being part of a team

WATCH

just some stuff to check out

This still cracks me up everytime
just seems like a tuesday for craigles

Need a little help with technique - Some good stuff to view

Need wall work (Alycia) - seems simple enough

trying to get in?

It is only going to keep getting harder.
have a look

Remember...Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape!

Guidelines for Getting Along
1. Confirm for yourself that you want to get along
with others.
2. Be honest with yourself and others.
3. Keep promises and be loyal.
4. Be accountable for your behavior.
5. Be fair and care about yourself and others.
6. Be appreciative of others and let them know.
7. Remember the good in people and forget the bad.
8. Remember that you can’t change people. You can
only live a good example that they will see and
perhaps want to follow in their life.

xmas practice, the great swimsuit dilemma 2008 version

Thanks to Jimmy, Marley, Allison, and Paul for doing a great job decorating the pool, I wish I got better pictures! I hope everyone enjoyed our Christmas practice (thanks Mark, Anne, and Meredith for running the show- I greatly appreciate it!). I thought it was fun to watch.
It is Finals time so normally things would be quiet, but I would like to thank the NCAA (and FINA) for screwing everything up. As it turns out, Fredonia was the last meet that we wear 2 suits at- it was a tradition and training aspect that I will miss...thank you to everyone who has to find ways to take greater advantage of something that is already ridiculous (yes, I understand, the tech suits are legal, blah, blah, blah- whatever). Anyway, I forgot to mention the Fredonia Invite. I think we swam well overall. We competed as best we could against rested and fast skinned teams.

a new school record and some pool records

On November 15th we swam MCC. Both teams came away with victories, the men survived a tough test against a team with some top level talent and the women put up some good swims even though it was not a close meet. We were happy to see some lifetime bests at this meet! Results
On Friday November 21st we swam at Brockport and again both teams were victorious. The women improved to 6-0 and the men moved to 4-2. Even I was a little surprised at how well we swam. I always expect us to do our best, but this meet turned out to be a great one for us. Besides a number of individual in season bests, we set two Brockport pool records; Jenny VanEtten in the 100 Breaststroke (109.14), and Nicole Dean in the 200 Free (1:56.92) which was also a new school record!!! Not bad for wearing two suits to race and having a tough morning practice. Results
Next up is the Fredonia Invite December 5th-7th.

Clarkson meet and community service

Thanks to everyone who volunteered this past sunday for either leaf raking or timing for the club meet. You all did a great job with your respective efforts and it is appreciated.
Both teams picked up victories against Clarkson this past weekend. Some solid swims all around. Congrats!! Results

Tailgate Parties, Thank You Parents!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the parents for all of their efforts and all of the great food they make for our tailgate parties after our home meets. We all appreciate it greatly and it adds that much more to the atmosphere and community we desire to have.

"Leave it in the Pool"

We just finished the 3rd annual Ted Mullin "Leave it in the Pool" Hour of Power Relay. It was a great experience for a great cause. I was very happy with how the team got into it, they put forth a great effort, great enthusiasm, and I believe everyone really enjoyed themselves. I think feeling the spirit of over 5600 other swimmers from around the country (and world) participating in the same event helped bring out the best in everyone. Cancer Sucks!!

Oswego is (still) beautiful

I know this picture has appeared on this blog before. Being able to sit down by the lake and watch the sunset is one of the more relaxing things to have the opportunity to do, and it just never gets old.

Oneonta & the Dan Clark experience

We swam at Oneonta last weekend. long trip. long meet. It went well though, the men and women both won easily and swam fairly well. Congratulations to Leah Matthews on setting a pool record in the 100 breast. The men have two tough meets coming up against Clarkson and MCC, the women should not have a tough go of it and it will give us a chance to mix up what we swim.
A few weeks ago we had the opportunity (along with the entire athletic department) to attend a motivational talk with Dan Clark. Honestly, I am often skeptical of going to these things, thinking they are going to be a little to hokey or cookie cutter type talks. From the first word I was captivated, and as I looked around the packed house, so was everyone else. He really is a pretty amazing individual and I couldn't even begin to document why. I left that night feeling great and feeling motivated. My only dissapointment was that not everyone on our team could make it. If you ever get the chance to see him speak, take it, you will not be disappointed.

Whatever is good to know is difficult to learn.

I wanted to congratulate everyone on last years team for our academic accomplishments. Both the Women's and the Men's teams were named Academic All-American teams last season. Great Job! Additionally both Kevin Morgan and Chris Dotson were named individual Academic All-Americans! The women were one of four SUNYAC schools to make the list and the men were the only SUNYAC school to make the list. This was one of our major goals, keep up the great work in the classroom.

The Hour of Power and a little donation of our precious time

November 6th at 5 pm we will be participating with over 87 other swim teams from around the country in the 3rd annual Ted Mullin "Leave it in the Pool" Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma Cancer Research. We are excited to be a part of this event and it will be a great chance for us to be together, work hard, and raise team spirit. For more info on this event click here.
On November 9th part of our team will be taking part in the Leaf Raking Project, we will be going around town and cleaning up the yards of those people in need of some help (i.e. the elderly). The rest of our team will be volunteering as timers for the Oswego Laker Swim Club's Fall meet. Busy, busy, busy- doing good of course (and working hard)!

First two meets are in the books (plus the old relay meet)

Our first two real meets have come and gone. They both went really well and I am happy with how things are looking. We have put a lot of work into making changes and we have been working hard.
Our first meet was against LeMoyne, last year their women beat up on us pretty bad, so I was surprised when we came out and beat them this year. The men lost to a talented LeMoyne team, but swam very well. We definitely had some impressive swim for a first meet.
Our next meet was at the Cortland relays, but that was really just a practice, so enough said.
This past Tuesday we swam at RIT and both teams again swam really well, with the women defeating RIT and the men losing another hard fought battle.
Regardless of the outcomes, this team is looking good, and swimming well. You can get the full results and highlights from our teams webpage. This weekend we travel to Oneonta!

The Great Coupon Incident of 2008!

Soooo... on a warm summer's eve, Little Tessie Greenfield finds herself working at a decrepit old Friendly's restaurant in the black heart of Syracuse, NY. Now I am going to be honest, the details from here on out may or may not be accurate (I mean honestly, it is all a little hazy). We all know how Tessie loves to hoard Friendly's coupons, and then deal them in the back alleys late at night. For many weeks she was living large off the windfall. A good thing can only last so long and as it goes, all criminals will eventually make a mistake (i.e. leave a fingerprint, a strand of hair, leave behind their Friendly's fanny pack stuffed full of illegal Friendly's coupons). Little Tessie was no different. On that fateful night, when she finally did slip up and left her bounty of coupons behind, she rushed back to Friendly's to retrieve them. Tessie then rushed back home laughing to herself, thinking she had just gotten away with her perfect little crime. The next day as she strolled into work, thinking nothing of her past indiscretions, as she walked past the cooler full of watermelon and orange creme rolls - security whisked her away to the managers office. Apparently someone had looked inside her fanny pack and noticed her stash of coupons. In the cutthroat world of waitressing, her coworker did not hesitate to turn her in for their own gain. Her boss, Mr. Fribble, was not happy and immediately fired Tessie and black balled her from every Friendly's restaurant this side of the Mississippi. As Tessie cried herself to sleep that night she was determined to not go out like that. First thing in the morning, Tessie called her defense lawyer (her mother- and as all of Fredonia knows, you do NOT mess with her). Mrs. Greenfield esq. was quick to call Mr. Fribble and give him a piece of her mind, he never knew what hit him. The next day, Friendly's called Tessie and begged her to come back to the restaurant, the Happy Endings (sundaes) were just not the same without her there, the restaurant could not survive without her waitressing skills. Well, 'ol Hoss was having none of that. She still had a little dignity left, so she stuffed it in her fanny pack and moved on to greener pastures, and by greener pastures I mean you can now find her at IHOP. I love ya Tessie!!!

It's been way too long - I've never been that good with words anyway

I apologize for not getting on here sooner, it has been a busy and hectic beginning to the year. Things are going well though. We are starting to look good in the water and recruiting is going well. I certainly look forward to this season and to the future!
Since I last really wrote on here I have been to 3 great shows and my wife and I just bought our first house. I got to see the Old 97's in NYC, Lucero in Providence, and a special live tv taping concert of the Hold Steady in NYC. All ridiculously awesome shows. Now though its all swimming, all the time.
Last weekend was both our Black/Green intersquad meet and our alumni meet. Thank you to all the alumni and parents who made it this year, and especially to the parents for all the great food! It was also great to have some of my old teammates there this year!
I am going to make my best attempts at keeping this up to date with meet highlights, etc. throughout the season.
Best Regards.

One week!

Our season will be kicking off in one week. I want to remind you of some things we should be doing, and of some things that we will need to get done early this season.

When it comes to the voluntary training you are doing, keep it to the basics. General aerobic conditioning is great, work on getting to know your heart rates, etc.. Strength training is fine as long as you are focusing on core strength, and general endurance strength (i.e. we are not bodybuilders, we are athletes, we need functional strength, not bulky tight muscles). Take care of your tendons and joints, they are an important part of early season strength training. Flexibility is extremely important - do not take this for granted!

We have a lot of things we need to do early on. Most importantly, while we focus on all of the little things and technique, you need to grasp the concepts and make them habits. We want to maximize your potential which starts with great fundamental abilities. We want to take advantage of videotaping underwater, we can learn a lot from this, especially early on to correct any glaring deficiencies; to do this we are going to need to be on the ball and focused, you will need to be able to use this info to make yourself better.

We all need to be on the same page, our goal is to be the best we possibly can be, to work as hard as we can to that end. Everyone must be better than they have been. It is exciting to have that opportunity and I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am. See you all in a week. Good Luck!

Finish Strong

Check out the latest inspirational clip from Simple Truths

These clever kids are killing me...

with their slick innuendos and their not so slick pics. So if you understand the inference, and you understand the big picture, then it will all be taken care of, and we will be off to a great start shortly!
I know I am probably overdoing the reminders, but I want to make sure everyone is aware of what is going on, The first few weeks can get overwhelming.

August 30th - according to captains, will be a team gathering, a get to know if you will - if you are unsure of the specifics contact one of them.
September 3rd - tentatively the date for our first team meeting, place TBA
September 15th - physicals for last names A-L
September 16th - physicals for last names M-Z
September 16th - compliance meeting (mandatory) 6:30 pm @ campus center 237
September 20th - 10Kan run (see my previous post)
September 22nd - 1st official practice
September 27th - tentative date for team trip
October 11th - Black & Green Meet & Alumni Meet

That is as far as I will go for now.

Before You Know It!

It is about that time of year again, school starts in just over a week. I know...hard to believe the summer is almost over. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable break, and will get the opportunity to take advantage of the remaining days!
For anyone interested, on September 20th, the 10kan run will be taking place in Oswego, the entry fee is 200 recyclable cans. I think this is something you should participate in if able - if only to give you a little motivation to work out and also help out the community.
We have a lot going on right out of the gate, so make sure you are informed. I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

First (official) day of practice and words of wisdom from Mike Ness

So...the big day is...September 22nd! Some friendly advice- be prepared!!! A few more reminders; Physicals will be September 15th (last names A-L) and September 16th (M-Z), and we are tentatively planning our first team meeting for September 3rd at 830 pm (site TBD).

I have got two fun weekends coming up (yeah for me!): This weekend I will be (hopefully) seeing the Old 97's at Webster Hall in the city, and next weekend I will be in Providence and get to see Lucero. I am pretty psyched, two of my favorite bands, in a few years I will probably be too old for that stuff.

For those of you who are not prepared, our friends from (another great band) Social Distortion would like to leave you with these words:
"So I'm pulling out the weeds, i'm taking stock
you can talk the talk, but cant walk the walk
Your narcissistic ways have gotten the best of you.
So I'm leaving you to sink, in all your glory
For you and me it's the end of the story.
Get out of my way, I've got better things to do...
I'm leaving you far behind.
I'm leaving you far behind.
Stop wasting all of my time.
I'm leaving you far behind."

Enter the Bubble

I guess it is time for me to start worrying about everyones health, as in a span of a few hours I find out Jimmy split his head open and Kendrick broke his leg. I of course wish a speedy recovery to both. The rest of you...put yourself in a bubble or something!

Trials and Tribulations

I hope you all had time from your busy lives to watch some Olympic Trials. I guess impressive may be an understatement. I could obviously go on and on about it, but I will just touch on a few things. Everyone has great technique and everyone has a great kick...hint hint. I was happy to see Matt Grevers make it in the 100 back (I used to see him swim as a high school kid in Illinois) and I was equally disappointed for Randall Bal not making it (I just like him as a swimmer). What can you say about Dara Torres, kind of ridiculous. Hopefully the Trials and upcoming Olympics will give you inspiration and motivation going into the 2008-2009 season.
I am currently at Hamilton College working swim camp (2 weeks to go)! The past 8 years I have had to run early morning masters swimming, early morning club practice, early morning swim camp practice, be aquatics director, run night club practice, prepare and run our two big club summer meets, and work swim camp all at the same time. This year it is just swim camp, and I can not even explain how nice that is.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I hope everyone is working hard to help us be a great team in the future. It is easy to get caught up in life, make time to work out and swimming would be great! We have to be blue collar, we have to develop and earn our talents and success. It will never be handed to us. Do your part!

Nutrition

While I was at the CSCAA conference last month, I had the opportunity to listen to a talk given by Dr. Barry Sears, who established the Zone lifestyle solution. As nutrition and lifestyle are obviously important to everybody and plays a big part in athletic success, I have always read and researched on the subject. I think anyone who is serious about their present and future health and those interested in allowing their bodies to be able to achieve peak performance athletically should take some time to read up on the Zone and anti-inflammatory lifestyle. I have not come across anything that really makes more sense than this. But you should look into it and make your own judgements.

Life goes by

Because I have been getting a lot of questions about this, here it goes.
As many of you know (and apparently some of you did not), I got married Saturday. We had a small, simple wedding. We got married in Hamilton, NY, off of a nature trail in a small field (no we are not dirty hippies). It was nice and just what we wanted.
Erica and I have known each other for 18 years. We first dated for a few years when we were 16. Although we went our seperate ways for quite a long time, we always remained in contact in some form or another. Now we are married, and that about covers it. It just goes to show that you never know...

The Art of War

“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”

~Sun Tzu

I am feeling millitaristic today. Athletics has always been an easy association with war- victory, defeat, strategy, discipline, training, etc. (although holistically I do not think that is what the core of participation is all about, it is a part of the competitive environment).
So, are we ready to receive the enemy? What are you doing to prepare yourself for what awaits us?
If today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievements, and each of our achievements is directly linked to the efforts of the person right in front of and right behind us in the ranks; are we going to experience success? Are our failures going to be from a lack of trying?

Hour of Power, Good Will, Patches' Dilemma, and the Lawrence Arms

Next season on November 6th, we are going to take part in the 3rd Annual Ted Mullin Hour of Power Relay. Take a look at the information and note that we will do this as a fundraiser for Sarcoma Cancer Research. This reminds me that we also were going to take part in the Realy For Life- which I put Leah, Marianne, and the PP4 in charge of (Let me know what is going on with that). I know, you have been barraged with things that involve money recently. We will do what we can. I certainly do not want to force the philanthropy on you, I understand without thought, creativity and effort we are limited to going to the same well repeatedly for finances. Thankfully, you are a bright, talented, and creative group of kids who will come up with some good ideas.
That brings me to our friend Patches, who has so much time to be on the computer complaining about finances, that he could have another job or two! Just kidding Pat, but seriously...get another job.
I leave you with this line from the Lawrence Arms which is resonating with me, if you don't get it now, someday you probably will.
There's a park in this city where I used to go,
but now it's covered with fences and cops and lightposts.
And I'd never go back if anything was the same,
but it kills me to know that it's changed.

My weekend in Tucson, Arizona

I have done quite a bit of traveling, up and down, across and around this country. Although, I have been through Tucson before, this past weekend was the first time I have spent a few days there. Tucson is really cool (and really hot). I spent the weekend there for the College Swimming Coaches conference.
As far as swimming goes, I picked up some things we will definitely be using in the future, and I am excited for that.
Outside of the conference, I managed to pack a lot of things into the few days I was there.
Thursday night I drove through the desert mountains on Gates Pass road which is a nice scenic drive. From there I saw stadium lights, so I drove toward them, and ended up at an Arizona-Arizona State baseball game, which was a lot of fun.
Friday I spent some time looking around Tucson, it is nice- no tall buildings, no big lights, very friendly, and it has a much laid back feel to it. I also went to the Tucson Museum of Art, being an Art major, I of course enjoyed that.
Saturday was a little dicey. I decided to go hiking in Rabino Canyon. It was absolutely beautiful, but what I meant to be a short, hour or two hike, turned into a five hour adventure. I saw plenty of lizards, snakes, and great views (no mountain lions though- when I got to the park, they gave a sheet of paper warning of mountain lion attacks and how to protect yourself if being attacked- that was a little scary). To make a long story short; do not go hiking by yourself; when you are in the middle of the Arizona desert- make sure you have plenty of water; and if you have a map- it is probably a good idea to look at it once in a while. Anyway, my legs and feet have never hurt so much in my life, it still hurts to walk, but I survived.

Oswego is beautiful...

At times, it is hard to appreciate what is simple and right in front of you, when you spend all your time thinking about the complexities of where you've been and the unknown of where you will end up.

OSS&D on that Facebook thing

We have created a Facebook page for Oswego State Swimming and Diving. Check it out; be friends with us...you know you want to.
My first year here is just about over. I survived. You all survived. I enjoyed it; I guess that makes it a good first year. Thanks!
I get to be an usher Saturday at graduation (both of them). That will be the first college graduation I have been to, and I graduated from here, and my brother graduated from here. I missed my grad school graduation also. Where was I? Coaching at club swim meets...of course. I will be honest, I loved coaching club, but I am not going to miss getting up at 4:30 every morning this summer for practice. You, on the other hand, should. It is good for you.

130 days to first practice of 2008-2009 season

That is really just an estimate since I have not set an exact date for our first practice yet. But it is never too early to start getting in shape for next season. We are going to need everyone to commit to improving themselves this off season. I hope we are all on the same page with our expectations, hopes and goals for Oswego State Swimming in the future.
Congratulations to our 7 seniors. We are of course going to miss you all greatly and we are thankful for your years of commitment to the Laker swimming and diving program. Good luck as you continue on with your education or as you jump into the "real" world.
As many of you know, we have a fairly large class of first year athletes joining us next year (last count- 14 women and 13 men). I am looking forward to next season and to seeing what this class will bring to our program and to how our current team will improve.
This is my first post, and as I figure this all out, there will hopefully be more to come...
I hope everyone will keep in touch and stay safe this summer. Enjoy!