SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB Tigers are Back in the Pool! by: Aditi Pavuluri It’s been a strange past few months for swimmers across the country, and one of the few times in history where there have been no competitions or practice taking place. The Olympics were postponed for the first time ever, and competitive swimmers across the globe are wondering when they can start competing again. As of two weeks ago, swimmers have taken to the pool for the first time in months. To pass the time, they’ve been working out over Zoom, and doing as much work as they could while still socially distanced. By working on technique, starts, turns, and speed, the Tigers have been trying to get in as much swimming as they can to make up for lost time. It will be a fresh start for us, and a way to start using muscles that haven’t been awoken in months. And though we’ve been staying in shape, we might not necessarily have been staying in swimming shape. Getting back into the pool is something that every swimmer is having to experience, and know that we’re in this together. So right now is the perfect time to improve on something that you’ve been holding off on during competition season. Our perspective might have to change from “getting back to where we came from” to “how far we can go”. Take advantage of this new and unusual time to better yourself as a swimmer. Go Tigers! SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB Monthly Motivation Ready for Normal. By: Aditi Pavuluri With half of the swimmer’s still in quarantine, And the other half trying to swim back to what’s normal, The swimming world has a ways to go before we’re back on schedule. We all have the mindset, “It’s okay that I'm not as fast as I used to be”. And that’s true. Our four months and counting journey in separation for everyone we know hasn’t been easy when it comes to participating in a sport as big as swimming. Until recently, pools have been closed, leaving many people socially distanced from their teams. This isn’t normal. If we train like we’re quarantined, have a quarantine mindset, and are completely distanced from the sport we love, then we can’t make progress. We can’t “go back to the way we used to be”. It will take training like normal (socially distanced of course), eating like normal, sleeping like normal, and working hard like normal to be ready for what’s to come. Because in the future, pools will be open, practices and meets will be back in full swing, and it will be up to you to decide whether you want to go back to being a champion. And that depends on the work you put in when things aren’t normal. Are you ready? Good Luck Swimmers! Staying safe during COVID 19 Stay 6 feet apart SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB Getting Back to Swimming with Coach Carolina Reported by: Aditi Pavuluri Coach Carolina (AG3) shares her thoughts on coaching after being in quarantine and gives her advice on getting back into the pool. Reporter: How did it feel to see all the swimmers after such a long time and to coach in-person? Coach Carolina: It felt great. I can definitely start with that. It felt amazing, and it was so nice just being in the same space with them, even with the distance. To just be able to look at each other's eyes, because as they got there, they had masks on was great. It was definitely so refreshing to see everybody. Reporter: Do you have any tips for swimmers who are not able to attend the in-person workouts? Coach Carolina: The best thing you can do is stay active. One good thing about our team is that we are allowing everyone to make their choice whether to attend the practices, stay on Zoom, or do both. This allows people to stay safe, and choose whatever is right for them. So I am totally on board with any of my swimmers who are not attending the swim sessions. So staying active, and doing a mix of things is great. Even I have been doing whatever I can to stay active. Sometimes I will work out with the kids over Zoom, or go out for a bike ride; just doing a variety of things is great and will keep you in overall better shape than just doing one thing. So if you have the chance to go out of your house to do something, with your parents, or people that you have been quarantined with, that is great. If you do not have the opportunity to go out, definitely exercise at home, do our online sessions. You could also look for workouts on YouTube, but I recommend our workouts because the coaches are there to motivate you and make sure you are doing everything right. Reporter: How can swimmers stay motivated and stay positive despite the challenges they may face during this time? Coach Carolina: I think that the in-person sessions are a tremendous help with that. I’ve seen some people online that started off the Zoom classes super motivated and involved, but as time went by, they slowed down a little bit. I am happy with the amount of kids that are still doing the sessions, and a lot of them are pumped, but I think the in-person sessions are keeping them motivated, because they are right there, next to their friends. SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB The online environment is a little bit different because they cannot actually talk to each other all of the time, but I think interacting and staying in contact with people is really important. I do not mean through social media like Facebook or Instagram, I mean actually talking to people. If you cannot go outside with a friend, socially distant, or attend in-person sessions, at least try to have a face-to-face with other people online. Just keeping in touch with your friends is important during this time. Reporter: What do you think the future of swimming in 2020-2021 looks like, on a club swimming and on an international level? Coach Carolina: As for PTAC, I can’t promise anything right now. We’ve heard that Princeton University has closed their athletic facilities through January, so we might have to adapt. We are currently looking for places where we’ll be able to swim. Overall, in the competitive swimming world, things will slow down. I know some states are already talking about have swim meets, and holding different practices than what we have here in New Jersey. So those states might be ahead of us, and others might be behind us. I’m excited to see what will happen at the Olympics, and how that will play out as well. But I also know that those swimmers have more access to pools, and some have private coaching, which is very different than us. Fast-forward this coming year, I don’t think that there will be a lot of record breaking and things like that, but I know that we will have to do a lot of catching up to get back to where we were before. I’m hoping that our team will be able to find some pool time soon, but I’ve already heard that a few pools will still be closed, so that’s not a good sign for the future. Reporter: Do you have any other advice for anybody during this time? Coach Carolina: Yes. So one thing that we can focus on right now, something that is very important to everybody is school. Right? So considering that now, we have more time at home, if there is something at school that you might not be the strongest at, maybe now is the time for you to try to get better at it. Like for example, if you’re not great at math, or not great at writing, you could use the extra time to practice and get better. Hopefully this school year will be a little bit easier for you guys, so this way you can focus on other things as well. So try to build on some new skills, because when we get back to our regular schedules, we are ready to move faster. Same thing for swimming, we have many kids that have trouble doing planks, or doing squats, so we work on those skills during our online sessions, and try to learn how to do them correctly. So hopefully as they work through some difficulties, they can build some strength for when we come back to swimming as normal. That’s my advice! SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB PTAC in person training Coach Miles in the middle of one of PTAC’s first Swimmers at the middle of the set swimming sessions! Swimmers during dryland Pool view during practice The Tigers jump back into the pool for another practice! SWIMMER’S NEWSLETTER FOR PRINCETON TIGER AQUATICS CLUB Coach Katyln’s Videos of the Week How to do a Fast Flip Turn with Chloe Sutton Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eg_PX0TVQE Over the course of a “normal” practice, you could easily complete over 100 flip turns! This video demonstrates the key components of a fast flip turn: the approach, the flip, the push off, and the breakout.