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.

Conference T-Shirts

The t-shirts for boys JV and Varsity swimmers & divers are in. You have to have all your equipment returned to get your shirt. Come see me in Driver Ed. office to pick yours up!

Pretty Amazing!

I just came across this and I think it's definitely worth some time. It's a lecture by Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University and titled "The Last Lecture". He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only given a few months to live. It's about living your dreams and is very moving, puts things in perspective. He gave the short version on Oprah. If you want the one he gave to the school, it's also on YouTube. Here is the link to the Oprah episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ya9BXClRw

He is Everywhere...

Even in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Hope everyone had a good Spring Break!

More Awards

Congratulations to Tommy Gilbert for being named to the IHSA All-State Academic Team. This is pretty impresive considering only 26 people were picked from over 500 candidates from around the state. Tommy and the rest of the All State Team will be honored at a banquet on April 21st in Bloomington.

And It Begins...Spring Version

In the immortal words of Coach Rebora, "let's play some polo"! The girls opened the season last night at home with an 8-5 loss against #13 Mundelein. I saw Coach Walker in the hallway and he said he was pleased with the effort of the girls and was real happy with the defense. The boys open their season tonight against Rolling Meadows at home.

College Confrences

Here are how some of alumni did at their conference meets:

Jason Choi/Yale - ECAC
Maggie O'Brien/Ohio State - Big 10
Nick Renold/Northwestern - Big 10
Trevor Stack/Tufts - NESCAC
Francie Szostak/Missouri - Big 12

Awards Night

Last Thursday GBN hosted the annual Winter Sports Awards Assembly. Good turnout, nice video. Steve Ioannou did a great job as one of the Senior Leaders/MC's. Montgomery obviously knows every cameraman at GBN! We had a lot of awards to pass out. Here were the recipients:

All-Conference - Michael Chen, Tommy Gilbert, Ted Grasso, Brett Heniken, John Montgomery, Jonathan Roby, & Michael Stryszowski.

CSL Scholar-Athlete - Tommy Gilbert, Stephen Ioannou, John Karalis, John Montgomery, Patrick Schulze, MATT Seanor, Michael Stryszowski, & Kristian Trakov.

MVP - John Montgomery

Diver of the Year - Jonathan Roby

Most Improved - Ted Grasso

Coaches Award - Tommy Gilbert

John Ward Memorial - Tommy Gilbert

SI Picture

This is the best one I could find. You see Vlad on the deck to the left and our parents in the stands.