TSM Aquatics Newsletter - March 2023
A Message from the TSM Board
Dear TSM Families,
After a very long and cold winter for us here in Southern California, Spring is officially here! We said “see you soon” to our Water Polo Girls who will rejoin us this summer, and welcomed back our Water Polo Boys. Swimming is now shifting over to Long Course Season and the team activities are really ramping up to what should be a very busy but fun time for us all.
On the Fundraising front, our Annual Swim-A-Thon is set for March 26th, followed by the launch of our 2nd Online Auction on May 1st. Our events committee is working hard on our yearly banquet, slated for early June. Swim meets and WP tournaments are starting to fill all our calendars. It's an exciting time with a lot to look forward to.
Best of luck to all our athletes!
Ben, Cathy, Erina,Kirsty, Laura (G), Laura (S) and Lauren
Grant from Rotary Club of Santa Monica
In January, the Rotary Club of Santa Monica awarded TSM Aquatics their Community and Youth Grant during their January meeting. TSM is thrilled to have received this grant, which will go towards two timing touchpads. Thank you Rotary Club of Santa Monica!
Thank you to Michelle Chang for all of her work throughout the entire grant application process.
The Eames Chuchen TSM Aquatics High Altitude Training Grant Program
We are excited to announce a partnership with the Eames Chuchen Foundation to provide annual financial grants for TSM swimmers who are selected to participate in our High Altitude Training Program. The High Altitude Training Program is a unique opportunity offered by TSM, and not only provides our swimmers a competitive advantage, but also is a reward for their dedication to the sport.
Swimmers who participate in this program embody the best of TSM’s competitive spirit: A desire to be the best swimmer they can be, and an even better teammate. For those of us who knew Eames, those were the qualities that he worked hard to achieve.
We want to congratulate our three swimmers who are the inaugural 2023 class of this program. We hope they represent TSM with pride, and we will do our best to support their dreams of competitive greatness.
For more information on this program, please reach out to Coach Mo or Board President Laura Goodman.
For more information about the Eames Chuchen Foundation, and how you can support this program, please visit www.eameschuchen.org or email info@eameschuchen.org
Message from the Head Coach
Coaches’ corner
In your corner
KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN FOR THE LAST 3 CYCLES AND DO NOT BREATHE….
It’s a strange statement to say to someone that they should not, or cannot, breathe… It’s even more strange to hear someone shout, questioning someone about why they were breathing…
As Coaches, we ask our swimmers to do things that only make sense if you are, or have been, involved in the sport. Sometimes we might ask them something that does not make sense to them…. Yet!
Trusting someone to a point that you do not ask questions, and instead just DO as they say is difficult… However, that is the fastest way for you to reach your goals… When you fully trust the coach to the point when they ask you to “JUMP”, you no longer ask “why? How will this help me? I feel like this is making me slower… etc”, but instead you simply ask “How High??”, that is the point when you and your coach are on the same page, and truly great things start to happen.
The only reason why a coach asks a swimmer to make changes or to do something, in and out of the water, is to help them get better and achieve their goals. The only reason we yell out random statements (that may not make sense to most people) is because we are always in your corner, wanting to see you succeed and reach your true potential.
Let’s continue to finish our 2022-2023 season with the mindset that the coaches are in your corner and all the decisions and requests are to help you reach your goals. Once you trust the program, the coaches, and the process we will be able to make amazing things happen in the water.
Let’s keep it moving TSM! 😎👊🏽
Fundraising Events
Swim-A-Thon season is in full swing and we are making progress toward our $40k goal! If your athlete hasn’t gotten started, now’s the time to get them going by sending the link to their fundraising page to friends and family for donations. We need your help and participation to make our goal. Then come out on March 26 for our fun Swim-A-Thon event, to cap off our fundraising efforts and have fun together as a team!
Coming up in May will be our Second Annual Silent Auction. So far, our team has secured some fantastic items to put to bid but we need more!! Please consider donating those tickets or gift certificates or anything else that can support our athletes and get ready to bid. Our sneak peek will go live at the end of April.
Team Updates
Age Group (AG) Program: Jan 2022 - March 2023
Our AG program has had a great year. Our numbers grew from our Lessons program and tryouts. We had many time drops and new Championship/Senior level time standards achieved by our swimmers. We had our first Sectionals qualifier from the AG program. Some of our AG swimmers attended the training trip at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and they had a great experience. We finished the 2021-2022 season strong with some fast swims during Summer Championships.
We restructured the AG program for the 2022-2023 Season to streamline the program, fill the gaps that existed between groups, allow for better swimmer placement, allow for more manageable groups and higher program quality, and to be in line with our mission.
Our AG swimmers have been swimming well and we had multiple swimmers qualify for their first-ever Championship meet, Winter Age Group Championships. We have also had multiple swimmers qualify for Senior meets and achieve Sectional Bonus times.
Overall 2022 was a great year for TSM’s Age Group Program and we hope to continue on this path for the remainder of the 2022-2023 Season.
Senior program
After the finish to a great short course season, we move on to the long course swimming season, where all of our meets in the spring and summer are swum in a long course or 50-meter pool rather than a short course 25-yard pool. You'll be able to find our upcoming tentative schedule at: https://www.teamunify.com/team/tsm/controller/cms/admin/index?team=tsm#/calendar-team-events.
To conclude with our last short course meet of the season at Rose Bowl Pacific Committee Championships, we had 12 Senior swimmers from Development, Preparation, and Performance compete with 61 total races and 50% of those swims were personal best times achieved in the harshest rainy conditions.
Select swimmers in our Senior program are going up to Arizona to train at altitude for our team training trip in the month of April.
Overall, with the absence of Coach Erik and the addition of Coach Ellis to continue the momentum of the Senior Development program, we are looking ahead, onward and upward.
Staff
Here are some updates about our Coaching staff during 2023:
Coach Erik moved to Washington to start a new coaching journey
Coach Margaux moved to Europe to come out of retirement and continue swimming
Coach Isa and Coach Connor joined us for our Water Polo program.
Coach Ellis joined our swim team staff.
Coach Mohammad, Coach Iman, and Coach Chris are headed to this year’s Altitude Camp at Flagstaff AZ (7000 ft)
Nutrition Tips
Eat and Hydrate to perform…
Everything a student-athlete does is about performance, both in the classroom and in the pool. An athlete who does not eat enough, will not be able to function well at school, during practice, or during a competition. If your swimmer is struggling to stay awake during the day, has low energy at school or in the pool, and seems sluggish they are not eating ENOUGH calories during the day… and this will impact them more and more as the season progresses because they start each week at a caloric deficit.
Just because your swimmer eats a lot more than you or more than before, it doesn't mean they are eating ENOUGH to perform in the classroom and/or in the pool.
Coaches fully understand when swimmers are tired, due to not sleeping enough, or when they are pretty sore because of the work they do in the pool; however, lack of energy is mainly due to not eating ENOUGH of the right foods at the right time (before/during/after training or competition).
Yes!!! You are right!!! Keeping up with swimmers’ nutrition alone is like having a 2nd job.... that's why swimmers have to be involved in the process, take responsibility, and learn at a young age what they need to do to be able to be successful as student-athletes.
You can use the link below to learn more about fueling. If you need more help in this area please do not hesitate to reach out to your Coach!
Athlete Plate [Hard Day/Race Day]
Go TSM!
