Vacation Week Update - April 8, 2021

Hello MAST Families,

It is hoped that everyone is doing well and getting excited to get back to the pool.  One of the most engaging aspects of competitive swimming is the ability to control your progress.  In swimming, there is almost always a direct cause and effect between working hard and achieving results.  

One of the most enjoyable things about this sport is being able to measure improvement on an almost daily basis.  In a very short amount of time improvement can be achieved by making a faster cycle, going a best time at practice (in just about anything), adjusting to increasing yardage, learning a new turn or even doing a proper racing dive without smacking. 

Done consistently, these little improvements add up to improvements at meets.  As the old saying goes: "Little by little becomes a lot."

A lot goes into season planning, even for the youngest or least experienced swimmer. In every season there is a time to rest (take a break) and there is a time for work (getting back to training.  (These may not be the exact words in Ecclesiastes, but you get the idea). 

Well, now is the time to get back to work.

The first two weeks will be a gentle return to practice and then in week three we will start increasing the challenges at practice as our swimmers become ready for more work.  Please remind your swimmers to be patient building back up.

Younger swimmers are especially vulnerable to thinking they have somehow "lost" something during even short breaks but encourage them to be consistent and have patience; they will quickly return to winter performance levels then see improvement adding up as they keep working.

We will be getting back to swimming starting on Monday, April 12. The schedule for the first two weeks will be different from the planned schedule for the remainder of April.  This is due to the need for a gradual build up back to training (a pre-season as it were) and also to accommodate the Milford High School water polo season. 

In the third week we will change to the schedule we hope to keep in place until school ends for the spring.  This schedule is included below and will also be posted in a second e-mail.  

Everyone should plan to start the spring season in the same practice group.  Sometime later in the spring we will present more specific group standards and the criteria for changing groups.

Have a safe and enjoyable week.  See you at the pool - on Monday, April 12!

Monty 

WEEK OF: Apr. 5 - 11

Notes: Milford Spring Break – No Practices

WEEK OF: Apr. 12 - 18

Notes: Beginning of Spring / Summer Swim Season.  Week one and week two are pre-season practices where the emphasis will be on technique and easy swimming to get back into the water.

WEEK # 2:  Apr. 19 - 25

Notes:  Limited practice schedule due to Water Polo taking five days with games and tournaments

WEEK # 3:  Apr. 26 – May 2

Notes: Week three we will shift to what we hope will be a more consistent practice schedule – one which we can use until the end of the school year.