WH2O'ers Top Ten SCM List

The preliminary 2007 Short Course Meters USMS Top Ten List is now available. Check them all out at the USMS website at http://www.usms.org/comp/tt/toptenlist.php.

As you can see from the list below we have a lot of Top 10 Swimmers from WH2O. Congrats to all the swimmers. When the final official Top 10 Results are up we’ll post them. Congrats to all and keep on swimming. For those who didn’t make the list you have a few months to SCM season so start training today!

Here is a list of WH2O’ers who have made the preliminary SCM Top 10:

Men Age 18-24:

50 Freestyle SCM Men 18-24 (2007)
1 Christopher S Smith 23 Time: 24.80

100 Freestyle SCM Men 18-24 (2007)
3 Christopher S Smith 23 Time: 56.30

50 Breaststroke SCM Men 18-24 (2007)
4 Christopher S Smith 23 Time: 31.91

100 Individual Medley SCM Men 18-24 (2007)
5 Christopher S Smith 23 Time: 1:04.20

200 Individual Medley SCM Men 18-24 (2007)
5 Christopher S Smith 23 Time: 2:25.67

Men 25-29:

800 Freestyle SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
10 Bryan Libit 28 Time: 10:39.43

50 Backstroke SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
4 Jeff Brooker 29 Time: 29.35

100 Backstroke SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
5 Jeff Brooker 29 Time: 1:03.30

50 Breaststroke SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
2 Matthew B Schmidt 29 Time: 30.88

100 Breaststroke SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
1 Matthew B Schmidt 29 Time: 1:08.10

200 Breaststroke SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
1 Matthew B Schmidt 29 Time: 2:31.57

100 Butterfly SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
7 Jeff Brooker 29 Time: 1:00.40

100 Individual Medley SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
6 Matthew B Schmidt 29 Time: 1:02.78

200 Individual Medley SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
2 Matthew B Schmidt 29 Time: 2:18.98

200 Individual Medley SCM Men 25-29 (2007)
9 Mike Crosby 28 Time: 2:25.88

Men 30-34:

200 Freestyle SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
2 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 1:57.06

400 Freestyle SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
2 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 4:14.30

100 Backstroke SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
2 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 59.18

200 Backstroke SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
1 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 2:08.39

200 Breaststroke SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
3 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 2:28.30

200 Individual Medley SCM Men 30-34 (2007)
1 Brian J Olver 30 Time: 2:08.33

Men 35-39:

200 Butterfly SCM Men 35-39 (2007)
10 Joel Mc Kenna 37 Time: 2:28.48

Men 40-44:

400 Freestyle SCM Men 40-44 (2007)
9 Gregg A Ogorzelec 41 Time: 4:30.35

800 Freestyle SCM Men 40-44 (2007)
7 Gregg A Ogorzelec 41 Time: 9:35.92

1500 Freestyle SCM Men 40-44 (2007)
7 Gregg A Ogorzelec 41 Time: 18:28.43
Men 55-59:

200 Butterfly SCM Men 55-59 (2007)
8 Charles Larson 55 Time: 3:04.06
Men 60-64:

100 Butterfly SCM Men 60-64 (2007)
8 Paulo Figueiredo 61 Time: 1:18.55

200 Butterfly SCM Men 60-64 (2007)
7 Paulo Figueiredo 61 Time: 3:20.27

400 Individual Medley SCM Men 60-64 (2007)
7 Paulo Figueiredo 61 Time: 6:15.83
Women 30-34:

50 Freestyle SCM Women 30-34 (2007)
6 Sarah L Lassek 34 Time: 30.17

100 Freestyle SCM Women 30-34 (2007)
4 Sarah L Lassek 34 Time: 1:06.23
Women 40-44:

200 Freestyle SCM Women 40-44 (2007)
5 Amy L Dantzler 43 Time: 2:18.28

400 Freestyle SCM Women 40-44 (2007)
3 Amy L Dantzler 43 Time: 4:48.55

200 Butterfly SCM Women 40-44 (2007)
4 Amy L Dantzler 43 Time: 2:51.19

USMS Top 10 Rankings 2007

Congratulations to the following WH2O swimmers for making USMS Top Ten for 2007

Short Course Yards:

Men 18-24
Christopher Smith   
3rd 50 free         
5th 100 free        
7th 100 breast 
9th 50 breast  
         
Jonathan Russell 
1st 200 free
1st 500 free
2nd 50 back
2nd 100 back
3rd 100 free

Men 25-29
Brian Olver      
2nd 500 free
2nd 1000 free
3rd 200 back
3rd 400 IM
5th 200 fly
5th 200 IM
6th 200 breast

Justin Brannock
1st 500 free
5th 200 free
7th 100 free

Wadley    
3rd 1650 free
4th 1000 free  
4th 500 free

Matt Schmidt
6th 50 breast
7th 100 breast
8th 200 breast

Men 30-34
Brian Wright
8th 200 back

Men 50-54
Tom Reudy
4th 200 IM
4th 200 breast
6th 100 IM

Men 60-64
Paulo Figueiredo
8th 200 fly

Women 40-44
Amy Dantzler
3rd 1650 free
3rd 1000 free
6th 500 free
8th 200 free

Women 50-54
Morri Kleine Spang
9th 50 free

Relays

Men 18+
1st 800 free relay    
Justin Brannock 
Matt Schmidt  
Brian Olver  
Jonathan Russell

2nd 200 free relay
Christopher Smith
Jonathan Russell
Brian Olver
Justin Brannock

Mixed 18+
8th 200 medley relay  
Kiley Ames-Klein 
Matt Schmidt  
Sherry West  
Christopher Smith 

10th 200 free relay
Brian Olver
Kiley Ames-Klein
Amy Dantzler
Christopher Smith

Long Course Meters

Amy Dantzler (40-44)
6th - 200 free
3rd - 400 free
2nd - 800 free
1st - 1500 free

Slava Agafonoff (18-24)
7th - 50 breast
6th - 100 breast
10th - 200 IM

General Meeting/Elections

This coming Sunday, October 21st, is WH2O's annual meeting. At this meeting, the current Board presents their year-end review, financial statements, and budget for the upcoming year. Also at the meeting, the team elects the new 2007-2008 Board. If you are a current active member of WH2O and are interested in running for a Board position, please email the VP Admin at vpadmin@wh2o.org.

Breaststroke Week Tips

Thanks to Brian Olver for the following tips for breaststroke week. He's included a few clips to watch, so copy and paste them into an open window in your browser and enjoy.

Welcome to breaststroke week! While doing breaststroke this week, here are a few tips and clips to help you improve your stroke.

I'd like to first point out that breaststroke is much different than the long axis strokes we just finished working on, and because of that, I personally do not think there is only one "right" way to swim breast. You'll see in the following clips there are various and dramatically different styles of breaststroke even among the world's elite. However, upon inspection,
you will notice that there are many similarities as well.



1) Kitajima underwater. This is probably the best video footage you can find on breaststroke. Notice that his kick is fairly narrow and very quick. And, at the end of every stroke he immediately returns to a
full streamlined position. These two factors allow Kitajima to get more distance per stroke than any other male breaststroker in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lYWPKVl-Bo

2) Another underwater clip - slow motion:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtww6M4Dghs

3) This clip of Megan Jendricks and Agnes Kovacs underwater really allows us to see two distinct styles of breaststoke. Jendricks, on the far side, illustrates a fairly traditional technique always moving forward, while Kovacs, on the near side, opts to dive downward leading with her hands and following it through with her entire body. But, notice how quickly both of their arms recover and push back forward, thereby reducing the amount of time they are stuck in the "vertical" position, which causes the most drag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbFhrDb9ulc

4) Leisel Jones is the current world record holder in the 200 breast, but her stroke is totally unconventional. She manages to power through the water utilizing her strong legs. Her head stays low to the water, and she slowly lowers herself back into
the water (like Jaws). But, it clearly works for her. You will also notice the water that shoots up in front of her face on every breath - this is because she squeezes her elbows and forearms together very quickly to propel herself forward. (3 min., 14 sec.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26WXA2b_Wo4

5) And finally, Brendan Hansen is the world record holder in both the 100 and 200 breast for men. His breaststroke is TEXT BOOK. His hips remain level and all of his energy is used to drive him forward. On his recovery, his shoulders are shrugged tight to lessen the resistence as he moves through the water. Combined with his powerful legs and amazing endurance,
he really can't stop him. (I love this clip.) (5 min., 44 sec.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLuGCo0nSg8

I hope this helps everyone! See you in the pool.

--Brian Olver

Breaststroke (NOT BUTTERFLY) Week Commences

Sorry about the mix-up on the blog yesterday. This week is actually Breaststroke week. Workouts will not be entirely breaststroke, but will have a breaststroke emphasis. Happy stroking.

Freestyle Week Tips & Videos

Hello everyone,

I found these clips on YouTube, which is truly a great
resource for all of us. In the coming weeks I'll post
videos of breaststroke and butterfly to correspond to
our stroke weeks.

In the meantime, please watch these clips - they are
all very short (under 30 seconds) so you have no
excuse! Note that all of these swimmers wait for "the
catch", immediately pop their elbows up and out
underwater to pull with their entire forearm, and
accelerate through their pull.

VIDEO 1: American record holder and Olympic silver
medalist Larson Jenson

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SBxlphJBIcM

VIDEO 2: My old teammate, former American record
holder, and 2-time Olymic silver medalist Erik Vendt

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2LWyWz1GVtQ

VIDEO 3: Not sure who this is, but it's a good slow
motion underwater view from the Olympics

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XDRtr7Kx0nU

I hope that was informative!

Coach Olver

Backstroke Week Commences

Just a reminder that this week is backstroke week. Workouts will not be entirely backstroke, but will have a backstroke emphasis. Enjoy the time on your back.

Fall is Upon Us...

...here are a few things you can expect at WH2O swim workouts over the next few months.

• We will commence stroke weeks for five continuous weeks effective Monday, September 17th starting with Backstroke (followed by Freestyle, Breast stroke, Butterfly and Individual Medley). Each week will provide emphasis on a particular stroke at workouts.

• We will re-convene the 10x100 check-sets the first Monday of each month (AM and PM workouts) starting Monday, October 1st. 100s will be your choice (you just have to stick to it for all of the check-sets in order to be able to compare). Coach Carole will be blogging all the details at WH2O.org prior to the first of the month.

• The video camera can be 'checked out' for individual use. If you can arrange someone to tape you, you can make arrangements to use the team equipment to record yourself swimming. Prior arrangements will have to be made with coaches to record during regular swim practices. Private arrangements can be made with coaches to critique a DVD you make of your swim.

• Our coaches will continue to give lots of feedback!

Have fun and swim well!