P.O Box 280 Stittsville, ON K2S 1A4

The SPLASH

Volume 6; Edition 3 December 15, 2006

Quote of the Month

The Challenge

Let others lead small lives,
but not you.
Let others argue over small things,
but not you.
Let others cry over small hurts,
but not you.
Let others leave their future
in someone else's hands,
but not you.

- Jim Rohn

Upcoming Events

Date	Event	Groups Attending
9-10 December 2006	Cornwall Meet	Silver, non-qualifiers Pointe Claire
7-10 December 2006	Pointe Claire Meet	Platinum Gold 1
16 December 2006	Ottawa Swim Club Sawmill	Bronze, Entry, non-competitive
17 December 2006	Make up practice	Superfish 4, Minnows 5 and 6
22 December 2006	Last Practice before Christmas	All
2 – 5 January 2007	Christmas Swim Camp	Competitive
6-7 January 2007	Perth Meet	Platinum Gold 1
8 January 2007	Regular Practice Resumes	All

Coaches Report

Report from Head Coach Rob

On behalf of the coaching staff I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

November was a busy month for our swimmers first was the Ottawa U swim meet that produced some great swims from everyone. Next was the GAC meet we had 80 swimmers from our club participate in this meet this number is up from last year.

Thanks to all swimmers and volunteers for their support without it the meet would not have been possible. December is also a busy month for our swimmers with Point-Claire 8th 9th &10th and Cornwall the 9th & 10th.The following weekend the 16th we have a large team attending the development run by the Ottawa swim club.

Report from Assistant Coach Liliana

November was a busy month for all of our swimmers and their parents. Thank you to everybody for the hard work to make the GAC swim meet a successful one.

The Silver group participated in 2 swim meets: GO Kingfish on November 11^th and 12^th, and GAC on November 18^th and 19^th. All the swimmers did many Personal Best Times and some did Regional Times or were very close to them. These 2 swim meets were very good learning experiences for the Silver swimmers. They were the first 2 swim meets for most of them after they moved up to the competitive level. There were mistakes and some tears for disqualified or missed events, but this is the way many of us learn: we make mistake, pay for them and we don’t do them anymore. We also learn from our friends’ mistakes and we become more careful. We learn how to concentrate on our events at a swim meet.

Congratulations for your very good results!

The GAC swim meet was the first opportunity for some of our Superfish kids to participate in a real swim meet. Even if they don’t have the opportunity to practice more times per week, they did really good. They showed everybody that our team can grow with new potentially competitive level swimmers. Very well done kids. Congratulations for all!

December will be also a busy month: the Point Claire and Cornwall swim meets are coming the weekend of 15^th to 17^th for the competitive groups. The fun swim meet for all the Developmental groups are on 12^th (Superfish) and 14^th (Minnows) followed by the Ottawa Swim Club Invitational on December 16^th for the Bronze and Superfish Groups.

I wish all the swimmers in our club, parents, coaches, collaborators and friends to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas Training Camps

Tuesday January 2^nd to Friday January 5^th 2007

Platinum and Gold Program - run by Rob

Tuesday to Thursday:	8.30am to 10.30am and 4.30pm to 6.30pm
Friday:	8.30am to 10.30am

The camp will conclude with a swim meet in Beaconsfield the weekend of January 6^th and 7^th 2007. The plan is for the team to leave Friday pm January 5^th for Beaconsfield.

This meet is open to all swimmers in the Platinum and Gold groups that are taking part in the training camp.

I am working at bringing in a guest coach for one or two of the practice sessions. The focus of this camp will be technical skills and how to implement these skills into race strategies

Silver and Bronze Program – run by assistant coach Liliana.

Tuesday to Friday:	5.30pm to 6.30pm
Saturday:	7.30am to 8.30am

The focus of this camp will be the continued development of all our club members in all strokes.

Practice Changes

Last practice before Christmas for all groups is Friday December 22^nd 2006.

Normal practice schedule resumes Monday January 8^th 2007

Developing GAC Swim Meet Officials

As the GAC coordinator for swim meet officials, I would first like to thank all the parents who volunteered during the swim meet. Swimming is a sport that needs lots of officials and without all of your help during the weekend, along with support from some of the visiting teams; we would not have been able to pull it off. We got lots of compliments from Dave Roza, the head referee, and visiting coaches on how well the meet went.

One of the points that Dave Roza emphasized was that we have to “grow” officials within the club. Since the meet is a major fundraiser for the club, it is important that we develop club officials to be able to eventually run our own meet. This may take several years, but we have to make an honest effort or EOSA will not sanction future GAC swim meets.

To “grow” officials within the club we need to increase the number of them and have them “move up the ladder” as higher-level officials. To do that, those people who have taken official’s clinics need to volunteer at meets, other than our own, in whatever capacity they have, to gain the experience and the sign offs needed to be able to grow to a higher level official (i.e. Chief Timer, Stroke and Turn Judge, Starter, etc.).

Therefore, I would like to encourage any parents out there with experience, or any who want to start, to take any available clinics and volunteer at any meets your children are swimming in. Officials have the best seat in the house to watch the kids swim. If you are interested, please contact me, Ian Lightbody, at casa_lightbody@mac.com.

Tip of the Month – Get motivated for Morning Practice

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Dr. Aimee Kimball, the director of mental training at the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center’s Center for Sports Medicine. Kimball offers some advice on getting motivated for morning practice.

Kimball’s Advice:

There are definitely things you can do to get excited about going to practice. Something that works well is to write down one goal for the next day’s practice before going to bed. When you set goals, you won’t feel like you’re going to practice because you have to, instead you’ll know you are going because it’s making you better. You should also tell your goal to whoever wakes you up in the morning. When they cheerfully wake you up saying, “Time to perfect that flip turn!” you’ll be reminded that you have something to look forward to accomplishing at practice. You can also put motivating pictures on your ceiling. If you dream of swimming in the Olympics, seeing the Olympic rings as soon as you open your eyes will be the motivation you need to get up ready to work hard. Carpe Momentum!

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.