Troy McAlister was an easy choice for Greenville Splash Swimmer of the Year. Troy's dedication, perseverance and commitment to Masters swimming is exhibited daily. Troy has been swimming with us for about 2 years and this past year he made swimming an integral part of his life. He comes to practice regularly, attending 5 workouts per week at both Caine Halter and GHS. On days he travels for work and even vacations, he finds another Masters team to workout with and then communicates with our coaches to let us know his training. When Troy talks about swimming, you can see complete joy transform his expression. When asked why he swims, he says, "it is the one place where I can truly escape the pressures and stress of work." When he is in the water, he concentrates on swimming only. Troy loves to go to swim meets and this year he competed at YMCA Nationals where he won many medals and team points. Troy is always a team player by helping the coaches pick up relay cards, round up swimmers, organize and cheer his teammates at swim meets. He also helped to rebuild the pace clock at GHS. He has improved his swimming speed tremendously this past year and in the process lost 30 pounds by swimming alone! No matter how hard the workout is, Troy will challenge anyone to a 25 yard fly after practice. Just ask him, he loves fly! Troy is a business owner of McAlister Design Inc. and has a wife, Charlene and 2 grown children. His son Taylor also swims with Greenville Splash. Troy has an unbelievable enthusiasm for swimming which is highly recognized at Greenville Splash!

Starting Feb. 3 we are adding another workout to Caine Halter. Tuesdays at 6:00am.
This will help with crowding of the MWF workouts!
Come out and enjoy!
We are also wanting to add another workout at Caine Halter either mid mornings or another noon workout...let me know your preferences.

Can you name the strokes in the above picture? The catch is one of the most important parts of the swim stroke. And here is the catch!…The catch is almost identical in all 4 strokes. So if you want to improve your freestyle it is good to work on backstroke or butterfly and even breaststroke. The better you can develop your catch the better your stroke will become in all strokes. A lot of triathletes prefer to swim freestyle only and competitive swimmers spend time only on their specialty stroke. Take time in practice to work on your catch in all the strokes.

The catch is the first part of the stroke. When working on the catch make sure to create a position with the hand and forearm to work together and think about how the body moves over it. Do not pivot the wrist; this will keep the forearm horizontal. Do not pivot at the shoulder; this will have you lean on a straight arm and result in pushing down with no water going backwards. The hand should enter and move forwards without overextending. The hand should then travel downwards slightly into an effective position that enables the hand and forearm to push back on the water. Pivot at the elbow to make this happen and this will result in an early vertical forearm position. Keep your fingertips, wrist and elbow in one alignment as best you can once the catch begins. This position will give you a strong catch and a good feel for the water around the hand. A good catch will allow you to pull your body more effectively through the water. Do not just pull harder. If you use just strength and poor hand position then the hand slips under the body. The pull phase increases in speed so the hand movement is slow to fast in all strokes.

Are your 4 catch positions identical? If not make it your 2015 goal to improve your catch positions in all 4 strokes. Ask a coach on deck for help with developing a strong catch. Start working on your catch in all the strokes to improve your efficiency, technique, conditioning and reduce injuries.

By: Leslie Scott

Sat. Jan. 17
Starts and Turns Workout 10:45am at Westside Aquatic Complex. Cost $7.00.
We will have a short workout and then practice starts and turns. Then off to lunch at Carolina Ale House downtown.

Sun. Jan. 25
Starts and Turns Workout 1:00pm at Middle Tyger YMCA. Show the front desk your YMCA card and tell them you are there for Greenville Splash workout.

Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2015
Sunbelt Charlotte SCY Meet, Charlotte, NC
This is our big team event. We are team champs 3 years running! Help us to keep the tradition alive! Entry deadline: Jan. 25. No deck entries
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=234&smid=5932

Fri. Feb. 13
Greenville Splash Team Social for the Whole Family: Road Warriors Hockey Game
7:00pm at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Tickets are $9. Must call Courtney Vallette to get the group rate: 864-250-4926 and pay by credit card. Deadline to buy tickets: Feb. 11.

Feb. 20-22, 2015
SCY South Carolina State Championships, Myrtle Beach, SC
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1860&smid=6126

May 7-10, 2015
YMCA Nationals, Sarasota, Florida
You have heard the stories, you know you want to join us! Mark your calendar. This is fabulous news - We have 17 swimmers going so far: Sara Bopp, Amy Browning, Susan DeMere, Maria Elias-Williams, Stephanie Hance, Rick Haverland, Janice Hebel, Blake Leche, Carolyn Moore, Casey Oliver, Tiffany Ours, Susan Parsons, Cheryl Quinn, Pam Rogers, Leslie Scott, Tyler Scott, Warren White
Let Leslie know if you plan to join us, I will send you more details.

May 30, 2015
Lowcountry Splash Open Water Swim 2.4 and 5 mile, Charleston, SC

July 24-26, 2015
Dixie Zone LCM Championships, Greenville, SC

Aug. 29, 2015
Greenville Splash hosts the Upstate Splash Open Water Event at Lake Jocassee

South Carolina SCM Championships in Columbia:
We had great swims from Christina Jeffery, Troy McAlister, Will McWhorter, Carolyn Moore, Tiffany Ours, Kristi Panayotoff, Warren White, Leslie Scott and Mark Kothe.
Congratulations to following:
Carolyn Moore Dixie Zone record in 200 IM and 100 breast and state record in 100 fly
Mark Kothe State record in 100 free
Kristi Panayotoff State record in 100 & 200 back, 200 fly and 400 IM
Troy, Carolyn, Leslie and Mark: State record in 45+ 200 Mixed Free Relay
Tiffany Ours competed in her first swim meet!

January is a great time to reflect back on the past year and set goals for the new year. Greenville Splash accomplished so much in the past year. This was attributed to our marvelous coaches and swimmers. We won first place as a team in two big swim meets. We came in 11th place at YMCA Nationals with 17 swimmers. We had 8 swimmers go to an international swim event. Our swimmers broke over 40 state records and achieved many personal victories in swimming, triathlon and fitness. We celebrated our fifth year of being together as a team. As we go into 2015, I can only see a bright horizon. I look forward to more swimmers forming friendships and achieving a fun lifestyle of fitness through swimming. I wish everyone the very best in 2015 and lots of opportunities for a swim!
By: Leslie Scott

We are forming a Booster Club to help defray team expenses. Cost of membership is $50 and includes a Greenville Splash Performance Shirt (S - 3XL M/F). If you are participating in the Charlotte Meet and want to be a Booster Club member...we need to have your money and shirt size paid by Jan. 20th. Please mail your check and shirt size to: Greenville Splash, PO Box 606 Simpsonville, SC 29681 or give to Carolyn on the pool deck.

"Make a Splash in Life, Swim!"

Email: greenvillesplash@yahoo.com
Website: www.greenvillesplash.com
Location: Director, Leslie Scott
Phone: 864-283-1328
Facebook: facebook.com/gsplashmasters
Twitter: @gsplashmasters