Some kids love to compete and others do not. One personality is not better than the other. As coaches, we like to see our swimmers at meets because it allows us to look at their skills and see how well they are developing. We can see things that we need to be working on in practice. Meets serve the same purpose as tests at school. We don’t expect everyone to get an "A" on every test, we just want to be able to see how well swimmers are learning and how effectively we are teaching.

Parents (and swimmers) tend to judge a meet’s success on the times that a swimmer posts or the number of ribbons that a swimmer brings home. That is not at all what coaches are looking at, especially at the first meets of the season. LY coaches are looking at how well a swimmer is incorporating skills they have learned into their racing form. While you may be on the sidelines yelling for your swimmer to go faster, we may have told them we want them to slow down and really concentrate on breathing every third stroke or to remember to stay on their back on backstroke all the way to the wall. We will concentrate on technique so that your swimmer will develop into a fast swimmer who has proper mechanics. In younger age groups you may notice that the biggest kid gets to the wall first because they are stronger and more physically developed. As swimmers mature and slow growers begin to catch up with early bloomers in terms of size, swimmers who have proper mechanics will experience more success in the pool.

These first weeks of practice we will be teaching swimmers lots of drills and working slowly to instill good habits before we start picking up the pace to build endurance. Please be aware that at the meets, we may be asking your swimmer to concentrate on technique rather than going fast. Please support your swimmer by being proud of their efforts, their willingness to participate, and don’t focus on the speed with which they swim. Our goal at LY is long term success in the water. As the season develops, so will your swimmer and hopefully their progress will continue over many years.

Soon you will receive Top 16 Based time standards (look for them in the heat sheet of our first meet).. For those of you who are experienced swimmers, you should know that USA Swimming now releases new standards every four years. The starred* times on your new standards are all times that have become faster since the last chart was produced in 2001.

For those of you who are new to year round swimming, these time standards help USA Swimming and state swimming organizations manage meet size as well as develop appropriate meets for swimmers at all levels. It is important to note, the time standards in the summer LAL have nothing to do with the time standards that we use that are produced by USA Swimming. While the LAL uses their standards for the same purpose that USA Swimming uses the standards, the LAL is creating its own standards and they have no correlation to the time standards that you will see used in year-round swimming.

Swimmers use the standards to set goals for themselves as they compete against the clock. First a swimmer will try to achieve a "B" time in an event and then will progress up the chart to a "BB" time and on to an "A" time and all the way to a "AAAA" time and, perhaps, even a Top 16 time. These time standards can be quite useful and also motivational for all swimmers. However, just as with other aspects of the sport, time standards and progression along the time standard chart needs to be kept in the proper perspective.

The national time standards that are most commonly used and that you will receive are based on Top 16 times. That is, each standard is a percentage of the 16th fastest time EVER swum in that particular event. A "AAAA" time is a percentage of the 16th fastest time and a "AAA" time is a percentage of that, and so on as the time standards ease down to "B" times. These standards were developed to be stepping stones to Top 16 times and as a consequence, everyone’s performance is being rated against the fastest kid of ALL TIME in the country in each event. In the younger age groups where different rates of development particularly affect a child’s performance, the standards were most likely set by kids who had physically matured quickly. In other words, a 10 year old the size of Coach Hank! As a result, for the average kid, achieving an "A" time is more difficult in the younger groups than it is in the older groups where everyone’s growth and physical development begins to even out.

So don’t panic when you look at the time standards and you discover you aren’t even on the chart. Don’t panic when you go to your first meet and you STILL cannot get on the chart. These standards are GOALS to be achieved and achieving success can take time.

In addition to the Top 16 time standards, there will also be other time standards to qualify for particular meets. Virginia Swimming will have time standards for each event at the Age Group Championship and the Senior Championship meets. There will also be time standards for sectional meets, Y Nationals, and for higher level meets as well. On the other hand, some meets will require that you NOT have achieved certain time standards. Please ask if you need any clarification as we begin to innundate you and your swimmer with these different standards.

Every year when we start the practice season, several parents ask about whether they should stay at the pool during practice. Mostly, people want to be sure that we don’t think they are just abandoning their kids. In fact, we would prefer that parents NOT remain on the pool deck during practice. Young swimmers especially will often become confused about whether they need to be listening to the coach or talking to their mom about something. Sometimes a parent may actually become confused and want to give their child instruction during swim practice. It is generally easier on everyone if parents drop their children off and allow the coaches to establish the best atmosphere for the kids to stay focused on their swimming. The Wyndhurst area has great shops and sidewalks for walking if you want to stay close and perhaps get some exercise, or even better yet, become a Y member and make use of your child’s practice time to hit the exercise bikes!

Following are the guidelines that we publish every year:

First of all, USA Swimming provides liability insurance for its member clubs. USA Swimming guidelines require that only USA Swimming registered members be involved with practices in any capacity to be covered by this insurance. Parents on the pool deck can be a distraction and jeopardize LY Swimming’s and your swimmer’s USAS insurance coverage. Please help us maintain a professional atmosphere.

Practice is like a classroom. It is a learning environment in which authority and discipline need to rest in a clearly outlined structure. In order to provide the most effective learning environment for every child, we ask that you follow these simple rules:

*Never stop to talk to your child during practice unless you have the coach’s permission.

*If you need to pick up your swimmer early, please notify the coach ahead of time and let the coach get the swimmer out of practice.

*Make appointments (by phone during business hours, not on the pool deck) to talk to the coach if necessary. The pool deck is not an office and it takes away from your swimmer as well as others if the coach is not allowed to concentrate on the job at hand.

*Support LY Swimming and the coaches in front of your swimmer. Talk about issues of concern beyond the ears of the swimmers - just like parenting issues.

*Always go to the source. In the unlikely event of a problem, attempt to resolve it first with your swimmer’s coach. If you feel it is unresolved, talk to TJ. Problems can’t be resolved through gossiping about them with other parents and they won’t get smaller that way. They only become another type of problem.

*Please call your swimmer’s coach, leaving a message if necessary, during normal working hours (10AM - 2PM is a good time to call, except for Hank who works nights and can more readily be reached from 4:30-6:30PM). Please do not call during dinner, evening, or weekend hours. Email is also a useful tool for contacting your coach.

As professionals, we as coaches ask only for the same respect and courtesy you would give to your children’s teachers. In order for us to be effective in our jobs, we need control of the environment in which we work and your swimmer does not need to be confused about who is in charge and making the rules at the swimming pool. It is best for everyone if parents are not present during practice time. As always, we appreciate your understanding and support.