Paul here. Very challenging practice today! My co-coach has been troubled with migraine headaches, and although she showed up, had to leave at the beginning of practice. She is a great partner, and I really sympathize with her since I have had brief encounters with migraines. Not fun. So I was by myself with the lane. Usually not a problem, but then I hear one of my swimmers was in the locker room thinking she was going to have a seizure. She came out and was willing to practice, but I was asked to keep an eye on her. That is hard to do with six swimmers at about 4 different levels of ability, but of course I did my best to watch her carefully. The hardest part of getting them going is that when I have them lined up and in order to start swimming the particular set, they take so long from the time I tell them to go (and what stroke to do, and for how many laps, etc) to when they actually go, that the people who started first are already done and need attention. When I finally get them going, the other swimmers are either trying to pass, or are coming the other way and creating a blockade of swimmers. It was very chaotic for a few minutes (while keeping my eye on the seizure prone girl) but out of desperation I had to have a quick meeting. I told them my problem and they need to go as soon as I tell them to go. All of the sudden it seemed like I had six different swimmers in my lane. They were in perfect order, with comfortable spaces between them. We had the best workout I have ever had with them. It was incredibly satisfying.
We got so much in I thought they were getting bored, so I took a chance and came up with a new drill. One challenge I had was getting them to practice at a racing pace. It is always difficult with many swimmers in the lane because if you are getting too close to the swimmer in front of you it is hard to keep your pace. Also, relative to my problem of getting them to start at the right time, when they get to the meets, they are not prepared to start quickly. So I decided to pair them up and work on 25 yard sprints. They just do one length at a time, side by side as if they are racing the person next to them. They don't have anybody in their way and can really work on just going as fast as they can. I could not believe how fast they went! They were really enjoying the chance to sprint without fear of bumping into anyone.
So we got through the practice in great shape (no seizures) and everyone worked very hard. I was proud of them and was very satisfied I finally found a way to approach future practices.
As this year-long blog will end this month, this post is my last chance to share updates on my weekly Special Olympics coaching experience, so I'm glad it ended with such a great workout. We are looking forward to the Summer Games this June and the many workouts in between.
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