July 2004

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
 
July 20  Team Picnic – Avery Park- 6:00 pm
July 24  Last Chance meet – Osborn – 8:00 am
July 29-01  OSI 11 & Over Championship (A) – Gresham
Aug. 3-7  USA Nationals (Q) Stanford, CA
Aug.  5  Trophy League meet –4:30 - Corvallis
Aug. 9-13  Junior Nationals (Q) Stanford, CA
Aug. 10-14  Sr. Sectional Championship (Q) Federal Way
Aug. 13  Scout Lake Picnic
Aug. 13-15  Bend Open (ABC) – Bend
Aug. 10-14  Western Zone Champs (Q) –Redding, CA
Aug. 14-18  Olympic Games!! – Athens, Greece
Sept.  15  Practice resumes
Sept. 19  Parent meeting – Osborn – 7:oo pm
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Payment Reminder: Payment is due by the 10th of each month. If you have questions, please contact the CAT treasurer, Jeannie Schoper.  752-7279 or email jschoper@comcast.net
Donations:  For those of you who have made donations to the team, Thank you! Your donation may be eligible for a company match. Please note that these are tax deductable.  The tax ID number is: 93-0748812
 
President’s Message: Jim DiGiulio
 
  Well, I can’t believe it is mid-summer already, but long course championships are here.  I wish the best of luck to all the swimmers during the competition season.
  I want to thank everyone again for their hard work this year at all the meets we hosted.  The team had an outstanding year.  We do have one more trophy league meet to host on August 5, so I hope to see many of you there.
  Don’t forget the team picnic on Tuesday, July 20 at 6:00PM at Avery Park.  Also here are a couple of additional dates to mark on your calendars.  Practice will resume in September on the 15th.  The indoor pool is scheduled to be closed that week, so we will be practice outside only during the first week back.  The parents’ annual meeting will be on September 19 at 7:00PM.  Please plan to attend that meeting.
See you on deck. -Jim
 
Coaches’ Report: Rick Guenther
 
  HYDRATION, HYDRATION, HYDRATION, DRINK WATER, DRINK WATER, DRINK WATER.  I hope this got everyone's attention.  This seems to be a reoccurring battle between swimmers (athletes) and their parents.  Let’s go through this again.  Muscles rely on water for peak contraction.  Sodas and coffee do not act as a substitute for good old water.  Gatorade and Powerade are great substitutes.  When consuming sports drinks be aware of high sugar levels.  Let’s get back to muscles.  Muscles need to be bathing in water.  This gives them the ability to respond faster.  While at a meet or practice, all CAT swimmers should have a water bottle and be consuming on a regular basis.  Swimmers should be consuming 3-4 large bottles of water a day.  By the time a person gets thirsty, they are already dehydrated.  After that it takes a considerable amount of water to re-hydrate the body.  Dehydration headaches are a common result of low water intake.
  This weekend was the 10 & Under championship.  Two weekends later are the 11 & Over championships.  In order to swim at the highest level possible, all athletes need to consume plenty of water.  The 11 & Over championship will be at Mt. Hood.  If the weather is in the 90’s and higher all CAT swimmers will need to keep out of the sun and keep well hydrated.  
  This year the end of the season comes in one big bang.  The week of August 9th the team will head in a variety of directions.  Beginning Monday, 4 of CAT’s seniors will be competing in the Junior Championships on the Stanford campus.  On Tuesday, all of our Western Zone athletes, along with coach Greg, will be competing in Redding, California.  There is a chance, some CAT swimmers will be competing in the Senior Sectional meet in Federal Way beginning Wednesday.  The Bend meet, beginning Friday, is a great all team meet.  The daily schedule, I believe, ends around 2:00, just enough time to get in some afternoon activities.  
  The staff would like to thank the CAT board for all of its hard work this year and the support it gives the coaches.  We also would like to thank all of our great CAT families for their commitment to this wonderful organization.  Let’s have a great end of the year.
 
 
 Senior Report: Rick Guenther
 
  Everyone ready for a great end to the season?  We have put in some intense training these last couple of months.  Many of you have commented on being sore and tired.  All of that is coming to an abrupt end as we head into the taper portion of the season.  Some things to be aware of in this final cycle: Keep your body healthy, well fed and well hydrated.  You have put in the work for upper level competition, now complete the training by keeping the body well fueled.  Next, take ownership of your swimming and your goals.  You have chosen this sport as your own.  Your goals are yours, not your coach’s or your parents’.  Decide what you wish to accomplish and race to whatever level it takes to achieve that speed.  This sport is not about day to day training.  The only purpose of training is to build strength and confidence.  This sport is about the thrill of racing and the excitement of achievement.  Decide what you want and go after it.  Last, have fun.  Enjoy the excitement of team support.  There is a lot of truth behind the quote, “An individual can make a difference, but a team can make a miracle.”  Be positive with each other and cheer for each other’s successes.  This current senior squad can always be found behind the blocks cheering their hearts out.
Hawaii Trip - I would like to give a big thank you to Theresa Valentine and Susie Leslie.  They were incredible chaperones on the trip.  They always seemed to have smiles on their faces, even during some of the rougher moments.  Everyone should know that the senior squad did a great job of getting along and enjoying each other’s company.  It was a delightful trip.  Thank you.
 
 
Senior Prep: Greg Bostrom
 
  It is hard to believe how fast the summer has gone by.  We have already sent in the entries for the Bend Open and the 11 & Over championships.  We will be starting our taper this week for all those that are going to Gresham for the championship meet.  Remember those that are going I want you to take Thursday off and sleep in.  At this point of the season the only thing that we can do is treat our body right.  That means stay hydrated, eat a balanced diet, cut back slightly on the amount of carbohydrates we are eating (since we are not training as hard we won’t be burning as many calories in practice and if we don’t burn it our body will store it), and get plenty of sleep. 
  I was pleased with the way we raced at the ECSC meet a couple weeks back.  Mackenzie and Annie both swam the 200 fly for the first time.  Logan swam the 200 fly and 400 IM for the first time.  Some other notable swims came in the 200 free where Candice took off 6 seconds and Ian took off 25.  Hana took off over 4 seconds in the 200 IM.  I am excited to see how fast we can swim in Gresham.
  If you have not signed up for the Bend meet and want to go I can probably get you in until the end of the week, after that I won’t be able to.  I would encourage all of you to go to that meet.  It is a great team building experience with everyone camping in the park.  Even if you don’t sign up to go to Bend we are having the Scout Lake trip on Friday, August 13.  We usually meet at the lake around 10:30 or 11:00 am and have lunch and play in the water.  That is officially our last practice until we start back up in the fall (Sept. 15).
  I know the fair is coming up the first week of August and many of you are going to be involved with that.  If you are not, we have our last trophy meet on August 5th.  Once again this meet with be at Osborn with the warm-ups at 4:30. 
 
 
Junior II: Greg Bostrom
 
  Wow, what a great championship meet we had.  As a team we had 16 off 21 best times, and this is after a long meet in Eugene the previous week in which we had many best time swims.  Erin Schoper dropped time in all six of her events, Erika Twenge dropped time in five of her six, Hannah Mason dropped in four of her five, Tessa Gourley improved in her event, and Kelly Shreeve lowered her time in the 100 fly by over a second (after lowering it by 1.5 the week before) but was DQed for a flutter kick on the turn, but it was still a phenomenal swim.
  It was good to see some of you trying new events at the ECSC meet a couple weeks ago.  Chloe swam three events long course for the first time and Maddie swam the 400 free.  Some other notable swims from that meet were Matt dropping over 7 seconds in the 100 free, Erin dropping over 4 seconds in the 100 free (new A time), and Kelly dropping 4 seconds in the 100 back.
  If you have not signed up for the Bend meet and want to go I can probably get you in until the end of the week, after that I won’t be able to.  I would encourage all of you to go to that meet.  It is a great team building experience with everyone camping in the park.  Even if you don’t sign up to go to Bend we are having the Scout Lake trip on Friday, August 13.  We usually meet at the lake around 10:30 or 11:00 am and have lunch and play in the water.  That is officially our last practice until we start back up in the fall (Sept. 15). 
  I know the fair is coming up the first week of August and many of you are going to be involved with that.  If you are not, we have our last trophy meet on August 5th.  Once again this meet with be at Osborn with the warm-ups at 4:30. 
 
 
Junior IA: Nathan Boal
 
  Great job everyone.  I’m continually impressed with the improvement I see in all of you and the effort you put forward in order to keep improving.  Keep up the good work.
  There have been some great swims in the trophy league meets as well as the Eugene City meet.  At the second trophy meet in Philomath Noah had a couple best times and Geoff swam his first yards meet.  Kat dropped 13 seconds in her 50 breast and Eric dropped over three seconds in all three of his swims.  Eliot dropped time in his 50 fly and Tae-Han got a couple first time yards times.  At the next trophy meet Noah dropped a total of over 29 seconds in his swims, Kat again dropped 13 seconds, this time in the 100 IM and Eric dropped 3 seconds from his 50 back.  Lindsay got three brand new short course meters times, Nina just barely took off time in the 50 breaststroke and Eliot had some fast swims.  Tae-Han achieved a best time in his only event of the meet. John was the only one from our group to swim at the Eugene City Invite at Echo Hollow pool earlier this month.  He had a nice time drop in his 100 breaststroke.
  Nice job at the meets everyone.  I’m glad to see so many of you participating in the trophy meets and hopefully more of you will start going to the other meets as well.  One meet coming up next month that I would encourage all of you to attend if possible is the Bend meet.  Watch your mail boxes for more information.
Keep striving to improve. -Nathan
 
 
Junior IB: Justin Seekatz
 
  Nice job everyone who swam at the 10 & Under Championships this weekend.  We had a lot of best times, and our group broke 3 CAT Long Course records.  The boys 8 & under 200 Medley Relay team of Nick Gambatese, Bradley Crampton, Brandon Shreeve, and Galen McPherson swam a time of 3:43.93.  The boys 8 & under 200 Freestyle Relay of Brandon, Sam Yoon, Bradley, and Alexander Brookes swam a time of 3:05.07 which broke the record. Veronica Twenge broke the girls 8 & Under 50 backstroke record with a time of 43.98.  Great job everyone, and let's keep bringing those times down!
 
 

Good
Luck
to everyone
 in the final
meets of
the season!!!