Hi all,

This is a big email. I hope it finds you well. Please spare some time to read and see comp1’s progression for the summer season thus far. Further this is a time to reflect on our direction for both training and competition leading into the rest of the LC season.

As you all know, this past weekend we travelled down to Canberra for our first of two summer championship meets (Next being in March/April). What a huge success for all swimmers who participated. The swimmers did a great job of acting professional whilst representing RCSC. Leading into the meet we had a huge emphasis on changing our mentality to begin considering your self as an elite athlete and not just another kid. The kids responded well to this and acted accordingly both as an individual and as teammates. As with any away meet, swimmers learn a lot of lessons in and out of the pool. It was noticeable how well each swimmer had a developing approach to their races mentally! This is a great skill that can be used for future races.

In total we had 14 swimmers from Comp1 compete in over 86 races. A standout performance for all, with a total of 14 individual race medals won (4 Gold, 5 Silver, and 5 Bronze) and a combined effort of over 82% of all swims resulting in a PB!!. The C1 swimmers include: Alyssa Azriel, Catherine Coutts, Noemie Denicourt, Maximo DiBlasio, Lilly Diskin, Ruby Etherington, Josh Fernandez, Omar Hussein, Montanah Owen, Will Reay, Adea Rexhepi, Chris Saravanos, Liam Vaneris, and Charlie White.

Some swimmers with 100% Pbs include:
Alyssa Azriel: Had a huge meet racing 10 Individual races and 2 relays over the weekend. Some stand out races for Alyssa includes a 9second PB in both her 200FS and 200IM, And over a 3second PB in her 50FLY. Alyssa’s efforts scored her an amazing 7 individual medals (2xGold in her Fly races, 3xSilver, and 2xBronze).

Alyssa and Ruby had a great race in the 200IM pushing each other to the limits with Alyssa just touching out Ruby and with a speedy time of 2:51.44.

Ruby Etherington: with a PB in all of her 7 individual races. Ruby produced a huge 6second PB in both her 200FS and 200IM. Ruby’s won a total of 4 individual medals over the weekend (2xGold in her sprint FS events, 1xSilver, and 1xBronze). One stand out swim to witness was Ruby’s 100FS when she smashed out a whopping 106.49!! Which is an outstanding effort for an 11 year old.

Montanah Owen and Adea Rexhepi both new into comp1 also produced 100% PBs on the weekend. With only 2-3 races each they both smashed out their individual events with a great focus on their race plans. Some stand out swims include: Monthanah smashing out a huge 15second PB in her 400FS and Adea dropping over 6second PB in her 100FS. Great job girls.

Other Achievements (In no particular order):

Chris Saravanos: This backstroke machine showed his strengths by dominating his backstroke events from his awesome 50BK sprint PB in the relay to his Open’s 200BK. Chris Scored himself a Silver Medal in the 100BK and also achieved a NSW State qualifying time! Another stand out swim includes his 14second PB in the 400FS.

Josh Fernandez: Producing a whopping 6/7 PB rate. Josh has only recently moved into comp1 and shown to be an outstanding member of the team. He has adapted well in regards placing other swimmers needs before his own! Some stand out swims for Josh include a huge 7second PB in both his 200FS and 200IM. Well done Josh.
Lilly Diskin: Also produced some great PBs over the weekend resulting in 5/6 PB rate. One stand out swim for Lilly was definitely her 100BK. Her under water work was phenomenal to watch while she smashed her competitors off both her start and turn!. Lilly also learnt a lot about her tempo when racing FS, which assisted her 2.5second PB in her 100FS.

Charlie White: Although not ideal with his preparation, Charlie had overcome weeks of sickness leading into this meet. Our focus was just to stay positive and race hard, which is exactly what he did. Some stand out races for Charlie include a 6second PB in the 200IM and a 3second drop in his 200FS.

Liam Vaneris: has an outstanding weekend with narrowly missing out on getting 100% PBs. There is no doubt that the stand out swims included all of his Butterfly events from the 50m – 200m. Liam narrowly missed out on a medal in the 100FLY however scooped up a Jnr State QT set up for next march!

Catherine Coutts: smashed her PBs over the weekend. Evidently her FS events showed the biggest drops with her 400FS slashing her PB down by 14seconds and her 200FS down by 11seconds! With this being said who could miss her outstanding achievements in her Butterfly receiving a bronze medal for his efforts in the 100FLY!.

Will Reay: Proved tough by producing PBS in some of the biggest events held over the weekend including the 200FLY, 200FS and 400FS. His efforts helped him in achieving a state age QT in one of my favourite events, the 400FS with a whopping time of 5:08. He is one of a small group of swimmers who have achieved this achievement under my coaching.

Omar Hussein: Dominated his 200BRS with yet another huge PB from his previous PB that dropped 7seconds only 2 weeks ago at Metsea. His attention detail on his stroke has worked for him and now he is less than 4 seconds off making his first national age cut! Some other stand out swims includes his 7.4second PB in his 200FS and 3second PB in his 200IM.

Maximo DiBlasio: Although we didn’t achieve many PBs over the weekend Maximo can walk away with his head held high! His approach to his racing was held with upmost respect when producing a fantastic 100FS with an astounding time of 1:08.32. One reason for why this race stands out to me is the level of focus he had set for himself in competing with fellow teammate Omar. The two boys motor mouthed leading into the race and the outcome resulted in producing the exact same time even though they were in complete different races and different age groups.

Noemie Denicourt: Proved strong in her Breastroke events with some big PBs. Some stand out races for Noemie include her 200IM and 100FS in which she produced over 2second PBs in both events. Noemie learnt a lot from the weekend in regard to keeping myself involved with her race plans prior each of her events that seemingly helped her out for some of her final events.

All in all the swimmers had a great weekend with some amazing results. As a coach I can truly say that I am proud how the kids conducted themselves as athletes and not merely as kids. All swimmers displayed a level of professionalism with their behaviour and performances and produced some amazing results to coincide. I look forward to the future of our squad with some great talent coming through the ranks to contest with some existing strength.

Regards,

Jared Goldthorpe

Location

canberra