Boles Notes- October 2009 - Swim Ontario

Boles Notes‐ October 2009
It is my intention to offer my observations and share my visitation journey each month. “We don’t have to be
superstars or win championships….all we have to do is learn to rise to every occasion, give our best effort, and
make those around us better as we do it” John Wooden (Life wisdom from Coach Wooden)
Basically I’m thirty days into the job of Swim Ontario provincial/mentor coach. My first assignment was
to attend and present with John and Christy at the NEOR AGM weekend in Sudbury. I had a very good
impression of the Region right away with 60+ in attendance representing all the clubs in the region as
well as the leadership of Dan Taylor and his Board. I commend the coaches of NEOR with their
professional values and shared focus in their planning meeting chaired by Tracy McCartney and Rodney
Thomas. One admirable quality of NEOR is the pride and support of all their members. The pride and
excitement shared by the performance of Dominique Bouchard (North Bay Titans) and her coach Cliff
Noth this past summer. I appreciated the opportunity to see what is happening in the North East and I
look forward to the fast swimming performances throughout the 2009‐10 season.
The very next weekend we were right into the Swim Ontario AGM. This was a great moment to
recognize and celebrate the outstanding results of season. All you have to do is read John’s Executive
Director’s report –it was pages of great results. Apart from the presentations at the conference, I would
suggest coaches to become aware of the initiatives that are in place, understand the direction of OSCA
and some of the new programs they want to help with. One of my roles will be to stay connected with
Swim Canada in particular, the Jr National program headed up by Ken McKinnon and the newly
established National Swim Centre at University of Toronto with coaches “JR” (John Rogers) and Byron
MacDonald. And when possible facilitate the sport science program by Dr Greg Wells and the CSC‐
Ontario providers.
Her Performance 1 st Thinking (TOP 10)
Take responsibility for your swimming
Continually improve your practice times
Measure the measurable‐ keep a log book
Value Kicking‐ a minimum of 20% of the daily volume with intensity indicators
Encourage your team mates—Be a positive leader for your program/lane
Improve your push offs—Continue to develop your dolphin (body kicking)
Develop your physical strength (core) with one correct movement at a time
Develop good habits‐ Count your strokes, know your splits, take your HR‐ Record your #’s
Practice the way you want to race in practice
Have FUN but never at the expense of your swimming excellence and that of your team mates’

Here is a brief summary of who I have seen in my travels to date:
UT/Nat’l swim Centre and Toronto Swim Club—I t was great to see the flow of swimming in one
location over a 3+ hour span of training. This was my first meeting with JR and I must say I couldn’t get a
word in as he was busy taking every minute to basically correct everyone of the swimmers in the water
(and only his 5 th day on the job). Byron and JR along with Linda Kiefer were running some 40 Varsity
swimmers through a Dryland program and mixed variety of swimming intensities and stroke work.
Before you know it, a group of age group and senior high school swimmers were on the deck going
through the routine of the first week of swimming with TSC coaches John Grootveld and Bob Hayes.
My next visit was to the Western Region meeting in Woodstock allowing me to relay a reminder to the
audience about the Ontario Swim Coaches Committee policies and procedures, the reminder of getting
all coaches into the flow of the NCCP and the continued focused delivery of the LTADs in its day to day
practice development.
My next stop was close to home attending a combined practice at UW with both UW and WLU varsity
swimmers training together while the Laurier pool is still closed for renovations. Jeff Slater and Nandi
Kormendi put together a circuit style practice for the 50+ swimmers. I feel when possible these
collaborative training opportunities is critical for the development of programs whether club or
university.
Later on that day on my way home from the Swim Ontario office was a stop at the Etobicoke Swim Club
who experienced in some regards the most successful seasons of performance with 75 national records
and a World Record. With 16 lanes of swimming going up and down the black line I recognized the
environment of commitment to high performance. Every corner of the Olympium being managed by
coaches with that in mind, whether it was head coach Kevin Thorburn or assistant coaches Rob Novak,
Brent Aquino and Courtney Desjardins, the swimmers know the emphasis of learning the process to
high performance.
The next day was a visit to the University of Guelph for the combined Varsity and Senior club practice.
Don and Kendra Burton continue to strive to offer a high performance opportunity for the swimmers
with Video tape set up with PVR (delayed playback). Both Varsity and Club in stages of developing the
early season routines. The routine continues post practice with a cold tub available to the senior
swimmer.
A visit to the Wilmont Aquatic Aces on a Thursday afternoon found the small club program with a
history of bringing swimmers to the forefront of Ontario swimming. Forty plus swimmers jammed into
the 6 lane pool but with great attention to detail with coaches lead by head coach Joni Maerten Sanders
on each corner of the pool interacting with the swimmers from learn to swim to Jr prov’l including the
multiple medal haul by the Alex and Erica Buehlow. The club is waiting with great anticipation of their
new 8 lane 25m pool scheduled for 2011 ☺.

The last Saturday of September I shared coaching roles with Christy at the Central Region “Learn to
Train” Camp at the Toronto Olympians pool in Scarborough. Eric Kramer has pulled together several
opportunities for both swimmers and coaches to develop skills in a one day format. I enjoyed the
response of the swimmers and their desire to improve their skills. These Regional camps (Learn to Train
curriculum) are a great opportunity for the swimmers to step up to the next level. It was also good to
work with the coaches who assisted at the camp, Melanie from OAK, Jen from Milton and Mary from
Pickering.
Again a little closer to home I watched Paul Meronen conduct a high quality “attention to detail”
practice of his group Sr2 of the ROW swim club. From the exercises on deck prior to the water, to every
stroke during practice, Paul insisted on effort and execution. It is clear strength development and
technical reliability comes before mindless‐metres at this point in the season. On another morning in
Waterloo before heading to Toronto I watch former national swimmer now coach Matt Mains run a
practice of the Gold group for ROW. Emphasis on turns and streamlining were the focus of the sets.
This past week I stopped in at the Milton Marlins to watch head coach Jamie Brough and his colleague
Jen Porenta have two groups performing an early season critical speed focused practice. I noticed a few
reminders on stroke counting during the required effort and the positive observation that all swimmers
were taking their heart rates without reminders. Some good dialogue took place with Jamie and Jen
after the practice regarding planning, goal setting and innovative ideas.
The last stop for the week was a visit to the Oakville Aquatic Club where I probably recognized most of
the swimmers as I had the opportunity to work with these swimmers at either at an Ontario camp this
past season or the handful who represented Ontario at a very successful Canada Games. One
observation of the two senior groups of 28 swimmers with the assistance of Sr coach Cathy Pardy the
swimmers know how to put up a full‐on effort. When watching the practice and the threshold set being
swum the slogan from the “Big Dog” t‐shirt—lead—follow—or get out of the way comes to my mind
☺!
This week heading north of the big city to watch the Newmarket Stingrays with the coaching strengths
of head coach Alan Swanston, Ulf Ornhelm and Caroline Tesky. Steve Topham from the CSC‐Ontario
was leading the High Performance group through a 60minute dry land program. Then into the water and
for the next 120 minutes Technique, Technique, Technique was the theme. One particular set I liked was
4x25@45 15m sprint/10m ez followed by a 50 (25 no breath free into the wall and underwater dolphin
kick on the return 25). Lindsay Seemann made it look easy going the 2 nd 25 all the way—what I like best
was the perfect free technique on the no breath (Range‐Rhythm‐Relaxation). Pound for pound this
team has demonstrated where we would like to see more Ontario clubs performing to.
Onto Hwy 11 to the Bracebridge area where Head Coach Mark Shivers (former swimmer of mine) had
his swimmers focusing on distance per stroke—each set had the theme of DPS, continual feedback from
swimmers maintaining consistent numbers from 25’s through to a series of 400’s. A positive observation
was every swimmer was maximizing their underwater push offs and kickouts past the flags no matter
the size of the swimmer. This was an understood rule for practice. MUSAC swimmers are enjoying their

new 8 lane 25m pool in Bracebridge and look forward to the completion of another new pool in
Gravenhurst 2011 ☺!
My last visit of the week before this report going to the TAS newsletter, I made my way down Hwy. 11 to
the Barrie Trojan Swim Club under the leadership of Head Coach Patrick Paradis and Assistant coach
Jason Morawski. Early season preparation with focus on developing general strength with proper skill
execution during the dry land program—this theme carried into the 2 hour water session. Although the
training pool compact and space at a premium quality control was maintained.
Summary of the Train to Compete Camp‐ October 2‐4 McMaster University:
Camp Focus:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Understanding and Applying Personal Responsibility
Balance (Invisible Training and Well Being)
Train with Purpose (Swim with Purpose) “it’s not necessarily what the practice is…it’s what you do with
the practice” “Continually improve your practice times”
Value kicking as one of the key foundations to High Performance Swimming
Skill Development and Refinement (Stroke Efficiency—Pace Control—Start & Turn skills
Dry land; Conditioning and Flexibility components leads to your High Performance Capacity (Winning
Routines)
Have Fun!
The practices and Training Set results are available from Swim Ontario. The Camp template included
some simple sets focused toward kicking (we have been working with Greg Wells at the CSC‐Ontario and
using the “50 & 300 kick” as a point of measurement—see if you can kick faster than your 400 swim
time) Go to http://cscswimming.squarespace.com/. Many thanks to Anne Bell for volunteering her
time to be Camp Manager, to Andrew Cole, Tim Sauve and McMaster University for facilitating the
operations—the Alpine Tower and the Strength & Conditioning segments were outstanding and fun. The
swimmers were treated to an impromptu visit by 1984 Olympic medalist Mike West who parted a few
moments of experience (Mike was at McMaster with his children during a swim practice with their club
GHAC). Canada Games Gold medalist Bridget Coley (HAC) spoke to the swimmers after Saturday’s
practice while World Team Member and national record holder Heather McLean (Eswim) gave the
closing address to the swimmers—to see what Heather talked about, read the article in the latest Swim
News—a real inspiration. A big thank you to Kelly Steeves for another outstanding camp.
What’s next:
‣ The week of October 20 th ‐24 th in Ottawa with clubs in that area as well spending time with our SNC
friends
‣ The week of the 26 th more visitations
‣ The week of Nov 2‐7 working with the distance camp at UT
‣ Look for information regarding Training Opportunities at the UT national swim centre
‣ A few items to budget for: 1) Video and Playback system for the deck‐ “PVR” with delayed playback. 2)
Portable wall system for better use of lane space found at Team Aquatic Supplies 3) Start planning for
your staff education‐ Next September Ontario conference‐‐Ottawa and the Canadian conference in
Whistler BC. See you on the deck!