“I Went To The Results Board To See How I Did…”
By John Leonard
Posted 6/21/10

        It was a great teachable moment.  Out of the mouths of young people come things that “set up” the coach for an opportunity to do some great education.
When an athlete came over to me and started with the sentence at the top of the page, here was my response.
“Really? You didn’t already know how you did?”
“Well, I was sixth the 100 fly and 5th in the 100 back and….”
“ No, really , you didn’t already know how you did?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, what did you do incorrectly in the 100 fly and what do you need to do to improve?”
“You said I have to keep my hips up on the back 50 and make sure I keep breathing every second stroke…”
“and so….??”
“Huh?”
“and so, THAT is “how you did”. Not the place. The place means nothing. I can take you to plenty of swim meets where you can finish first….and can take you to even more where you’ll finish dead last……where you finish depends on what others have done, not on how you have done…..You need to measure two things…your time versus your best time (which is you against the previous best you) and how you did compared to the assignment I gave you before you headed for the starting blocks. How was your time?”
“Well, I don’t know, I never swam long course before.”
“Of course you haven’t, so now you have a time to measure yourself against…congratulations. And do you need a results board to tell you how you did?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Don’t guess. Know that you don’t. If you go to the blocks with clear goals, you know how you did without anyone else needing to tell you. You can evaluate the race for yourself, and “know how you did”.
“So what is the race for?”
“Two things…first, it’s always easier (and more fun) to swim fast when you are racing someone next to you. And second, as you mature, there is a purpose to “winning races”, but in the developmental stage, it’s a terrible way to evaluate yourself…….racing is stimulation, not measurement of you as an athlete, a learner, a person….anything…..Enjoy the race, but measure against your own best self.”

Please everyone take that lesson to heart and mind.
All the Best, Coach John

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Geena Squartino (14) won the 1650 free at the Florida Gold Coast Junior Olympic Championship and finaled in the 100, 200, 500, 1000 freestyle events as well as the 400 IM. Congratulations to Geena. Geena will be a freshman at North Broward Prep in the fall!
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JO Championship Meet

Parental Education:
Pre and Post Race Conversations with Athlete

Training Versus Learning

SwimFast Swim Team Adding a Location

Learning to Prepare for the Best

Persist Without Exception

2009-2012 Florida Gold Coast
Junior Olympic Times Standards

Outstanding Improvement

Why Choose SwimFast Swim Team for Your Child?

I wanted to check times from three ladies who very consistently attend practice to see their rate of Improvement.

Here’s what i found from the USA Swimming Database:

Geena Squartino:

100 yard free – 105.2 best time on 2/07, 59.5 best time today.

100 Meter free – 111.1 best time of 5/07, 106.6 best time today.

200 yard free – 2:18.52 best time on 3/07, 2:09.23 best time today.

200 Meter free – 2:32.88 best time on 5/07, 2:21.30 best time today.

400 Meter free – 5:44.00 best time on 7/07, 4:56.54 best time today.

1500 Meter Free – 19:55.06 best time on 6/07, 18:57.43 best tome today.

Amy Kranz:

100 yard free – 1:12.05 best time on 1/07, 1:04.51 best time today.

100 Meter free – 1:18.61 best time on 5/07, 1:11.52 best time today.

200 yard free – 2:33.56 best time on 2/07, 2:18.67 best time today.

200 Meter free – 2:47.03 best time on 5/07, 2:34.63 best time today.

100 yard fly – 1:26.85 best time on 2/07, 1:15.91 best time today.

400 Meter Free – No time in 2007, 5:15.38 best time today.

Ali Offerdahl:

50 yard free – 26.55 best time on 1/07, 25.41 best time today.

100 yard fly – 1:08.95 best time on 1/07, 1:04.36 best time today.

100 meter free – 107.3, best time on 5/08, 1:03.32 best time today.

200 Meter Free – 2:28.44 best time on 6/08, 2:20.43 best time today.

100 Meter Fly – 1:18.80 best time on 6/08, 1:12.2 best time today.

400 meter free – 5:26.47 best time on 6/08, 5:12.32 best time today.

These are outstanding rates of improvement ladies. It shows that consistent practice attendence and consistent practice effort and performance will result in outstanding improvement.

Congratulations Ladies! JL

Head Coach, John Leonard is one of the best recognized coaching names in World Swimming Today.

Widely recognized as one of the finest teachers of technical swimming (starts, turns and strokes) in the world, John has lectured to coaches in 44 nations around the world on teaching skills, training athletes and "coaching more than swimming." John's full time job is in leading America's Coaches as the Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association. A prolific author, John is recognized as a world-leading authority on training for athletes of all ages, sport psychology and swim meet preparation. John has coached part time in South Florida since 1990.

"The best part of my day is standing on deck at 5 AM or 5 PM, knowing that I am about to have the opportunity to work with young people to positively affect their real world lives and to help them become faster swimmers. I am lucky to be involved in swimming from learn to swim through the USA Olympic Team and on to the FINA Coaches Commission, which I am honored to serve. But my day to day coaching keeps me coming back to our wonderful sport for a renewal of enthusiasm and excitement. I believe swimming is one of the best sports in the world for helping a young man or woman evolve into an independent, mature person. I love helping parents in that process."

John Leonard: Full Bio

Where Do We Train?

We train in a 6 lane, 25 yard pool at the Soref Jewish Community Center, 6501 West Sunrise Blvd., Sunrise, FL 33313. The pool is "bubbled" for warmth from early December to late February, depending on weather.

The campus is located approximately 1/2 mail east of the intersection of Sunrise and University Drive on the north side of Sunrise.

During the summer, some of the team will also train some mornings in a community Long Course Pool.

The team is open to all swimmers of all ages

No doubt there are a variety of swim teams in South Florida for parents to consider for their child. It is important that a parent try to match their interests and that of their child to the program that will best fulfill their needs. Each program has different strengths and weaknesses. To understand what SwimFast is all about, you are asked to read the Vision and Mission statement.

The strengths of SwimFast are:

1. We provide individualized career planning and training plans for our athletes.

2. We provide the very best in technical instruction in strokes, starts and turns to our athletes of all ages. Swimming is a technique limited sport. You will only become as good as your attention to technical detail.

3. We offer a team that deliberately has a small number of athletes, so each athlete can benefit from individual attention. (We will top out our team size at 90 athletes... 20 seniors, 30 age groupers, and 40 novice swimmers in two novice groups... when we achieve that size, we will have the opportunity to join only via a waiting list.

4. We can offer detailed help in college selection and decision making for the older high school athletes, since Coach Leonard has personal relationships with most Division I and many Division II and III coaches. We want our athletes to swim in college and we work towards that end.

5. We offer swimming practices at the same time every day, 5-7 AM and 5-7 PM. This makes family scheduling possible. We offer from 11 to 3 workouts per week, according to the group you choose. Athletes attendance is individually determined in consultation with Coach John, depending on goals, interests, etc.

6. We provide our services for ONE FEE... paid monthly by the family, no booster club fees, no swimathons, no candy sales, no other irritating nickel-and-dime fundraisers. We charge a fair fee, and pay our club needs from that one fee. You do pay for swim meet entries and your annual USA-S membership fee.

7. Our aim is to help your child achieve all they are capable of achieving and are interested in achieving. We are not in existence for social purposes, though having friends on a team is important. We seek and support the highest levels of performances at all ages.

8. We believe the lessons of hard work, attention to detail, dedication, goal setting and personal achievement through effort are lessons well worth learning for every child. We live that everyday and reinforce it with the athletes everyday. If you believe the same, SwimFast may be for you!

SwimFast Meet Schedule for the July - December, 2010

July 9-11 – B Champs – Davie, FL.
July 8-10 – Sectional Championships – Gainesville, FL.
July 15-18 -  Florida Gold Coast Junior Olympics – Plantation.
July 23-25 – Florida Gold Coast Senior Champs – Coral Springs.

August 21 – 8 and under “Sizzler” – Lauderhill
August 27-29 – North Palm Beach Invitational.

Sept. 24-26 – Invitational – Comets –Pembroke Pines.

Oct. 9-10 – Sunrise Developmental Meet – Plantation
Oct. 22-24- Invitational – Coral Springs
Oct. 26 -30 – High School District Championships.

Nov. 2-6 – High School Regional Championships.
Nov. 5 – 8 and Under Sizzler – Lauderhill
Nov. 6-7- North Palm Beach – Developmental.
Nov. 11-13 – Florida High School State Championships.
Nov. 18-21 – FGC Winter Champs – Plantation.

Dec. 4 – Holiday Classic – 8 and under – Comets – Pembroke Pines.
Dec. 11-12 – County Developmental Champs – Coral Springs.
Dec. 10-12 – GATOR MEET – GAINESVILLE, FL