Turkey Trot, Kickstarts, Agonswim gear on its way, and more!

Brian Pursley

Hello Hurricanes families,

I hope everyone had a great mini-break for Halloween!

We have a lot of sick athletes (and coaches) right now. Although it isn't something entirely within our control, please be extra attentive to your diet and sleep schedule over the coming weeks to help minimize the damage. The next 6 weeks of training are the most important of our winter season, and I hope to have as many athletes as possible in the water and feeling strong.

There are a number of important updates and announcements happening this week. Please check them out below.

Thanks and go Hurricanes!

Coach Brian

 

Turkey Trot is open to all training and age groups

First, a quick note on our competition philosophy: The long break in competition we have scheduled for October through November is a critical part of our training plan. A six week or longer span on uninterrupted training cycles can be an amazing boost to fitness and athletic ability. It's very important that we preserve a few of those training opportunities every year.  I also firmly believe that competing more does not necessarily mean competing better. In many cases it compromises other important priorities and actually means competing worse. It is much better to be well prepared to compete occasionally than regularly Ill prepared to compete!

With that in mind, please expect long breaks in competition to periodically show up in our schedule in the future.

In the case of our late start this fall, some parents have noted that we are a little short on qualifying opportunities for some of our winter meets. I appreciate and agree with this sentiment. While the PPA meet was meant to serve as a prime competitive opportunity, it turned out to be more of a season opener for us.

For this reason, we are now inviting all training and age groups to the Turkey Trot, hosted by HRA at Meyers Pool on November 18th. The meet is already on our schedule for Category 1. Participation will be completely optional. We suggest attending if you hope to achieve qualifying times for the upcoming CSI meet, or just want to have a fun and convenient racing opportunity.

Please put some thought into whether you would like to attend. Jordan will be sending out meet information by tomorrow afternoon.

 

Category 4 practice is moved to 4:00 tomorrow, 11/4, for the Mountain Bowl

We will move the Category 4 practice to join Category 3 and Surge tomorrow from 4:00pm - 6:00pm. 

 

The Kickstart schedule is open

As a reminder, Kickstarts are half hour, 1 on 1 sessions between a Category 1 athlete and a coach. We ask that Category 1 swimmers book 2 Kickstarts per month. These are a great opportunity to identify and kickstart new habits that athletes can practice every day in their regular workouts.

We have opened the scheduling link for Kickstarts. We've only posted a basic schedule so far, and will be working on adding more options as we find the staff and pool space. Please book your Kickstarts here.

 

Coach Brian's meeting calendar is open

My calendar is available for all families to schedule time to discuss any concerns or questions you may have. I will be asking swimmers individually over the coming weeks to use this calendar to arrange time to discuss goals and expectations for the winter season. You can access my calendar here.

 

...and a few more items to note

  • In case you are on the lookout for it, the team directory is being prepared and will be posted to the website in the next 48 hours.
  • We have a great crew of group ambassadors getting ready to be announced. If you are interested in being a part of the group ambassador program, there is still time. Please let me know!
  • The first shipment of Agonswim equipment went out today and will arrive on Monday! It looks like the bulk order will arrive in a couple of segments, but we will finally have some real Hurricane gear on deck as early as next week!