By Steve Williams

Your District Swimming Newsletter March/April 2008

President’s Corner By Steve Williams

The boundaries issue has reached a resolution. All the existing Castlereagh clubs plus the Cumberland clubs from Riverstone, Windsor and Richmond will become the founding member clubs of the new area to be known as Metro North West Swimming.

An invitation has been extended to each club to send two representatives along to a workshop to be held Monday 17 March. Topics to be workshopped and agreed upon include the Constitution, Bylaws, Winter Championships and Development Squads.

The next step is for the AGM for Castlereagh to be brought forward to April and that will happen on Tuesday April, 21 st . At the AGM delegates will be asked to accept the new Constitution and Bylaws as workshopped change the area’s name from Castlereagh Swimming Association to Metro North West Swimming, and elect the new Committee.

The timeframe is important. If our new area is not up and running without delay then our new member clubs from Cumberland will be without an area as the new Metro South West area is due to be started shortly, and Cumberland will no longer exist.

With cooperation and open thinking from all member clubs the new area should be able to draw upon the strengths of Castlereagh and Cumberland to become an even better area than we are now.

We should all be proud of what Castlereagh and its members have achieved in the past. Now it is time to move forward and build our new area into another great area that works together and supports all its members.

Steve Williams.

Swimming Metro North West Association By Alex Warwar (to the best of my abilities!)

Frequent Asked Questions - FAQ

1. What are the Swimming Clubs on the new Area ?

AUBURN AQUABURN BARKER BLUEFINS SWIM TEAM CARRINGTON INDOOR AQUATIC CASTLE HILL RSL DOLPHINS EASTWOOD EPPING EPPING BULLETS FITNESS EDGE GALSTON HAWKESBURY HORNSBY MACQUARRIE NORTH WEST SWIMMING CLUB PARRA CITY PARRAMATTA MEMORIAL RIVERSTONE RIVERSTONE DOLPHINS RSL YOUTH RYDE CARLILE SOPAC SWIMWEST THE HILLS SWIMMING & LIFESAVING UNCLE JACK’S WINDSOR SWIM WIZARDS SWIM TEAM

2. So is Castlereagh gone?

Not quite. On April, 21 st Castlereagh will have an AGM to elect a new executive committee, change its name from Castlereagh to Swimming Metro North West Incorporated and adopt a new Constitution and by Laws where all new Clubs (as above) will be part of the area. All are invited to the AGM

3. What will happen to the Castlereagh Winter Championship? It will be held on June 7 th and 8 th and the new name is Swimming Metro North West Winter Championship. Program and MM Files for e-entries are already available at the Castlereagh Web Site http://www.castlereaghswimming.org.au/

4. What about the Area Development Squad Criteria? For the Bronze Squad it was decided that each Club will be able to nominate 3 swimmers and two reserves. The only criteria are: - Be a Team Player - Be of Good character - Able to Swim 2.5KM in one hours - 10 to 16 Years old as at April, 1 st 2008 - Must not have qualified at 2007 LC State Championship

Silver and Gold Criteria are still to be decided with the new Area Executive Committee to be elected at the AGM (April 21 st . ) which will then elect a Development Committee

5. Is this just a change of name? No. That is why the Castlereagh AGM was moved from May to April so not just the new name will be adopted but a new Constitution; As well as a new elected executive committee with the participation of all Clubs of the new Metro North West Area. It is a new beginning with ample opportunities for all Clubs of the new area to be involved. Hopefully the best of Castlereagh and Cumberland !

6. What about the other Areas? Other 2 areas – South East and South West are well in the way to be incorporated as new Areas. The only one remaining unchanged is the North East Area which at this stage will still be the two Districts geographically located in the North East.

7. What about the Colours or Symbol of the New Metro North West Area? This is to be decided in the future by the new elected committee at the AGM. But if you do have any suggestions make sure to be heard!

8. So is this the last Castlereagh Newsletter? Yes. The New elected Publicity Officer hopefully will be responsible to make the Metro North West Area Newsletter better, bigger and more famous!

Thank You for all the Contribution and Support for the last 22 Editions of the Castlereagh Newsletter

Race Secretary’s Bits & Pieces By Penny Bernard

The working party for the new area, Swimming Metro North West, agreed to use the present Castlereagh Winter Championship program.

This is the same as last year, 2007. It will be at SOPAC on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8. Warm up will be at 1.30 pm with the meet scheduled to start at 2.30 pm.

The program of events, the TM file and the conditions of entry will be on the Castlereagh web site. Closing date is May 23. Card entries have to be in the post office box by this date. I will also email clubs that will be joining us for these championships.

The title of the meet will be “Swimming Metro North West Winter Championships”. Although the entity does not exist at this time, it will be formed and be in existence by then. Please make all cheques to “Swimming Metro North West”.

This is my last report to a normal general meeting as Castlereagh Race Secretary and I would like to thank all the clubs for their support and also my assistant, Nikki Siddle for her help and support.

If conditions are favourable I will be available for nomination for the position of competition secretary (race secretary) in the new area but I will not push this if it will make it easier to form the new area.

Penny Bernard

Olympic Trials – NSW and District Results By Alex. Warwar & Ian Harkness

As you may know the Olympic Selection Trials concluded on March 30 th and there were ten (10) swimmers selected on the team along with two (2) coaches and two (2) managers from NSW.

They were as follows:

Swimmers: Angie Bainbridge – Grant Brits – Lara Davenport - Sophie Edington – Felicity Galvez – Belinda Hocking – Kenrick Monk – Kirk Palmer – Adam Pine – Craig Stevens.

From Castlereagh District: SOPAC (3) Grant Brits, Kenrick Monk and Felicity Galvez Barker (1) Kirk Palmer

CONGRATULATIONS!!

NSW Coaches: Alan Thompson – Greg Salter.

NSW Managers: Bruce Steed – Lynn Fowlie

There were 22 swimmers from Queensland, 10 from NSW, 7 from Victoria, 2 from WA and 1 from SA.

This swimmer representation from NSW is the best on a national team since the 2003 World Championships!

Following the multi disability events at the Trials a Nominated Paralympics Swim team was announced the draft lists from NSW are as follows:

Jacqui Freney – Sian Lucas – Sarah Rose – Teigan Van Roosmalen – Katrina Lewis - Ben Austin – Peter Leek – Matt Levy – Andrew Pasterfield (CHRSLD) and Rick Pendleton.

There were 11 swimmers from Victoria, 10 from NSW, 7 from Queensland, 3 from WA and 3 from SA named in the nominated team.

NEW ZEALAND TOUR WRAP UP Congratulation also to the following Castlereagh Swimmers at the New Zealand Age Group Championships at the QE II Leisure Centre in Christchurch representing NSW.

Gold

Kacey Pilgrim (SOPAC)– Girls 15 Years 200m Freestyle 2:04.85 Kacey Pilgrim – (SOPAC) - Girls 15 Years 100m Freestyle 56.85 Kacey Pilgrim – (SOPAC) - Girls 15 Years 400m Freestyle 4:19.25

Silver

Kacey Pilgrim (SOPAC) – Girls 15 Years 100m Backstroke 1:06.53

Bronze

Natalie Fegan (CHRSLD) - Girls 15 Years 400m Freestyle 4:26.35

Kacey Pilgrim (CHRSLD) – Girls 15 Years 200m Backstroke 2:23:29

Speedo Finals Championships Meet Director Notes From John McIntosh

There was a great effort put in by all competitors and I would like to compliment all the swimmers on their behaviour.

I would also like to thank several of the parents and coaches who helped out when a few young swimmers tended to blend into the surroundings and become hard to find when the relays were being organised.

Unfortunately, there was one swimmer missing for a relay which led us to miss that event. I would also comment on the lack of communication from a couple of clubs to their swimmers. Lists were emailed to all clubs detailing their swimmers participation in individual events plus their relay commitments but in a couple of clubs' cases the information was not passed on. This did lead to the need for a couple of relay member changes.

Overall, Castlereagh had some reasonably good results with a total of 16 Individual medals (7 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 Bronze) and 35 top ten placing. In the relays the teams won 4 medals (3 Gold and 1 Silver) with some very exciting finishes resulting.

The standard of swimming in the Speedo Series has risen greatly over the last couple of years since the qualifying has only excluded Medal winners from Summer State. It was no exception in 2008 with some swimmers breaking their entry times by over 2 seconds. Not bad for a 50 metre event.

Well done swimmers! Final District results:

1 CUMBERLAND 1,428 2 NORTHERN SUBURBS 1,374 3 WESTERN SUBURBS 1,244 4 CASTLEREAGH 1,238 5 ST GEORGE SUTHERLAND 825 6 MID NORTH COAST 803 7 EASTERN SUBURBS 734 8 CENTRAL COAST 638 9 ACT 601 10 WARRINGAH 494 11 NORTHERN DISTRICTS 483 12 WESTERN DISTRICTS 361 John McIntosh Speedo Co-Ordinator

Official's Corner ALEC REPORT By Ron Brettle

School swimming With Easter being so early this year a lot of swimming activities were jammed into a much shorter than usual timeframe. Over the last month a number of Castlereagh officials have been heavily involved in District, Zone, Region and Diocesan carnivals around the north western part of Sydney. Swimming NSW encourages school organisers to request officials however the onus is on the District to provide them. My thanks to those officials who helped out, often at short notice.

Corporate Games For many years now Castlereagh (read Gloria Wiegmann) has organised and run the swimming competition that is part of the NSW Corporate Games. In return the Games organisers have made a suitable contribution to the District’s coffers. Although previously going to a number of charities, from this year all profits from the Games go to Diabetes Australia. We are helping a worthy cause.

The success of the 2008 carnival on 15 March was due to the efforts of a number of our District officials and I thank them all for their enthusiasm and for giving up their Saturday afternoon to help. Corporate Games swimming is particularly challenging for Recorders and AOE/computer operators. The competitors are not regular swimmers who understand the way swimming carnivals operate. They can really create some ‘interesting’ situations – and definitely keep the Referee on his toes.

Seven Castlereagh swimmers also helped out on the day. Thank you to Matthias Carrigan, Samantha Choo, Alison and Ben Jalvo, Carina Lockyer, Rebecca Noble and Sabrina Warwar. The older ones time- kept while the three younger ones were the Runners. (Its interesting watching someone not much more than a metre high use a photo copier – which is about 5 centimetres above her eye level).

Technical Officials The last two Newsletters carried articles on the National Officiating Program that has replaced the NSW Technical Official accreditation system. Both the Swimming Australia and the Swimming NSW websites carry a detailed description of the program.

Castlereagh District has just completed it’s first and last course under the national system. As a result we now have three more people accredited as Control Room Supervisor / Recorder. My congratulations to our new Technical Officials.

The first of many Metropolitan North West Area courses will start just after Easter when nine people commence training for the position of Inspector of Turns.

Gaining accreditation as a Technical Official

We need more Technical Officials to share the load and to ensure that we continue to offer high standard, well run carnivals. I urge everyone to support their children’s swimming and apply for accreditation as a Technical Official.

Currently arrangements are being made to have more people qualify as Presenters and Assessors. This will allow the District/Area to run more training and accredit more Technical Officials. In the mean time Club Secretaries should contact me direct if they have any questions or people who want to become Technical Officials. Please remember that candidates must be a registered member of a swimming club.

New officials (i.e. those are not already Technical Officials) must first undertake training and assessment in ‘General Principles of Swimming Officiating’. They can then be trained in a specific role.

Yours in swimming

Ron Brettle

Swimming Trivia By Graham Taylor

Swimming and many other things would be boring if everything went to plan.

Why is it that we remember forever mishaps or the like when most routine happenings have been forgotten?

A few examples:

For one series of Shell Heats at Auburn we found that the race secretary had left all of the entry cards at home. There were no printed programs then, so we were busy discussing whether it would be possible to run the meet without them. We decided that it was not practical, so she had to go home to get them. I think it delayed the start.

At one meet at Homebush I assume the race secretary and treasurer both thought the other was bringing the medals. The RS went home first and came back with some I think but not nearly enough so the treasurer (indicated by the perpendicular pronoun) also had to go home and get some.

All of the recording used to be done by hand including the point scores and State qualifying times etc. I took some of these to work on Friday to work on them at lunchtime. Come Saturday they clearly weren’t at home anywhere, so had to go to work and get a security guard to let me in to get them. Not sure if I told him exactly what I needed to get, but if I did he presumably kept it to himself.

One year the Australian Championships were held at Drummoyne Pool instead of North Sydney. There is a hill at the eastern end of the pool, and some idiot protesting against apartheid or something threw dye into the turn end of the pool in lanes 4 and 5. There was a bit of a panic. They tried to get it out with a vacuum but some of the water almost flowed back into the lane 1 side of the pool. The order of events was altered to put women’s backstroke on before the men’s freestyle.

A story I heard from Snny Bidner recently. One day at a State winter meet at Hurstville, the door was left open and a dog came in and jumped in while a race was in progress. When asked by the referee if the dog had impeded him, the swimmer said .” what dog? “.

Emilie Miller We need your Help ! By Alex. Warwar from NSW Swimming

Swimming NSW hosted a fundraising dinner for a young NSW Swimmer, Emilie Miller.

Emilie is a talented 12 year old swimmer from Orange. In early January Emilie was training for the NSW State Age Swimming Championships when she fell awkwardly into the water, sustaining a serious spinal injury. Emilie has lost all feeling in her legs, and has limited movement in her arms; she’s currently recovering in Westmead Hospital.

The Fundraiser was held on Thursday 27th March 2008 from 12noon – 3:00pm with Nicole Livingstone OAM MC for the Function. During the luncheon guests had the opportunity to participate in discussions with a panel of high profile sporting personalities, Olympians Elka Graham, Murray Rose AM, John Konrads and Duncan Armstrong have been involved in the discussion panel, as will Rob Davies, General Manager of Speedo Australia. Robert McDougal has performed a range of well-known songs throughout the Event.

A large range of memorabilia and experience items was on on offer for the live and silent auctions, some of these included an Alan Jones Studio experience where you will have the opportunity to sit in the studio beside Alan and witness what goes on behind the scenes of his breakfast program, A Sydney Turf Club Package, an Adam Gilchrist signed bat and an Eamon Sullivan 50m World Record signed and framed photograph. This is just a selection of what was on offer.

Castlereagh District Swimming Association has made a donation (AUD 1000) to the Emily Miller Fund, and we invite individuals and Clubs to do the same as to help her recovery.

If you need more details please contact Jade Bull on Mobile: 0408 429 849 or Email: [email protected]

Coaches’ Corner Want to be a winner? Here are the five critical tasks: By Haydn Belshaw ––– Epping Bullets

The 5 critical tasks

1. Maximise your aerobic capacity (V02max) so that more energy is available to sustain your exercise.

2. Raise your lactate threshold as high as possible, so that intense efforts can be maintained with a minimum of fatigue.

3. Become more efficient at carrying out the exact activities required in your particular sport, so that less energy is wasted during competition and hard exertions feel less stressful.

4. Fortify yourself psychologically, so that the vicissitudes of training and competing can be handled more easily.

5. Learn how to rest, so that your hard training is perfectly balanced with adequate amounts of recovery.

Now let's break them down...

1. Maximise your aerobic capacity

Hoisting this is probably the easiest of the five tasks, since just engaging in your sport for expanded periods of time can heighten V02max (the maximal amount of oxygen that the body is able to consume ). If you're a runner, for example, and currently training 40 miles per week, you can earn a nice V02max upgrade simply by expanding your weekly schedule to 50-60 miles, without increasing the actual intensity of your work-outs.

However, beyond a certain point, increasing your quantity of training no longer boosts V02max. Once that point is reached, INTENSITY of training becomes the key factor: you'll have to cycle, run, row or swim at speeds which lift your heart rate to at least 95 per cent of maximal in order to push V02max as high as possible.

To make things more difficult, attaining such high heart rates for brief periods of time won't work. If you're really interested in sending V02max to the stratosphere, your 'intensity needle' will have to point to 95 per cent of maximal heart rate for four-to-five minute stretches several times during selected workouts.

2. Lift your lactate threshold

Lifting lactate threshold (LT) - the exercise intensity above which lactic acid begins to increase appreciably in your blood - is fairly straightforward. If you fatten up your V02max, you will usually raise your threshold as well, since LT is often a fixed percentage of aerobic capacity.

However, it is also possible to raise LT independently, which is lucky in those cases where V02max refuses to budge. Training continuously at about 85-90 per cent of maximal heart rate for 20- to 25- minute periods will generally have a profound effect on LT.

If you don't own a heart monitor or hate checking your pulse, a good LT-raising intensity is one which feels as though it would be impossible to sustain for longer than 30 minutes during a workout.

3. Become more efficient

The key to improving your efficiency of movement is to recognise that each muscle in your body is composed of collections of individual muscle cells. If you make a particular muscle stronger, then fewer of the individual cells within that muscle will be required to sustain a certain level of effort. In other words, more muscle cells within the strengthened muscle are allowed to rest while you're engaging in your sport, and other muscles which assist your power-boosted muscle are less likely to be called into play. Since you'll need to activate fewer individual muscle cells to pedal a bicycle at 20 miles per hour, swim at 1.5 metres per second or row a boat at a particular velocity, your overall energy demand will be lower - you'll be more efficient! As a result, you'll be able to step up to higher than expected intensities of exercise, or else conserve large quantities of precious muscle fuel if you prefer to remain at your traditional work rate.

To get more powerful, and therefore more efficient, you'll need to carry out some training at levels of effort which are actually higher than your usual competitive intensities. Obviously such exertions can't be sustained for long, so the usual plan -for the endurance-oriented athlete is to employ 3090 second intervals at close to top capacity. The recipe for the correct recovery interval during such workouts is a bit ambiguous. Utilising recoveries that are equal in duration to the work intervals can be good, because it helps an athlete's muscles to develop 'lactate tolerance' - the ability to control increases in acidity and sustain high power outputs for longer periods of time.

On the other hand, longer rest intervals allow more work to be done during each work interval so it's probably best to have some workouts with short recoveries and others with more extended rest periods. Sprinters, of course, usually won't want the 90-second work intervals; for a 400m sprinter, for example, 10- and 20-second intervals at faster than 400m pace would be ideal.

An additional way to become more efficient is to make use of an esteemed tenet of training called the 'specificity principle'. There's no special magic here; the idea is simply to do some training at the exact intensity one hopes to use during an important competition.

For example, the top-level runner who wants to sizzle through a 5K in 13:10 should complete some 1000m intervals in 2:38 each, the 10K competitor shooting for a 30-minute race should carry out 2000m intervals in six minutes, and the marathoner hoping for a 2:11 clocking should cruise through 10-

CASTLEREAGH SWIMMING NEWSLETTER IS DISTRIBUTED TO EDUCATE AND INFORM. THIS DOES NOT IMPLY ACCURACY NOR ENDORSEMENT BY THE CASTLEREAGH DISTRICT ASSOCIATION March/April 2008 Your District Swimming Newsletter miles runs in 50 minutes. In each case, these runners are practising the exact tempo which will be required for the race. Likewise the rower who wants to hustle a boat through the water at a particular cruising velocity, the cyclist shooting for a goal time, and the skier needing a specific pace to win a race, must all practise that particular intensity during training.

The bottom line is that competition is not just a muscular event; an athlete's nervous system must learn to CONTROL muscular activity at the precise exertion level required for the race. Specific training allows the nervous and muscular systems to come together in a coordinated way.

4. Fortify yourself psychologically

Compared to the physiological requirements of a winning performance, the exact psychological needs of the top-level athlete are less clear, but it is certain that superior performers are able to concentrate almost totally on their bodies during workouts and competitions, blocking out extraneous thoughts and negative information which might impede their performances. The best athletes also tend to be somewhat self-critical, but not overly so, and they often engage in 'positive self-talk', giving themselves encouragement both during exercise and throughout the course of an average day.

Supreme competitors also have the ability to let bad performances roll off their backs; in fact, they tend to regard poor outings as opportunities to learn more about themselves and to make necessary changes in both their physical and mental preparations for competitions. The best athletes also seem to form mental images of themselves moving powerfully and quickly, and they tune in these images before major competitions.

Finally, almost all great athletes have the apparently paradoxical ability to both relax and remain somewhat tense. Their muscles are untaut and ready for maximally powerful efforts during competition, yet within their minds keen fires burn which is ready to ignite almost superhuman physical exertion.

5. Learn how to rest

Although severe workouts are necessary to get to the top, rest is equally important but is all too often missing from a potentially great athlete's schedule. Attuned to the idea that high-level workouts produce winning performances, the majority of athletes go overboard, pushing themselves to the brink of fatigue and overtraining. Top athletes have learned that optimal training involves exercising and resting; it's not possible to reach supreme performance levels unless fierce exertions are balanced with restoration and recovery.

Even the seemingly fatigue-proof Kenyan runners take two-month respites each year during which they do very little training. As they put it so simply: 'Our bodies need to take a rest, so that we can train hard the rest of the year'. All competitive athletes should have at least one annual six- to eight-week period in which very little training is done, and should avoid the temptation to carry out too many high- intensity workouts during the training year.

True, not every athlete needs to reach the five goals which I've outlined above. Sprinters and throwers, for example, don't require high V02max levels or lofty lactate thresholds, and they may in fact lose some of their raw muscle power if they focus on V02max-building training.

Sprinters need to enhance the anaerobic capacities of their muscles, not the aerobic, so the maximum amount of force can be exerted in the shortest possible time. However, for athletes involved in events which last for more than a couple of minutes, hitting all five targets should lead to the biggest pay-off of all: a winning performance. Swim On

Balmoral Swim Bold Presence from Castlereagh District Clubs By Alex Warwar

Well we had a great Team from Aquaburn with 22 Swimmers from 10 to..well over 50, Castle Hill Dolphins, Hills and the mighty Epping Bullets which showed up with 30 kids !!

All for a good cause which was to raise fund for the Children Cancer Institute!

The Highlights were:

Relays

Epping Bullets got 1 st , 2 nd . 3 rd . and 5 th on the Age Relay ( 4 x 250m) 52-99 years old (combined age group) Epping Bullets got 1 st on the Age Relay ( 4 x 250m ) 100-149 years old and Aquaburn got 4 th , 5 th and 7 th . ! Julia’s Team ( aka Epping Bullets) got also the 1 st on the Club Relay Category

Under 16 Male – 1 KM Swim Kurt Herzog (AQBN) got 1 st Luke Herzog (AQBN) got 4 th

Under 16 Female – 1 KM Swim Rachel Bahin (CHRSLD) got 1 st . Kelly McCrae (EBullets) got 2 nd . Annie Bygraves (EBullets) got 4 th .

16-19 Male – 1 KM Swim Andrew Smith (EBullets) got 1 st . Noel Kelly (EBullets) got 2 nd . Bisco Wong (EBullets) got 3 rd . Stephen Lawrence (AQBN) got 4 th .

16-19 Female – 1 KM Swim Natalie Steel (Hills) got 1 st Julia Klarich (EBullets) got 4 th .

20-29 Female – 1 KM Swim

Jane Hinton (EBullets) 2 nd . Catherine Rolston (Ebullets) 3rd .

50-59 Female 1 KM Swim Gai Jones (AQBN) 3 rd .

Juniors Under 12 Male Patrick Yap (EBullets) 1 st .

And my apologies if I have forgotten anyone. It was a great day and next year we will hopefully go as a Single Club – The Whole Metro North West and bring all the goodies home.

Kurt Herzog from AQBN got also the Dash for Glory ( not cash ) !

Finding A Freestyle Swimmer's Lost Kick By Mathew Luebbers from About Swimming.com

Finding A Freestyle Swimmer's Lost Kick

I am a swimmer with a problem. Do you have any suggestions for a swimmer with a lazy swimming kick (freestyle)? I will be swimming well and then I will loose my kick rhythm and cannot regain it.

For a freestyle or backstroke swimmer, the kick rhythm can set the speed for the entire swim. Being able to hold a specific kick tempo - or being able to control it - can be very important for swimming speed. Let's try two things that might help you overcome your "lazy" swimming kick trouble.

Do you feel like you have lost your kick rhythm because you are tired and cannot maintain that tempo? If so, then it may take more specific kick or leg conditioning.

That means trying to hold the kick speed or kick rhythm for longer and longer durations, and/or hold that kick speed for more frequent efforts of shorter durations with recovery between each effort.

Example: Swim 14 x 25 (or 50) at desired kick rhythm with rest between each effort. Over a series of weeks, decrease the rest between each 25 (or 50) until you cannot hold the kick rhythm. When you hit that point (if you do) then add some rest between each effort and repeat the cycle.

Do you feel like you just cannot find the rhythm? You are not exactly tired, but you don't seem to be able to get back into the groove if you fall off pace? Then you might want to practice changing the rhythm before you lose it and then try to regain it. Teach yourself how to find (or vary) swimming kick tempos regardless of where you are in a swim. You might be able to use this to your advantage in a race,

CASTLEREAGH SWIMMING NEWSLETTER IS DISTRIBUTED TO EDUCATE AND INFORM. THIS DOES NOT IMPLY ACCURACY NOR ENDORSEMENT BY THE CASTLEREAGH DISTRICT ASSOCIATION March/April 2008 Your District Swimming Newsletter altering your kick speed - and your overall swimming speed - at different stages of a swimming race. Mix up slower, faster, and desired rhythm kicking.

Example: Swim a set distance (a 100, 150, 200, etc.) with kick rhythm at desired rate for first 1/2 to 1/4 of swim, then drop it off or speed it up for the next 1/4 to 1/2 of the swim, then back to desired for final portion, rest, then repeat. As you get better at it, try changing kick speed more often and less often.

NEW: Swimming News around the World By Alex Warwar from the World Wide Resources of the Internet

FINA wants to examine slick new swimsuit after wave of world records

By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer

March 24, 2008

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) -- The slick new swimsuit that has led to 12 world records already this year will be examined by swimming's governing body amid debate about the quest for speed in the pool.

"There are concerns about suits being like triathlon suits, which are thicker," FINA executive director Cornel Marculsecu told SwimNews.com on Monday. "There are buoyancy issues. We have to review this."

There have been 13 world records set since mid February, 12 in the LZR Racer, a full-length body swimsuit made by Speedo.

Federica Pellegrini of Italy ended the one-brand exclusivity Monday night, lowering the record for the 400-meter freestyle in a new Arena outfit.

Marculsecu said the suit would be discussed at the world short-course championships next month in Manchester, England.

France's Alain Bernard was wearing the LZR suit when he broke three world records in three nights at the European championships -- twice in the 100 freestyle and also the 50 freestyle.

FINA approved the $550 suit, which is made of extremely lightweight, water repellant fabric -- electronically bonded rather than sewn together -- with special panels to reduce drag.

Bernard has an individual deal with Speedo but his French team is linked to a rival swimwear company and has called for an inquiry into the suit.

"I think it deserves a real debate. It's even worth being analyzed by an ethical committee," French swimming federation technical director Claude Fauquet said.

Speedo also launched a new suit before the world championships in Australia last year.

"At the Melbourne world championships, 11 records fell in four days and there was no call for that suit to be banned," Rob Davies, general manager of Speedo Australia, said Monday by telephone. "It is FINA approved. It is available to everyone."

The increasing use of such suits has led some swimmers to question the growing importance of technology in competition.

"It is going to be a technological battle come the Olympics," South African swimmer Roland Schoeman said at the launch of the Powerskin R-evolution suit by Speedo's rival Arena -- and worn Monday night by Pellegrini.

"It would be great to see the final of the Olympics just be basically people and their talent, like Popov when he was just swimming in his briefs," said Schoeman, the world 50-meter butterfly champion. "That is true testament to an individual's work ethic and ability -- more than the suit to help correct any imperfections."

Alexander Popov swam in traditional briefs. The Russian's long-standing 50-meter freestyle world record was broken in February by Eamon Sullivan of Australia, who was wearing the Speedo suit. Bernard lowered it again on Sunday night.

But Schoeman acknowledged a change was unlikely.

"It would be like Tiger Woods going to Nike and saying, 'I want to go back to a wooden driver,"' Schoeman said.

Editor: Alex. Warwar Contributions & Feedback to: [email protected] Subscriptions: Send an email to [email protected] with your request Yearly Sponsorship: Gold ($500), Silver($250), Bronze ($150)

CASTLEREAGH SWIMMING NEWSLETTER IS DISTRIBUTED TO EDUCATE AND INFORM. THIS DOES NOT IMPLY ACCURACY NOR ENDORSEMENT BY THE CASTLEREAGH DISTRICT ASSOCIATION