Hello, Loveland Swim Club, welcome to the first OFFICIAL newsletter!

Summer is here and the sun is shining! We have a lot of great things going on in our club. First, we are all excited to welcome our new head coach, Coach Marty. If you haven't had the chance to meet him yet, get ready! He brings a lot of great ideas with him and a ton of energy. If you get a chance, you should definitely go say hello! I am hearing he is making his rounds at all the practices! Second, we have had some amazing families step up to help plan some fun team activities. We have several things planned or in the works for our team, so stay tuned.

There are 2 other meets this month. The FAST June Bonanza in Fort Collins and the Grand Junction travel meet!

What a great time we had at the Berthoud Days parade! We handed out over 900 flyers and bubbles! Keep a look out on the website and in your emails for a sign up for the Loveland Corn Roast Festival Parade in August. We want to have a bigger turn out. We took notes on things we could improve on and hope to make a lot of fun additions to the next parade event!

Last, this newsletter is the first newsletter of many more to come. The Loveland Swim Club Board of Directors and Coaches, hope this will be a wonderful, new communication avenue to keep everyone in the loop of all the happenings within our club. You will receive a newsletter around the 1st of every month. It will be packed with information and pictures. I want to keep it fun and informative, and I really hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoy making it. I am also working on getting photos uploaded to a shareable space for easier access.

See ya poolside!

~JG

Just a QUICK Reminder.....there is NO practice on Thursday, July 4th! Have a safe and fun holiday!

Being back on deck with Loveland Swim club is a truly exciting endeavor for me. Having coached with the club over 20 years ago, I began my connection with the community of Loveland. Through teaching and coaching at Loveland High School and LSC I became aware of the history and tradition of Loveland as a premier swimming community. I hope to use the swimming history and tradition still present here in Loveland to energize the LSC to grow and evolve in the years to come.

As I get to know the club again and work to build a relationship with the swimmers and member families, I wanted to communicate my vision and philosophy for the coming season and future seasons at LSC. I am a believer in using swimming as a vehicle to build character, resilience, and adaptability in athletes and I also believe a swim club can bring together a community of people around competitive swimming in a way which benefits both Loveland and the Loveland Swim Club.

When it comes to swimming as a vehicle to develop athletes our goal is going to be to create a club where athletes begin their journey in Splash with stroke and skill work that sets them up to succeed and progress through our entire club structure. If built correctly swimmers should work through their age group career to finish in our senior group and move on to find success swimming for a college program or using their experience to succeed at whatever they pursue following high school. This will require us to build a technique and skill-oriented age group program. Our goal should be to build an age group program which highlights and develops the best strokes and skills in the entire state. That foundation allows for healthy progress as swimmers age and grow. Too much distance and focus only on yards and training will end up leading to developmental problems as swimmers progress through the age group (8-12 years) process. Long term success and development occurs in the most balanced manner when the training intensity is gently built upon a great age group foundation of technique. Swimmers are also more likely to remain energized and excited about swimming when this is the case. Once in the transitional period of the age group to senior level (12-15 years) you will see our groups begin to increase training, but in a very targeted manner. We will focus on quality yardage and race daily using the stroke foundations built in the LSC age groups to develop the next level of our team. Having highly skilled, race ready, and excited swimmers allows for a transition to the college level with the greatest amount of continued growth potential. College programs are looking for kids who are not over trained, have growth left in their physiological potential, and are still motivated to invest themselves in the final phase of their swimming careers. For an idea of the foundational values we are going to instill in the athletes in our program you can find them on the website under the “Swimmers Info” tab in the section titled “Swimmers Core Values”. In future newsletters we will be highlighting the individual ideas behind these values as connected to our practice/training process and competition development as well.

Building a club community will also be a focus of the coaching staff as we try to connect the older groups with the foundational younger groups. Some inter-practice events over the summer will be used and I know the LSC Board also has plans for some events in the future to bring together the parents and swimmers beyond the pool. The effort to build community at LSC will fall to each one of us and I know that volunteering for activities and placing an investment of time and energy into our club will be key for our vision of growth. I will remind the swimmers that what you put into something directly relates to how much you get in return and that also applies to the entire membership of this long-running swim club. The small, community-oriented swim club of the 1960s is in the past but if we all commit to making our swim club an improved and volunteer supported organization, we can create a new iteration of the exceptional swim team LSC began as.

It is time to roll up our sleeves and get down to making LSC a place where every member of the swim club family is a committed player in supporting the healthy competitive development of swimming excellence and competitive greatness.

John Wooden (The great UCLA basketball coach) placed competitive greatness at the peak of his pyramid of success, which he used to build a record number of championship teams. His definition of competitive greatness was not to “win”, in fact he rarely used the word when building his teams year in and year out. His definition of competitive greatness was “Being at your best when your best is needed. The enjoyment of a difficult task.”

Together at Loveland Swim Club I see this as our goal in the coming seasons, if we wish to make our club one we can celebrate. The task of growing our club in a healthy manner will be difficult and I hope this is a challenge we can all tackle together. When adversity presents itself, I would ask everyone to be at their best in that moment, because we are going to need that from every person on this team if we are going to reach the potential which Loveland Swim Club can achieve in the coming years. I am excited for this challenge and look forward to seeing you all on deck.

GO BOLTZ!

Happy birthday, from all of us at Loveland Swim Club!

Amita Suinn

Jeremiah Macias Mendoza

Brenna Otteman

Evan Phillips

Kate Irby

William McQueen

Lucas Avalos

Corinne Roberts

Vaughn Higgins

Lucy Medeiros

We hope you have a wonderful birthday! Thank you for all you do for Loveland Swim Club.

Congratulations on your graduation from the police academy. We are all so proud of you, Coach Tory! We know you are going to go do great things.

All of us at Loveland Swim Club want to send a special shout out to the Dads! Your love and support are the pillars of strength that motivate our swimmers to take the plunge and strive to unlock their greatest potential. Thank you all for your unwavering support!

What a fun Swim a Thon we had this year! We raised money, laughed, played games, swam A LOT, and ate some delicious food. What more could you ask for!? Thank you to every one of our swimmers who participated, and to all the parents who volunteered to make the day so much fun. Memories were made. We took note of things that we need to do differently, but we can't wait to see you all again next year.

Summer time is a great time to start thinking about setting your goals for the year.

SMART goals are an effective way of setting and achieving your goals. The S.M.A.R.T. in SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

These parameters can help you create goals that are attainable within a certain time frame. By doing this you can see a clear timeline of when you want to achieve your goal by making tracking your progress easier.

An example of an overall SMART Goal looks like this:

My goal is to (quantifiable objective) by (specific timeframe). I will accomplish this goal by (list the steps it will take to achieve the goal). Accomplishing this goal will (list the results or benefits of achieving the goal).

When sitting down to write SMART goals, start with ‘Specific’ and work your way down the list to finish with ‘Time-bound’.

S: Specific

For a goal to be effective and achievable it needs to be specific. You want your goal to be clear and well-defined. So, instead of setting a vague goal like “I want to swim faster by the end of the year,” set a more specific goal such as “I want to swim 100 meters in 1 minute 20 seconds by July.”

Setting a goal like this gives you a clear target of what you are working towards and allows you to track how you are progressing towards the goal.

Questions to ask yourself when setting a specific goal:

• What needs to be accomplished?
• What steps need to be taken to achieve it?
• Who’s responsible for achieving the goal?

M: Measurable

Setting a measurable goal allows you to quantify your goal, making tracking your progress easier and giving you a finish line to aim for.

A measurable goal should always include times and dates, to allow it to be easily measured. An example of a measurable goal is; “I want to swim 500 meters in under 8 minutes by December 2023” or “I want to reduce the number of strokes I take per lap from 50 to 45 by March 2023.”

A: Attainable

You’ve reached the attainable part of SMART goal setting, now this is the part of the process where you have to give yourself a good reality check. You want to ensure your goals are realistic and are not setting you up for failure from the get-go.

Aim for your goals to be challenging but not too far out of reach that they are impossible to achieve and you become disheartened when you can’t reach them.

R: Relevant

Making sure your goal is relevant to your current interests, abilities and what you want to achieve in the big picture is important. You want all your short-term goals to fit in with your long-term goals, so you can use them as stepping stones to achieving your long-term goal.

For example, a beginner swimmer isn’t going to set a goal of going to the Olympics within the next year as that is not realistic or relevant. Instead, you would set a goal relevant to your current abilities such as “I want to swim 1km in the ocean” or “I want to learn how to swim backstroke and breaststroke.”

T: Time-bound

Setting a deadline to achieve a goal is important as it will help you stay motivated and on track and know you want to try and achieve your set goal by a specific time.

For example, “I want to swim a 4km session in the pool by November 2023” or “I want to participate in a 2km ocean swim event by April 2023.”

By using the SMART goal framework to help set goals for the new year, you will already be one step closer to achieving them, no matter how small or large they are.

If at any point you feel your goal isn’t going to be attainable for any reason, then don’t be afraid to adjust your goals to become more realistic to your circumstances.

Don’t forget to enjoy the journey along the way to achieving your goals and be sure to celebrate all the achievements on the ride, no matter how big or small they are.

This information is from https://oceanswims.com/training/smart-goals-for-swimmers-how-to-set-and-achieve-your-swimming-goals/

As summer time brings rising temperatures, the need for proper hydration becomes crucial for everyone, but especially for swimmers.

This website had some great tips and tricks on how to stay hydrated.

https://eatswimwin.com/ultimate-hydration-guide-for-swimmers/

Are you a swimmer struggling to stay hydrated during practice? With the unique challenges of the sport, it’s crucial to maintain proper hydration to optimize performance.

Did you know that swimmers often feel less thirsty in the water, making it even more important to proactively drink fluids? Waiting until you feel thirsty means you may already be dehydrated.

A general rule guideline for athletes is to consume ½ – 1 fluid ounce per pound of body weight.

For a 150lb athlete, this is 75 – 150 oz per day.

HOW MUCH HYDRATION BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER SWIMMING?

2-3 hours before training: 16- 24 oz (2-3 c) of fluid

30 minutes before training: 8oz (1 cup) of fluid

Every 15-30 minutes: sips- 4oz (½ c) of fluid

After training: 16oz (2 cups) of fluid for each pound lost

I found this fun article and thought I should pass it on!

The swimmer and swim parent lifestyle is no joke.

Week-long competitions, full days at the pool, and a season that never truly ends.
From fashion to lingo being a swim parent is just as much about adopting the world of swimming as your kid.

Here are 12 of the things you learn on your way to becoming a swim parent:

1. The world is more than 2/3’s covered with water. Otherwise how to explain the never ending pile of damp towels? The wet suits hanging off every door in the house? The soggy butt marks on the car seat, the couch, and even on the dog? Your whole world is wet. All. The. Time.

2. If you close your eyes for just a few moments you miss your kid’s race. Only swim parents can understand the frustration of going to a day-long swim meet and missing the only :30 seconds your swimmer actually competed.

3. You learn a whole new language. “Heat sheets” aren’t a term for blankets. “DFL” isn’t a runaway football league. And you know that touching with two hands and not picking your head up at the finish is very important.

4. Your grocery bills explode. It’s shocking how much food kids can rabidly throw back. Which makes sense—they are growing and need the food things to help sustain growth. But throw in two-a- day distance workouts, plus the hyper-activity that comes with being a kid, and you find that Costco visits are becoming appallingly frequent.

5. The smell of Chlorine No. 5 is mostly dead to you. Everyone has a signature scent that they wear or develop that they barely notice it themselves. For swimmers and their parents it’s Chlorine No. 5. Fashionable in all seasons, it’s the scent that never goes out of style.

6. Getting up super early in the AM never gets easier. Some things you learn to accept in adulthood. Things like responsibility. Capitalizing letters. Eating your vegetables. But getting up at 4:45am to drive to a meet? Never gets easier.

7. Swimming is more complicated than it looks. The assumption is that swimming is a simple sport. Put on a bathing suit, swim to the other side of the pool as fast as you can. Boom. Done. But there is a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes, from the legions of officials, to the very technical aspects of technique and form.

8. There will always be that one parent who rules the timing booth. The timing systems at local pools can be fickle. Every once in a while along comes a parent who can “whisper” the glitch timing system. When you find this parent never let them go. Ever.

9. You get into the “swimming is a real sport!” argument with non-swimmer parents. When The Joneses kids don’t swim, and they give you a raised eyebrow and ask if “swimming is even a real sport,” it ignites a deep, incensed reaction. If only they saw the daily struggle.

10. You’ll wear many hats. From cheerleader, to pump-up artist, to shoulder to cry on, to everything in between, your little athlete will lean on you for support between races and practices. All they ask from you is that you are there for them on the days where they swim great, and the days where they swim not-so-great.

11. You know where to buy white pants after Labor Day. During meets where you strap on your official cap you know that this means getting decked out head to toe in white clothing. It’s a good thing you know the only store in town that still sells white pants during the winter. And you know which ones will dry fastest from all the flip-turn splash you are going to get on them.

12. The sport wouldn’t exist without you. Medals aren’t handed out for putting on a swim meet. Or volunteering for the whole meet when your own kid only swam one day. But there should be. Swimming, and the joys and fun and pains and dampness that comes along with it wouldn’t be possible without you.

So, thank you, thank you to ALL of our swim parents.

Do you have photos of your athlete(s) that you would like to see included on social media, or in the newsletters? Please email them to our social media/team photographer Jeana Graves at lscphotography23@gmail.com.

I can NEVER have too many photos! ~JG

Facebook: Loveland Swim Club https://www.facebook.com/#!/LovelandSwimClub

Instagram: search LovelandSwimClub https://www.instagram.com/

or visit our Website: www.lovelandswimclub.com

Don’t forget to give Loveland Swim Club a review on social media and on google. This will help us be easier to find when someone is searching for a great swim team!

***Please be reminded these are for positive promotion and entertaining purposes. We will not tolerate any negative comments or “airing of dirty laundry”. Let’s keep it fun!!

Don't forget to go get all your favorite Loveland Swim Club gear and clothing attire here https://www.swimmisports.com/collections/loveland-swim-club

Want to Become an Official? There are Incentives!

Want to help USA Swimming run consistent, high-quality and technically-correct competitions? Become an Official! For details on how to get certified, please click on: Becoming an Official (from the Colorado Swimming website).

Your family will earn credits towards your volunteer hours for the season.

If you would like more information about becoming an official, please contact any current official or one of our Board Members.

• If you need to speak to your child’s coach, please do so before or after practice.
  
• Make sure your swimmers arrive on time and ready for practice in the correct practice attire and footwear. Important instructions are often given at the beginning of practice.
  
• Encourage regular attendance. Coaches spend a considerable amount of time planning weekly training for their groups. Continuity builds skills and confidence.
  
• Model good sportsmanship at swim meets: be supportive of all participants, stay positive and encouraging, and remind your swimmer to shake hands after each race with the swimmers to the right and left.