Coulee Kids Spring Challenge Lethbridge - Recap
Fifty plus swimmers, 4 coaches and 4 chaperones boarded the busses at 11 am Friday, May 3, and headed South to the windy city of Lethbridge. The annual swim meet had a mix of veterans and newbies for this travel meet. Having the opportunity to test your abilities to perform well without depending on your parents is a valuable experience. This not only helps you grow as a swimmer but provides you with skill development that aids in being successful in the real world.
From my experience, swimmers will make poor choices but always manage to lift their performances in these situations. The end result is a whole bunch of best times and some really tired swimmers. The more experiences they have like this the better they get at managing themselves in different situations. Travel meets are filled with lots of learning!
The first day of racing saw some outstanding performances. Many of the swimmers raced the weekend before at the UCSC Spring Start-Up and were eager to improve upon their performances. Racing back to back weekends can be so beneficial as swimmers have the opportunity to apply feedback to their races and make the necessary tactical and technical changes to improve upon their times.
As the times dropped, the confidence grew, and swimmers were eager to challenge themselves. This coupled with spending the weekend in a hotel with their besties made it a fun weekend for everyone.
The swimmers carried their moment into the Saturday sessions. The efforts remained consistent as their bodies got tired. They were quick to settle between the sessions. The energy level was beginning to change and returning to the pool for session two made the bus ride quieter. However, the swimmers warmed themselves up properly and continued to race hard.
Returning to the hotel the swimmers were excited for taco night. As they refueled their bodies, it was fun to watch them try and be excited and goofy - but that didn’t last long. The fatigue of the day's experiences quickly began to overtake their bodies, it was going to be a quiet evening on the 4th floor of the Holiday Inn.
Sunday morning… the tone was pretty somber. Lots of sleepy heads headed to the dining room. The chaperones were busy reminding the swimmers to pack their belongings and not leave anything behind. I’m amazed at how a swimmer can be walking and sleeping at the same time. It was a bit more of a challenge to warm up Sunday morning. It’s that internal struggle we have all faced at one point or another in our lives… The brain says get in and warm up while the body says let’s find a corner and just sleep. In the end, the brain gets the body into the pool and the body responds reluctantly. After warm up the brain takes its rest and the body takes over. The athletes' training was there to lean on and there were some unexpected fast performances.
Needless to say, the return trip to Calgary was quiet as many swimmers zonked and slept the whole way back. I’m sure the dreams were filled with fun memories of the trip and the anticipation of the next travel meet.
It’s important to give your body the rest and recovery it needs from a tough weekend of racing. Listen to your coaches and continue to train well. There’s lots more swimming to encounter this season. Thanks for a great weekend and we’ll see you at the next racing extravaganza.