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REPORT BY COLIN GALBRAITH

SWIMMERS IN ATTENDANCE NATALIA ZALCONA, ELLIE WATT, EMMA THOMSON, JASPER SMITH, KARA ARMSTRONG,ROWAN VIRTUE, and CAMBELLE SHAND

More personal bests from nearly everyone which was great as this was a team points event and so impressed with all of the above swimmers.

ELLIE WATT great 200 free pb and 100 fly pb 1.33 although the latter last 50 needs a leg kick ( kick sessions in training me thinks)

ROWAN VIRTUE delighted with her 200 IM and 100 BACKSTROKE and no disqualifications her fly was great on the IM which stroke has just been adjusted by me at the last couple of training sessions so we’ll done Rowan.

JASPER SMITH two good swims 200 free and 100 fly but needs a tad more fitness so descending swim and rests required. Jasper admitted he needs to build his stamina so we will get there.

EMMA THOMSON great 100 back and impressive 100 Breast with new stroke well done emma

NATALIA ZALCONA She hated the 200 free but posted 3 mins dead which was excellent and her 100 fly time was 1.34 outstanding considering she is new to the stroke. She continually wants to improve in training and this is her first 100 FLY .

CAMBELLE SHAND I take personal responsibility for experimenting with her breastroke however over the top hands did not work. So back to old stroke and when you gamble sometimes it doesn’t pay off so apologies Cambelle this was totally my fault.

KARA ARMSTRONG I have waited a long time to see a swim on 200 free as brilliant as this. Kara came into the competition on 1.42 and went 1.28!!! absolutely magnificent. She went out the first 100 in 1.11!!! First time ever I actually became a bit emotional and no wonder this was a swim of pure brilliance. She always goes into her swims and my jaw drops especially as the split in my head for first 100 was 1.14 and to switch on the after burners in the last 50 no wonder she could hardly get out the pool. Kara shows that with skill, guts and listening to the changes in training what can be achieve and is a great role model for the Team.

So we are progressing no doubt about that but we want to get to the next level so keep up the good work and train hard. Our starts are by far and away better so turns will now get some more special work to ensure everyone gets passed the flags on each turn.

As ever scorpion swimmers give their all and that is all anyone can ask .

Colin Galbraith Head Coach Scorpion Swim Team

THE COMING OF AGE AS A SWIMMING TEAM

I will post the times for these trials later in this coaches report suffice to say that the every swim was sensational.

We have been giving very challenging swim sets over an extended period prior to this competition which has been tough for all the swimmers in the team. Despite a few moans and groans everyone has taken the tough sets on board and in my view are just about where I would want them to be.

Coaching is not an exact science as every single swimmer has different needs and aspirations so it’s only over a good number of years I have learnt to tackle each swimmer differently. I do qualify this by saying that the harder you work on these tough sets then the easier it is to maintain top gear for longer in your swims delaying the onset of lactic acid.

This day was spectacular from start to finish and, so much so that we were given a mention by the announcer who mentioned the fabulous swims by Scorpions during the sessions. Four club records were set Ellie, in the 200 free, Kara, in the 200 free and 200 breast and last but not least Jasper in the 400 free.

It’s a combination of hard graft, belief, team effort and talent that made this time trial a “coming of age “ event as far as the Team is concerned rising to the challenge and producing at an East District event.

Special mentions though to the newer members of the team namely Rowan and Natalia who swam brilliant in their 200 free. Considering this was only their second competition to produce the 200 free swims times posted was a remarkable achievement. Suffice to say congratulations go to all 9 team members who took part to make this day a day we will not forget in a very long time.

We are by no means the finished article and there are a good number of areas to improve on. The work we have been doing on starts has proved invaluable as we are up and in the fight against other clubs past the first set of flags which is what I really wanted. Much work is still to be done on our turns however, if we can all match Katy Young on her underwater phases on free and breast then we will be heading in the right direction.

SO TO THE LIST OF TIMES POSTED

• 200 Free ELLIE 2.46.53. PB 19.87 Sec CLUB RECORD
• 200 Free DARCEY 2.58.37. PB 25.18 Sec
• 200 Free NATALIA 2.58.52.
• 200 Free CAMBELLE 2.58.64. PB 33.38 Sec
• 200 Free EMMA 3.05.96. PB 23.36 Sec
• 200 Free ROWAN 3.06.40
• 200 Free KARA 2.40.79. PB 18.67 Sec CLUB RECORD

• 200 Free KATY 2.54.32. PB 28.23 Sec
• 200 Free JASPER 2.25.00. PB 9.85 Sec
• 200 Free ELLIOT 2.25.16. PB 10.28 Sec
• 400 Free JASPER 5.15.15. CLUB RECORD
• 200 Breast KARA 3.16.84. PB 18.34 CLUB RECORD
• 200 Breast KATY 3.26.85. PB 12.25 Sec
• 200 Back ELLIE 2.59.70.
• 200 Back DARCEY 3.14.63.
• 200 Back EMMA 3.18.47. PB 37.43 Sec
  

THE WAY AHEAD

There will be other swimming events coming up so the moral of the story is to keep training hard at the tougher swim sets as they are designed to get you smashing those personal bests. I cannot be more proud of the whole team who swam at this one as it is so pleasant to have other coaches telling you that you are producing some cracking swimmers.

As well as the decreasing swim and rest sets which are essential we will be focusing on turns and how to stay underwater longer past the flags without slowing down. I will also be looking at backstroke in more depth especially arm paths so that you can increase your speed dramatically without looking as if you are struggling at all.

So that’s all for just now and a big thanks to all of you for getting our small team recognized as being a major force. Long may this continue and I shall look forward to seeing you all for some hard training sets over the coming weeks. You know it makes sense lol.

Colin Galbraith Head coach Scorpion Swim Team

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