Spring Start Up
With the warm spring approaching, the UCSC Sprint start-up was hosted as scheduled last weekend.
Despite there being just two sessions of swimming, the warm atmosphere of the race made all of the Dinos fully determined to compete and perform by showcasing their best. Many swimmers achieved their personal best times, as well as new provincial trials time and new championship time over the weekend.
The oldest TREX swimmers competed at the Spring Start Up and did a great job with some big best times, good race strategies and technique. For most of the TREX swimmers this was just their second or third time racing long course. Along with some great swims there was a lot of learning as well! Acknowledging the importance of warming up and paying attention to details (backstroke flags, touch pads, etc), as well as organizing their time between events (talking to a coach, drinking water, staying warm) are all aspects of competition that the TREX swimmers are improving on as well. Keep up the great work TREX !
12A had a great meet. Many of the swimmers competed in their "off" events and were crushing their best times. It was great to see the swimmers not only competing really well but also being strong at the end of their races. Throughout the season the group has done a great job in all the strokes, training each stroke daily. I was really pleased with the 200 and 100 butterflies. For most of the swimmers, it was the first time they competed in the longer butterfly races in the long course. There were some significant drops in breaststroke and backstroke events. The 12A swimmers are strong in all the strokes which is a great benefit for their future swimming.
12C had a great race at the UCSC Spring Start-up swimming meet last weekend. They showcased and performed their hard work for the practice in the past and improved by facing new challenges and stress during the meet. Meanwhile, 12C swimmers learned that confidence is related to committing to their practice every day. A big congregation of the 12C swimmers created the best time and dropped a lot of seconds, newly achieved provincial trials time (Austin Zhan, Andrew Li, and Luyi Zong)and provincial championship time (Labrini Melons).
12D did a great job at Spring Start-Up! Many best times to go around. Additionally, many of them swam their first-ever long course 200 IM, 200 Free, and 200 Back! 12D is becoming consistent in translating the skills and techniques learned in practices into races.
National group coaches were really pleased with the group being open-minded to trying new things. Swimmers completed their first-ever 200 IM, 200 breast, 200 back and 200 fly races with great attitudes and efforts! National group swimmers really went outside of their comfort zones and swam some unfamiliar races, many of which were the first time ever completing them in competition. Some really surprised themselves with how well they performed in these "off events". Lots of fun was had in this meet to kick off the last cycle of the season!"
The Prov Squad worked to get outside their comfort zone as well this past weekend with some races that don't happen every weekend. Swimmers leaned into the challenges and were brave in their racing throughout the two sessions. Our favourite swims of the meet were the 200 fly heats featuring Macy, Brooke, Addy, Tjais, Youcef, Daniel, Austin, and Matthew. This weekend was a great step towards the end of the season and we are eager to get back to work.
Regional had some big swims at UCSC Spring Start Up! Lots of best times all around and one new provincial trials time. Paula Clements' hard work paid off and she got a new trial time in the 50 Free. Josselin Dyck and Georgia Leggett got best times in all of their races this weekend. The technical components we have been working on got to be showcased this weekend and it is exciting to see the overall improvements. Great work Regional!