GMA Racing Information

 

GMA Racing

        The Green Mountain Aquatics staff encourages competition with oneself. Improvement by every individual is our goal. The coaching staff does not see the first place person as the only winner. We would rather have a swimmer on the team who behaves like a winner. Every swimmer, no matter where they place, has the opportunity to emulate the characteristics of a winner. Some of these winning characteristics include: concentration, positive attitude, listening skills, great sportsmanship and genuine effort toward one’s goals.

        Swimming is not an end in itself, but a vehicle to use to teach people life skills and how to reach one’s potential. We use swimming as organized play to demonstrate and measure one’s abilities. Seen in that light, winning without learning is not Green Mountain Aquatics’ desired outcome. In competition, the important measure is not who collected the most medals, or even who improved the most seconds. The real critical measure is who learned the most from the competitive experience.

        Swimmers quickly forget about the medals, records, and other benefits. They will, however, remember the development of interpersonal skills, discipline, listening skills, time management, goal setting, enhanced self-image, and friendships. These are the things that make the swimmer a more successful person with a better chance of living to their peak potential and of contributing to the world they live in.

        Green Mountain Aquatics engages in a multi-level competition program with USA Swimming that, like our training program, attempts to provide challenging, yet success-oriented competitive pacing opportunities for swimmers of all ages and abilities. The following policies outline our philosophy:

  • We emphasize competition with oneself. Winning medals, ribbons, or trophies is not our main goal. Even if the   swimmer finishes first, but has not swum up to his or her full potential, he or she is encouraged to do better. The individual’s improvement is our primary objective

  • Sportsmanlike behavior is of equal importance to improved performance. All the coaches teach swimmers how to behave like a champion when the swimmer has both "good" and "bad" swims. Respect for officials, congratulations to other competitors, encouragement to teammates, determined effort, and mature attitudes are examples of sportsmanlike behaviors.

  • A swimmer is praised for improving his or her stroke technique, racing strategy, or overall time. It is the coach’s job to offer feedback of a swimmer’s performance. It is the parent’s job to provide love and encouragement that bolsters the swimmer’s confidence along the way.  Swimmers are taught to set realistic, yet challenging, goals for meets and to relate those goals to practice to direct their training efforts.

        Swimmers are prepared and encouraged to compete in all swimming events, distances, and strokes. This policy promotes versatility and encouraged the swimmer to explore his or her potential in the wide range events offered in competitive swimming. Oftentimes, a swimmer’s "best" stroke changes as he or she matures and his or her body goes through physical changes. Versatility contributes to a swimmer’s life-long love and enjoyment of the sport.

        Each season’s meet schedule is distributed at the outset of the season and is also posted on the team website.

1. The meet schedule has been established with the idea that swimmers can attend any meet that meets their competition goals, their family schedules and the needs of the team.

2.  All meet sign-ups are completed online through the GMA website.  Swimmers may select the events in which they want to enter.  The coaches will make the final decision about all meet entries.  Meet fees will be charged for all non-GMA run meets.  Meet fees are an additional cost and will include a $5.00 surcharge per swimmer per meet to cover coaching expenses. Once a swimmer enters a meet, the meet fees are due to the GMA regardless of meet attendance. No refunds will be granted for meet fees, even in the case of illness or injury, as these funds are not refundable to GMA from the host team.

3. On an average, each team member should compete once every three to four weeks. The meet schedule is established with this philosophy in mind. In some cases, meets for the same training group are scheduled as close as one weekend apart. This happens because of pool availability and the desire of the coaching staff to attend particular meets throughout the season.

4. The coaching staff reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the meets that Green Mountain Aquatics team members may attend and the events in which Green Mountain Aquatics team members will compete.

5. Team effort meets include all of the New England and USA Swimming Championship Meets. Since the coaching staff places the most emphasis on these meets, all Green Mountain Aquatics Swim Team members who are qualified for the meet (either individually or as a regular member of the A Relay team for his or her age group) and who have met the attendance policies for the meet, is required to attend.

 

GMA Racing at Championships

        A large part of our team goal is to qualify as many swimmers as possible for the Championship Meets. The Championship Meets are very special experiences and are extremely important to the athlete’s development. All swimmers who achieve the Championship Qualifying Times in at least one event and show consistency in practice attendance and effort are expected to attend the Championship Meet for which they qualified. In addition, the top 4 relay swimmers from each age group who show consistency in practice attendance and effort are expected to attend the Championship Meet.

        As the season progresses, all of the swimmers get excited and motivated to "go for the cut time". Unfortunately, some of the swimmers have neither the consistent practice habits nor the USA Swimming meet experience to make the cut.

        As age group swimmers, our athletes learn how to swim fast at Championship Meets better than at any other meet during the season. They are prepared for this; they are taught this; they practice this. If a young swimmer goes to championships and is not properly prepared (because of lack of practice or meet experience), the experience can be a negative one and can affect other championships in his or her swimming career.

        We, as coaches, believe that the honor of competing in a Championship Meet is earned through consistent practice habits and competitive experience at USA Swimming swim meets. There’s a big difference between "wanting" to go to the championship meet and "deserving" to be at the championship meet. To ensure that all of our swimmers are properly prepared for their championships:

 

        1. Meet attendance and participation throughout the entire season is important. USA Swimming meets offer the experience necessary for championships.

        2. Practice habits must be within our recommendations for the group with whom the swimmer trains. "Consistency" is the key word.

 

        The New England Age Group Championship is not the ultimate goal. Age Group Championships are a seasonal goal that should lead to the Zones, Speedo Championships, National Championships, and beyond. Making the "cut off time" is simply a requirement to attend the meet. The goal is to be as prepared as possible and perform to the best of one’s ability at the meet.

        Swimmers are special people and deserve to have positive experiences as rewards for their dedication and commitment. Let’s make sure that parents, swimmers, and coaches are laying the foundation for the best possible experience at the Championship Meets.

                          

 

Green Mountain Aquatic is owned and operated by Green Mountain Sports Performance LLC.

©2006 Green Mountain Sports Performance, LLC.