Why This Meet and Why Now?

Hi All,

It is meet day...sorta kinda.

I will explain what I mean throughout this post.

First, a big “Thank You” to Coach Nick for sending out the major details. This email is more about explaining the “why” behind this event and helping everyone better understand what we are trying to accomplish this weekend.

If you are ready, grab your beverage of choice and let’s dive in, shall we?

The graph above  is an example representation of a typical season design. It contains the four (4) major phases within a thirteen (13) week season: Pull In, Accumulation, Realization and Taper. You can also see the relative volume for each energy zone throughout the progression of the season.

As you can tell, we are currently in a full blown Accumulation phase. This means we are still preparing the athletes for the higher intensity work that will come later in the season.

If you look closely, you will notice that the percentage of higher energy zone work (read faster work) comes much later in the cycle. You will also notice that our overall training volume will increase significantly once summer begins in June. None of this happens by accident. It is all part of a seasonal design plan that recognizes the realities of how the human body adapts to stress, recovery and performance demands over time. But this email is not meant to be an exercise in applied sport science. It is really about understanding the purpose of this particular meet.

Spoiler alert...we are not here to rack up PBs and cuts this weekend ;) This meet was selected for a few very intentional reasons.

First, it is not a full weekend meet. That matters. Our swimmers will have a recovery day before we move into the more challenging fifth week of training. Too many times I have seen athletes race too much, too early in the season, and end up mentally and physically flat midway through the summer. That is not a recipe for long term success.

Second, this meet gives our athletes an opportunity to touch some higher energy zones while carrying fatigue, especially Saturday afternoon. Swimming in Zones IV and V during a race environment while tired will usually create a much greater effort than simply standing up on the blocks during a home training session. Since we have not spent much time in those upper zones yet this season, getting the athletes into “race mode” mentally will be valuable. We want full commitment and quality effort. The better the effort, the better the long term adaptation. Early season meets are not about “Best Times.” They are about “Best Efforts.” That is what we are looking for this weekend.

Now let’s talk about some realities of the meet itself.

Friday is going to feature a lot of sprinting for many of our younger swimmers. Hydration, nutrition, warming down and managing energy between events will all become important learning experiences. This is actually great preparation for later in the season when athletes may have important races stacked close together. Learning how to manage multiple events within a compressed timeline is a huge developmental skill. Just ask some of our college swimmers about dual meet life.

Saturday will be even more demanding for some athletes. Many swimmers will race in the morning session and then return immediately for the afternoon session. That could mean being on deck from early morning until late evening. Is that ideal for peak performance? No. But at this stage of the season, it is far more beneficial than adding another full competition session on Sunday.

Preparation will be key. Please make sure swimmers have plenty of healthy snacks, fluids, electrolytes, extra towels and sunscreen.

Most importantly, let’s understand the realities of this meet so we can enjoy the process. It is early in the season, the conditions are not ideal and the athletes will be challenged. Good. That is part of developing a championship mindset.

When athletes learn how to recognize challenges, adapt to them and still give great effort, they are building skills that matter far beyond one weekend or one result sheet. That is the real win right now.

Let’s go have some fun with it.



See you at the pool - Rich