2023 PCS Christmas Cracker
Last Thursday, 34 Dinos flew to Victoria to take on their last big weekend of racing for 2023.
Swimmers from the Provincial and Junior National Development groups were in fine form to race in the 2023 PCS Christmas Cracker. A fun meet filled with fast racing and tons of holiday cheer, Pacific Coast Swimming put on a great show for three full days of heats and finals.
Friday morning's session included timed final stroke 50s which means session one we were down to business. Friday and Saturday night included 4x50 relays to kick off finals, getting lots of Dinos in the pool and racing fast to start each session. The weekend let each athlete see their growth within the season thus far and many races had athletes reach outside the realm of what they thought they were capable of. There was an energy of great team spirit and excitement to race mixed with focus and determination to go after each race with smart tactics and tough racing. Over the weekend we had tons of best times, new qualifying times, exciting relays, and Dino spirit. A great showcase of our efforts and improvements to wrap up our 2023 racing.
Let's not forget to express our gratitude to some important people... three cheers for our dedicated chaperone team of Tanna, Xin, Tom, and Pavle!!
Some key takeaways from this awesome weekend:
1. Team travel is crazy fun, and also exhausting.
Who doesn't want to spend a weekend away with your friends racing?! Team travel memories are some of the best. It's also about figuring out what you need to stay well-rested and ready to race while you're away from home. Find out what deck snacks are staples in your life and ensure you can find those (or pack them) wherever you go, maybe you learned you need a sleep mask and ear plugs to make sure you're well-rested while sharing a room with someone, and most of all ask questions and communicate with coaches and chaperones anything you may need - we're here to work with you to create the best racing weekend possible!
2. Racing multiple events in a session is tough, but rewarding.
Some of the biggest meets of an athlete's swimming career may require them to get up and race multiple times within a session. The more an athlete can do this early in their swimming career, the more confident they will be that they can handle the discomfort and fully commit to each race when the big moments arrive. The fear of pain or the fear of not being able to put that second (or third) race together can be overwhelming to athletes, but we're typically more resilient than we think! Lean into the challenges as they come and be brave in putting together multiple races in a session for both prelims and finals.
3. Control the controllable.
Choose to let go of the things you cannot change: the amount of time you have between sessions, the temperature on the deck, what lane you're racing in, how crowded warm-up is, how other people perform. The things you can control? Focus on those. Things such as attitude, activation, the contents of your warm-up, how you react to results, and how you support the rest of your team.
4. Celebrate every win!
The perfect weekend does not exist. When you're racing 10+ times within three days, chances are there will be something that does not go to plan. Don't let the fumbles diminish all the great things we've got going on. Did you have an AMAZING prelims swim and then you just missed the even bigger goal you had in finals? Celebrate that prelims swim! Did you have a speedy first 100 but had trouble splitting the second 100 as you hoped? Celebrate the first 100!! Did you have an amazing first 5 sessions and found yourself exhausted making it over the finish line for the last day finals? Celebrate your great WEEKEND!
5. Reflect on all that you're proud of.
Whether we conquered all our goals, some of them, or are still working hard towards them, every swimmer can find multiple things from any weekend of racing that they feel proud of. Let's learn to love the process and enjoy every little adventure along the path to our goals. And after this weekend... there's surely a whole lot to be proud of.
Go Dinos!
