Worcester County Relays & 100IM Champs

[BigRed]

Did anyone out there attend this meet last Sunday? It was my first coaching exposure to a county event & it made me realize how far we have to go as a team. We scratched together a team of relays (we were in 11 of 20), but we got creamed every time out. The kids swam their best, but it seemed like every other club, especially the big ones, had county-level swimmers on each leg of the relays. I think losing is a component of learning how to win & we learned a lot.

But what I consider one of the dopiest things I've ever seen, happened there. There were 152 girls & 117 boys in the 100IM (we had one 10 yr.old girl). Qualification was done by age group, but there was only one, Open finals heat & champ! I thought I was seeing things. All of these kids swam - 26 & 20 heats respectively if all swam - with only one final heat & one champ. Not only did this make a miserable day (the temperature in the pool was bad enough, but the organization was just as bad) longer, but what about the younger kids who swam with absolutely no chance of getting a medal or place in their age group?
I asked one of the officials who told me that since the ASA doesn't recognize the 100IM, it's not included with the regular county championships, so they throw it in at this meet. And the reason for only one "Open" champ is that there's only one trophy & that's the way it's always been! Again, speechless. Am I missing something?

[Phil Tanner]

I asked one of the officials who told me that since the ASA doesn't recognize the 100IM, it's not included with the regular county championships... Am I missing something?

You're missing that the ASA recognizes the event to the extent 60 swimmers from Worcestershire, 35 female and 25 male, are listed in its online rankings for the 100 IM.

[BigRed]

You're missing that the ASA recognizes the event to the extent 60 swimmers from Worcestershire, 35 female and 25 male, are listed in its online rankings for the 100 IM.
Guess I should have known better than to take the word of an official!

[NotVeryFast]

...we got creamed every time out.....we learned a lot.
Has this changed your views at all on the importance of technique work vs conditioning work in training?

[BigRed]

Has this changed your views at all on the importance of technique work vs conditioning work in training?
Nope. Since we only currently have 5 hrs. of pool time there's no other sensible way forward. Any of the practice groups only have a maximum of 3 hrs. of practice time. Many of the kids only come 1 or 2 of those times, so "conditioning", which means getting in shape to you & many others, can't & won't happen. 1 or 2 practice sessions or 1or 2 hrs. of swimming a week isn't enough, under any circumstances, to get a swimmer "in shape". The swimmers we competed against are certainly doing that much swimming 5-6 times a week in most cases.
Technique is the only way to proceed. Most of these kids are in pretty good shape just because they're kids & lead relatively active lives. Couple that with the fact that they only swim up to 100m in races & it's a no-brainer. When we have more pool time & more practice opportunities, we'll still teach techique first & foremost, then apply that great technique to swimming harder & faster.