Head Coach Update 01/04/08

Glenrothes Spring Meet

Some pretty good swims were achieved at this meet culminating in the attack by the two boys, Ben and Jack, on the 100 free time.  Both boys were next to each other in the same heat and were very close indeed at the finish, Ben posting 1.00.11 and Jack 1.01.97 Very good indeed.

Ben was a little narked to say the least at just missing breaking the minute again by 0 .1 and just hardens his resolve to go under the 60 sec. mark.

In Jack's case he was very annoyed indeed even though this was a three second PB as his goggles were not right and his dive was a bit of a mess so all goes wll for breaking the minute then!!

The girls swam reasonably well although I know Katrina who posted 1.14 on her fly and 1.05 on the free can go quicker.  Caitlin had a major mishap in her 100 free however neither of these are a real problem and can be sorted easily.

Cumbernauld Open Meet

Jack took the Team record for 50 free by posting 28.69 and is now well on target for attacking the 60 second barrier for 100 free.  He also had to wait till the very last event for his 100 back swim and went 1.09 not bad at all!!

Katrina was again suffering a bit and is by no means 100% well at the moment, however she rallied in the afternoon session with a fairly good 100 backstroke swim posting 1.16.  Katrina just failed to go 29 on her 50 free however she did admit to being a little slow off the blocks so I have no doubt that the 29 will come very soon. We have now, between us, identified some areas that need a little attention on her free and fly and will work these through over the next few months.

Caitlin had a very good day posting 3PB's.  She came fourth overall for her age group in the 400 free posting a 5.17.  Caitlin then won gold in the 100 backstroke by achieving a 1.16.  The afternoon session saw her make the final of the 50 fly posting a 35  in her heat. In the final she went even faster and posted 34.65 taking the bronze medal. After two years of struggle she is now back to form and swimming fast. All credit to Caitlin for digging in and working through the disappointments of seeing her times go up instead of down when all around are posting pb's.  This can be soul destroying for any swimmer and some do not recover from this.

The swimmers thoroughly enjoy these away trips to these new meets in the west and to be honest they are a bunch of nutters - they are absolutely brilliant and enjoy each others company immensely.

As usual the banter between them was tremendous as they are on a different planet, however it is a pleasure to coach them as the team spirit is fantastic and priceless.

All have expressed an interest in returning to this venue later in the year and REN96 is apparantly a must also. This is great as we seem to perform really well at these away events

The hard work put into setting up and stabilising a new team is really paying off at last and Susan and myself have noticed a measurable difference in the training.

Our recruitment policy is also working and with Susan now having a development lane means that she can finally get down to coaching the wee one she has always wanted.

Keep up the good work and most of all the team spirit.