2015 Practice begins!

Hello returning swimmers and families and welcome new members.  We begin swim practices today, in preparation for The Finals, which are 81 days from today at Meadowbrook CC.

I feel a little out of synch, compared to most years, due to missing the kick off.  I love kicking off our season the way we do and am sorry I missed it last week.  If you were not there please plan to pick up a revised Calendar and updated Manual the next time you are at the pool.

A little pool update:  Our cover removal and pool opening was moved from May 2 to may 5 due to a crew shortage at our pool servicing company, Aquatic Source.  During the opening procedure a valve broke and had to be replaced, by someone other than the pool opening crew, resulting in us not beginning to filter or heat until last Thursday, May 7.  Despite having fewer days to prepare, we are in great shape.  The pool water this morning was 82 degrees with crystal clear water.  We do still need to do some pool vacuuming today.

Warning:  That sounds a bit harsh, perhaps “be prepared” is better:  By getting the pool swimable for our early season practices we do just that, “prepare the pool.”  We are not ready to open officially until Memorial Day weekend, May 23.  We use these two weeks to get ready for our opening day.  So you will see things as a work in progress such as, deck set up, locker rooms, ice/water machine, bulletin boards, office, etc.  In fact, the youth locker rooms will be locked today and we will be using the adult locker rooms and entering through the gate.

Weather:  The latest that I saw this morning was 80 degrees today with rain and storm chances beginning early afternoon and lasting until 10:00 or so.  Lets hope the rain/storms hold off until later.

Swimcerely,

Mark

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Can you read me now?

The Blog site that I use each Spring was revamped since last year. I thought that I had been “posting” daily updates since Monday, May 5. Yesterday, after two inquiries, I had someone check with me an saw that what I thought I had posted were in a draft form, which no one ever saw. Hopefully I have in ironed out now.

Today may be our best chance to have an entire practice. While a 63 degree high for today is much cooler than the past two days, the lower temperature brings with it a bit more stable air. Any rain chances for this afternoon is less than Monday and Tuesday and more widespread.

Regardless the water is 82 degrees and will feel fine. Unless there is thunder or lighting we plan to practice today – Wednesday, May 14.

I will try to recapture previous draft posts and send them later today.

Mark

80 Days Until Swim Finals

Does that seem like a long way off to you? It probably does to our swimmers, however, those of us with a few more years under our belts know how quickly time can, and will, pass. Swim Finals are the culminating championship swim meet for our summer league and it is a TERRIFIC event. BOH gets to host this year’s event, as we do every six year. Please get involved soon in one of the many volunteer positions. Besides us needing all of the help, you will feel left out if you are not serving on a committee.

We had about 15 swimmers at yesterday’s practice and, even with the cold weather, quite a bit of swimming took place. It was good to see familiar faces and many new faces swimming. If the various weather people are correct we will have 80 degrees tomorrow and we won’t be worrying about water temperature.

This week, of our Swim School, is freestyle. Remember that practice begins at 5:00 each weekday and we swim in the morning on Saturday.

Let the 2013 Swim Season begin!

First let me apologize for being one week late with my Blog. I could not remember how to navigate the site to compose an entry. However, I do remember how much fun and exciting our summer swim seasons are and this year’s will be better than ever.

Today is our first day of practice. All practice groups begin at 5:00 and end at staggered times. Mother Nature has not been kind to us the past two nights, let me explain. Saturday we had a coaches meeting and the pool water temperature was 82 degrees – perfect. Saturday night saw some cold outside temperatures and we lost 12 degrees overnight – 70 degrees. Last night’s below freezing temperatures resulted in the same 70 degrees this morning. For swimming, that is CCCCCCCOLD!. The water will warm up some today, however, it will still be cold. We still plan to hold practice and, depending, on swimmers’ “chill factors” will get some out earlier than scheduled. If your swimmer(s) does not do well in colder water you may want to postpone their first practice. Our Swim School schedule anticipates some missed days due to weather and absences so it is okay if they miss.

For the record: I do not recall ever having a below freezing temperature, once we have begun our early season practices, so this is a first. Hopefully the first of many FIRSTS (places) this season.

iBullfrogs – The Bullfrogs have gone mobile!

Follow the Bullfrogs anywhere in the world during a meet in realtime with the Meet Mobile app.

Available for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) and Android devices.

Search for “Meet Mobile” in the App Store or click the icons below.

For more information visit: www.bohbullfrogs.com/mobile

Enjoy!
Justin

Whoever swims fly, can do anything!

I saw that quote this past winter and thought it fit well with this week’s practices.  Today we begin a week of butterfly practices.  Today we will be working on the kick and add to that each day.  There are isolated showers, which may or may not include thunder, forecast for the afternoon/evening.  With this kind of widely scattered forecast we can not make a “call” as to holding practice or not until just before the 5:00 starting time.  We want to hold practice if possible, however, if the weather is bad we will cancel it.  Certainly the presence of thunder and lightening would force us to cancel practice.  We have found that while swimming in the rain can be fun for kids, trying to instruct them during a rain shower is difficult.   Please do not hesitate to call the pool office if the weather is questionable.

Swimcerely,

Mark

See you at today’s and tomorrow’s practices?

Last night our swimming league  (Suburban Inter Club Swimming Association – SICSA) held its annual Spring meeting (a meeting is also held on the day of swim finals prelims, and in the Fall – BOH hosts the Fall meeting).  The meeting was at Pine Lake Country Club as they are hosting the Finals this year.  I wanted to share a couple of things from that meeting.

The theme for the 2012 Championships is

“SWIMMIN’ IN THE D”

All participants should plan to purchase a T-shirt to wear during the opening day ceremonies.  While we can not order them yet, the deadline is July 11.  Even though we will not know which swimmers will actually be swimming in The Finals, it will be a nice T-shirt for all swim team members to purchase.  The T-shirts will only be available on a pre order basis.

July 11 will also be the deadline to submit Happy Ads for the Heat Sheets or Ads for the Program.  You will receive more information regarding these in the next couple of weeks. Purchasing any of these ads is not a requirement.

July 11 is that last day that we can add swimmer names to be included in the Program. If a name is not in the program it does not mean that a swimmer can not swim in the meet; it just means that mom and dad will not necessarily keep a copy of the Program as a keepsake.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there was discussion about the way many of the swimmers, from all six clubs,  dressed at the party following The Finals last summer.  Expectations are that dress will be what adults know as county club casual. If there was one specific area that was discussed it was the length of some girls’ skirts/dresses.  Please keep this in mind as decisions are made regarding “finals outfits,” which many of us know may have already begun.

Swimcerely,

Mark

Swim School & Great Weather Continue

78 days from today PLCC will be hosting the 2012 SICSA Swimming Championships.  Everyday between now and then is important and provides an opportunity for improvement.  Quite simply:

THE MORE PRACTICES YOU ATTEND THE BETTER YOU WILL SWIM ON AUGUST 3 AND 4!

We have practices six days a week.  Weekdays are held between 5:00 and 6:30 pm and Saturday is between 9:00 am an Noon.  For more details, on the times and our Swim School please look at the Parent Manual and 2012 Calendar.  Both can be found on our web site:

http://www.bohbullfrogs.com/

Swimcerely,

Mark

Day Two/Three

First, I want credit for this weather!  I can not remember a year that our pool and weather have paralleled such perfect tracks during our early season practices.  Perfect is an understatement.  Water is mid 80’s and outside temperature is mid 80’s.

I learned, long ago, that this is, by far, the busiest time of year for families with school age children.  End of the year school projects, performances, and exams; Spring and Summer sports practices, and the lure of beautiful outdoor activities are only a portion of events vying for our limited time.  Add to that BOH’s swim coaches holding six practices a week and you are officially allowed to be (almost) exhausted.

If you have not heard how we are doing our pre season practices let me explain our new approach:  Our first four weeks is called Swim School.  Each week we will be working on a different stroke.  This week is freestyle, then butterfly, backstroke and we end up with breaststroke.  We are working on technique almost exclusively.  Other than a brief warm up we have nothing longer than a 25 meter swim.  We want to get a great foundation of proper stroke technique early in the season.  Maximum attendance will ensure maximum results/improvements.

Swimcerely,

Mark

Welcome 2012 Swim Season

The journey begins today.  The journey which will have many stops, lots of great experiences, and promises to be one of the most exciting adventures of your life.  81 days from today we will be Pine Lake Country Club for the Prelims of the SICSA Swimming Championships.  83 days from today we will reflect back at the 2012 swimming season and begin to look ahead to the 2013 swim season – hosted by the BOH Bullfrogs.  What memories will you make for yourself in the next 2 and 1/2 months?  Few things in life are certain, however, this is as certain as it gets:

Your memories, from 2012, will not be all they can be without having GREAT swims at The Finals.  You do not have to break a record, you do not have to take a first place, you do not have to return to swim the second day, you do not even have to beat everyone from your own team – what you do have to do is to swim as well as you can, which for most of you will be a personal best time(s).

Begin thinking about that right now and do not let it escape your thoughts between now and August 3.

WITHIN YOU LIES THE POWER TO SEIZE THE HOUR AND REALIZE YOUR DREAMS.

Swimcerly,

Mark