I read an article in early 08 which was actually a transcription of Chris Davis’ speech at the ASCA World Clinic in 2007 (Chris is the founder of SwimAtlanta and is a true coach among coaches). In his speech he was discussing the training regimen of Amanda Weir. It was a great speech and one particular section caught my eye. Recently I referred to a section from this very speech in an article on Dynoswim but with reference to the shoe training that Amanda did to improve her kick. This time the part I am referring to here is a particular section on walkup warmups. Chris discusses a time block in the 500 that Amanda just could not overcome (being unable to break 4:52 no matter what they did). So Chris decided to break convention completely and had Amanda do 16 100′s on 1:10 immediately before her race and then had her walk to up the blocks and go. She went a 4:46.

So, that part of the article has just downright intrigued the shit out of me because first of all, what balls. Second of all, what a GREAT idea. Especially for those swimmers who can not walk up to a block dry and warm but have to have all of their guns firing and have to be ready to just eat the laneline they are so fired up. So our own Coach Ellen, who is a tremendous 400 IM’er in her age group, was in the same boat this past year. Just up against a wall for her times and unable to consistently break 5:10. So this past Spring at SCY Nats, (I was unfortunately unable to make it), I called her up before her 400 IM and she says “so what is this surprise you have?”. I said, “you are going to make note of the heats and time it so that 13 minutes before your race starts, you are going to get in the water and do 10 x 100 on 1:10 sprint right before your race and then walk up and go.” Silence on the other end of the phone. I said “I am serious, you will do this and you will have your best time ever.” She said ok, went and did it, and sure enough, 5:01.

Now, as I have been taught, one data point does not make a conclusion. Immediately after Nats, Ellen had long overdue shoulder surgery so while she was healing she kicked for 3 months with shoes and the whole time I was dying to find out if this was an anomaly or was the real deal. Finally, this weekend was the New England LMSC Short Course Meters championships, or as I like to call it, the BU Mini Meet. There are team points and all that crap but the real deal is the PR’s. I decided to use this meet as sort of a throwaway meet for our swimmers because most were only swimming one or two events (their specialties) and so it would be a good time to take a risk to see how we were doing amidst all of our training. I decided a few weeks before the meet that almost all of the West Siders that were going would be doing walk up warmups, with a few exceptions (people who I knew did not need them). In every case, the feedback was tremendous. Not only were people dropping PR’s like it was going out of style, but people were going up to the blocks so focused and ready, it was really extraordinary to see it as a coach. I no longer have one data point, I have a dozen. They all point to the same conclusion. I am not a pioneer of this and most likely Chris isn’t either. It’s a risk and it paid off big time. But now I know…and this gives me a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding my swimmers.

Anyway, Coach Ellen not only crushed her 800 Free this weekend, she set a strong New England record and a meet record. We are very proud of her for this accomplishment. All of our swimmers did exceptionally well with some dropping not just seconds, but minutes off of last year’s times. Congrats to Della, Dan, Lynn, Mike, Matt, Clay, Dana, Edith, Ellen and Page, who, a year ago was sitting in a recovery room after knee surgery during this meet. What a comeback. As a coach, I am beaming with pride at their accomplishments and I know that with the small taper that we did and the walk up warmups and the training we are about to undergo this winter, 2009 is going to be a great year for West Side. I would also like to thank Krista and Helena for stopping by…you guys will get your chance at the SCY Championships in the Spring. Matt N…you too apparently…

Final times:
800 FR
Ellen – 10:19.92 (New England Record/Meet Record)
Page – 12:34.64
Della – 12:39.50
Mike – 13:06.75
Matt – 14:57.23
Dan – 15:54.30

200 FR
Ellen – 2:24.02
Lynn – 2:36.14
Della – 2:56.51
Edith – 3:10.94
Mike – 3:00.51
Dan – 3:47.80

100 IM
Clay – 1:12.46

200 BR
Edith – 3:46.72

50 BA
Clay – 34.80

50 FR
Mike – 38.30

100 BR
Clay – 1:24.09

400 FR
Ellen – 5:00.53
Lynn – 5:37.06
Page – 6:10.48
Matt – 6:52.99

50 FLY
Clay – 30.50

100 FR
Ellen – 1:04.35

100 FLY
Clay – 1:08.98

200 BA
Dana – 3:12.35

I have all of the time results posted in our West Side swimmer database but do not yet have the final places as they have not been posted yet by the meet director. I will post them up when I get them.

WEST SIDE!