Aaron Maszko – HTAC Head Coach
Senior Development Meet – April 28th, 2013

A welcome and new format to the first long course competition of the season brought many of the provinces best 13 and Overs together to Dalplex Pool April 28th.  HTAC swimmers had the opportunity to race five times over two sessions with their choice of events ranging from 50m distances right up to 1500m.  “Long course racing has a much different feel from short course”, professed Head Coach Aaron Maszko. “Long course competitions require increase efforts.  Swimmers record higher heart rates, and increased lactate levels than during short course in the same events.  It requires a good sense of rhythm, maintaining consistent stroke rates and propulsive kicking.  Efficiency is paramount.  To be successful at long course racing, swimmers don’t necessarily need to be the fastest swimmer in the pool, rather, they need to be the swimmer who can race with the least amount of energy wasted; the one who slows down the least as the race progresses.”

The first development meet of the year is often used by the athletes to shake off the long course racing rust and race events they don’t typically participate in.  With a decreased internal pressure of performance on the athletes, they can focus on employing new strategies and technical changes often resulting in some serious improvements in performance.  Hannah Reid exemplified this perfectly, reducing her time in the women’s 1500m Freestyle by a whopping 177 seconds (nearly 3 minutes!!!), finishing 3rd in the event.  Other major improvements in the distances came to Simon Law (73.11s – 1500 Fr), Bayley Young (27.57s – 1500 Fr), Alida Doelle (17.39s – 1500 Fr), Aileen Feschuk (13.57s – 400 Fr), and Sydney Archer (12.52s – 50 Fly???).

Often it can be more challenging to earn 100% best times in long course competitions because long course follows the short course season.  Swimmers are at their fittest during long course championships, sometimes following 11 months of training and racing.  There are the additional challenges of how to warm down effectively without another pool to use, and the long session lengths typically seen with long course competitions.  So, when swimmers can perform to their best performances in every race they do they should feel particularly accomplished and satisfied with their progress.  Six HTAC swimmers had 100% best performances at the Senior Development competition, so big congratulations to: Bayley Young, Hannah Reid, Theresa Short, Benjamin Rafales-Nordoff, Simon Law, and Geraint Berger!  Honourable mention should go out to Alida Doelle, who missed the significant multi-event marker by a mere 0.03 in the 50m Freestyle (after leaving during the middle of the meet to compete and win in a regional volleyball game, then return to the meet to finish her events).

Congratulations to all HTAC swimmers for their performance at their first long course test of the season.  We look forward to your results at the NIKE Spring Invitational and into the summer of 2013!=

Aaron Maszko – HTAC Head Coach
Junior Development Meet – April 27th, 2013

The first long course competition of the season has seen a welcome change from both swimmers and Coaches.  The annual Swim in the Tub held each year at Centennial Pool has shifted to a Junior/Senior long course competitive opportunity held at the Trojan’s home pool, Dalplex.  The Junior meet brought together some of Nova Scotia’s best 13 and Under’s to race in a single day format.  For many swimmers, recently graduated from NovaTech, this was the first time they had seen a pool set up for 50 meters per length let alone the first time they had raced like this!  Despite the drastic change, many felt the races went by faster because they had fewer laps to do, or that they were able to maintain their racing rhythm without turns getting in the way.  Congratulation to the HTAC swimmers who competed (or survived depending on how they liked the 50m format) in their first Long Course Competition! — Samantha Bezanson, Ethan Boyle, Emma Burke, Julia Connolly, Quinn Densmore, Andre Devine, Grace Earle, Sabine Ellison, Erin Jollimore, Oisha Karimzoda, Emma Kidd, Alexis Lorette, Amanda McCarthy, Shamus McMillin, Emma-Marie Morin, Mark Roache, Zachary Saunders, Owen Smith, Dylan Turner, and Clara Zwanziger!

“It’s great to see so many new swimmers learning the strategies associated with long course swimming,” commented Head Coach Aaron Maszko. “Short course (25m lengths) swimming is great to develop turns and speed.  But in order for swimmers to have an impact later on at the National level, they will need to learn to love racing long course.  Commonwealth and Olympic Games are only held in the 50m format.”

For many veteran 13 and Unders, the return to long course is a welcome change from short course, and a chance to race down previous best times from the year before. Ryan Webber, Skye Newbery, Victor Luu, Fares Kalai, Jade Hannah, Gizelle Francis, Nikola Doelle, and Madison Archer all swam 100% Best Times in the challenging single day format.  Jade Hannah had a particularly great meet, earning both the top spot and fourth spot for seconds off in a single race (42.26s off – 200 Back, 22.44s off – 200 Free), but also earning herself her third Age Group National Qualifying time in the 50m Butterfly!  A recent change to the AGN qualification, each swimmer who attends the competition must have three qualifying times in different events.  Congratulations Jade!  Rounding out the next top seconds off performances were: Catriona Somers (42.04s – 400 Fr), Hannah Estabrook (26.60s – 400 Fr), Emily Hare (22.32s – 200 Fr), and Madison Archer (17.90s – 200 Fr).

These swimmers can now look forward to improving upon these performances at their next long course opportunities, the NIKE Spring Invitational hosted by HTAC at Dalplex Pool, May 17-19th.