Quote of the Month

I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it".

Michael Phelps

Upcoming Events

Date	Event	Groups Attending
1-4 March 2007	Junior Provincials	Qualifiers
12 – 16 March	March Break – practice cancelled	All
31 March – 1 April	Invitation Montreal	Platinum, Gold 1, Silver, Bronze

Coaches Report

Report from Assistant Coach Liliana

The New Year started with a Training Camp, followed immediately with the Perth swim meet. The kids worked hard and got many Personal Best times and some “regionals” qualifying times.

New swimmers from the Bronze group joined the Silver group right after the Perth swim meet. They are working hard, trying to improve their technique and to keep up with the older swimmers in the group.

On January 20^th, at the Go Polar Bear swim meet, 3 more Silver swimmers qualified for the Eastern Ontario Swimming Championship. A few more swimmers missed the qualifying times by 1 – 2 seconds or even tenths of a second.

February 9 is very close and the whole team is working hard to get good results at the Short Course Eastern Ontario Swimming Championship. There are 10 swimmers who are qualified from the Silver and Bronze groups and 9 are going to race there, trying to get best times, good places and points for our team. We wish them success at the “Regionals”.

Looking forward for the long course season, we’ll continue to work on stroke improvement, endurance, speed, starts and turns. From time to time we are checking their improvements at the swim meets. The first swim meet it will still be a short course one in Brockville on February 25^th.

We did many transfers from the Superfish to Bronze groups and from the Superfish one time per week to Superfish two times per week groups. This gives the kids the opportunity to have more practices per week and improve faster.

The Bronze Non-Competitive and Superfish swimmers will participate in a fun swim meet on February 17^th at the Carleton University. I hope that all of them swim fast get good times and have FUN.

Practice Changes

No Practice March Break. Normal practice resumes Monday March 19^th.

Update from the Club Officials Chair

We had a very successful Chief Timer's Clinic on Saturday 27 Jan with GAC parents plus some people from Gefilte. We also had some members attend the Stroke & Turn Clinic at GO later the same day and the meet manager clinic in earlier in January. I would like to thank all the GAC parents who showed up for those clinics:

Joseph Elchakieh

Yvonne Holland

Grahame Johnson

Linda Lightbody

Mary Raphael

Jacqueline Roberts and

Earendil Underwood

Debra Ferar

Carole Houde

I would especially like to thank Warner Miles from GO who did the Stroke & Turn and Meet Manager clinic and Dave Roza who taught the Chief Timer clinic.

As opportunities come up from other clubs I will forward them to all team parents as any interested parents can attend. I will also endeavour to get people opportunities at swim meets to get the required sign offs. If you know you can work a session at a swim meet please let me know (casa_lightbody@mac.com) and I will contact the meet manager to see if we can get you a position.

Lastly, I will try and organize another clinic in the March time frame so people can have another opportunity to learn a new position. More to come on that in the near future.

Ian Lightbody, GAC Officials Chair

Tip of the Month – Competition Diet

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from special correspondent Sarah Knott, who writes about balancing a training diet with a competition diet for your best season-ending performances. Here are some guidelines:

A training diet, which should be in gear at least two to three months before the big meet has more modified carbs than a competition diet, according to Lisa Dorfman, the national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. It should consist of:

§ About 50% of total calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 20% from protein.

§ Five to six small meals a day.

§ Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats.

§ About a week before your big meet, refine your diet. This means:

o Revising your diet to consist of 70% of calories from carbs, 20% from protein and 10% from fat.

o Lowering the amount of fibrous foods.

Right before a race, Dorfman suggests swim-friendly foods. Fruit, frozen fruit pops or fruit gummies will energize muscles (but no more than 60 grams of sugar or carbs every hour). Get some carbs within 30 to 120 minutes after an event.

GAC Contact Information

GAC Office:

Office Hours:	Tuesday – Thursday 9:30am - 2:30pm
Address:	P.O. Box 280, Stittsville, ON, K2S 1A4
Office Phone:	613-726-7901
E-mail:	gac@bellnet.ca

GAC Coaching Staff:

Robert Beattie	E-mail:	robert.beattie@sympatico.ca
	Office:	613- 726-7901
	Home:	613- 592-0113

Liliana Rusu	E-mail:	lilianar@magma.ca

Matt Hyne	E-mail:	matt.hyne@ottawa.ca

GAC Board of Directors

Joseph Elchakieh	President
	Email:	joseph.elchakieh@sympatico.ca

Greg MacPherson	Vice President and Director of Public Relations

Mary Raphael	Treasurer
	Email:	mssraphael@rogers.com

Carole Houde	Secretary and manager of GAC swim meet
	Email:	andrehoude@rogers.com

Ian Lightbody	Director and Officials Director
	Email:	casa_lightbody@mac.com

Your feedback is important and encouraged; please contact the office at any time with your suggestions or concerns.