ASAU qualifying meets

So ASAU has this new rule for this year to qualify for regionals and nationals. First you have to swim at an ASAU sanctioned meet within the season. This means that any swimmers from the previous years cannot use the events they swam last year, but have to re-due them this season. That is understandable. The only thing is though there are only two sanctioned ASAU meets before regionals and nationals, both are within the first three months of the season while regionals and national s are still four and five months away. No one knows exactly what they want to swim yet and no one is going to be going fast times yet. The big confusion is that though we have to have swam the events this season we are still able to use last year times from nationals as seed times for both this years regionals and nationals. What the point then in having this ruling?

The founder of ASAU is trying to get more clubs to swim against each other but with lack of funding through the universities clubs cannot afford to do a lot of traveling. It is easier to swim against other universities, division schools, in the area. This makes the opportunity to swim sanctioned ASAU meets almost impossible for some clubs. Both ASAU and NCAA need to do a better job at incorporating all teams for the sake of the sport.

Supplements

My male roommate and fellow swimmers is into taking protein shakes after working out. Out of curiosity I tried some of his, the taste was not so great. I am just really curious in how these protein shakes would affect me and my swimming ability. Would I get stronger or just bigger? Would it have any affect on me at all? Are there different types of protein shakes out there for men and women? All these questions raced through my head.

At the end of the day though I feel as long as I eat protein throughout the week I should be fine without having to take any supplement instead or with. I don't think that protein shakes or any other type of legal supplement is right for me. There are to many questions and unknown answers for me to get into them.

Swimmers main source of energy/strength comes from protein and carbs. If you have to take a supplement to get that energy/strength then by all means go ahead, It is just not for me. I will do it the old fashion way through diet and exercise to be fit for the sport.

Club Sports

Club sports have to be the best thing for competitive athletes. The people that do club sports are either to worn out t and then those who love the sport but are not good enough to compete at the division level. These club sports are growing in size and amount. Teams are getting bigger and better and more team are being created all over the country. Just alone in the club swimming arena almost 15 teams have been added to the league just this year.

This past Friday the University of Colorado Club Sports board put on an event for the club sports. Three members from each club team was selected to compete in a ice dodgeball competition. The three members from each club team was put together with another club to make up a team. Then there were brackets made and everyone competed with each other. This event was a great way for the club teams to come together and get to know each other better. It was also a way to celebrate the clubs and what they are all about, students coming together over something they love.

There are not many programs that are able to do what the club sport board did for the teams. I have never heard of division programs doing stuff like this. Club Sports is all about having a good time and enjoy the sport again. I am so glad that Colorado has this program and that I am a part of it.

What Now

So now that Natalie Coughlin is off Dancing with the Stars what happens to her now? Does she go straight back into swimming or is she going to be doing more endorsements and shows? How come she can still be one of the fastest women in the world and not have to constantly train like most athletes?

These sort of questions go through my mind constantly. I'm the type of athlete that has to train all the time just to keep in shape. Even taking a week off for me puts me right back at zero.

I would really like to know the secret that these top athletes have , besides just being talented.

Getting offers

The CU swim and Dive club team has been invited to Swim at the Mesa State Invitational in February. Originally CU was not invited because we are not a division team but Mesa changed its mind and offered us a spot to come because they see us as competition for them. To make things even better the Mesa State team has offered to pay for our hotels and food for coming out there.

For a team that has to pay for everything for themselves this helps us out a ton.

This is not the first time a division team has gone to extra lengths to get our team to come to a meet. The University of Nebraska at Omaha usually has an invitational the first week of Dec. This year though they told us that unless we came to this meet they were not going to have it. Also they have invited us to their Conference Meet with other division 2 universities to compete at. This is the first time ever a club team has been offered this.

CU might just be a club team, but we are strong and not to be messed with. We have proven ourselves to these division team and they are taking noticed. GO CU!

2010 ASAU Nationals

The 2010 ASAU Nationals for swimming are going to be held outside of Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University. This is exciting news for all club teams for now we can all start planning the trip out there.

After looking at the Universities web site I am truly excited to get out there. It is always fun to travel to different universities, especially ones out of state, for club teams. These events are when we look forward to and train for. ASAU club teams are not sponsored by the universities so each club raises its own expenses for trips like these. They are a huge deal for these athletes and much deserved.

Jumps Squats

One of the easiest exercised to learn yet one of the most important exercises for swimmers. Jump squats are designed to build strength in swimmers legs and also work on reaction time. Two of the most important parts of a swimmers race are the start and turns, these points will break or make a race.

The squat jump consists of combining the traditional squat exercise, bending knees at a 90 degree angle while pressing your butt out and not letting your knees go over your feet, with the exercise of quick jumps to work calf muscles. For this exercise you will have a bar with whatever weight you feel comfortable with , for me it 20 lbs. on each side of the bar. You will put the bar on the top of your back and then go into the squat position. From this position you will jump up from your toes and then come back down into the squat position. Do three sets of 15 and you will be able to feel the burn and get in a good workout.

When it comes to swimming being able to power off your start and turn will be highly beneficial to your races. This exercise is designed to build up your legs strength so when you are completely exhausted on the last 50 a a 200 Free you will still be able to have fast and powerful turns to finish the race.

This is personally one of my favorite exercises to do for swimming. It's fast and you defiantly feel the burn. I have also noticed in most of my races that my turns are getting more powerful and for the beginning of the season that is very important.