2013 january newsletter

John Meadows,

Cristina Mercado,

Corey Nguyen,

Harrison Nguyen,

Thomas Ryder,

Grayson Schaefer,

Benjamin Scholl,

Bethany Selz,

Connor Shen,

Ella Smoker,

Savannah Stanford,

Levi Thome,

Alyssa Tran,

Hillary Tran,

Roland Wang,

Daniel Xu, and

David Xu.

We are all proud of you for your

efforts and making continual

strides in always getting better.

Hats off to the swimmers and

coaches on a job well done and

for your persistence in not giv-

ing up no matter what the situ-

ation. This turned out to be a

great winter champs season

and a thank you, also, to all the

parents and board that have

supported the FLEET program

by donating your time, support

of the entire staff, program,

and positive comments. It is

greatly appreciated.

Fleet spent last December at-

tending various levels of cham-

pionship meets. From Junior

Nationals in Knoxville, Tennes-

see to the 8 & Under Champs

meet held at Cy-Ranch High

School. One of the highlights

was the prowess of the 11-12

girls relay quartet of Sydney

Stanford, Mary Kate Williams,

Daria Erzakov, and Mikayla

Schnibben. Sweeping all of the

relays at Gulf Champs, their

400 free relay earned the sev-

enth best time in the country so

far this season. Congratula-

tions girls!

FLEET swimmers had many

outstanding performances at

this year's Gulf Age Group

Champs meet held at the Don

Cook Natatorium. We were

very proud of the swimmers

and their accomplishments.

There were many personal

bests that were posted. FLEET

had many swimmers who

moved their way up in the pre-

lim standings to make finals

and move up even further

when they got there. Some

highlights from a few of the

champs meets are as follows:

Gulf Champs:Gulf Champs:Gulf Champs:Gulf Champs:

Fleet placed 3rd overall. Car-

son Kaufmann was 2nd place

overall high point for the 9-10

girls.

Fall Champs:Fall Champs:Fall Champs:Fall Champs:

Fleet placed 1st overall. High

Point Winners:

Ally Duester- 9/10 girls

Tristan McKay- 9/10 boys

Anthony Sancho-Spore- 13/14

boys

2nd place overall high point:

9/10 girls: Nabila Arueta (2nd)

and Abby Kohl (3rd)

9/10 boys: Connor Gallagher

(2nd) and Stone Davis (3rd)

11/12 girls: Kylie Bennett

(2nd)

11/12 boys: Chase Gonzales

(2nd)

13/14 girls: Brielle Adolph

(3rd)

13/14 boys: Collin Joyce (3rd)

8 and under Champs:8 and under Champs:8 and under Champs:8 and under Champs:

Fleet placed 1st overall. In the

top eight in individual events

were

Nathan Bergeron,

Daniel Bittner,

Matthew Bittner,

Anna Bream,

Brenley Campbell,

Kaylee Coffey,

Justin Dao,

Venus Dao,

Ellie Devens,

Aaron Ervin,

Jasmine Hoang,

Heath Luebsen,

FLEET December Champs Wrap-up

Cy Fair Swim Club “Home of the Fleet”

Upcoming Events:

• New Year’s Classic (hosted by TXLA)

Jan 4—6

• 13 & Over Meet (hosted by HCAP)

Jan 5—6

• 12 & Under and 8 & under Meet (hosted by HSC)

Jan 12—13

• Speedo Greater Southwest

Jan 18—20

• Mardi Gras (hosted by Tiger Aquatics)

Jan 18-20

• Swim-a-Thon letter party

Jan 26

• 8 & Under Short Course Champs

Feb 16

Fleet Swimming and Fleet FIRST Swim School January 2013 Cy Fair Swim Club

Inside this issue:

Coach Jack 2

Swim-a-Thon 2

Coach Alex 3

Matt’s New Baby 3

Coach Dustin 4

Coach Ambar 4

Shaving Down 5

Toy Drive 3

www.FleetSwimming.com www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

I want to first thank all the Fleet

families that have made me

feel so welcome over the last

two weeks as I make my transi-

tion. It’s been hard

being without my

own family, but you

have made me feel

at home. Thank you

and I look forward

to the many years

ahead.

A tradition that I

truly look forward

to every year is

holiday training. I hope that the

staff here at Fleet will create a

tradition that will be like no

other in the country. I look for-

ward to a great 2013. GO

FLEET!

During this time of year when

school is coming to a stop and

families settle down to cele-

brate the holidays, reflection

often begins. Individuals start

to reflect on what he or she

accomplished in the year prior

and what goals he or she might

have for the upcoming year. In

many cases this involves

change. To make a

change or to adopt

new resolution

usually means an

individual has to

make sacrifices to

make this happen.

It’s during holiday

training (December

26-January 8th) that

we ask all of our

athletes to make

the sacrifice of commitment. All

over the country, clubs like

CFSC are asking their athletes

to make that same kind of com-

mitment.

CFSC is in the midst of holiday

training. This is a tremendous

opportunity for athletes

throughout the program to fo-

cus on their training, without

having school hanging over

their heads. We spend the

whole short course season

(August-March) climbing the

mountain. This next two weeks

is the final ascent to the top of

that mountain.

As coaches we will ask you to

do things that you might not

think you are capable of accom-

plishing over this two-week

period. It’s when an athlete

truly becomes “comfortable”

with being uncomfortable that

an adaptation takes place. In

my 17 years of experience,

holiday training can be a litmus

test of what is to come over the

next 8 weeks of the short

course season. Those willing to

make sacrifices typically have

given themselves the oppor-

tunity to be great in March.

Those swimmers that chose to

pick their own practice sched-

ule over the break are simply

rolling the dice. So let’s get to

work and start chopping wood

and hauling water, because the

best never rest!

the pancake breakfast.

We will provide the sponsor

letters, envelopes and stamps

(only for those letters written at

the letter writing party) as well

as the pancake breakfast.

There will be many raffle prizes

available to win for those that

attend the letter writing party

and swimmers that turn in 20

or more sponsor request letters

will receive a gift card!!! The

coach of the group that writes

the most sponsor request let-

ters will also earn a prize. :o)

So get ready to hang out with

your friends, eat some great

food, and help raise funds for

Mark your calendars and bring

your addresses of potential

Swim-a-Thon sponsors (family,

friends, establishments you do

business with like doctor, den-

tist, etc.)! The 2013 FLEET

Swim-a-Thon begins with the

letter writing party on Saturday,

January 26th from approxi-

mately 8-11am (based on prac-

tice schedules). The younger

groups (gold and below) will

write their sponsor request

letters and eat a yummy pan-

cake breakfast first while the

older groups are at practice.

Once the practice for the older

kids is over, then the older kids

will write their letters and eat

our great swim club because

Every Drop Counts! Check out

the latest in Swim-a-Thon news

and information soon on the

FLEET website: sponsor letter

forms, prize list, lane sponsor

forms, and general information.

Thanks to all who donated gift

cards for our Swim-a-Thon auc-

tion. Your donation is greatly

appreciated! There are still

some gift cards that are need-

ed. See the updated list on the

FLEET website under the Swim-

a-Thon tab.

Gretta Karker, Zorka Kauf-

mann, and Valerie Johnson

Coach Jack Maddan

Every Drop Counts—2012 Swim-a-Thon


“Holiday

training can be

a litmus test of

what is to

come over the

next 8 weeks

of the short

course

season.”


As we begin to approach some

of the year’s most demanding

training, it’s important to con-

sider what we as athletes are

fueling our bodies

with. The human

body is a high per-

formance machine

and it requires

adequate nutri-

ents, or fuel, to

perform. Let’s

think about it in a

different way: You just pur-

chased a brand new Aston Mar-

tin for the small ticket price of

$200,000, and like all vehicles

you are going to have to fill it

with gas to keep it running. Are

you going to fill it with the

cheapest unleaded gas? No

way! A car of that caliber needs

the finest fuel known to man,

and your body is no different.

Yes, the Aston Martin will work

with cheap unleaded gas, just

as your body will work with sub-

par nutrition. However, as an

athlete, your goal should be to

fill your body with the best fuel

available so that it can work to

its full potential.

Over the next few weeks, many

of you will be asked to push

yourselves to a level beyond

what you are accustomed to,

and more often than not to a

place outside of your comfort

zone. Challenges

such as these take a

certain level of men-

tal toughness, no

doubt, but the im-

portance of refueling

and recovering can-

not be underesti-

mated. Throughout

the Christmas training sched-

ule, try using these three tips to

help sustain performance. One,

try hydrating with a mix of Ga-

torade and water. While water

is an essential nutrient and

crucial for sustaining perfor-

mance, your body will reach a

point where it

needs more.

Mixing your

water bottle

half and half

will replenish

your fluids

more quickly

while aiding

your body

with the extra carbs and protein

needed to finish strong. Two,

bring a sports bar or energy bar

to snack on during practice

when you hit that point of fa-

tigue. Remember that after two

hours of intense exercise your

body will have depleted its

stored carbohydrate energy,

and begin to use your stored fat

energy as a reserve. Stay

ahead of the game by keeping

a healthy, quick to eat snack on

deck. Three, jump start your

bodies recovery process by

eating or drinking something

within 30 minutes of the end of

your workout. An easy and

tasty recovery drink is chocolate

milk, which has an excellent

carb-protein ratio that is ideal

for recovery after a hard

workout. Remember that the

holiday training schedule con-

tains some of the most de-

manding training of the year, so

give yourself the extra benefit

of adequate sleep, eating

healthy and staying hydrated!

For those that included their

name for high school service

hours, look for your service

hour form in your family folders

by January 10th. We look for-

ward to coordinating this worthy

donation drive again in Decem-

ber 2013.

Tori Karker and Hunder Gildart

Thank you to all who contribut-

ed food and toys for the 2nd

Annual FLEET Christmas Toy

and Food Drive. We had over

200 food items donated for the

Houston Food Bank and over

30 toys donated to the Texas

Children’s Hospital—Katy. Your

donations make a difference!

Coach Alex: Fueling Our Bodies

2nd Annual FLEET Christmas Toy and Food Drive


“As an athlete,

your goal

should be to

fill your body

with the best

fuel available

so that it can

work to its full

potential.”


Coach Matt’s New Addition

Coach Matt Hone has a new

addition to his family!

Josie Elizabeth Hone was

born on December 15, 2012.

She weighed in at 8lbs 5oz.

In this newsletter, Head Coach

Jack Maddan talks about the

importance of the practices

done over the holiday break.

We are heading into the home

stretch of the short course sea-

son, and before you know it we

will be coming down and rest-

ing for our champs meets. With

the number of practices left in

our season dwindling, it is im-

portant that you make the most

of them. Below are a few good

tidbits of advice that will help

you achieve that.

Work Hard – I know, you read

this and say, “well duh coach”.

But let’s look at this a little

more closely. Working hard in

practice covers more than just

trying to go your fastest. And

while that is extremely im-

portant, it is equally important

that you work hard at doing

things correctly. Maintaining

stroke and turn techniques

throughout practice (especially

when you are tired!) will play a

big role in how much you get

out of that practice.

Make the Little Things, Big

Things – to follow along from

the previous paragraph; it is

important to pay extra attention

to those little things in practice.

The things that we tend to for-

get about, or overlook, or simp-

ly say, this is too

small of a thing to

make a difference.

How many times do

you breathe into or

out of your turns?

How many times do

you breathe inside the finish?

How many times do you do a

one-handed touch on your

turns? How many times do you

push off the wall with a loose

streamline and weak underwa-

ter kicks? While these seem

like small nuances, performing

these and similar things wrong

over hundreds of hours of

swimming will start to add up.

You have to remember that you

race how you practice. You

have to make the small,

“unimportant” things, big, im-

portant things.

Master the Clock – your best

friend in practice is the pace

clock. Forget Suzy or Johnny in

the lane next to you, that block

of metal at the end of the pool

flashing those red numbers is

the most reliable thing out

there during practice. He never

lies, provides encouragement,

helps you set goals

during sets, and he

always tells you when to

leave into the next re-

peat. Paying attention

to the clock – in other

words, knowing how

fast you are going – is some-

thing that all swimmers should

excel at. Knowing your pace

times will help you properly

descend, build, negative split,

etc, on your sets, allowing you

to achieve the desired training

effect. As mentioned earlier, it

also helps you set goals. Know-

ing your time on one repeat

allows you to try and beat it on

the next repeat.

These are just a few things, but

making a point to do all these

will help you make each prac-

tice count. We are nearing the

end of the season so let’s

make sure we are getting the

most we can with what we have

left!

me , it was my second year

Coaching and I learned a lot

thanks to all my Swimmers and

other Coaches who

have been really pa-

tient with me when I

ask so many ques-

tions. I had great expe-

riences and I attended

to really fun meets, I

saw kids improving so

much, reaching their goals and

others getting really close. See-

ing the kids doing a great job

Hi everybody I hope you all had

a great holidays and enjoyed

your days off.

Well 2012 is over and

it's time to start a New

Year full of new goals

and changes. I want to

thank everybody for

this year full good expe-

riences and great

times.

2012 was a great year form

during practices, meets and

enjoying the sport makes me

love my job more every day

and really happy.

This 2013 one of my goals is to

keep on getting better and

learn as much as possible. I

can't wait for this New Year full

of blessings and new experienc-

es!

Have a great 2013 everybody

and let's keep the hard work!

Coach Dustin: Making the Most of Practice

Coach Ambar: New Year, New Goals


“Pay extra

attention to

those little

things...we

tend to forget

about, to

overlook….”


Shave Shave Shave Shave – The process of remov-

ing all arm, leg, and exposed

torso hair, to decrease the

"drag" or resistance of the body

moving through the water. Used

only by serious, competitive

swimmers at very important

(Championship) meets.

Why do swimmers remove

their body hair?eir body hair?eir body hair?eir body hair?

Actually, the reason is so that

you shave off the dead skin cell

layer. It has nothing to do with

removal of hair on the body.

Everyone is covered in a layer

of dead skin cells. As new cells

are created and old ones die,

the old ones get pushed to the

outside of your skin so they

shed off. Unfortunately, the

dead skin cells interfere with

how sensitive your skin is and

how well you can feel things.

Thus, swimmers tend to shave

down so that they remove as

much dead skin as they can so

they can feel the water better

and can grab more water every

stroke making them faster in

the water. Swimmers often

shave their palms for this rea-

son. As for hair on the head,

swim caps are generally used

and so they don't have to shave

their heads as they do not swim

with their head. When one is

swimming hair slows the swim-

mer down. It resists the water

causing the swimmer to go

slower. They shave it off to help

the go faster. Simple hydrody-

namics. Hair creates drag which

in turn creates resistance which

in turn slows the body's move-

ment through the water. That

being said, hair is removed to

increase speed. Being a swim-

mer and a coach and paying

attention in science class in

the... 4th grade…its more hydro-

dynamic.

Sharp RL, Hackney AC, Cain Sharp RL, Hackney AC, Cain Sharp RL, Hackney AC, Cain Sharp RL, Hackney AC, Cain

SM, and Ness RJ (1988):SM, and Ness RJ (1988):SM, and Ness RJ (1988):SM, and Ness RJ (1988): The

effect of shaving body hair on

the physiological cost of free-

style swimming. Journal of

Swimming Research 4(1):9-13.

The purpose of this study was

to determine if shaving of body

hair would have an effect on

the physiological cost of stand-

ard swimming velocities. Physi-

ological effort required to swim

at a given velocity was as-

sessed using determinations of

blood lactate concentration 2

min after each of four 200 yard

freestyle swims. Six subjects

volunteered and were asked to

swim four 200's with 15 min

rest between each and reduc-

ing their time by roughly 10 sec

on each consecutive swim. On

the next day, subjects shaved

their body hair from arms, legs

and exposed torso and repeat-

ed this swimming protocol.

Blood lactate accumulation at a

submaximal speed of 1.08 m/

sec was significantly reduced by

an average of 28% by shaving.

Blood lactate accumulation at a

maximal swimming speed of

1.30 m/sec was significantly

reduced by an average of 23%.

This much change in the physi-

ological cost of submaximal

and maximal swimming speeds

is nearly as great as that result-

ing from a season of collegiate

swimming training. It was con-

cluded that there is indeed a

physical benefit to shaving-

down (most likely a reduction in

body drag) and that the bene-

fits are not solely due to a psy-

chological response. In con-

trast, shaving significantly in-

creased distance per stroke (P

< 0.05) by almost-equal-to 5%.

These data indicate that re-

duced training specifically im-

proves swim power; however,

removing exposed body hair

after taper may additionally

enhance performance capabili-

ties by increasing distance per

stroke.

Shaving Down: The effects on Shaving Down: The effects on Shaving Down: The effects on Shaving Down: The effects on

swimming of removing body swimming of removing body swimming of removing body swimming of removing body

hairhairhairhair

The shaving of body hair for

sprint swimmers has long been

performed as a procedure that

has been claimed to produce

faster times in those shaved

swimmers. A number of skep-

tics have claimed that the re-

sults were probably a psycho-

logical effect and "Any turkey

who shaved his head was prob-

ably so scared of doing a bad

time that his/her increased

adrenaline levels would drive

him/her on to a faster time!"

The following scientific studies

have shown that the removal of

body hair does in fact reduce

drag in the water so that shav-shav-shav-shav-

en swimmers travel further per en swimmers travel further per en swimmers travel further per en swimmers travel further per

stroke than they did before stroke than they did before stroke than they did before stroke than they did before

shavingshavingshavingshaving. While identifying signif-

icant benefits for sprinters (i.e.

up to 1,500 m), these findings

have obvious beneficial implica-

tions for marathon swimmers -

i.e. so long as the reduced drag

is not associated with an in-

creased coefficient of heat

transfer.

Anyone who has shaved down

for a Big Meet will know the

wonderful feeling of doing fast

sets with considerable ease

during training sessions for at

least 7 days after the meet.

Reasons for Shaving Down


“Hair creates “Hair creates “Hair creates “Hair creates

drag which in drag which in drag which in drag which in

turn creates turn creates turn creates turn creates

resistance resistance resistance resistance

which in turn which in turn which in turn which in turn

slows the slows the slows the slows the

body's body's body's body's

movement movement movement movement

through the through the through the through the

water.”water.”water.”water.”


Street Address 14654 Spring Cypress Rd.

Cypress, TX 77429

Mailing Address 11659 Jones Rd., PMB #351

Houston, TX 77070

Phone: 281-376-2372 Fax: 281-251-6160

Cy Fair Swim Club

“Home of the Fleet”

Mission Statement

To provide members and residents of the NW Houston area with the best quality swim

programs that develop the physical, athle�c and personal poten�al for all ages and levels.

This is accomplished through the following principles:

•••• Provide an environment where swimmers of all ages can reach their desired poten�al

based on a philosophy of “longer range development”.

•••• To teach all of our members the value, rewards and poten�al that aqua�c a�vi�es provide.

•••• To provide a safe aqua�c environment for members of the team and the community.

•••• Provide coaches who are good role models for the purpose of goal se%ng, mo�va�on,

a%tude, enthusiasm, morals and maturity.

•••• Provide an environment where coaches and athletes may establish realis�c goals and ob-

jec�ves and measure their progress against established standards as benchmarks for im-

provement.

•••• Provide a link to the local community that improves the value of both to their members.

•••• Con�nued growth of the membership and as well as facili�es for training and develop-

ment.

www.FleetSwimming.com

www.FleetFirstSwimSchool.com

Submit ar�cles and photos by the 25th of the month to

Fleet Communica�ons Coordinator [email protected]

for considera�on in the next month’s newsle0er.

Jack Maddan, Head Coach [email protected] Andrew Korda, Gold, Junior, Senior, Elite Teams Coach [email protected] Matt Hone, Lead Developmental Coach [email protected] Dustin Myers, Silver II, Junior and Elite Teams Coach [email protected] Maryanne Svoboda, Bronze II and Silver Teams Coach [email protected] Camilo Orellana, Bronze, HS Prep & Competitive Prep [email protected] Alex Rayner, Junior Team & Competitive Prep Team [email protected] Ambar Fernandez, Bronze Team Coach [email protected] Jeff Carder, Copper Team & Pre-Competitive Team [email protected]

Coaching Staff

Swimmers at the Mountasia Fleet Holiday party

2013 january newsletter

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