We start May with some sad but exciting news frm Rob Putnam.

Dear RallySport Swimmers, Parents and Friends;

I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I am leaving my position as Head Age Group coach at RallySport and I will be starting a new position as Head Coach of the Manhattan Marlins (KS) on May 21, 2012.

I have enjoyed my tenure and appreciate having had the opportunity to work with all of you. My experience at RallySport has been one that I will always remember fondly. Thank you for the support, guidance, and encouragement you have provided me during my time at RallySport. Even though I will miss all of you very much, I am looking forward to this new challenge and to starting a new phase in my coaching career.

Please keep in touch (rtpracer@hotmail.com) and I look forward to running into you at future swim meets somewhere down the road.

Thanks again for everything.

Yours truly,

Rob Putnam

I know that when Rob came to RallySport 10 years ago, I fully expected him to move onto another Head Coaching job. We have been so very fortunate to have him for this long and in the meantime, we have created a program and philosophy that works very well for this team. That philosophy is the centerpiece as RACE moves forward. Rob will be with us through the May 12th meet and in the meantime we will be conducting a national search for a new Head Age Group Coach. Until the new coach is hired, Taylor Nelson will be serving as our interim coach. He will be on deck with Rob and myself over the next few weeks as we transition and will join us at meets. We are excited to have Taylor take a more active part in our program.

I know this is sudden and big news to many, but please know that RACE's continuity and success is our number one goal and we will put a great deal of effort and passion into finding the best replacement for Rob. Please do not hesitate to contact myself, Jackie or Rob with any and all questions.

Happy Tax Day! 

A big congrats to the Junior team swimmers that hit up the Castle Rock 12 and Under meet. Colin reported great swims and great fun. 

I am including a statistical analysis from USA Swimming in this week's newsletter. It is a study on Age Group Top 16 in the nation swimmers and observing how many are still Top 16 swimmers at 17-18. 

The 10 & Under Wonder?

Several years ago, USA Swimming looked at 10 & Unders who were ranked in the Top 16 and followed the likelihood that they would still be ranked once they were in high school.  This is what we found:

Ranked Top 16 as a:

10 & Under               Still Ranked as 17-18                   11%

11-12                        Still Ranked as 17-18                   21%

13-14                        Still Ranked as 17-18                   36%

15-16                        Still Ranked as 17-18                   48%

Moral of the Story:  A 10 & Under can survive and thrive...but 50% of the top swimmers develop AFTER Junior Year in High School. If you have an age-group athlete, make sure you emphasize fun, and participation in a variety of sports and activities, including unstructured play and skill development and that there is a long-term progression plan. Discourage early specialization in one sport or one event. 

Much of our program at RACE is based on this study. We have long focused on technique in our youngest swimmers in order to form the foundation for when they are older. One of the most interesting things in this for me is the small number of 15-16 Top 16 Swimmers that remain so even a few years later. LESS THAN HALF. Our goal as a program should be to produce swimmers that are ready to speed up in college with the requisite skill set to do so. 

For you swimmers, this analysis is very exciting. What it means is that less than half of the nation's fastest swimmers at 18 were the fastest at 16. The best is yet to come!!!

Remember that we signed you up for the May 5th meet at VMAC. Check with your coach to confirm. Also, remember entries for the May 12th meet at Foothills are due Monday. 

See you at the meet this weekend. 

Due to an overwhelming number of entries for the FST April LC Open meet that all came in when the meet opened for entries, we will be modifying the Saturday sessions to include a third session. Friday and Sunday sessions will not be affected.  This move is necessitated by the requirement that we keep the 12 and under sessions to less than four hours.  Our original time-line for the two sessions ran over 5 hours for the 12 and under and over six hours for the 13-14 and Open swimmers. 

Details are as follows: 

Session 2:           10 and under                             Saturday           
Warm-up to begin @ 6:30 AM,  First Splash @ 7:30  AM (Please note that the start time is 30 minutes earlier than previously announced) 

Session 3:        11-12 and 13-14 BOYS ONLY        Saturday       
Warm-up to begin @ Approx. 10:30 AM, First Splash @ 11:30  AM 

Session 4:        13-14 GIRLS ONLY and Open        Saturday        
Warm-up to begin @ Approx. 2:35 PM, First Splash @ 3:30  PM 

Important notes: 

1) Please send in as soon as possible ALL KNOWN SCRATCHES - we're trying to shorten the time line with advance knowledge of scratches 

2) NO additional swimmers please, Barb will be looking for these and will reject them. 

3) We will need 15 additional timers, please ask your parents to volunteer, fortunately the individual session times are reduced. 

4) Event 25/26 in the time-line, attached, indicates 12 and under 200 Free, the morning session 200 free is 10 and under only.  Event 25A/25B held in the mid-day session will be for the 11 and 12 swimmers 

5) For any 13/14 Boys entered in the 1500 Free, this event will be held at the end of the Session 4 in the evening,  Any 13/14 boys entered in the 1500 wishing to change from the 13/14 events to "Open" events in Session 4 will be re-seeded into those events.  Please send that information to Barb and she will move them into the Open events. 

6) All events greater than 200 yards will be positive check-in. 

7) Since the time-line for Session 4 runs to 8;55 PM, and considering that late hour, I would like to swim the 1500's at  2 to a lane.  I would like all coaches with swimmers in those events to respond to Barb and me with their approval for this adjustment. 

We will be using fly-over starts during the meet for events of 100 meters or greater. Please discuss this with your swimmers and ask them to remain in the water until the subsequent heat begins. 

There will be a coaches meeting 20 minutes prior to the start of Friday's session as noted in the meet information to address any questions. 

We are making these adjustments in an effort to afford all your swimmers the opportunity to compete. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me, or call me on the number listed below. 

Mahalo,

Jeffrey D. Bushey
Meet Referee 
FST April LC Open