competitive swimmer and to learn to succeed with those life-skills instead of with your Daddy’s wallet.

The Congress (not the Ruling Bureau) of FINA took the rules into their own hands after the Bureau had time and again failed to establish the rules necessary to keep our sport vital, credible and important. Bravo for them.

All the Best,
John Leonard
jleonard@swimmingcoach.org

Goodbye Body Suits .... Hello Old Suit ????

Here is a link for the updated info on the 2010 Fina suit rulings. Looks like swimming is going back to the tangibles of the sport and not economics. Heres to not seeing a 12 year old boy in a shoulder to knees body suit at B and Under Champs !!!