Update -- August 19, 2007

Dear Divers and Parents,

Congratulations on all your fine performances at the learning experiences that were the Keala O'Sullivan and Dare to Dream Invitationals yesterday. 

Each and every one of you did something especially fantastic yesterday, and I will call attention to those highlights in the next section of this letter (I usually remember all the scores because I am judging, but in meets like yesterdays, where I was diving as well as trying to coach you all, it's tougher.  sorry if I don;t mention all the scores, because I know I won't be accurate!)..  Each and every one of you learned something yesterday that will help you become better divers and competitors in the future, and hopefully better people too :)  I will talk about the lessons learned as well!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE KEALA O'SULLIVAN/DARE TO DREAM INVITATIONALS

Emily -- that 200A 1M!  WOW!  you made great corrections pushing strongly and staying both hollow and relaxed, and were rewarded with the highest score of the day from any judge -- an 8 1/2!  That back jump was absolutely beautiful.  You also held your lines on your front entries every time, and did a great debut 201A 1M.

Matthew -- your 200A 1M I think was your highest scoring dive, with 6-6.5s.  You also did a fantastic job with your 100A 1M and 100C 3M.  But the real highlight was your 001B, which was smooth, clean, had tight legs and toes and a perfect entry.  I would have scored it 6.5-7s.  Alas and alack, the number you wrote down for it was 001A, which is a straight position, and you performed it pike, so the penalty was that you could only score a maximum of 2 points per judge.

Justine -- there were several highlights, but for me the best was probably your 301C 1M, because you have struggled all week with it coming off the board turned sideways, and you corrected that in the meet.  You also did a really great 001B (sitting) 3M and debuted several new dives (402C 1M, 201C 3M, 103B 3M, and 302C 3M).  Any time you add new dives into your competitive repertoire, its noteworthy! 

Joanna -- your high, strong 401C 1M for 5.5-6s was your best dive in my opinion, although your 100C and 200C 1M might have outscored it.  Your ability to jump and spin is a major strength, and we will be playing it up as you learn new dives in the next few weeks.

Linnet -- it started with your 401C, when you really focused on maintaining form through the entry.  Then you turned it on on 3M with your 001C and 001B, both sitting, for scores of 6-7s.  I think there was a 200C that went 7+ as well.  Your gracefulness and incredible entries are your current strength that we will be building upon as we learn more dives in the upcoming weeks.

Alena -- Several of your jumps were awesome, as you show a nice combination of power and grace when you relax/focus enough on them.  And your 001D showed a better line in the meet than it had been in practice.  But I thought your 201A was the best, regardless of judges scores (I would have been about a point higher, myself, at 5.5s, on that one), because you really made a big correction during a pressure situation.  I also loved the way you let the mistake of doing the wrong position on your 100B 3M just roll off your back instead of getting all worked up about it.

Amanda -- your 001D 1M for 6s was smooth and clean, making all the kinds of corrections we want to in a meet.  Your 200A 3M was another highlight, showing nice lines and keeping your arms over your head when going through the water.  Your power and form are both strengths, and as we coordinate the two together over the next few weeks, it should pay off with increased consistency and comfort.

Ashley -- your 401C 1M for 5.5-6s was strong and high, with good form.  Your 100A and was similar, and your 001C 3M made a great correction in terms of your form and lines.  You (along with Justine and Alena and me) did an incredible job maintaining composure and doing a solid job in the 1M event despite not warming up all the dives on our lists.  

BJ -- nailed the 401Bs and 103Bs both boards for 6s.  performed 2 new dives (303C and 104C), and did them pretty darned well, making good corrections in the meet.  But I liked the corrections on your 201C 3M the most, because you really got yourself out of a bad pattern on it.

Aleia -- biggest highlight was probably the emergence of your hurdle for most of the meet!  You ended up nailing your 303B 1M with a nice powerful action, and on 3M, you did the best 105B I've ever seen you compete, plus showed the promise of your 5134D.  interestingly, you also tended to nail your front entries better than your back ones on highboard throughout the meet.  Hmmmm.

Coach Jeff -- let's see...score-wise, my 401A 1M and 101A 3M for 8s were my highlights, but I was really much happier with my 301B 3M for 7s, me just-relearned-on-Friday-after 5 years 105B 1M for 5.5s, my fairly newly relearned 5235D 3M for 4.5s (though I argue it was a 5.5 dive :), and getting off my 305C that haunted me during warmups.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE KEALA O'SULLIVAN/DARE TO DREAM INVITATIONALS

Lesson number one, courtesy of Emily:  if you get on the board and suddenly forget what you are supposed to do, speak up!  It's OK to ask the referee to have the dive repeated, or ask your coach what the number means.   Otherwise you might end up doing the wrong dive!

Lesson number two, courtesy of Matthew:  if you make a change on your sheet, record it somewhere!  Matthew changed his 100B to a 001A, but did not record the change on our list sheet.  We have always practiced the 001 in pike, not straight, and he did a great 001B, but got max 2 because it was listed as 001A.  

Lesson number three, also courtesy of Matthew:  know the number/letter system and listen carefully!  The announcer announced 001A.  Had Matthew thought "Hold it, I'm supposed to do this B, I better check!" then things might have ended up differently.  Normally, I would be on the judging panel and be paying closer attention to what is going on with the announcing, but given the novel way we were required to stay on the other side of the pool, I did not catch it.

Lesson number four, courtesy of BJ, Alena, Ashley, Justine, and Jeff:  a full warm-up is great, but it sometimes doesn't happen -- maintaining composure and confidence is the key!

Lesson number five, courtesy of Linnet:  If you want to change a dive after the deadline, you have to do it from the board (this is only allowed for Future Champions and Masters divers -- others are stuck with their lists).  Linnet did so and changed her 102B 1M to a 102C 1M and scored great on it!

Lesson number six, courtesy of Amanda:  check all the communications from your coach.  After we had our workshop to fill out sheets, I told everyone I was wrong about some of the requirements for the levels, and I would make adjustments thereafter.  When I made the adjustments, I posted them on the web and brought copies to each workout we had and posted them with the daily water workout.  I had added a dive to Amanda's list to keep her at the level we wanted for competition, but she hadn't registered the change in her mind, so it came as a surprise on Saturday morning when she saw it on her list.

Lesson number seven, courtesy of Aleia and Jeff:  if, in a warm-up, you balk, be polite and fall off, going to the end of the line, no matter the pressure you are feeling about wanting to get that warm-up dive done.  Aleia did it once, but Coach Jeff did it three times while trying to get off his gainer.  He ended up throwing it cold in the meet, but he did not hold up the line for the rest of you who were warming up.

Lesson number eight, courtesy of Alena:  if you make a mistake, do a bad dive, do the wrong dive, it's not the end of the world!  Your coach and teammates and family will all still love you.  You will still breathe oxygen.  You will still listen to the lastest Will.I.am song whether you want to or not, because it is everywhere. So, no tears, no emotional breakdowns, just let it go, have fun with the meet, and get ready for your next dive :)

Lesson number nine, courtesy of the whole experience:  everything that happens somehow contributes to making you a stronger competitor.  There may have been a host of unique situations about this meet, some of which helped you feel more comfortable, prepared, and confident to dive, some of which did not.  However, it all helps you become more ready to compete at a later time :) 

THE REST OF AUGUST

I will bring a sign-up sheet to workout on Tuesday to see who, if anyone, is interested in doing Monday and Friday workouts as opposed to Tuesday and Thursday, or in addition to, or with a mix of schedules.  This will help even out the groups a little more and make it easier for me to dive as well :)  Please consider this as we move into the fall.

Also -- the weekend workouts will be a time when I focus on my own diving, as they are not "official" on the schedule.  Everyone is welcome, and I will coach you, but I will also be focusing on my own diving :)

EARLY AUGUST WORKOUT SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, Aug 21, 3:30 - 6:00 PM (at which point we will sign up for workouts)

DRYLAND/CONDITONING FOR 4 PM GROUPS

Please bring shoes from now on, and know that the first part of conditioning will involve some dynamic jumping actions that require shoes!!!!  

DIVER EDUCATION

I have started to add some major education pieces into this section, particularly focusing on mechanics for dives.  For those of you who wish to progress extra quickly, read through these files -- they will help you understand what you are doing, and why, and help you with visualizing your dives as well.

UPCOMING MEETS

I want to host a meet or two at our pool in the near future.  I have looked at the Labor Day weekend, but I am not sure how all of you feel about that (it would have to be Monday, as I already have commitments for Saturday and Sunday, and I need to check with the pool about it...).  We also need to do some practice for how to run a scoring table at a meet, which is very doable during workouts.

I would also like to do a meet either Saturday the 15th or Sunday the 23rd.  I will check with the pool on the availability of the dates, but also would like your feedback on Tuesday.

In short:  one or two meets for September, with Monday, Sept. 3, being one date and either Saturday, Sept. 15, or Sunday, Sept. 23, being the other.

We would be looking at having the meets starting at 9 AM (warm-ups starting at 7 AM) and likely finishing by noon.

To quote Linda Richman from SNL of the 1990s, "Discuss...Talk amongst yourselves."

ASL CORNER

As always, this reference is here so you all can learn to communicate with our deaf diver/s: check out the ASL Corner,  do the lessons as you want to, ask me for help as you need.

Okies, That's all for now! 

Jeff