THE TSM MONTHLY POST TSM SERVING THE SANTA MONICA BAY AREA SINCE 1955

The Official Team Santa Monica Swim Club e-Newsletter February 2016

TEAM SANTA MONICA

INJURY PREVENTION

High performance in any sport carries a degree of risk. Some sports more than others but even the low impact sports like need a strategy to limit and/or deal with potential or actual injury. The most common injury or complaint in swimming is shoulder pain. Shoulder function is highly dependent on the coordinated function of many muscle groups. These include the muscles around the shoulder, those that control the scapula or shoulder blade, muscles in the upper and lower back, as well as abdominal and pelvic muscles.

Since the shoulder is an inherently unstable joint, muscle forces are critical for maintaining stability, proper motion, and painless function. The repetitive overhead activity of the swimming stroke can result in fatigue of these muscles. This in turn can lead to distinct changes in the function of the shoulder, resulting in the pain that is commonly known as “swimmer’s shoulder.”

One of the major factors causing shoulder pain is overuse and subsequent fatigue of the rotator cuff muscles, scapular muscles, and muscles of the upper and lower back. Consequently, this fatigue can lead to shoulder instability and predispose a swimmer to shoulder pain. The risk of injury and pain is especially true for swimmers who swim with poor technique.

It is well established that a comprehensive program to develop strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility of the muscles is the most important way to prevent “swimmer’s shoulder".

What we do to prevent & help manage shoulder pain and other potential injuries…

Constant technique work— All coaches are giving feedback on form and stroke technique to every single athlete during the workout. If necessary, athletes are pulled out of the water to watch video, understand the problem, and work on stroke technique before joining the workout.

USA Swimming Consultants— Because we have USA National, Junior and Senior team athletes in our club, USA Swimming has provided us with a wide variety of resources to help our entire program improve. We have access to National Team bio-mechanists who review our videos, from JO level to National level, and provide feedback based on a larger database to help our athlete and coaches better understand best-case processes.

Variety in Training – Every workout is different. From warm up to warm down, we do not repeat workouts. When an athlete has to focus on a new pattern, the mind remains engaged.

Proactive and Active, Clear Referral and Follow-up— At the first instance of reported pain and/or coach suspicion of injury (eg inhibited normal or expected performance), swimmers are directed to seek medical attention from licensed medical professionals. Parents will be asked to provide follow-up information and where required provide permission as needed to coaches to follow up directly with the physician or physical therapist. Furthermore, TSM coaches may seek outside direction from USA Swimming medical professionals and consultants when needed and possible. It is also possible that coaches require medical verification of athlete readiness to return to full training.

A specific weekly to seasonal, annual, and quad plan – Our weekly training cycle is designed to allow for recovery both within the workout, over the course of the week and the micro and meso cycles. Though fatigue is needed to create adaptation, it is monitored for effective (if not always peak) performance and to prevent over-use injuries.

Backstroke Training— Our coaches use backstroke training to help swimmers strengthen the rhomboids and lower traps. By strengthening these muscles, we can prevent shoulder injury and shoulder pain to a great extent through balancing and stabilizing the shoulders.

Limited Use of Paddles – We only use smaller paddles and limit their use to age and ability appropriate sets.

Kicking— Our program focuses on kicking unlike many other Age Group program to not only help strengthen and stabilize the core, but also to increase our swimmers’ propulsion so they are not putting too much pressure on their upper body. In the days of “Spitz,” coaches believed the kick was merely a stabilizer. Since those days, we have learned that the very best swimmers are the very best kickers. We also believe that the inability to kick is a range of motion issue that can be addressed.

Physical Therapy Directed Strength Training— Since my 2010 start date, we have had access to a consultant physical therapist to help us manage shoulder pain and prevent injury. We are very excited about our current PT at Posture Works and are already noticing improvement.

The PT and our consultants from USA Swimming/US Olympic Com have helped us develop better and more dynamic dryland routines and stretches to help our athletes activate the muscles around the joints, especially in the shoulder area.

Range of Motion Pre-Injury Screening We have been developing ways to implement a system or ROM screening where our swimmers from JO to National group will be screened to help coaches and the athletes understand where limitations are or will be. We have ran these screenings twice before but ideally this is a resource that will be offered and/or required every quarter for our high performance stream athletes.

GO TSM! CEO / Head Coach 2 TSM Families,

The TSM program has been settling into a nice rhythm as we break in 2016. We are back home at SMC and the weather is starting to warm up! The coaching staff can see the excitement of our swimmers now that we have a steady consistent schedule. This excitement has had a direct impact on training in the water.

Yesterday we were able to see this excitement as we kicked off our Long Course Meter (LCM) season with our TSM February LCM Intra-Squad Meet. Thank you to all of the families that helped to make this a fun experience for our swimmers. We had 80+ kids show up to compete. The coaching staff enjoyed watching all ages compete and it was especially nice to see the TSM families supporting each other. That is what its all about!

There are a few things that we need to keep in mind as we move towards our LCM competition in regard to meet formalities. First, EVERYONE who is swimming for TSM must have their USA Registration Form submitted and paid for through SOCAL swimming. We had a few issues this weekend with people not being registered on time. This is crucial because it’s a requirement by SOCAL before any athlete can enter/compete. But more importantly its is important because we are covered by USA Swimming’s insurance, which is why everyone must fill out and submit one of these forms. We do not want anything to happen you’re your child or the program in regard to this.

Next, all athletes must check in for their races upon arrival to the swim pool. We had a few kids not check in at our Intra-Squad. We were able to work things out since it was our meet. But the meet administration will NOT be as nice at other competitions with other teams. We don’t want your swimmer to miss out on his or her race. This is what they have worked so hard for!

Finally, we thank you all for the support with our timing spots. This is one area that has a lot of room for improvement. This weekend was a great start for parents to learn and understand the true timing experience. It is an obligation that we must fill every meet, a way for parents to sit and talk to one another, and also a GREAT way to see all of the swimming action up close. Lets keep the timing momentum rolling through our LCM season!

GO TSM! Jimmy Dabney Associate Head Coach

3 Team Santa Monica is pleased to announce the hiring of Coach Bridger Bell as the new Head Age-Group Coach and primary coach of the JO Group.

Bell comes to TSM with an extensive coaching background at a variety of levels from club to college. He was most recently the Head Coach of Donner Swim Club, one of Indiana’s most historically successful USA Swimming clubs. Bell was an assistant at Johns Hopkins University. While teaching mathematics, Bell coached high school team and individual state champions at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. Before and after completing his graduate education, he coached at the University of Virginia Swim Camps for Coach Mark Bernardino. Bell also served for six years as the national director of Collegiate Club Swimming for the American Swimming Association, presiding over its growth from four teams to 68 teams across the country. By the end of his tenure, the group was holding more than 40 regular-season meets, seven regional championships and a national championship each season.

“I’m incredibly excited to join Team Santa Monica because of the great reputation

thanks to Coach Dave’s work over the years, Bell said. “I get excited about building

a foundation by developing young swimmers through the pursuit of excellence and attention to detail.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Bridger as a new coach to TSM,” said Head Coach Dave Kelsheimer. “He is a nationally recognized swimming coach who knows the sport intimately and we’re excited to have his guidance deliver continued success with our swim club.”

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Bell spent much of his life on pool decks at international-level competitions. He has enjoyed training with an array of coaches including International Hall of Fame Coach Randy Reese. He has a Master’s degree with a political philosophy concentration from the University of Virginia and double-majored in mathematics and political science as an undergraduate at The Honors College at the University of Houston.

A published author of fiction and non-fiction, Coach Bridger also applies his personal passion for swimming by authoring articles for Swimming World Magazine, Swimming Science and SwimSwam.

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TSM is able to take advantage of a training trip at the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs with our slight pause in competition during March. This will allow our Junior Olympic, National Development, and National swimmers to get some quality training and a life changing experience that will aid in our success through this LCM competition. Below is a that will be training at the same time as our TSM swimmers:

Matt Grevers Meichtry Zane Grothe Sarah Henry Margo Geer Chip Peterson Eugene Godsoe Michael Weiss Lindsay Vrooman Emma Reaney Ivy Martin Christina Bechtel Ashley Twichell Laura Sogar Andrew Wilson Zach Hayden Brendan McHugh

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COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH TSM

The pre-competitive program has had the privilege of working with some of the National Development swimmers on Saturday afternoons. Adam Shaaban and Andrew Hanson have been assisting with all levels of the pre-competitive groups from Sea Monkey to Sea Lion. These young men are assisting and aiding the instructors with the demonstration of skills, technique, diving, and helping to develop swimmers. The younger kids are always excited to see the older swimmers, observing their stroke technique and watching them dive. Both Adam and Andrew have shown a passion for coaching, and both have certain groups they enjoy working with.

Adam Shaaban has enjoyed working with our younger groups, Sea Monkeys and Sea Horses. He has flourished assisting the youngest swimmers learn freestyle and backstroke. He has been able to create connections with the kids, working hard to teach the basic fundamentals he has learned through his swimming, and learned that instructing is harder than he thought. He is developing responsibility for other swimmers, learning how to listen to instruction from others, and realizing that the same coaching style cannot be used for every swimmer.

Andrew Hanson has enjoyed working with our older swimmers, Sea Turtles and Sea Lions. His experience has been with all groups, from leading dry land with the Seals, to assisting Coach Dillion with Sea Lions. Growing as a swimmer, as he realizes that what he feels is his worst stroke, is a good example for younger swimmers to see the fundamentals of a stroke. He has also assisted on deck and has been exposed to both the paperwork side, and the deck coaching side of swimming.

Both have expressed interest in coaching in their future and have embraced and been encouraged through the experience they are gaining with our pre-competitive program. We look forward to continuing to have them volunteer with us.

REMINDER TSM can help if your swimmer wants / needs community service hours. Please contact: Michele Campenelli (Pre-Comp Admin)

6 Hello TSM Families!

As you know we have been having our swimmers meet with Dr. Bob once a week. We are covering some pretty cool topics like identifying our vowels (AEIOU), goal setting, self-talk awareness, and energy management.

He has requested some additional information and exercises for TSM swimmers to do to help the application of these topics. It is important that our swimmers know that these meetings are a part of the TSM culture and they are expected to do the requested work in order for Dr. Bob's program to function correctly.

We are focusing on the growth and development of each swimmer, both individually and as a whole. TSM swimmers must strengthen their body AND mind in order to improve.

Our goal is to apply the psychological aspects from Dr. Bob and incorporate them when we train in the water.

Here are a couple key points regarding Goal Setting:

- Goal setting is a process that narrows our concerns. - Goal setting brings initial relief, priorities, and clarity. - Goal setting instills motivation. - Before a goal can be set, the person must take RESPONSIBILITY for the goal.

Guidelines: - Be specific – Have a clear focus - State goal positively – “DO” instead of “DO NOT” - Be simple and concrete – Attainable goals - Make sure the goal is important to you!

Why is Goal Setting Important? - Helps to SEE progress. - Teaches a skill and helps to become more independent. - Helps to grow and get better. - Requires time management. - Holds you accountable for your actions. - Helps in become more active in change.

Steps to decreasing problems and stress: - Summarize the issue. - Select each problem to be addressed (1 or 2 at a time). - Change each problem into a goal. - Clarify the goal statement (KEEP IT SIMPLE) 7 TSM NUTRITION

For endurance athletes like TSM swimmers, adequate hydration and good nutrition are keys for achieving peak performance, avoiding muscle cramps, and maintaining good health. Here are some tips and guidelines to help you get started:

Daily Maintenance: - Drink beyond your thirst. Our thist mechanism kicks in after we are already dehydrated. If you go off of thirst alone, it may take as long as 24-48 hours to replace the losses from just 1 training session. - Your body needs 35 ounces (4-5 cups) of fluids daily IN ADDITION TO what you need prior to and during training sessions and events. - Avoid/limit caffeinated beverages – caffeine causes your boedy to get rid of fluid, increasing your risk of dehydration. - Get the right amount of protein. Everybody is different, but a diet that includes beans, nuts, whole grains, and/or meat/fish at most meals and snacks likely is giving you enough. Very high protein diets with large amounts of protein supplementation are not necessary and increase the risk of hydration.

Dehydration Warning: Endurance athletes, like TSM swimmers, are at serious risk for dehydration. Signs of dehydration include: - Thirst. - Loss of 2% or more of body weight after exercise. - Dark urine. - Muscle cramping (a sign of improper hydration or electrolyte imbalance). Avoid this dangerous side effect by staying properly hydrated throughout the day and especially before, during, and after training.

Before Training: - 2 hours before: Drink 16 ounces (2 glasses) of water or sports drink within 2 hours prior to training to help hydrate ahead of time. - 1 hour before: Consume a snack with carbohydrates and protein within 1 hour before training. This snack will help increase effort during training and decrease post-performance recovery time. Try snacks like: o Hummus/bean dip with crackers o Greek yogurt + fruit o A bowl of cerial o Energy bars

During Training: - Hydrate every 10-20 minutes. Remember: Your pace slows with dehydration, so make sure to pack your sports bottle! Your body needs ~ 1.5-2 liters for a typical training session. - Get fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrates to fuel training and prevent dangerous losses.

After Training: - Consume a carbohydrate snack within 30 minutes after peak effort. Added protein may also be beneficial. Try a bagel, crackers, yogurt, fruit, cereal, energy bars, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. - Get a full meal within 2-3 hours of training completion. - Keep drinking! Get another ~ 16-24 oz of water or sports drink within 4 hours after training.

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Keys 2 Success Abbey Weitzeil (2015 US World Championship Team Member)

Dedication This is always number one. Without dedication, without being at every practice mentally and physically, you are not going to get the most out of it. Swimming is a sport that demands your best effort and focus. You have to be willing to sacrifice to get your goals, whether it is swimming or anything else meaningful and worthwhile in life. You will never get where you are going if you don’t put your mind and body into it.

Consistency: Whether it’s in practice or races, you have to be consistent. That’s something our coach teaches us. Like with chasing in practice, you can’t go four seconds slower the next time. And in racing, you don’t want to go too slow in season because when you shave you want to be close to your goals.

Nutrition: It’s self-explanatory. You don’t want to be eating really badly. You have to give your body the right fuel so you are ready to do your best. Most people, including me, have the biggest sweet tooth in the world. I can eat some junk food. But I have to limit myself. It’s about being disciplined and understanding how it all fits together.

Learning from each swim: No matter if it’s a big meet or a small meet, you have to take something from the experience to make yourself better. Even if you have a bad race, you can take a lot away from it. Even when you go fast, its good to learn from the race, because you will be motivated as you raise your goals because you know you can go even faster.

Enjoy the process! There is no way I could swim if I didn’t enjoy it. I could not get up and get through it, especially when I am tired. I had to do a set all by myself today. It was hard to get through it. It’s boring being alone sometimes, but I knew I had to get the work done. It made me appreciate everyone who is usually there to help me enjoy it more.

9 Postureworks Physical Therapy

(Redcord)

Kim Finklestein MPT , and her elite team At Postureworks Physical Therapy are changing the approach to corrective exercise and performance in and out of the water.

"If you don't test, it's a guess". We have integrated a revolutionary system called Redcord into our program that allows us to test three dimensionally for muscle imbalances. This screening for young athletes allows us to detect Neuro-muscular deficits, isolate and specifically retrain unknown imbalances that left untreated can lead to injury. This is a game changer for young athletes.

We know hip stability and core strength are key factors in preventing shoulder overuse injuries and low back pain that are so common in swimming. The training at Postureworks after testing is specific on and off the Redcord.

The Results are improved swim times, improved efficiency, power and biomechanics. This translates to less injury and tissue breakdown as well as greater success in the water. By correcting faulty patterns early we are able to help young athletes improve their mobility, posture, core stability and ultimately reduce common injuries and tissue breakdown, from a young age.

"The technology has been used in Norway and Europe for decades. We are the first in Los Angeles and we've been working with athletes for the past 5 years with this system. Former Olympians, and Lenny Krayzelberg recognize the unique benefits and how this system can help young swimmers". It is very exciting to help young athletes improve their performance and correct movement patterns so that they can all attain their potential.

The kinetic chain is how everything in your body is connected when moving via muscles, joints, tendons, etc. and the way this is communicated to the brain. So, if something is off in an athlete’s kinetic chain, this will result in uncoordinated movement, poor performance and eventually injury to surrounding structures. When evaluating our swimmers they are looking for these weaknesses in the kinetic chain that could explain why a swimmer is not performing well or there is re-injury.

For example, several swimmers that have already been evaluated by them, who have had either back and or shoulder problems, they have diagnosed with weakness of chains that stabilize the pelvis. In other words, these swimmers foundation was weak, causing them to compensate by either pulling harder from the shoulder or kicking harder through one leg.

As we know swimming is a very dynamic movement and Postureworks has been able to see in real time and in 3-D what are swimmers are doing in their body that is resulting in the either injury or poor mechanics. With Redcord training, our swimmers are correcting compensations and turning on muscles that were not activating. This is crucial training for any athlete!

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TSM RECOGNITION PROGRAM

Swimmer Recognition Program During practices each and every swimmer will have an opportunity to earn a gold star pin, which can be placed on their TSM backpack. These star pins will be given out to those swimmers who display exceptional vowels (AEIOU) Attitude Effort Improvement Opportunity Unselfishness during practice. Please look for these stars on swimmers bag and congratulate them for their remarkable effort.

Swimmer Promotion Move Up Acknowledgment The TSM coaches would like to celebrate each swimmer with their hard work and efforts when they move up to a new swim group by adding a few changes. First, each swimmer will now receive a TSM bag tag with their group name on it once they move up. Keep an eye out for this fun addition. Secondly, a move up letter will be emailed to the family of the swimmer by their coach congratulating them and providing additional information about their new group. Finally, after the swimmer has fully transitioned the coach will give the swimmer a welcome cheer with their new group!

AEIOU’s The coaches with the assistance of TSM Sports Psychologist have developed a recognition program for the swimmers. Swimmers will have an opportunity at each practice to earn a Gold Star Pin based on the AEIOU’s.

What are the AEIOU’s? A – Attitude (A positive attitude is most important) E – Effort (Effort and attitude are key to your swimmer’s performance) I – Improvement (Hard Work = Results) O – Opportunity (Take every opportunity to be The Best you can be) U – Unselfishness (Display great sportsmanship) CONGRATS TO OUR “STAR” SWIMMERS OF THE 2015/2016 SWIM SEASON!

WAY TO GO!

Maya Naito (Seals) KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! Arely Gomez (ND) Leo Twersky (Seals) Andrew Hanson (ND) Summer Lui (Seals) Frankie Sabin (ND) Annan Mistry (Otter) The Best Ilka Mustalampi (ND) Chris Goodman (Otter) Kae Tanabe (ND) Sadie Sabin (HH) The Best know what they truly want. Adam Shaaban (ND) Mattea Solokow (HH) The Best are always striving to get better. Ocelli Rivers-Altieri (ND) Ely Dickson (JO) The Best do the ordinary things better. Izzy Montgomery (JO) Mia Nguyen (JO) The Best are mentally stronger. The Best overcome fear. The Best seize the moment. The Best tap into a greater power than themselves. The Best make everyone around them better.

TSM Board Corner

Courtney Caverly – President Patrick Dodd – Webmaster [email protected] [email protected]

David Newberg – Treasurer Mark Hanson [email protected] [email protected]

MEETS & EVENTS TSM Events 2015/2016 - Save the Dates ********************************** TSM Annual Banquet JCA BR LCM Meet (4/2-4/3) Sunday, May 15th 2016 (5pm-8pm) SCS – Senior Meet (4/15-4/17) Rose Bowl BR LCM Meet (4/15-17) **** LOCATION**** Le Meridien Delfina - 530 Pico Blvd., Santa MVN – SMOC Senior Meet (4/28-5/1) Monica TSM Intrasquad Meet (May) SCS – Olympic Trial Last Ditch (6/11) Come join all your TSM friends and family at JCA BR LCM – Last Ditch (6/11-6/12) the most anticipated event of the year! This is June Age Group Meet (6/16-6/19) a fun event to get dressed up and enjoy an evening of great speeches and applaud those USA Olympic Trials (6/26-7/3) who have achieved the highest honors of the PAC COM Championships (7/21-7/23) coaches awards. There will be some exciting 2016 Junior Olympics (7/27-8/1) changes ahead, so please come and be prepared to make great memories!!! Additional

details coming soon... 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES (8/5-8/21)

REVIEW: MEET ETIQUETTE • PARENTS: o Double check timing assignments; we WILL need additional volunteer timers. If you don’t find a timing schedule for TSM parents, please start a sign in sheet and recruit! Remember that prelim/final meets will require you to time additional slots when your swimmer makes a final. • SWIMMERS: o Check in! Be sure the person checking your events highlights your name. o Arrive EARLY for warm-up and check-in. At warm-up enter the water FEET FIRST (no diving). Stay near the right lane line unless you are passing in the middle. o See a TSM coach before (heat/lane/strategy) and after (review) every race. Rest your legs, stay warm, find shade, and hydrate between races. Eat nutritious snacks! Avoid junk food. o Swimmers are welcome in the coaching area during race preparation and review. Otherwise: bleachers, tent, and warm-up pool. NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS

If you have any photos that you would like to submit for next month’s newsletter please email them to [email protected]. Also, additional photos can be obtained from Smugmug by mobile app or online at teamsantamonica.org.

GO TSM! GO TSM!