Fayson Gators: Coaches' Corner
September Coaches' Corner Newsletter
This year the Fayson Gators Swim Team greatly benefited from some new equipment! Due to fundraising, new equipment was available for all of the swimmers, from the 8&unders in 12:15 all the way up to the 13&overs in 9:15. We were able to purchase fifteen kickboards, and fins to fit swimmers of all sizes. These bright yellow kickboards were a big step up from borrowing boogie boards from the shack! All swimmers used them to isolate their kick during specific kick sets in practice. Swimming is a sport of great multi-tasking but with the kickboards, swimmers were able to focus solely on their kick and didn’t have to worry about breathing, pulling or their stroke rate. By the end of the season, their legs were really strong and it showed during races. Our swimmers were beating out other swimmers with a burst of hard kicking at the end and this can be attributed to the help of our new kickboards and of course, hard work. Everyday a swimmer or two in each practice group would have the privilege of using the brand new fins! Quickly our swimmers found out that the fins made them kick really fast and they loved that! In addition to fast training, they used the fins to improve strength, ankle flexibility and body position. The large surface area of the fins forced swimmers to move their ankles more and also made it harder for them to kick with the extra resistance. The kickboards and fins enabled the swimmers to train more dynamically. This coupled with their hard work led to only one thing: fast swimming. As coaches, we could not be any prouder of how much our swimmers improved this season and this is all due to their work ethic and love for the sport. And through it all, we even managed to have some fun!
