Gone Fishin'

I'm shutting down until 2009. I just haven't had time to keep this up, hopefully after break, things will slow down a little. Here's a short recap since last post:
-Carrie Dinnelli almost finals in diving at State, girls get to swim 3 relays plus an extra 250 yards, almost miss showing of Twilight.
-Boys season starts, man we're young!
-Less practices + Less Yardage = More Pain? Go Figure!
-Swim #4 team in State, perform better than expected.
-Gustavo wins bet, doesn't stop interrupting for a week.
-Swim #3 team in State, perform well. Move Freshmen down to try and set a couple records, only set 1. Evidently, some were bothered by this. We didn't split any relays though.
-Finish 3rd at Sprint Classic, Slavin wins 25 fly, begins immediate petition to IHSA to make this an event at State Meet!
-Swimming against #1 team in State on Friday. We figured we'd start slow and work our way up. Nice scheduling genius!
-Looking forward to the Ted Mullin "Leave It In The Pool" Hour of Power Relay on January 3rd.
-Looking forward to a gondola on Saturday!

What a Difference....

A year makes. There was a different feel for the girls leaving the Sectional meet this year than last year. This year we stayed closer to home (but not home!) and swam some familiar teams. The meet started out on a high note, with Carolyn Bernhardt, Donna Szostak, Emily Heniken, and Gabrielle Bunney qualified in the medley relay. The same 4 also qualified in the 200 & 400 free relays. Here's the other neat fact. All 4 girls qualified in their individual events. Carolyn in the 100 back, Donna in the 500 free, Emily in the 100 fly, and Gabrielle in the 100 free. But there's more! Stephanie Horwitz qualified in the 200 AND 500 free. Not bad for her 1st Sectional meet. Also making a repeat appearance at State is Carrie Dinnelli in diving. The meet results can be found here.

A Queen, Her court, & A LOT OF $$$$!!!

I'll skip the apology for not posting more, just move on. Last week we celebrated Homecoming. While the weather and football game weren't much fun, the girls team was busy. Congrats to Laura Johnson for being named Homecoming Queen. Her majesty was not alone. Analiese Van Sparanken was named Junior Class Attendant and Jill Kawasaki was also on the ballot for the attendant award. Pretty cool seeing the girls recognized like that by their peers.

Saturday was also the day the girls participated in the "Hour of Power" relay to raise money for the Ted Mullin Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Chicago. Ted was a swimmer at New Trier and Carleton College who passed away in 2006 from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. The Hour of Power was one of Ted's favorite sets and colleges, high schools, and clubs have been participating in this annual event. The Hour of Power is a team challenge. The whole team is divided into relays, and the goal is to go all out, or Leave It In the Pool. The real trick is that all the relays try to stay on the same length and finish the hour the same way they started, TOGETHER! The girls did a great job and raised over $900. Here's the great part. Ted's father, Rick Mullin, was on hand and explained that the fund goes out and gets grants matching all pledges. It was a great time for a great cause and girls were awesome. A special thanks to Coach Wapler for helping to organize the event. The boys will be doing an Hour of Power in December, I can't wait! One of the motto's for the fund is "Cancer Sucks". I couldn't agree more.

For more information on Ted Mullin Fund for Sarcoma Research, click here.

Art Van Aman

I've been busy and haven't had much time to post. We did receive some bad news last week. Former GBN swim coach and teacher Art Van Aman passed away. Coach Van Aman was in his 80's and we haven't heard many details. He was living in western Wisconsin when he died of heart failure.

Most of you that read this probably didn't know Coach Van Aman. I'll put it like this, all things we have aquatic at GBN are due in large part to his work. He was head coach who started up an age group program for the community and was the 1st aquatics teacher at GBN. More than likely, if you grew up in Northbrook, you learned to swim from him.

That was Coach Van Aman, the teacher/coach. The man known as Art was a kind, kind person. He was a mentor and a colleague, but most of all a friend to many. I know how special he was to my family and we will all miss him greatly.

Weekend Plans?

Lots of swimming this weekend. On Friday night, the girls travel across Willow Rd. to take on GBS. This should be an outstanding, exciting dual meet. Hope to have a big turnout and see lots of green & gold in the crowd. The meet is at GBS and starts at 5:00pm. Following that, we host the Spartan Sprint Classic on Saturday (10:00 am diving/1:00 pm swimming). We need boys there to time at 12:30! GO SPARTANS!!!

Welcome Back!

Been a long time since I posted, sorry! Between the start of school and the girls season, it's been a little crazy. I moved into a new office that didn't have phone or data connections for the 1st week or so of school. Part of the growing pains of construction! I did get a chance to go the ASCA World Coaches Clinic in Las Vegas last week. It was pretty impressive, seeing all the coaches from around the world and learning some of what they do with their athletes. The funniest thing was walking around with Vlad. It's like traveling with a rock star, EVERYONE knows him! The funny thing is, I don't think they know his last name, he's just Vlad.

1st Meet!

The girls traveled to Stevenson to kick-off the 2008 season. It was a solid meet, with many best or near best times, and featured a LOT of exciting races! Although we lost on all 3 levels, it was a good learning experience for many of the kids in their first meet ever. The Varsity travels to Lyons the week for the Walker family reunion/battle and next week we go across Willow to face GBS on Friday and host the Spartan Sprint Classic on Saturday.

Sectionals!

The IHSA has released it's Sectional sites and assignments for the Girls' season. We will be taking our show on the road, this time staying in Cook County and headed to New Trier. The good news is it is a fast pool that the girls will compete at before Sectionals (Trev Relays). The bad news is, well duh, why are we not at home? Because I'm on the Advisory Committee, people ask me all the time about why GBN doesn't host the meet. My explanation is simple. The people who are making these decisions are the same ones who made bass fishing a sanctioned sport! Here is a link to the assignments.

Olympic Lessons

Our good friend, Rob Bond of Illinois Tech, started a thread on a message board about what have we learned from the Olympics. Let's face it, swimming is only on TV every 4 years and it seems that we get more kids trying the sport during Olympic years. And since this is the only time almost anybody sees the sport, they "pick up" some of the nuances of the sport. I remember back in 1992, we watched Melvin Stewart win the 200m fly breathing to the side and Mike Barrowman win the 200m breast with this funky stroke. Pretty soon, every 12 year old was swim breastroke, trying to recover over the water. At those same Olympics, we saw the U.S. dominance in the sprints broken by a Russian with a "slow" turnover. Back here, most thought of this stroke as a catch-up, or at least a 3/4 catch-up stroke. Next thing you know, coaches were telling their swimmers to always keep 1 hand in front on the freestyle and pretty soon, coaches were "creating" their own drill, the Popov. Well, we have 1st hand knowledge that isn't how that stroke was done.

So what did we learn? How did people go that fast? Here are my thoughts after watching:

Suits - They probably do have some effect. I think more in free/back than in breast/fly. But for $500+ and they only last a few wears, I'm not sold. I'm sure we will see kids who think they can slack off and get a suit and they'll still be fast. Maybe, but if you're counting on equipment to carry the load, in my mind your taking a risk. Besides the Speedo suit the U.S. wore was ugly.

Pool - Same as the suits. It was a fast pool, though. By the way, did anyone notice the lifeguards during the competition? They had the best seats in the house! I would have loved to seen one of those little girls try to save that big horse from France!

Turns/Finishes - WOW! How many races were won or lost on walls? Out of all close races, the only good finish by a Silver medalist was Dara Torres'. Katie Hoff has a good finish in the 400m free, she probably has a better meet. I don't think she recovered from that. Ask Mr. Phelps. If 2 people have better finishes, he's a 6 time Gold Medalist (still pretty good!). If I'm coaching Hoff, Bernard, or Cavic, I make them have a good finish on every set of every practice. I don't care if it's warming up or cooling down. If I'm coaching anybody who has to swim Mr. Phelps, I'm making them do great turns on every set. YOU HAVE TO WORK THESE CONSTANTLY!

Training - I'm sure people will hear how some of these athletes only swim about 1.5-2 hours/day. Well, how old are these athletes? Most of them are in their mid 20's and have been swimming for 15+ years.

I'm sure there is more, but it's late and I'm tired. And yeah, after all that, he is Mr. Phelps.

WHAT A WEEK!

I know I haven't posted in a while, but now we're back! What a great week, between the Olympics and the start of the girls' season, it's also been busy. The girls started the season last Wednesday and it was a good start. We got a lot or returners from last season and some quality newcomers. Should be another good season!

4 ALL AMERICANS!

I figured what better day to announce an All American award than the 4th of July! Our 200 Free Relay of Michael Stryszowski, Ted Grasso, Tommy Gilbert, and John Montgomery that went 1:27.63 at Sectionals were named All American this week by NISCA. NISCA recognizes the top 130 performances as All American and this is the 4th year in a row we've been recognized. You can check out the lists here. Congratulations guys, we are all very proud of you!

1 New American!

Vlad competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials last Monday. He finished in 81st place with a time of 1:57.68. Pretty impressive for an "old man" who trained for a little over 2 weeks. He said the whole meet was just awesome, very exciting. I've been to the Trials a couple times myself. If you get a chance go, it's an unbelievable experience! Anyway, congratulations Vlad! Any plans for 2012?

Vlad - An American Story

Our own, beloved Vlad became a U.S. citizen today! Passed his citizenship test/interview and took his oath all in the same day. No more threats to have him deported, he's here for good and we couldn't be happier. Next stop, Omaha and the Olympic Trials, the U.S. Olympic Trials!

Class of 2008

Graduation Day! 4 years, gone in a blink of an eye. Congratulations to Melissa Kolod and John Montgomery for winning the GBN Swimming & Diving Alumni Association Scholarship at the Awards Assembly and to Tommy Gilbert for being awarded the Spartan Sportsmanship Award at the Senior Athletic Banquet. Congrats Class of 2008 and good luck, stay in touch. HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

Chris Koeppen Update

Coach Koeppen underwent his 3rd (and hopefully last!) brain surgery last Friday. The operation was done out in Phoenix by a world-renowned surgeon and by all indications it was a success. They think they cleared all of the tumor and his prognosis is good! I will keep you updated as we learn more.

All Swimmers Unite!

ASU, used to be a school in the desert, now a rallying cry to save men's college swimming. Last week, Arizona State University dropped men's swimming along with 2 other sports. The number of men's collegiate programs are shrinking every year. If something is not done, and soon, I really believe men's college swimming will be gone in the next 15-20 years. This may also impact women's programs. It costs a LOT of money to run a pool. Are colleges willing to pay? We'll see. With ASU gone, the Pac 10 now only has 5 men's teams. The Big 12, only 3. The MAC lost so many teams, they've combined with the Sun Belt Conference. There is hope, people are fighting these cuts. A year ago Syracuse dropped their program and people fought like mad and it has been reinstated for at least the next 3 years! Here is a link to the site trying to save the program at Arizona State.

ASU = ALL SWIMMERS UNITE!!!

"If you want to swim fast,

you have to swim fast”. This is a quote from Jon Urbancheck, who used to be the men's coach at the University of Michigan and still coaches with Club Wolverine. Pretty simple idea, makes a
LOT of sense. I was at a clinic this weekend and learned a lot. Jim Richardson, women's cach at Michigan and also with CW, spoke about the the changing trends in training. I've been toying with the idea of changing some of the way we train. I really believe the days of pounding out yardage and hoping to drop time at the end of the year are gone. We need to work at thriving, not surviving. Don't get me wrong, we still are going to work, we are just going to be smarter. You want proof that this works? This weekend at Santa Clara, Peter Vanderkaay broke the American record in the 400 free meter(3:43.82-6th fastest ever) and Erik Vendt set the US Open record in the 1500 meter free (14:46.78). This was done about a month BEFORE the Olympic Trials. Can't wait to see what times are thrown down at that meet, when they're rested! By the way, Peter and Erik swim for Club Wolverine!

Sectional Water Polo

The Spartan Water Polo teams finished their seasons this week at the Sectional Tournament. The boys lost on Wednesday night to Evanston, 11-3. Brett Heniken led the way by scoring 2 of the Spartans' 3 goals. The girls ended their season Thursday by losing a heart breaker 11-9 to Prospect. Despite Emma Goldman scoring 7 goals, the Spartans' furious 4th quarter comeback came up a little short. If you want to see some good water polo, GBN is hosting the Sectional finals on Saturday. The boys game is at 12:00 PM, followed by the girls at 1:30. Congratulations on great season and congratulations to ALL OF OUR SENIOR SWIMMERS, DIVERS, & WATER POLO PLAYERS ON YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CAREERS! WE WILL MISS YOU!

The Times They Are-A Changin'

And they've gotten faster! This is the second year of the 2 year experiment where the State cuts are based on a 3 year avg. of the 24th fastest relay time and 30th fastest individual from Sectionals. After the 200-2009 seasons, the Advisory Committee will re-examine the process. THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL YET AND HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED! THESE ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS! Click here for the times.

Gilbert, Again

Congratulations to Tommy Gilbert for being named to the NISCA Academic All American team. Athletes must be on a varsity team for at least 1 season and have a GPA of at least 3.75 out of 4.0. Here is the link to the list.