Birthdays – October 2009

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in October:
2 October – Chris Langley
5 October – Jean Basson
7 October – Craig Hanenberg
13 October – Christopher Brill, Kelly Van Den Heever
14 October – Ricky Ellis, Hylton Collinson
15 October – Emma Welke
16 October – Jamie Burns
18 October – Jason Renecke
20 October – Chanel Johnston
24 October – Tracey-Lee Young
27 October – Dayna Limbeek
30 October – Christian Kanwischer

Coaches' Corner

I love to be inspired!
On Friday night I was fortunate to experience my fourth Abdullah Ibrahim live performance as he celebrated his 75th birthday at the Linder Auditorium. He is South Africa’s most internationally esteemed musician and arguably one of the foremost jazz pianists in history. However, his roots are deeply South African and he continues to mentor and engineer various social upliftment and music education projects. His commitment to his chosen art form has not eclipsed serving his community.

Through his music, which remains avant-garde, his life philosophy straddles the values of both the traditional and modern world. He practices martial arts daily and one only needs to see him perform with his ensemble band (Ekaya) to know how much he celebrates being alive.

During the first 20 minutes (perhaps the most complex music of the evening) my mind wandered to the end of the ancient earth and back……the music sewed isolated events of the past week into a tapestry of life rewards….I soon succumbed to the beauty and simplicity of his message though music….leave your thoughts behind and embark with me on a journey of epic precision, timing and perfection….be humble of the world around us.

On an operational level, the understated leadership he shares with his fellow band members, was reflected in the manner in which he allows each individual to indulge himself, yet remain respectful of the legacy of free-form jazz….and ultimately of the audience they are serving. Each musician is a master of his own instrument and plays with the confidence and ease that can only evolve from the highest form of commitment. Only devotion to the strictest code of conduct and discipline can produce perfect execution and such professional lucidity.

Attending world-class events such as these stimulates thoughts and can trigger new ideas to inspire change. The music both sucks out our transient emotions and feeds us with the belief that we live in a world of infinite possibility….we have the power to change the lives we live.

Friday night was not just an evening of world-class jazz, it was a lesson in humility….respect yourself, share your talents and commit yourself to living with your neighbour……
Thank you Adolphe Joahnnes Brand, born October 9, 1934.

PETER

World Student Games

My Trip to Serbia... By Ricky Ellis
What an experience!!! I recently attended the world student games held in Belgrade, Serbia from the 1st – 12th July. Never would I have thought that this event would have consisted of seven thousand athletes participating from almost every single country in the world along with three thousand managers to look after all the athletes from the various countries.

My experience started off with a mixture of emotions. Firstly the most uncomfortable plane trip from JHB to Paris. We all had middle seats and I ended up next to a large Frenchmen who would lean on my side the whole trip there. I couldn’t wait to get off. Once in Belgrade we all grouped together and waited for everyone’s luggage which we had spent endless hours of putting on stickers and locks to ensure our bags got to their final destination.

This however didn’t end up well as I was the only guy whose baggage did not reach its destination. I only ended up getting my luggage on day 5 which was one day before the swimming competition started. I did however have all my swimming stuff as it was with me on hand luggage the whole time.
The best memories of the student games would have to be the opening ceremony. We wore Nelson Mandela tops with black short pants and slops which I ended up borrowing since I didn’t have any clothes. We really did look funny although every country seemed to take an interest and check out our outfit. We walked down the streets of Belgrade to a roaring crowd cheering us on for the full 3km’s. It was really overwhelming to see all the different athletes in their uniform. We ended up at the indoor stadium which seated all the athletes. This took 4 hours to get all the countries in. We were one of the first in the serilic alphabet. The show was defiantly worth waiting for and the use of technology was incredible. Instead of everyone walking on like at the Olympics, each country had their flag bearer with a Serbian model as they were introduced one country at a time.

Serbia is an extremely green and beautiful country. We were there mid summer with the sun going down at 9:30pm and coming up round 4am. This was defiantly weird for me and I did struggle to sleep for a few nights, not to include the heat that we faced every day. They have preserved there history and going around the country you will see bombed buildings from the war. The food court was one of the best things about the tour. We could eat as many meals and as much as you wanted from 6am to 10pm every day. It was bigger than a full size rugby field and the food was great. You could pick from 6 different types of meals at lunch and supper. You could get as much coke, fanta or spite as you wanted with your food not to mention the endless amounts of bottled water in the fridges everywhere.
The rooms we stayed in were just built for all the athletes. There were many huge buildings all around the student village and we ended up with Australia and Canada. All the swimming guys I roomed with were really enjoyable and we defiantly had our good laughs every night. There was a stage that played music every night so if you felt like having a party you would just walk down the road. This was also another reason why it was so hard to sleep as the music was not soft. Everything you wanted was in the village and just a minute walk away. There were always thousands of people walking.

When the swimming competition started I saw huge names that I was up against. Many of the medalists at the world champs were swimming here. I got to swim in the same heat as people like Ryusuke Irie, Marcus Rogan and Yunya Koga. It was great to see how they approached there races and what they looked like in person and not on T.V. Some former Waterborn swimmers that I got to catch up with was Sasha and Greg Widmer. It was also great having Danilo there since it was his home country and he spoke the language. He ended up showing me around and making me try all the good food that was around.

All in all I had the greatest 2 weeks of my life. The experience was so great and you feel like a celebrity everywhere you go. It was great having Physio’s at your discretion every day. People come up and ask to take photos with you just because you have accreditation around your neck. I would not trade the experience for anything. The people of Serbia made me feel like a Million bucks!

Congratulations!

Well done to the following swimmers who set new records at the Highveld Inter Provincial gala:
Megan Stephens: 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle
Taryn MacKenzie: 100m Breaststroke
Tamlin Crafford: 100m Freestyle

Congratulations to the following swimmers who made finals at the FINA World Cup:
Megan Stephens x 1
Taryn MacKenzie x 3
Amy Lombard x 2
Tamlin Crafford x 1
Chris Langley x 2
Dylan Bosch x 1
Kyle Duckitt x 1
Kyle Mac Millian x 1
Neil Watson x 1
Ricky Ellis x 1
Some

October 2009, Newsletter No 26

Dear Waterborners
We are now well into the swing of the swimming season again and for a lot of our swimmers the hard work is starting to pay off. The hard training and early mornings is also showing at the level gala’s where you can see the fatigue in our swimmers – keep up the hard work.
Well done to all our swimmers who swam at the FINA World Cup in Durban. For those of us lucky enough to be there it was a meeting of the world’s top swimmers where new world records and world cup records were set.
Some other exciting news was that Waterborn had a number of nominations at the prestigious Telkom Awards Ceremony that was held in Durban before the FINA World Cup. Jean Basson was nominated for the 2009 Aquatics ‘Swimmer of the Year’ award, for having finished a credible fourth in the 400 metres freestyle final at the Beijing Olympics – SA’s highest placed swimmer at the event. He was also nominated for ‘Best Performance of the Year’.
Francois was nominated for ‘Coach of the year for Junior Athletes’ and Peter and Francois were both nominated for ‘Coach of the Year’. Congratulations to Jean who jointly won the ‘Best Performance of the Year’ with Cameron Van den Burgh.
Good luck to Tamlin and Taryn who are heading off to Mauritius for the African Junior Championships on the 20th October.
Finally GOOD LUCK to all our matrics out there as you begin your final exams, remember that swimming has taught you how to stay calm under pressure and to focus - use this to your advantage and try and continue swimming as much as possible to keep your mind and body mentally and physically strong during the exams.

Coaches' Corner

Andy is volunteering at Randburg on Wednesday nights with the Elite Squads. Andy decided to share some of her thoughts:

“Well, I cannot believe it has been 2 years since I handed over my position as coach to Barjo at Linden and headed over to England. It was not an easy decision, but I think the break was necessary for me to make the transition from swimmer to coach.
Even though I was 9 000km away, I was constantly updated with the progress the swimmers were making back home. I remember days where I was filled with pride as well as regret for having left. Rules, regulations and paperwork prevented me from coaching in the United Kingdom… or perhaps I just always knew I wanted to return to South Africa.
I was however able to keep one toe in the water so to speak. I was fortunate enough to coach Zinzan Brooke’s daughter. She possessed the same superior athletic ability as her father, and in our first 6 months of working together she showed promising signs that she was well on her way to becoming a future Olympic competitor… OK she was only 3 years old, wearing arm bands and had to be encouraged to finish one width of the pool with a giant blow up Dolphin…but she stood head and shoulders above the rest!
I spent a week in August 2008 walking around work like a zombie with blood shot eyes. I had been waking up at 2am to follow the Beijing Olympics on TV. Of course I was up at that time to watch two former team mates, Dom and Jean battle it out with the world’s best. I really can’t describe the emotions I felt watching the Men’s 200m freestyle final. I had no favourite, nor could I anticipate who would beat whom, but to watch the two of those boys finish within split seconds of one another amongst a field of 60 swimmers was surreal. But it was a sms from Peter saying “Those are our boys”, which brought a lump to my throat and if I had dared blink I would have cried. It made me think back to what felt like a short while ago when
Jean and Dom were two little pipsqueaks (yup, I did a spell check on that word…it exists) splashing up and down the pool, and now look at them. So who knows what talent is lurking in the pool right now.
On my return to SA, I could not believe how everyone had grown in the time that I been away. My first month back was spent pinching cheeks and saying, “the last time I saw you, you were this high”. But what has been most noticeable is the incredible progress every swimmer has made. Every year these kids keep getting better and the benchmark set higher. Waterborn waits for no one and what’s taking place is so exciting that it’s hard not to want to be a part of it all.
Thank you to Barjo and Njabula for the fabulous work at Linden and thank you to Peter and Francois for always making me feel welcome on pool deck and keeping me involved and up to date.
Good luck to all of the swimmers for the season ahead and remember, “the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work”- Mark
Twain.”
Andy Landau

CGA Senior Nationals Awards Dinner

Congratulations to the following CGA awards winners:

TROPHY WINNERS

• Jean Basson – Best Male Freestyle, Best Overall Swimmer
• Elzanne Werth – Best Female Freestyle
• Ricky Ellis – Best Male Backstroke
• Kyle Duckitt – Best Male Breaststroke

COLOURS BADGES

• Dylan Bosch
• Danilo Deletic
• Megan Stephens
• Gregory Stojakovic

COLOURS BADGES RE-AWARD

• Chris Langley
• Amy Lombard
• Taryn MacKenzie

HONOURS BADGES

• Kyle Duckitt

HONOURS BADGES RE-AWARD

• Jean Basson
• Ricky Ellis
• Neil Watson
• Elzanne Werth

Lifesaving News

You will remember that in out last edition of the newsletter we mentioned that Megan Stephens was selected as a Protea to compete at the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships in June. She did exceptionally well gaining an individual bronze medal in the 200 m Obstacle. She also reached a personal best in the 200m Super Lifesaver event and was part of a Medley Rescue Relay team which also gained a bronze medal.
Well done Megan!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Travis Holden who was awarded Swimming Honours at St. Stithians Boy’s College in recognition of his significant contribution to swimming at his school.

Birthdays – June & July

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in June/July as well as our coaches Peter and Phillipe!

• 3 June – Nicholas Brimacombe
• 4 June – Leeam Van der Walt
• 5 June – Markus Kollnig, Jeanri Buys
• 7 June – Phillipe Van der Leeuw, Bianca Swart, Fynn Krause
• 11 June – Nicholas Van Niekerk
• 16 June – Mikhail Hassim
• 20 June – Peter Williams
• 23 June – Savannah Smith
• 30 June – Matthew Barwick
• 6 July – Emma Beavon
• 12 July – Megan Ranger, Ashleigh Brown
• 17 July – Dylan Bosch
• 23 July – Kyle Smit
• 27 July – Ashley Holden, Megan Stephens, Ross Van Oortmerssen
• 29 July – Kyle Baxter

Coaches' Corner

“there is a town in North Ontario, dreams, comfort, memories to spare... in my mind, I still need a place to go, all my changes were there... blue, blue windows behind the stars, yellow moon on the rise; the big birds flyin’ across the skies, leaving shadows on our eyes”. – Neil Young

“Time out” is important in all our lives, young and old. A change-of-pace, new scenery, living and thinking differently from the way we normally do in our regular daily construct, all combine to allow ourselves the space to self-reflect, re-assess situations, ruminate over ideas, ... and contemplate changes going forward.

Seaborn House, in Sardinia Bay (Eastern Cape) has become such a place for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the lazy afternoon sun-sleeps, extended beachwalks and the natural seclusion the surroundings offer.

Waterborn has become a home to an increasing number of coaches, parents and swimmers over the past 4 years. The two relatively new squads Waterborn Linden and Waterborn Brightwater Commons are maturing into self-contained units with strong leadership from the Head Coaches. “Squad Mums” Tina Holden and Lauren Wilson have shown their willingness to support squad development by offering to assist with inter-and-intra squad liaison. Thank you ladies for generously offering to fill this important role as the coaches are frequently preoccupied with conducting swimming lessons.

Waterborn Randburg discovered years ago the value of the “Squad Mum” in facilitating communication. Whilst I feel honoured that the Waterborn coaching style provides an attractive framework for instructors to work within, it is important that individual coaches in the collective work towards their own strengths. Coaching, like swimming, is a discipline which requires daily development of skills such as leadership, relationship-building, patience, communication skills and knowledge transfer. Above all, coaches must be prepared to confront themselves, contemplate their successes and mistakes, and doggedly pursue their own personal development.

Similarly, swimmers must develop individual personal attributes over time, albeit in a daily team environment. Coaches speak of swimmers who assume responsibility for their own performance by “coaching themselves”. Waterborn swimmers are the best educated swimmers in the country. If coaches are working towards the Waterborn directive, each swimmer should learn to enhance his/her own internal dialogue…co-erce themselves into higher levels of physiological input, be their own worst critic on refining stroke co-ordination and rhythm, commit themselves fully to improving the team training environment and building tolerance towards physical discomfort.

Change may mean taking the first bold strokes towards higher aspirations or adapting aspects of your competitive personality. These are not new athletic frontiers; thousands of swimmers have successfully changed themselves, and in so-doing, morphed into elite swimmers. Champions have been created out of less physically gifted athletes who are not scared to dream, change behaviour and push themselves towards achieving seemingly impossible feats.

Over the past 12 years at Waterborn, the greatest coaching success stories belong to the personalities who seek change, desire change and achieve change. New successful habits are contemplated and become the norm... higher levels of performance are matched by constantly setting tougher challenges at each new level of success.

For coaches and swimmers, ‘HARD WORK MEANS GOOD TIMES”….. test yourself, otherwise you’ll never know the score!!

Regards
Peter

A Write-up on The Maccabiah Games

The Maccabiah Games are quadrennial Jewish Olympics, held in Israel the year following the Olympic Games. Every four years, the best Jewish athletes from throughout the world compete in Open, Masters, Juniors, and Disabled competitions.

The Maccabiah is staged under the auspices of the Maccabi World Union (MWU), a worldwide youth and sports organization devoted to furthering Jewish identity and traditions through cultural, social, and educational activities. The MWU is headquartered in Israel. The concept of the Maccabiah Games was the brainchild of 15-year old Russian-born Yosef Yekutieli. The Eretz Yisroel teenager so energized by news of the 1912 Olympic Games that he conceived the fanciful notion of a worldwide Olympics for Jewish athletes in Palestine. With little encouragement, and not a small amount of ridicule, Yekutieli spent the next ten years developing details of his unique idea.

In 1928, Yekutieli presented his far-fetched proposal to the Jewish National Fund, with the notion that the Maccabiah Games be organized to commemorate the 1800th anniversary of the Bar Kochba Rebellion (Jewish revolt against the Romans). Coincidentally, the Maccabi organization was, at the same time, formulating ideas to provide a means of participation by athletes living in the British Mandate of Palestine in important international sporting events; one that would also act as a form of international recognition of Palestine as the Jewish National Home.

Yekutieli’s Maccabiada. as the Games were originally called, was the right idea at the right time. With the hechture of the Eretz Israel Soccer Association, other Holy Land sports groups fell in line to give the proposed Games their blessings. But approval of the ruling British Palestine High Commissioner was the final hurdle to realization.

In the Fall of 1931, Great Britain appointed Sir Arthur “Andy” Wauchope High Commissioner of Palestine. Contrary to previous High Commissioners, Sir Arthur admired the achievements of Zionist Palestine, including the burgeoning Jewish sports movement. The new High Commissioner gladly extended his patronage to the Maccabiada, on condition that it host Arab and official British Mandate athletes, as well as Jewish sportsmen. The Maccabiada was scheduled for March 1932.

With approval came the next conundrum: reaching the world Jewish community with news of this unique sports extravaganza. So, in a world absent television, the internet, significant radio, and common language print media, two delegations of Jewish motor-bikers set off from Tel Aviv on an epic promotional tour to the Jewish communities of Europe, where most Jews lived.

The first troupe of promoters hit the road in 1930, biking from Tel Aviv to Antwerp (Belgium). The second set of riders left Tel Aviv a year later for London. Yekutieli, himself, rode with one of the delegations. On the second tour, May 10 to July 16 1931, the intrepid Maccabiah bikers covered 5,825 miles (9,375 kilometers). From Tel Aviv, they traveled across the Sinai desert through Cairo and Alexandria (Egypt); hopped a ship to Salonika (Greece); then on to Gorna, Sofia, (Bulgaria); Belgrade, Novy, Sad (Serbia), Osijek and Zagreb (Croatia)*; through Vienna and Linz (Austria) to Nuremburg and Frankfurt (Germany); through Metz to Paris (France); and by ferry to Brighton and the English cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds; to Glasgow (Scotland); and then home via Beirut (Lebanon). Wherever they went, they announced the “Jewish Olympics”, the Maccabiah, taking place the following spring in Eretz Israel (the land of Israel). (*Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia merged as Yugoslavia in 1929.)

The original Maccabiah was held March 28 to April 6, 1932. Its overwhelming success guaranteed its permanent future. Originally conceived as a quadrennial event, Maccabiah II was moved up a year to 1935 because of the rising tide of Nazism in Europe. The rumblings of World War II forced postponement of the third Maccabiah. e delay was 15 years. The Games were reborn in 1950 in the new State of Israel, and Maccabiah #4 was held in 1953. Thereafter, the Maccabiah established its current quadrennial formula, held the year following the Summer Olympic Games.

The Games today are organized by an International Maccabiah Committee and are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and World Federation of Sports. The Maccabiah Games, ranking among the five largest sports gatherings in the world (in number of participants), are considered Regional Games by the International Olympic Committee.

For each participant, the Maccabiah Games are “two weeks to experience and a lifetime to remember.” For many, the Maccabiah is the athlete’s most significant connection to the State of Israel and for some, Judaism itself. For the young Open athlete, generally 16 to 23 years old and immersed in the machinations of high-level competition, connection with Jewish contemporaries from the far reaches of the world, in the land of Jewish roots, inspires an awakening of heritage.

While all Maccabiah matches, games, and races are keenly competitive, some events measure up to world-class competition. Numerous Olympic and national champions have sought Maccabiah gold, silver, and bronze medals. Among the Olympic gold medalists, world champions, and world record holders who have competed in the Maccabiah Games are Mark Spitz and Marilyn Ramenofsky (swimming); Debbie Lipman (diving); Mitch Gaylord, Abie Grossfeld, and Agnes Keleti (gymnastics); Larry Brown, Ernie Grunfeld, Danny Schayes, (coaches) Nat Holman and Dolph Schayes (basketball); Carina Benninga (field hockey); Lillian Copeland, Gerald Ashworth, and Gary Gubner (track and field); Angela Buxton, Julie Heldman, Allen Fox, and Dick Savitt (tennis); Angelica Rosenau (table tennis); Isaac Berger and Frank Spellman (weightlifting); and Fred Oberlander and Henry Wittenberg (wrestling).

Lifesaving News

Michael and Megan Stephens represented Gauteng at the SA National Lifesaving Stillwater Championships in Durban recently. Michael came second in his age group with two gold medals, one being for the Iron Man event. Megan was Victrix in her age group winning five gold medals and breaking her own SA record for the 200m Obstacle. She was also selected for the Protea Lifesaving squad which will be participating in a Commonwealth Lifesaving competition in Canada in June. Dad, Howard, was also part of the competition as he officiated for the fifth successive year.

AGM Award Winners

Congratulations to the following swimmers:

Most Improved Girls

• U/08 – NICOLE ROBERTSON
• U/10 – CLAIRE BERZEN
• U/12 – SHANNON DAVIES
• U/14 – CIARA QUINN

Most Improved Boys

• U/08 – MIKAIL HASSIM
• U/10 – KYLE VAN NIEKERK
• U/12 – LIAM DISS
• U/14 – MG VISSER

Most Improved

• Breast – Junior FRANCOIS BOSHOFF AWARD – EMMA BEAVON
• Breast – Senior CLAIRE LANE TROPHY – NICOLE HARRIS
• Back - Junior – BRENT SZURDOKI
• Back – Senior KELLY CAITLIN–BROWN TROPHY – DONALD ROBERTSON
• Fly – Junior – ELKE VAN DER WALT
• Fly – Senior BASSON TROPHY – JAMES VERHAGEN
• Free – Junior DOMINIK MEICHTRY – DAYEN WILSON
• Free – Senior SCHWENDENWEIN TROPHY – KYLE BAXTER
• IM –Junior JON JON BROWN TROPHY – TACEY KENNEDY
• IM Senior EVERITT FAMILY TROPHY – DYLAN BOSCH

Spirit/Soul of the Squad Award

• Randburg – SAMANTHA YOUNG
• Linden – KIRSTY MCLAUGHLAN
• Brightwater – JAMES BEZUIDENHOUT

Best Waterborn Performers: 2008/2009 season – National Level 1, 2, 3, Senior B & A Nationals

• National Level 1 – CAITIN JACINTO
• National Level 2 – ADRIAAN VENTER
• National Level 3 – MATTHYS GOOSEN
• Senior B Nationals – ASHLEIGH BROWN
• Senior A Nationals – RICKY ELLIS

Highest Points Trophies Issued (Trophies issued to swimmers who train at Waterborn)

• 1ST THE WILLIAMS TROPHY – NEIL WATSON
• 2ND THE ELLIS TROPHY – RICKY ELLIS
• 3RD THE LITTLE HIGHEST POINT AWARD – CHRIS LANGLEY

Special Coaching Awards

• Best Relay Swim JEAN BASSON TROPHY – CHRIS BRILL
• Top Trainer TARYN MACKENZIE
• Leadership Award SPONSORED BY THE VAN DER WALT FAMILY – FRANCOIS BOSHOFF
• Esprit De Corps BEAUMONT/BUCKLEY TROPHY – ASHLEIGH BROWN
• Best Swim of Season PETER WILLIMAS TROPHY – KYLE DUCKITT

CGA Records

To show what an exceptional year it has been for our swimmers below if a list of all the CGA LC Age group and Open records that have been broken in the 2008/2009 season.

Long Course

• 100 Free – 13 years Tamlin Crafford
• 100 Breast – 15 years Taryn MacKenzie
• 200 Breast – 15 years Taryn MacKenzie
• 200 Free – 18 years Meghan Stephens
• 50 Fly – 11 years Mathys Goosen
• 50 Fly – 12 years Mathys Goosen
• 100 Fly – 12 years Mathys Goosen
• 100 Fly – 15 years Dylan Bosch
• 50 Free – 17 years Kyle Baxter
• 100 Breast – 18 years Kyle Duckitt
• 200 Breast – 18 years Kyle Duckitt
• 200 Breast – Open Kyle Duckitt
• 200 Free – Open Jean Basson
• 400 Free – Open Jean Basson
• 50 Back – Open Ricky Ellis
• 200 Back – Open Ricky Ellis

Short Course

• 50 Free – 13 years Tamlin Crafford
• 50 Back – 13 years Tamlin Crafford
• 50 Breast – 13 years Tamlin Crafford
• 100 Fly – Open Neil Watson

Congratulations!

• Congratulations to Robyn Sher, Zack Fineberg and Cassie Shear who have been chosen for the Maccabi Games in Isreal from the 12th – 23rd July 2009.
• Well done to Ricky Ellis who was selected as the boys Team Captain for CGA at SA Senior Nationals.
• Barjo Van Niekerk our Waterborn Linden Coach, has been selected by SASCOC to represent Lifesaving South Africa in the 2009 World Games.
• Meghan Stephens has been selected for the Protea Lifesaving squad which will be participating in the Commonwealth Lifesaving competition in Canada in June.

25th Universiade – Belgrade 2009

Congratulations to Ricky Ellis and Elzanne Werth who have been selected to represent the SA team,
Danilo Deletic to represent the Serbian team and Sasha Schwendenwein to represent the Austrian team
in the World University Games in Belgrade from the 20th June – 12th July 2009.

Birthdays – May

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in May:

3 May – Taryn MacKenzie, Charne Spies, Kyle Kennaugh
4 May – Faith Honey
6 May – Tim Mather
8 May – Elke Van der Walt
11 May – Darren Britz
13 May – Richard Hetem, Michael Stephens, Chloe Healey
16 May – Chloe Burns, Adriaan Venter
18 May – Mathys Goosen, Ryno Slabber
19 May – Cameron Bosch, Zandri Du Toit
20 May – Ettienne Bothman, Jessica Bothma
22 May – Colin Bull, Dean Kennedy, Gareth Meijsen
23 May – Ciara Quinn
27 May – Elzanne Werth

Coaches' Corner

Competition brings the best out in all of us...

Is this really true?

Is it as simple as entering the competitive arena physically prepared for outperformance and waiting for the result to happen???

My experience of the past 35 years’ commitment to competitive sport contradicts this simple expectation.

The interplay of waiting for an event to begin, and the weight of expectation in anticipation of a desired result is a mindplay that only very few competitors master. Learning how to control anxiety levels is key towards maintaining a balance between stimulating the creative process of visualization, and over-stimulation which may result in mental fatigue, which in turn may cause tiredness and ultimately, loss of confidence.

In coaching terminology, the 4 – 6 weeks build-up to a competition is referred to as the “taper” period. Simply stated, the taper is a process of designing the training program, and gearing it towards peak performance at a scheduled event. However, as a coach of the past 12 years and as a competitive swimmer for 20 years before becoming a full time coach, I believe that “taper” is an often misused and little understood term.

Individual coaches may have unique skills or expert knowledge and become “taper masters”. Past experience as a high-performance swimmer or previous success at tapering swimmers is invaluable. All swimmers should feel stronger, lighter and faster and become excitable at the heightened sense of feel for the water in what is referred to as the pre-competition “super-compensation” period. But this is not easily achieved.

A well-executed taper is a complex process of reading each swimmer’s reaction to the stress of competition, encouraging focus, and generally teaching swimmers how to control their day-to-day environment in order to promote a positive state of mind. Intimate knowledge of each swimmer’s competitive psyche becomes as important as training and developing the athlete’s physical conditioning.

As with most initiatives to achieve exceptional results, those coaches and swimmers who manage to simplify the most innate, complex human processes into objective, clear-minded goals, inevitably become the super-high-achievers... and repeatedly perform at the highest possible level. Whilst the coach is instrumental in the design and support process, it is up to each individual to learn successful techniques and control negative and/or positive environmental influences.

From the above explanation it now becomes obvious that the taper is not a passive process of coaching the swimmer to produce a result, but rather an active process between coach and athlete to engineer the best possible performance in an interactive, complex and stressful environment.

Being able to predict successfully with pinpoint accuracy the likely result for an athlete is one of the uniquely satisfying aspects of coaching. Obviously this ability rests on whether the athlete is entirely committed to the training program and submits fully to the rigorous physical and psychological demands of elite level competition.

Regards

Peter

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dominik Meichtry, Gregory Widmer and Jean Basson who have qualified to swim at the FINA World Championships in Rome this year on the 17th July – 2nd August 2009.

News from our Swimmers based Overseas

Sasha Schwendenwein swam at the Conference USA. Sasha won all 3 of her individual events (200 yds Freestyle in 1.14.43, 200 yds Butterfly in 1.56.48 and 500 yds Freestyle in 4,42,58) all in PB’s. Sasha was also selected as swimmer of the meeting.

Herewith snips from the Conference USA website:

HOUSTON, Texas – The 2008 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championship on the campus of the University of Houston.
Houston’s Sasha Schwendenwein continued to rewrite the UH record books in the 200-yard butterfly final when she touched the wall first in 1:56.48 for a new meet, pool and school record. The time was also a personal best for the senior and an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time. Schwendenwein had broken the
event’s old record in Saturday’s prelims, only to swim more than two seconds faster in the final.

In addition to the team awards, individual awards were also handed out that were voted upon by the league’s head coaches. Houston swept the four women's awards. Schwendenwein was crowned Women's Swimmer of the Meet.”

Jean Basson swam at the NCAA Champs and won the 500 Freestyle title and broke the Arizona School record.

Herewith snips from the website:
COLLEGE STATION, Texas
Jean Basson captivated the crowd at the Student Rec Center Natatorium with his performance in the 500 freestyle during night one of the men’s NCAA championships. The Johannesburg, South Africa native shattered Chad Carvin’s school record time of 4:11.59 set in 1995 with his 4:08.92 in route to his first ever NCAA individual title.

Over the course of the race, Basson used a steady pace to be amongst the early leaders. At the half-way point, the Olympian kicked it up a gear and held the lead until the finish. The first-place finish awarded Arizona 20 points. Basson’s time also makes him the third fastest individual ever in the 500 free.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following swimmers who were selected to represent Gauteng in the NTS Long Distance Interprovincial:
Ashleigh Brown, Tamlin Crafford, Cassandra Gibson, Amy Lombard, Taryn MacKenzie, Meghan Stephens, Dylan Bosch, Chris Brill, Kyle Duckitt, Ricky Ellis, Chris Langley, MG Visser, Neil Watson

Well done to the following swimmers who were selected to represent Gauteng in the Primary and High Schools Interprovincial:
Emma Beavon, Andrew & Ashleigh Brown, Hylton Collinson, Tamlin Crafford, Shannon Davies, Lauren
Den Besten, Cassandra Gibson, Mathys Goosen, Nicole Harris, Olivia Mac Donnell, Justine Macfarlane, Kirsty McLauchlan, Danica McWilliam, Judge Morris, Dylan Nielson, Dylan Newton, Cassie Shear, Reece Turner, Kyle Van Niekerk, Carmen Weyers

Samantha Young took part in the Lake Heritage 1.2km Open Water swim and finished 6th overall out of 227 finishers and 3rd in her category (girls under 13 and women over 31). Her time was 18:55. Samantha Young also took part in the Midmar Mile and finished with a time of 26:16, an improvement of 5 minutes from last year’s time. She finished 39th overall out of 1702 finishers, and 13th overall in her age category.

Congratulations and good luck to the following swimmers who qualified and will be swimming at :

SAB Nationals Championships in Pretoria on the 3rd – 5th April:
Ashleigh Brown, Neil Cloete, Chris Hearl, Travis Holden, Danica McWilliam, Brady Rothschild, Robyn Sher, Craig Muller, Matthys Goosen

SA National Championships in Durban on the 14th – 19th April
Tamlin Crafford, Cassandra Gibson, Nicole Harris, Amy Lombard, Taryn MacKenzie, Meghan Stephens, Elzanne Werth, Jean Basson, Kyle Baxter, Dylan Bosch, Chris Brill, Danilo Deletic, Kyle Duckitt, Ricky Ellis, Chris Langley, Gregory Stojakovic, Neil Watson, Byran Difford

Birthdays – March & April

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their
birthdays in March and April:

3 March – Heinrich Venter
4 March – Lauren Den Besten, Deona Damon
6 March – Keagan Boshoff, Georgina Bull
7 March – Ivana Francescutti, Chad Mc Lauchlan
8 March – Zack Fineberg, Sebastian Kanwischer
12 March – Stacey Kennedy, Olivia Mac Donnell, Heinrich Schoeman, Kyle Van Niekerk
13 March – Stephanie de la Rey
17 March – Ruvashan Moodliar
18 March – MG Visser
21 March – Laura Berzen
23 March – Warren Strydom
27 March – Simranjit Kaur
30 March – Chaz Henderson
31 March – Sasha Schwendenwein
5 April – Frances Van der Walt, Nicolas Venter
7 April – Amy Kassner
10 April – Matt Rosenthal
14 April – Laura How-Kow
15 April – Claire Berzen
17 April – Kate Beavon, Hannon Davies
18 April – Wian Van Wyk
25 April – Mila Van Huyssteen
28 April – Daniel Mills
30 April – Lauren Van Den Heever

Junior Elite Training Camp ‘08 – By Grant MacFarlane

Waterborn Swimming Club has been found guilty of successfully holding a truly outstanding Summer Swimming Camp.
“Can you believe the nerve of these guys?” This comment, uttered by an unbelieving committee member of a rival swimming club, was overheard by a bystander after an SSA-appointed Arbitrator announced his findings of the charges brought before him by Blah Blah Blah Swimming Club. The
announcement was made before a packed, stunned and more than just a little amazed hoard of swimming enthusiasts. After the announcement, Director of Coaching at Waterborn, Peter Williams, was asked for his opinion on the recent chain of events. “I’m not even a little surprised by the charges! We, that is Francois and I, were never in doubt that our way of coaching would draw such attention and that we would be able to hold such a successful camp. Francois and Barjo, the two Waterborn coaches in attendance at the aforementioned Camp, looked suitably well impressed with both themselves and the findings. When asked for comment, they replied together, almost as if they had been practicing “Just wait until next year. Again!”
In a document addressed to SSA, Blah Blah Blah Swimming Club accused Waterborn of the following:
• Holding a nine day Junior Summer Swimming Camp at the Dolphin Coast Swimming Academy on the Campus of Crawford College on the KZN North Coast,
• Teaching young swimmers the lessons of hard training with a view to gala preparation and racing,
• Introducing young athletes to life skills and concepts such as goal setting,
• Developing the principals of teamwork and leadership in a structured and controlled environment,
• Encouraging the consumption of three nutritious, wellbalanced and wholesome meals a day, and finally and possibly the most outrageous,
• Having fun while doing all of the above!
The Waterborn leadership welcomed such an open approach, declaring from the outset “We are confident of a guilty finding. Setbacks and distractions such as these are perfect examples of working to overcome hurdles placed before us, just as concentrating on your own race and not becoming distracted is necessary to race well”.
The Security Officer on duty on day one swore under oath that an individual signed in as Kirsty van Heerden and declared that the reason for her visit was to meet with the Waterborn athletes in two groups in order to deal with aspects such as the mental pressures of preparing for galas and racing, the theme of the camp.
And so the evidence was brought before the Arbitrator.
The training in the pool was relentless. All aspects of training and racing were address ed. Some athletes needed more work in certain areas than others. Technique, speed, stamina, starts, turns, breathing and kicking, lots of kicking, was covered and drilled by the coaches. Over and over again! But at all times, the athletes knew to listen and pay attention, or else! Or else what you may ask? Take a run around the pool and think about what you’ve just not done. Again!
There were no places to hide here – if you weren’t in the squad that was training in the pool, you were either stretching in preparation for swimming training, running, involved in team building exercises and games, or participating in dry-land training. Oh yes, an undercover double agent investigator reported
seeing both squads relaxing on a nearby beach one afternoon. With bodies like these awesome swimmers, the envious gazes of the locals were almost embarrassing (for them that is). The second giveaway was the beach soccer challenges our Boys in Blue couldn’t but accept. Six of Waterborn’s finest played three matches against the locals, drawing two and winning one. Having fun whilst on a
serious training camp.
And at 16h00 on every alternate day, it was time to stand up and show what they were made of. Yes, it was gala time. Race your heart out for your team, even though it may have felt as though your lungs weren’t playing along. And yes, a two and a half hour training session had just been completed, just in case the obvious question “Have you tapered and shaved for this race?” was about to be asked in some quarter. After three days of gala trials, five equally talented teams had been selected (this time, less rigorous selection criteria were used – speed) for the final showdown at high noon on Sunday 21st. Actually, as it turned out, it was closer to 15h00 before the gala started; Francois couldn’t resist the urge to first squeeze in a quick training session after lunch, cunningly disguised as a warm-up!
Besides the obvious, meal times were also used to encourage new friendships and strengthen existing ones. With five athletes having made the trip from Zambia, there was much to talk about. A cunning measure was developed by the Director of Health and Nutrition to measure the quality and palatability of the food.
Evenings were for physical relaxation, although at times certain individuals found it necessary to take the competitive nature of their very being to the edge and beyond. A team building game modified and developed by the Minister of Sport and Recreation after the well known 30 Seconds game proved to be hugely popular. Even though the dangers of over exuberance were often and regularly repeated by the Minister, these warnings went unheard, resulting in collapsed tables and some rather outlandish and often obscure verbal outbursts. On alternative evenings, movies with motivational messages were screened in the School’s Staff Room.
It is not known whether or not any forms of the hugely popular indoor game of Couch Rugby was played – details will no doubt be revealed after an internal review by a committee still to be appointed by the Club Management.
The never-to-be-caught-short-when-it-comes-to -the-use-of-technology Coach Francois fitted the Minister of Sport and Recreation with a Garmin Tracking and Heart Rate Monitor to ensure the required effort and distance was being enforced. The downloaded results can be viewed on the newly established website
www.u-sucker.com.
After the final gala on Sunday evening 21st, those young athletes found guilty of meeting the strict requirements of the Camp were sentenced in front of visiting parents and siblings.
The guilty culprits were enthusiastically named and asked to present themselves for sentencing.
• The camp’s Village Idiot – Marcus Kollnig, for being stupid enough to accept a dare to wear girl’s
underwear
• Camp Spade Worker – Sarah-Jane Walker, for going through more boyfriends in a week than Francois did ice-cold Savanahs (S-J as she is affectionately known, also celebrated her 13th birthday)
• Camp Personality – Tim Schurz, a visiting Zambian athlete, for being just the bestest athlete on the camp
• Camp Sucker – Tamlin Crafford, for being stupid and brave enough to accept a dare to suck ……..(name withheld)……big toe
• Camp Little One’s – Francis van der Walt, Laura Anne Berzen and Courtney Macfarlane, for being the
tiniest three on camp
• Camp Sun tanners – Cameron Macintosh, also an athlete visiting from Zambia, for changing to the darkest shade of brown , and Kirsty McLauchlan for staying the widest shade of white (in spite of a brief period of bright red)
• Camp Good Attituders – the full Zambian contingent comprising Natasha Rush, Charis Huddle, Ralph Goveia, Cameron Macintosh and Tim Schurz, for showing outstanding positive attitude and for setting a good example at all times. They were awarded the highest possible award ever presented at a Waterborn function; new-age Waterborn T-shirts
• Camp Junior Boy Trainer – Richard Hetem
• Camp Junior Trainer – Lauren den Besten
• Camp Senior Boy Trainer – Tyrone Pugh
• Camp Senior Girl Trainer – Tamlin Crafford
• Camp Absolute Animal Trainer – MG Visser, for being the overall hardest, most focused and determined trainer on camp.
The final nails in the coffin were the following remarks made by impartial witnesses.
• “You guys must have the best coaches in the country” – Mrs ….. , a mother watching Francois and Barjo taking the senior squad through their paces, whilst her child was being coached by a local Balito swimming coach
• “The Waterborn coaches are doing something our coach seems unable to do. In the final of an event at a gala, our swimmers are unable to improve on their qualifying heat times, yet the Waterborn swimmers are able to go even faster, again and again” – Mrs …. , a holidaying mother of a local Gauteng swimmer
• “This camp seems so relaxed. There is no tension and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves” – the Camp Facilitator, Dolphin Coast Academy
With comments like these, together with the overwhelming evidence, the Arbitrator had no choice but to deliver a guilty verdict on all the charges brought before him.
When a vicious rumour started circulating through the crowd that such a camp would be held again, Peter, Francois and Barjo were heard to exclaim in unison under
their breath “Yes, AGAIN”

Elite Training Camp ‘08 – By Amy Lombard

Training Camp is the stuff of legends. We start talking about training camp months before it happens, what happened on the previous ones (mostly exaggerated to scare the younger swimmers who haven’t been there before), how hard the sets were (running to bathroom to throw up and still swimming best times afterwards), our pillows vibrating before 6 in the morning to the sound of Peter’s music, those legendary pool games and the house we all live in together for ten days where everything is wild, no two curtains match and there are empty frames on the walls.
The ‘08 training camp was, of course, no exception. We came back with lots to talk about…
Besides those hours and hours spent in the pool, most of the Elite Squad went on a sea swim. They were lead by an ironman, on a 6 kilometer swim in the Hobie Beach Bay. The cold water was too much for Danilo, who freezes when the water in the Virgin Active pool is below 27 degrees, and after getting his breath back, he got off too a very late start swimming in the deep, blue sea, all alone, trying
to catch up to the others. He ended up swimming way further than he had too, getting lost, and then coming in early. There was a lot of protest to this swim, “we know that the chances of a shark attack are one in a million, but Peter, I could be that one!”. Fortunately, no one got eaten by a shark, however, it turns out that their fears weren’t unfounded. The day after the sea swim, Peter bought the newspaper, Die Burger and the headline was “GREAT WHITE SPOTTED IN HOBIE BAY” – the exact same place where they had been swimming.
Death by shark might just have been more humane than Peter’s training sets. After doing the 400, 300, 200, 100, 100, 200, 300, 400 set a few times we were all wishing we could do the sea swim again. We must have done thousands and thousands of crunches, sit -ups, fold – ups and all other types of Ab – torture Peter and Njabulo could think of. And when Pete says “recovery set” you know you are going to suffer.
Not that swimming training was the only thing we did on the camp. Some of the squad (no names mentioned) might just have spent more time in the casino than in the water. Cassie read the girls a bedtime story most nights. We have some pro–tanners in our squad. Kyle bought factor 2 “sunscreen” and Laura just went without. Both of them were looking slightly coloured by the end of camp;
however Taryn’s sunburn status was just “lobster”. Ricky, Chris Langley and Kyle Baxter all jumped the pier at Hobie Beach, much to the disgust of the lifeguards, and Peter took small groups of swimmers to tea.
One person who we wouldn’t have survived without on the camp was Peter’s mom, Mrs Williams. Besides working magic in the kitchen, she also kept us toeing the line with comments like “some idiot child left an empty ice cream carton in the freezer”. The only thing there were ever any fights about was her cooking, and who got to eat more of it. When she made flap jacks for breakfast everyone waited at the table right until the last minute hoping she would make more.
Peter was really fond of “short” walks this camp. A “quick little walk” along the boardwalk killed our
legs for the next morning’s kick set. The one afternoon we went on the 12 kilometer beach hike.
Chris Brill’s dad, Greg, (armed with his GPS) offered to make sure we stayed on the right track.
The hike was so long we went from dying of heat, thirst and getting seriously sunburned at midday to
freezing, still walking along the beach in the evening. We walked on shells, sand (which is pretty hard when you have been doing it for a few kilometers), through jungles of vegetation, over rocks, passing skeletons of long dead sea turtles along the way. Greg and Craig went without shoes so they had feet like bushmen by the end of it. A group (lead by Richard :-P) got lost, and were kicked off a farmer’s private property. Each corner represented a new hope, that Sardinia Bay would be just around that corner, and as soon as we got around that corner we just saw another stretch of beautiful beach (we stopped noticing the stunning views after the first half hour) that was not Sardinia Bay.
The girls had quite a hike from their room to the main house each day, and we only survived all the bugs and spiders (and who knows what else) who wanted to inhabit our room with us because Laura, Cassie and Taryn scared them off with their screaming.
Everywhere Peter went he was followed by his herd of dogs, Diggit, Ava, Pepe and Vasco. The Drumming Course we did was extremely fun and we definitely found out who has rhythm. We also tie – dyed T – shirts and our resident artist Megs had her work cut out for her the whole camp painting designs on them. The girls did their traditional group shave, and since there is no TV, pool was
our only form of entertainment. There was always a pool game going on, and I think Njabulo played twice as much as anyone else.
Even though the camp was lots of fun, one sad part was that Richard trained with us for the for the last time.
This camp has always surprised me. How is it possible that after nine days of the hardest training we do all year, we still manage to do best times on the last day of camp, when we should all be dead and just wanting to go home? Although, after doing one minute flat for three days straight for sprint sets of hundred fly, Neil did, miraculously, manage to do a 55.0 on the last night. There is something about the atmosphere of this camp that allows us to do this. It brings the squad closer together, and creates great friendships. The thing is, we all work together, towards the same goal and this pushes us to do our best.
One thing I know is that we couldn’t have done it with out Peter. He somehow manages to get us to give our best. We all got to know Peter better this camp, Pete the person, not Pete the man who makes us train at five in the morning, in the freezing cold, pushing us so hard that we can’t walk up the stairs at school.
I said the Training camp is the stuff of legends and this camp certainly was!!

An honour – Yes! Made to feel special – Yes! An incredible experience – most definitely!

We were thrilled to have been chosen to represent Team South Africa in the Zone V1 All African Youth Championships held in Potchefstroom in December 2008. We had all been working for this honour for ages – it finally arrived in the All African Youth Champs.
We were all disappointed that we were not going to represent Waterborn at CGA Champs as the two events clashed so we did have a few mixed feelings. We knew what to expect at CGA Champs – Zone V1 was unknown territory for the three of us. We did manage to get back and partake in the last day of CGA Champs and proudly represent the blue and white .
All in all Zone V1 All Africa Youth Champs was a pretty remarkable experience!
The welcome took place at The Birchwood Hotel where we all received the most incredible Team South Africa kit – we were absolutely spoilt. A welcome function was held where we meet the management team and other Team South Africa athletes. Several sporting disciplines took part over a two week period. We travelled in a Zone V1 Team South Africa quantum – pretty mind-blowing that we had a police escort where ever we went. Accommodation was at The Potchefstroom university in their dorms. Full accreditation was required wherever we went. Each country was allocated their own area of residence.
It was stinking hot for the full week (+- 36ºC) and not much shade was provided at the pool. The various countries’ flags stood tall at the one end of the pool & the green and gold team tracksuits all stood proudly on the deck – we then realised that this was special – something none of us had ever experienced before.
The pool – what can we say – it was 50m but not the norm to us – not heated and with the very old pebble starting blocks – they weren’t even placed at an angle to try and get some momentum at the start, no ETD system and a gun to start. Most of all no coaches with us to guide and advise us – now that’s something we’re not used to! Peter and Francois have prepared us for many years – we have raced many times and discussed race strategies many times - we decided we could cope with this & the unusual conditions! We took up the challenge to represent Waterborn and Team South Africa as best we could – and we did!
Very unexpected was the fact that we had the same medical team that looked after the official Beijing Olympic team – they were on call 24.7 – what a great bunch of people – naturally we took full advantage of the masseuse!
The event itself bowled us over – cameras, interviews, stunning medals, being marched on to the podium by the national guards, the national anthem being played for us as winners and the flag raising ceremony whilst we stood proud and firm - PHEW – We don’t have to tell you how emotional the mums got! Honestly – I don’t think any of us quite realised how the green and gold would stir up our emotions either – it certainly did!
Even though we were spoilt like crazy, treated like kings & achieved well it was the people we met that made it the most rewarding. Meeting people from all over Africa is a pretty amazing experience. It makes you realise that we should always be grateful for what we’ve got in life!
To Peter and Francois – thanks for helping us reach this! It was truly incredible week with very special
memories!

Coaches' Corner

WHY DECEMBER TRAINING CAMPS?
This bus ain’t stopping for nobody… don’t you hate that feeling? The rest of the world has to follow when ever a world record sets a new standard. Difficult, you bet but what is the implication on our Waterborn lives? Waterborn athletes pride themselves on a solid, well-trained
base.
Part of this base was recently captured during the December training camps held in Port Elizabeth and Durban respectively. Although the age range was significant the goal for the training camps were the same. Peak performance is achieved when a progressive training stress is applied through a well planned training program. Training camps use this principle to step up base training as well as anaerobic conditioning.
Basically what that means is you are training more than you would have at home. Why can this not be achieved at home, simple. The athletes get taken out of their comfort zone, away from mommy and daddy who pampers them. The end result is a realization in the athlete that he or she is able to complete the work load. Multiply this with a fun, caring, well fed, teambuilding atmosphere and you
come out with metamorphosised athletes that had the time of their lives while getting fit, not to mention the fact that the kids were out of the parents way for 10 days!
The planning and work that goes on behind the scenes is enormous. Peter and I would like to thank the planning committee. They have done a superb job whilst taking time off work to unselfishly help with activities on the camp ranging from teambuilding, dryland training, cooking, massaging, looking after
scrapes and burns and even helping with those quite moments when little Johnny misses mommy.
To the people behind the scene, Julie, Thys, Mac, Gabby and Ron, Mrs Williams and Mark Williams, what you have brought to the camp has made Waterborn the right place to be, THANK YOU!!!
On a lighter note, I would like to invite new Waterborn families to the next training camp. However this takes a bit of family planning. The training camps are normally anytime from the 10 December to the 23 December and the kids can join up with their families after the camps. We have a well planned shuttle service to and from the airport for the kids planning on flying out of Durban. The parents that pick their kids up at the training camp normally join us for the last day’s festivities. This year Ron donated a sheep on the spit, thanks Ron. I’m not exaggerating when I say the kids even ate the bones!
Regards
Francois

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Taryn MacKenzie who won the Junior Girls Victrix Ludorum and Christopher Brill who won the Junior Boys Victor Ludorum at CGA Champs.
Waterborn came second in this gala.
Well done to Richard Hetem who has moved up to Level 2.
Congratulations to Taryn MacKenzie who came 3rd in the women 14 – 30 age group of the USN Lake Heritage ¾ mile dam swim, to Gregory Stojakovic who came 4th in the men 14 – 30 and Brady Rothschild who came 5th. Well done as well to Dale Stojakovic who came second in the women 50 – 60 age group.
We also need to mention that Cassandra Gibson, Lauren Shear and Taryn MacKenzie, pulled a surfboard with a (very good looking) life guard on it, around the whole 600m of the fun race and achieved the “amazing” result of being stone last!

Birthdays

Happy 40th birthday to Francois on the 8th February

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in December, January and February:
4 December – Andrew Brown, Nicola Francescutti, Nicole Robertson
8 December – Robyn Sher, Sarah-Leigh Parkinson
9 December – Anrich Bekker
11 December – James Bezuidenhout, Kyle Duckitt, Daniel Louw, Dayen Wilson
19 December – Sarah-Jane Walker
29 December – Claire Wiggan
30 December – Chad Alfonso, Tasnim Goga
1 January – Kiyasha Padarath
3 January – Aaron Jackson, Juane Fourie
4 January - Marle Van Zyl
5 January – Tamlyn Hetem, Tyla Both
9 January – Kent Williams
10 January – Carmen Weyers
12 January – Nikola Deletic
14 January – MJ Buys
16 January – Niel Cloete, Cassie Shear
18 January – Tamlin Crafford, Richard Hall
23 January – Chris Hearl
26 January – Samantha Kirby-Smith
30 January – Justine Macfarlane
1 February – Samantha Brimacombe
2 February – Christian Kriel, Nicole Keenan
3 February – Devon Limbeeck
7 February – Frederick Van Deventer
10 February – Liesel Horn, Neil Watson
12 February – Leigh Sher, Melica Everitt, Travis Holden, Matthew Wilson
15 February – Quade Fuller
16 February – Ashleigh Edwards, Danica McWilliam
17 February – Andrew Van Huyssteen
19 February – Amy Lombard, Judge Morris
24 February – Craig Muller
26 February – Imre Van Huyssteen
28 February – Reece Turner

Coaches' Corner – November 2008

Be Here Now To Be There Then
When I started full-time coaching I was genuinely surprised by how few athletes are able to quantify their goals. I soon realised it was not the goal itself which is perplexing, but rather when and how to
initiate the goal-orientated process.
Sure…..everyone wants to swim at the Olympics, become a world champion and break a world-record. But these are not goals, simply a wish list.
A wish is an expression of how we would like things to be. Wish for something often enough and it may manifest in a dream. Dream frequently and the sub-conscious might just sneak out and occupy the conscious space in your mind.
However, this is when the “many colours of green” seep into the full colour spectrum of consciousness and threaten to discolour pure rainbow thoughts. The gremlins of self-doubt and fear appear everywhere… ”what if it was only a whim?, do I have the talent? What if I am scoffed at?, these are insurmountable odds, is it worth it?...” And the dream disappears as flippantly as when the wish was first indulged.
Of course it is rational to consider failure. But engage such thoughts repeatedly, then what is the point of dreaming? To dream is to not fear failure. To be successful is to commit subconscious ambitions to a consciously planned outcome. Very few people take ownership of this domain.
However, the inter-play between sub-conscious and conscious, dreams and reality, and the time and space continuum become a lot less intimidating when we develop our faculty to achieve goals. Goals provide feedback as to whether the strategy to achieve an outcome has been well-directed. Accordingly, goals are unlikely to be achieved without the required preparation and rehearsal. This
requires an infinite amount of creative energy and operational input.
Application of such energy is exhausting, time-consuming and can be emotionally draining. Sustaining the drive to achieve is psychologically complex and physiologically challenging. Motivation
requires consistent self-talk and mental imagery. Imagination feeds the process. Whilst hard work is never wasted, it must be applied productively. A high work ethic is easier to maintain in anticipation of attaining an achievable, albeit challenging goal. Positive daily habits should manifest early in the goal-oriented process.
People who achieve goals repeatedly are never surprised by the result. Results help acknowledge commitment to the process, and will subsequently increase motivation to achieve at another level.
Continuous achievement reflects future success; by partnering the experience of success with day-to-day activities, successful habits become normal. Successful people live their goals every day by being fully committed to the present.
Treat yourself to a special gift this Christmas... and live inside THE PRESENT forever……
P.S. I do not read self-help books…….I am just a swimming coach.
Regards
Peter

Birthdays – October & November

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in October and November:
2 October – Chris Langley
5 October – Jean Basson
10 October – Michael Rosmarin
12 October – Tyrone Pugh
13 October – Christopher Brill, Jocelyn Davies, Kelly Van Den Heever
14 October – Hylton Collinson, Ricky Ellis
16 October – Jamie Burns
18 October – Jason Renecke
21 October – Sasha de la Rey
27 October – Dayna Limbeek
30 October – Christian Kanwischer
31 October – Philip Andrew
2 November – Cherie Barnard
6 November – Caitlin Grobler
9 November - Keelan Fuller
10 November – Tayler Morris
24 November – Kirsty McLauchlan
28 November – Alison Basel

Coaches' Corner

CHALLENGING TIMES
It’s on television, in the newspapers and on the radio…….”Another financial shock rocks the world!” The petrol price goes up, inflation rises and the Rand continues its downward slump. These are challenging times not only for South-Africans but the rest of the world as well. Survival of the fittest is natures way of ensuring future generations, competition at the top has become a competition just to make the end of the month.
Waterborn is blessed during these testing times. The strategies that Peter implemented over the years, has ensured that Waterborn not only weathers the storm but also sets a standard for the rest to follow. There are of course numerous other reasons ensuring Waterborn’s general “fitness”. A great swimming culture, unselfish support from swimming parents, focus and determination of
the swimmers themselves all contribute to keeping the Waterborn ship on course.
Maar die “challenging times” is nie net beperk tot die finansieele market. Die onlangse Olimpiese spele het voorwaar n nuwe standard gestel vir enige voorneemende internasionale swemmers. My mond het letterlik oopgehang, soms van verbasing, en soms soos ek na my asem snak terwyl
een Olimpiese en/of wereld rekord gebreek is. Wat my die meeste verbaas het is nie die hoeveelheid rekords nie, maar eerder die nuwe standard van internasionale swem en hoe vinnig dit verbeter het. Dis amper asof internasionale swem ‘n paar trappies mis gespring het om nou ‘n nuwe standaard daar te stel vir die res van die wereld. Die skielike verbetering kan toegeskryf word aan verskye redes van Michael Phelps se invloed tot die impak van nuwe tegnologiese gevorderde kostuums, kan almal geldige redes wees. Ons kan lank hieroor debater maar een ding staan soos
‘n paal bo water. Daar is ‘n nuwe standard in internasionale swem en as enige swemmers drome het om hierdie vlak te kan meeding, moet daar skouer aan die wiel gesit word.
Waterborn swemmers moet hul self die vraag afvra “Wat gaan die internaisonale standard wees as ek, se vir arguments onthalwe, oor 4 of 7 jaar op die vlak wil meeding?” Tweedens “Word daar genoeg gedoen, en doen ek as ‘n swemmer genoeg om eendag op internasionale vlak mee te
ding?”
Waterborn philosophy has always been to set the standard rather than follow it. I am confident in the changes that we have made in the squads and that these changes will accommodate our own standard that we strive to accomplish. I would like to believe that every day Waterborn is one step
closer to competing on that international level.

Groete
Francois

Birthdays

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in September and to Cheryl Hird who celebrated hers on the 21st:
1 September – Jared Preston
2 September – Courtney Macfarlane, Paige Mitri, Cheyenne Smith
3 September – Caitlin Jacinto
5 September – Donald Robertson
6 September – Paige Derbyshire, Nicholas Lawrence
8 September – Cassandra Gibson
12 September – Martin Holenstein
14 September – Michael Mather
15 September – Nicole Harris
16 September – Mila Praschma
18 September – Dylan Newton, Brent Szurdoki
25 September – Liam Everitt

Birthdays – July & August

6 July

• Emma Beavon, Amy Hooper

12 July

• Ashleigh Brown, Megan Ranger, Gregory Stojakovic

14 July

• Stephanie Eades

17 July

• Dylan Bosch

19 July

• Taylor Hickey

20 July

• Armand Kruger

23 July

• Kyle Smit

27 July

• Ashley Holden, Megan Stephens

29 July

• Kyle Baxter

1 August

• Danilo Deletic

7 August

• Tyla Jacobs

13 August

• James Verhagen

18 August

• Diyashan Moodliar

19 August

• Dylan Neilson

23 August

• Samantha Young

28 August

• Liam Diss, Roland Holenstein

Coaches' Corner – June 2008

Over the past two months I have visited the Sandton and Linden Squads on a regular basis. The benefits of such weekly visits have become apparent and I thoroughly enjoy the dynamics of each squad and my role of further developing the quality of coaching and service at Waterborn.

It is an exciting time at Waterborn and the new coaching structure will invigorate coaches, parents and swimmers alike. However, these changes would be impossible without the exceptional support
I receive from Francois and Julie.

My creative energy has been stimulated and I have gained new perspectives on coaching strategy, motivation and relationship building. For example, the division of Randburg Junior Elite and Elite Squads into 3 new squads will foster a more dynamic training environment for swimmers and the respective coaches.

Finally, it is wonderful after 11 years of coaching at Randburg to be forming new relationships within the Waterborn collective. Waterborn has created a coaching model that will be emulated throughout South Africa.

Kind regards

Peter

Birthdays – May & June

Congratulations to the following swimmers who celebrated their birthdays in May and June, not forgetting Peter who celebrated his 40th on the 20th of June:

3 May – Taryn MacKenzie, Paige Kearns-Eastwick, Charne Spies, Kyle Kennaugh
4 May – Faith Honey
6 May – Tim Mather
8 May – Elke van der Walt
11 May – Darren Britz, Jade Snyman
13 May – Richard Hetem, Michael Stephens,
15 May – Sebastian Welke
16 May – Chloe Burns, Adriaan Venter
18 May – Mathys Goosen, Brigid Coulter
19 May – Cameron Bosch, Zandri Du Toit
20 May – Etienne Bothma, Ludolf De Kock, Elzanne Werth, Jessica Bothma
22 May – Colin Bull, Dean Kennedy, Gareth Meijsen
29 May – Nja Ka-Sishaba
5 June – Jeanri Buys, Brittany Coetzer, Markus Kollnig
7 June – Bianca Swart
8 June – Terry Harris
11 June – Nicholas Van Niekerk
14 June – Bianca Koellner, Richard Salhus
19 June – Gideon Oberholzer
20 June – Peter Williams, Emma Davison
23 June – Matthew Neuhoff, Savannah Smith
25 June – Loan Blumenthal
27 June – Brady Rothschild
28 June – Gareth Robinson
30 June – Matthew Barwick, Lauren Webber

Coaches' Corner

Waterborn has truly been outstanding during the 2007/2008 season. Personal achievements should never be taken for granted, but are becoming commonplace, and the team performances are a magnificent collective effort.

The average level of training and competitive expectation within each squad, improves each year and as a result the quality of the training environment becomes more conducive to excellence for the coaches and athletes.

The 2008/2009 season will be a watershed year for Waterborn owing to the structures that have been set in place to ensure continued success.

The Coaching Director’s role is critical, however, the position’s success depends entirely on the continued outperformance of each Squad Coach.

After 3 remarkable years together I am confident that Francois is ready to lead Waterborn Randburg and build on the solid platform of goodwill, motivated swimmers and the established squad system. After nearly one year together Barjo and Njabulo have already formed an interesting coaching partnership which will grow in stature as they learn to understand how to further complement each other. Phillipe is quickly building a solid base of support at Waterborn Sandton and will enter the 2008/2009 season with a sizeable squad. His natural competitiveness as a sportsman will be of great benefit to the swimmers as he encourages them to strive for their best effort.

Good luck Francois, Barjo, Njabulo and Phillipe and thank you for your patience and belief in the Waterborn system.

Finally, I was reminded during the Olympic Trials of how omnipresent Waterborn has become. The spirit of teamwork that has been fostered boosts the morale of the competitors and is noticed by the South African swimming fraternity. Waterborn may not have sponsors of ideal facilities, but it has nurtured relationships effectively between coaches, parents and swimmers.

Well done everyone..... ask not what Waterborn can do for you, ask what you can do for Waterborn. Enjoy the training break.

Peter

Congratulations

Congratulations to Caitlin Jacinto who took part in the SACSSA Gala (South African Christian Schools Sport Association) on the 14th and 15th March.

She won 5 medals – 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze.

Waterborn Swimmers in the Top 20 Positions on the South African Open LC Database

WOMEN

• Amy Lombard (17): 14th – 50 Fly (29.21), 8th – 100 Fly (1:03.87), 15th – 200 IM (2:24.41)
• Taryn MacKenzie (14): 16th – 50 Breast (34.68), 14th – 100 Breast (1:15.05), 15th – 200 Breast (2:43.07)
• Sasha Schwendenwein (21): 10th – 100 Free (58.25), 8th – 200 Free (2:05.14), 13th – 100 Fly (1:05.10)
• Meghan Stephens (17): 17th – 200 Free (2:08.82)
• Elzanne Werth (19): 3rd - 50 Free (26.40), 5th – 100 Free (57.52), 2nd – 50 Fly (27.42), 4th – 100 Fly (1:00.61)

MEN

• Jean Basson (20): 10th – 100 Free (50.69), 1st – 200 Free (1:45.85), 1st – 400 Free (3:49.68)
• Colin Bull (17): 18th – 800 Free (8:50.83)
• Danilo Deletic (19): 20th – 100 Breast (1:06.35), 15th – 200 Breast (2:25.63)
• Kyle Duckitt (17): 17th 100 Breast (1:05.67), 10th 200 Breast (2:21.95)
• Ricky Ellis (20): 8th – 50 Back (27.01), 7th – 100 Back (57.78), 9th – 200 Back (2:08.58)
• Chris Langley (18): 9th – 50 Breast (29.65), 12th – 100 Breast (1:05.36), 12 – 200 Breast (2:23.58)
• Kris Matulovich (17): 12th – 50 Free (23.48), 12th – 100 Free (51.59), 16th – 50 Back (27.94), 5th – 50 Fly (25.15), 10th – 100 Fly (55.58)
• Richard Salhus (19): 19th – 200 Free (1:56.35), 7th – 50 Fly (25.22)
• Gregory Stojakovic (19): 17th – 50 Back (27.98), 15th – 200 Back (2:09.85)
• Neil Watson (19): 2nd – 50 Fly (24.68), 5th – 100 Fly (54.50)
• Gregory Widmer (21): 16th – 100 Free (51.91)