Swim Clinic for Triathletes

I just got word that my swim coach Stacey Zapolski is hosting a swim clinic for any interested triathletes this Sunday from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 at the Augustana College pool. I think this will be the 2nd or 3rd clinic they have had and I heard the clinic is growing rapidly more popular as these swimmers have spread the word about how much they are improving. I really like the format of the clinic. It is nearly the identical format that helped me improve a lot over the summer under Stacey's guidance. Stacey will watch the swimmers during the 1 hour and give technique feedback. She will let you know what areas of the stroke need work and what drills you can do to work on them. She will show drills for all the swimmers to work on. The clinic is held once a month. After the clinic it is up to you to go swimming and work on the drills and technique. The next month when you return Stacey will be able to judge improvement and give you something new to work on. This helped me tremendously this summer because she gave me one or two things to work on and helped me focus on those things for a few weeks before she would watch me again. For example, one of the first things she noticed about my stroke was that my left arm was entering the water too wide. Without having her watch me and point this out I never would have known. She gave me some drills to work on and I made that left arm my emphasis for the next 3 weeks until I saw her. When I saw her again she said it was much improved and then she let me know that my left hand was turning outward when it entered the water. This is a habit that has been tough for me to break. It really helps to have someone watching who knows what they are doing. I have never been a great swimmer and I have a LONG way to go but I made good progress this summer under her guidance. All the races I did this summer that I had previously raced I had my best swim rankings in this year. I had 2 races this summer when I had the fastest swim split. One of them had 130 people. That was a huge breakthrough and accomplishment for me and one I don't believe would have happened had I not had Stacey coaching me. What's great about this format is that it isn't terribly time consuming because I'm able to get stroke feedback and then go work on things on my own schedule. The cost is $30.00 for each monthly session. If you are brand new to swimming and have no idea what kind of workouts to do I'm sure Stacey would be able to give you some great ideas as well. I'll be there on Sunday...I hope to see you there as well! Let me know if you have any questions and I can send you Stacey's e-mail or possibly answer them myself. DREAM BIG!!