Division Team Championships are different. There is no doubt about that. There are three basic types of meets that a swim team gets involved in over the course of a year. Meets without qualifying times - these make up most of our meets Meets with qualifying times - these are big invitational meets, as well… Continue reading Why Division Team Championships are Different
Author: Rick Madge
Here's my life in a nutshell.
Husband to a beautiful wife
Father of 3 amazing, grown-up children.
Electrical Engineer (hey, it pays the bills and keeps my mind busy)
Swim coach (this is where my passion lies)
Attributes: Ridiculously curious. Introverted. Pretensions of creative abilities. Reader (books not minds. at least, not that you know). Athlete (reduced primarily to swimming and cycling now). Collector (of weird, old and interesting items). Writer (primarily of boring technical reports and overly long About You blurbs)
Early Season Meets – An Interview with Myself
Below is an interview carried out with myself following our second meet of the season. Q. How have the first two meets gone? A. If you look at the results, they've been pretty spectacular. Our Personal Best rate [PB] in our first meet in Hamilton was an impressive 87%. The second meet in Guelph has… Continue reading Early Season Meets – An Interview with Myself
The Role of a Head Coach (Or, why don’t I coach the little ones more often)
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about the Role of a Parent. Recently a parent has asked some excellent questions about what I do, and what I don't do. This lead me to think its time for me to post a blog about my view on the Role of a Head Coach. Primarily,… Continue reading The Role of a Head Coach (Or, why don’t I coach the little ones more often)
Goals are Great. Expectations? Not so much…
It's a well known and accepted fact that goal setting can be helpful in every aspect of life (see excellent link here.) After all, a goal helps to inspire, direct and plan towards a desirable result. The problem is that an expectation can seem very much like a goal. When a swimmer says, "I want… Continue reading Goals are Great. Expectations? Not so much…
We had a great week of practices. Ummm… What does that mean?
Last week was definitely a great week of practices. I even posted that sentiment on facebook (first time for me) and people were nice enough to Like it. Luckily, nobody asked me what my bold statement meant, because when I thought about it, I realized that I have no idea. What separates a good week… Continue reading We had a great week of practices. Ummm… What does that mean?
Teens, Sleep Deprivation and Morning Swim Practices
I know that a lot of coaches will disagree with my message in this blog. And if they don't, they should. I'll explain why at the end. Almost every serious swim team holds many morning practices a week for their older swimmers. Usually at least 4, sometimes 5 or even 6. And they start as… Continue reading Teens, Sleep Deprivation and Morning Swim Practices
Third Week Report – How are we doing?
We're into our third week of the new season, and everything looks great. The numbers are fantastic. We're already at the numbers we finished with last year, and we've only just started the season. We also have quite a few new swimmers and some new early level coaches. Lots of smiling faces on the pool… Continue reading Third Week Report – How are we doing?
Update to The Role of a Swimming Parent
I'll still be putting out a new blog post in the next few days, but I really need to provide an update on my last blog. During the past week I've talked to many people about the role of a parent in a child's sporting life. This includes parents of swimming, as well as hockey,… Continue reading Update to The Role of a Swimming Parent
So Your Child is A Swimmer – The Role of a Swimming Parent
Although we have only finished one week of the season, it's never too early to help parents understand the role they can play in helping their swimmer get the most out of the sport. USA Swimming used to have a lengthy list of parent responsibilities on their site. It had about a dozen points on… Continue reading So Your Child is A Swimmer – The Role of a Swimming Parent
A New Tritons Swim Year Starts!
A New Tritons Swim Year Starts! Welcome to a new swim year with the Mighty Tritons! For swimmers and coaches both, the start of a new year is an exciting time. We've all had a nice break and a chance to recharge our batteries. The mistakes and successes of the past year are behind us. … Continue reading A New Tritons Swim Year Starts!
Coach Rick - Mighty Tritons Swimming 