Head Coach Jonathan Smirl has prepared the official Torture Routine Swim Plan for the 2011-2012 season.

The popular 1500 time trials (now referred to as “Test Sets” ) have been included in bold type for everyone to see.

Isn’t that great?  Now you don’t need to phone a friend to find out what happened at yesterday morning’s / evening’s session.

Old favourites like “…can’t swim this week – my Mother-in-Law came to visit…” and “…my alarm clock broke and I’m going to buy a new one at the end of the week…” will probably not get you as far as before. But hey, creativity is part of what we’re all about, innit?

See you in the pool.

View or Download the 2012 Season Swim Plan (PDF)

Get ready … here it comes …  Fright-Fest!

Here’s the first meet of the new season.  Lots of fun and a great opportunity for seasoned and developmental swimmers.

View or Download the Fright-Fest Registration Form (Word 97-2003)

View or Download the Fright-Fest Registration Form (PDF)

Location
H20 Adventure – Fitness Centre
4075 Gordon Drive, Kelowna, BC. V1W 5J2

Pool
25 metres, 8 lanes, Keifer lane ropes, Omega electronic timing,

Time
Warm up: 9:00 am
Start: 10:00 am
Social: Details to follow

Meet Manager
Laura Garrett: glsm@shaw.ca
Entries to Rhonda Renning-Talbot: renningr@hotmail.com

Eligibility
All swimmers must be registered with MSABC or FINA affiliated organizations. Age groups are based on the age of the swimmer as of December 31, 2011.

Fees
$30.00 flat fee. Fees must be paid prior to the start of the meet. Additional social tickets can be purchased for $5.00. No refunds.

Meet Rules
MSC rules and warm up procedures will be in effect at this meet. All events are timed finals. This will be a cardless meet. Two lanes in the non-competition tank will be continuously open for warm-up and cool-down.

Entries
Deadline for registration is October 15, 2011. No limit on number of events entered. Entries must be emailed to Rhonda Renning-Talbot: renningr@hotmail.com. All entries must be accompanied by the swimmer’s Masters BC registration number or FINA registration number.

Relays
All relays will be exhibition only. Teams will be made up at registration. Bring along a ‘Theme related’ costume for the Mystery 200 Relay.

Deck entries
Deck entries are at the discretion of the Meet Manager. A fee of $7.00 per event must accompany a deck entry request.

Awards
Each swimmer will receive a certificate with their time and placing for each event swum.

Event List

1. 200m Mixed Free Relay
Break
2. 400m Free/400m IM
Break
3. 100m Fly
4. 50m Back
5. 100m Breast
6. 200m Free
Break
7. 100m IM
8. 50m Breast
9. 100m Back
10. 50m Fly
11. 100m Free
Break
12. 200m Fly, Back or Breast
13. 50m Free
14. 200m IM
Break
15. 200m Costume ‘Fright-Fest’ Relay

Weather conditions were close to ideal, with air temperature in the high 20′s and the water a very comfortable 21C, no wind or waves.

Swimmers ranged in age from 10 year old Jeri-Anne Georget to 76 year young Mae Waldie from Pointe Claire Masters, both of whom swam the 1500m open water event.

The 1500m overall and male winners were:
1st Wouter Terpstra (18) in a time of 20:22.36; followed by Spencer Dean (16) in a time of 21:12.77 and Alan Carlsson (42) less than two seconds later in 21:14.64

The 1500m Overall Female winners were:
1st Haley Braga (14) in a time of 22:33.40; followed by Andraya Skarlac (12) in a time of 22:57.52 and Chenoa Bondar (13) in 22:58.04

Overall 5000m winners:
Leading the pack was Jeanne Carlson  in an impressive 1:09.27.48; followed by husband Glenn Carlson in 1:10.00.00 and Spencer Dean in 1:10.52.49

Hot off the Press! Result sheets

View or Download the 2011 FINA Open Water Invitational Result Sheets – 1500m Male

View or Download the 2011 FINA Open Water Invitational Result Sheets – 1500m Female

View or Download the 2011 FINA Open Water Invitational Result Sheets – 5000m Male

View or Download the 2011 FINA Open Water Invitational Result Sheets – 5000m Female

What a great day!  Many thanks to the hard working ATLS organizing team and many volunteers for putting together such an enjoyable event!  Even the weather was perfect. The day started off sunny, calm and warm … we couldn’t have asked for better!  With rain in the forecast, it was good enough to wait until the last equipment had been stowed before the clouds opened up with a quick deluge only in the early afternoon.

This year saw 452 finishers compared with 428 in 2010.  Several Okanagan Masters Swim Club members braved the cool waters of the lake to go for a personal best.  Many have also notched up several crossings over the years, and this year saw a number of successful first-timers.

Wetsuits were recommended with the lake temperature a little cooler than usual at 18.5C, although several courageous swimmers did the full 2100m naked (in Open Water terms … sans wetsuit).  With a record entry of 500 the start was phased in five  time-seeded heats of one hundred each, set apart two minutes.

Overall winner was 19 year old David Dimitrov, son of local coaches Emil and Elena Dimitrov, in a time of 21:58 (a ripping average pace of 1:03 per 100m!), which he achieved without benefit of a wetsuit.  Watch this young man, he’s going places! Second in, setting the Female record time for the crossing was Jeanne Carlsen (F45-54) in 23:03 and third place to Josh Zakala (M–15) in 23:08.  All round, some smokingly fast times!

Emil Dimitrov impressed family, friends and students by taking to the water in a distinctive speedo bodysuit that Emil alone could carry off with such aplomb (the distinction of 007 combined with the shear bravado of Austin Powers).

Photo journal

Visit Willem Burgher’s site at OKRacer for some great photo’s taken on the day.   Many thanks Willem, for your ongoing support of sports in the Okanagan!

For more information see the ATLS website.

For the race results, see:  Overall results and Age Group results and Spreadsheet

Become a BETTER OPEN WATER SWIMMER!

With World Record Holder Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen

Hosted by Okanagan Masters Swim Club

If you ever wanted to know how to become a BETTER OPEN WATER SWIMMER, then this clinic is perfect for you!

View or Download the 2011 Open Water Stroke Clinic Application Form

This clinic will cover the following:

• Effective sighting and drafting
• How, where and when to start in the line up
• Breathing techniques for all types of conditions
• Overview of the WIDER freestyle that can help you swim straighter
• Training and pacing suggestions…and much more!

Dates: Choose from one of the following sessions

• Thursday July 14
• Friday July 15 or
• Monday July 18

All clinics are held from 9:00 am-12:00 noon

Location: Gyro Beach (south side) 3400, Lakeshore Drive, Kelowna

Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen: Has been swimming Open Water since the age of 8 and has set numerous course records in Hawaii and California. Her time for a non-wetsuit 2.4 mile swim is 49 minutes. She is also the 2008, 2007 & 2004 World Masters Swimmer of the Year, 2007 inductee into the Int’l Masters Swimming Hall of Fame and since 1993 has set over 200+ Masters World records. For a complete BIO visit www.aquaticedge.org

Cost
C$95.00 (payment received by June 20th); C$110.00 (postmarked after June 20th)

Look forward to seeing you there!

Here’s an excerpt: In submaximal conditions, at 95% of a maximum speed over a 549-m swim, Bassett et al. (1) showed that drafting affects the metabolic response to swimming. Oxygen consumption was reduced by 8  +/- 12%, blood lactate concentration by 33 17%, and the rate of perceived exertion by 21 +/- 10%. The lower resistive body drag (passive drag) forces encountered by the swimmers at maximum speed are responsible for the observed metabolic change (5). These forces are 13–26% lower than those for the lead swimmer, depending on the velocity of the triathletes.

Whoa, doesn’t that make your fins flutter? Well, if you’re still awake then here’s the entire study in PDF format. But just remember, someone has to lead.