(Posted January 12, 2001)

The Dallas Mustangs had some incredible efforts to finish up another strong year in 2000. December started with the US Open, which was held at Auburn University in Alabama. The Mustangs women’s team finished third in the club team standings, led by Katie McClelland (2nd in both breaststroke events) and Candace Blackman (scoring in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles). Rounding out the women’s team and turning in strong efforts individually and on relays were: Courtney Patterson, Jennifer Blackman, and Codie Hansen.

The COR Classic was the next stop for the Mustang "A" swimmers, which was held at Loos. The Mustangs showed their strength and depth by qualifying numerous swimmers for the evening finals and establishing top sixteen and state record-setting relays. The 10 and under girls showed the talent of our younger Mustangs by picking up National Top Sixteen reportable times in both of their relays (Spin Beck, Kelsey Hendricks, Ashley Rape, and Alexandra Weber). The 13-14 girls were not to be out done as they picked up national top sixteen times of their own in the 400 medley relay and the 800 free relay (Candace Blackman, Jennifer Blackman, Codie Hansen, Caroline Jennings). These girls were also dominant in the 800 free relay, they lapped their closest competitors and ended up with a Texas state record as well. Candace Blackman (200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM) and Codie Hansen (200 free) also picked up national top sixteen times individually. The following Mustangs earned second swims in the evening finals and scored valuable points for the team: Spin Beck, Alexandra Weber, Kelsey Hendricks, Ashley Rape, Meredith Grubb, Alexandra Jennings, Diana Larsen, Meredith Monroe, Megan Daniel, Jennifer Blackman, Codie Hansen, Kate Gunning, Caroline Jennings, Nicole Keller, Candace Blackman, Maggie Marshall, Erica Saito, Beth Geis, Sarah Wells, Laura McGarrah, Megan McNamara, Kenley Woods, Kelly Cobourne, Katie McClelland, Sara Haney, Caleb Veazey, Brooks Haller, Kenneth Wherry, Fabian Toth, Oscar Masters, Dennis Bowsher, Eric Gusa, Andrew Hansen, Armando Cajide, Griffin Marshall, and Jeff Girard.

The next stop for the Mustangs was the Kerr McGee Pro-Am Invitational. This is one of the few meets in the country where swimmers can earn money for doing well; that is if they are finished with or willing to forgo their NCAA eligibility. However, most of the swimmers are still in high school and plan to swim in college, and therefore, pass on the monetary rewards. But it is a great opportunity to compete with teams from all over the country, as well as with those from as far away as Switzerland! Our swimmers were also given the chance to rub elbows with some Olympians - this year’s field included Chad Carvin, BJ Bedford, Josh Davis, Jason Lezac, and Tammy Stone. The 13-14 girls continued their record-breaking ways by picking up two more state records in the 200 medley and 200 free relays AND broke the national record by over a second in the 400 free relay! Those swimmers and their splits were Codie Hansen (52.8), Jennifer Blackman (52.3), Caroline Jennings (55.3), and Candace Blackman (50.6). Candace Blackman also picked up a state record in the 50 free and Katie McClelland won three events, walking away with close to $2,000.

The following Mustangs helped our team to a third place club team finish at the meet: Candace Blackman, Jennifer Blackman, Codie Hansen, Katie McClelland, Sarah Wells, Courtney Patterson, Sara Haney, Caroline Jennings, Megan McNamara, Kenley Woods, Armando Cajide, Andrew Hansen, Kenneth Wherry, Fabian Toth, Dennis Bowsher, Eric Gusa, Jeff Girard, and Griffin Marshall.

The Mustangs were well represented by almost eighty swimmers at this early December meet held at the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD pool. They competed in Division II and fared well. Of all our competitors in the meet, only 6 of them failed to record at least one best time.

Listed below are 30 of our swimmers, who placed at least once in the top 8 in their age group. They automatically qualified for the BB Championships, which were held December 15th-16th at the Lakeside Aquatic Club pool in Flower Mound. The number in parenthesis represents their age; if their name is italicized, it means they placed first in their age group in at least one event. Thanks to all the parents who showed up to volunteer their support!

Elisa Alleman (10), Blake Armstrong (10), John Bannon (11), Bri Barfield (12), Alexandra Barinka (10), Brandon Blakeley (12), Devon Bowsher (12), Michael Carpenter (12), Courtney Cox (11), Hannah Ferrin (9), Emma Gunning (11), Clint Hallum (11), Meredith Higgins (10), Jun Hirota (12), Kent Irvin (10), Brooke Louisell (16, Maggie Marshall (12), Annalisa McCormick (13), Travis McDaniel (12), Katherine Moncrief (10), David Puelz (11), Will Rogers (10), Nicholas Saliba (10), Joe Santaularia (13), Amy Shyr (12), Tom Shyr (11), Alexis Vigier (10), Leah Whaley (10), Jeffrey Wherry (13), Preston Yetts (12).

The following kids also made at least one of the time standards listed below:

"A" Times: John Bannon, Alexandra Barinka, Hannah Ferrin, and Emma Gunning.

"BB" Times: Elisa Alleman, Blake Armstrong, Bri Barfield, Brandon Blakeley, Devon Bowsher, Michael Carpenter, Courtney Cox, Clint Hallum, Meredith Higgins, Jun Hirota, Kent Irvin, Christie Kimm, Brooke Louisell Maggie Marshall, Kristin Masters, Annalisa McCormick, Travis McDaniel, Katherine Moncrief, Andy Pimentel, David Puelz, Nicholas Saliba, Joe Santaularia, Amy Shyr, Alexis Vigier, Maggie Wackel, Leah Whaley, and Preston Yetts.

"B" Times: Adreanna Alleman, Derrick Brown, Emilie Christian, Jordan Knape, Mary Larsen, Lindsay MacIntosh, Alicia Nicoud, Cort Payne, Avery Rape, Will Rogers, McLean Shaw, Cameron Shirazi, Tom Shyr, and Maddie Steiner.

Thirty Mustangs qualified to compete in this first time format for a BB Championship meet. Twenty-six competed and did very well. The meet was held at Lakeside Aquatic Club’s pool in Flower Mound. The meet ran well and we had many big drops and lifetime bests. We finished in sixth place overall, a little more than 50 points out of third. Each swimmer’s best placing is listed below along with the time standard achieved.

Some swimmers even posted a higher time standard (i.e., a "BB" vs. a "B") in other events but those events and results were not listed here since their place was higher in the events listed above.

Good job to all of our Mustangs for a great finish to the year 2000!

Goals are dreams with deadlines. All of our young Mustangs have goals, ranging from making a first "B" time standard to participating in international level competitions. Goals not only drive us forward athletically, but they give us optimism in our day-to-day lives.

There is a sense of pride knowing that a goal was accomplished through hard work and determination. But few worthwhile goals, especially in swimming, can be achieved without some level of consistency. Practices need to be attended consistently. In addition, a consistently high level of effort and focus during those practices is needed.

Many, many swimmers can swim fast when they feel good. It’s the champions that push through those tough times and give their all when they don’t feel good. Consistency sets champions apart and fuels their success.

The championship part of our season is fast approaching. It is now time to pay more attention to detail. One of the most overlooked aspects of many year-round swim-training programs, is the type of fuel (food) that swimmers like to consume. Since it is true that some of our swimmers ingest up to 5,000 calories a day, should we not look carefully at what those 5000 calories are composed of? My guess is that most of our kids overindulge in sweets, cookies, chips, and other attractive carbohydrates. While it may appear that most swimmers are very physically fit, my guess is that many have symptoms of high carbohydrate overindulgence, such as chronic fatigue, moodiness, and poor motor responses.

You wouldn’t put unleaded fuel in a BMW would you? Then it stands to reason that we should not encourage inappropriate "fuel" for our swimmers. What do your kids like to eat and drink at meets - well-balanced snacks, vegetables, and water? Probably not! More than likely your swimmers prefer foods that contain thousands of grams of high glycemic carbohydrates. A high glycemic carbohydrate enters your blood stream quickly and can cause a rapid rise in your blood sugar, ultimately leading to a release of insulin in order to metabolize it. This in turn lowers the blood sugar. This roller-coaster ride does not lend itself well to optimal performance in the pool or in school for that matter.

Some of the more popular foods for athletes are "energy bars" and "energy drinks". Look carefully at the nutrition labels of those products and check out the total number of grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. If it is especially heavy in carbohydrates this may produce a scenario where the swimmer is chemically doomed to crash and burn. What is defined as "especially heavy"? An example would be 40 grams Carbohydrates, 6 grams Protein, and 10 grams Fat. This proportion is way out of balance! Each person’s balance will be somewhat different - I personally try to eat about 25 percent protein, 25 percent fat, and 50 percent carbohydrates.

Learn how to balance your swimmer’s intake of food properly. In general a good rule to follow is to eat frequently (every couple of hours for snacks, no more than 5 hours between meals) and in smaller portions, so that the body’s blood sugar never drops too low. Do not be afraid to feed your swimmer a monounsaturated fat as a snack, such as almonds or cashews. When combined with a carbohydrate, these fats will aid in a slower the rate of absorption into the blood stream, making a rapid release of insulin less likely. String cheese is also a good snack food and is a quick source of protein.

A few good choices for breakfast might include oatmeal and cottage cheese. Many of the typical breakfast foods are loaded with carbohydrates (i.e. orange juice, cereal, bagels, and fruits) and so are not optimal fuels for your swimmer. The body will only use so much carbohydrate for fuel. Any unused carbohydrates will be stored as fat. I am not saying that carbohydrates are bad, only an excessive amount is bad. Do carbohydrates provide energy? Definitely. In fact, you burn glycogen as your primary energy source in aerobic activity. Fat, on the other hand, is the body’s long-term energy supply.

Adequate hydration is also a concern. Your child should drink a full glass of water upon awaking. After hours of sleep you are usually dehydrated and hungry (unless you sleep with an IV imbedded in your arm every night!).

Most of the top coaches, research scientists, and swimmers in the world have long ago figured out the ergogenic benefits of proper nutrition and hydration for athletes. The bottom line is this: Does your child deserve any less?

We had a busy schedule of events during the last quarter and I'd like to thank some folks who helped make this the most active social period in the last two years. First, Don & Sharon Haney and Jim & Susan Jennings were both very gracious in opening their homes for separate parents-only parties. Both of these events were a lot of fun and took a ton of work by the families involved. Many thanks to both families for all the effort!

A few weeks after the December parent's party, we had a swimmer's holiday gift exchange at Loos. The kids loved the pizza, but the real treat was dessert! I would like to thank all the parents who baked or bought something for the swimmers to share. Also, a number of parents worked during the entire party passing out food and drinks or running the gift exchange tables. To save space I'm not going to list every parent who pitched-in, but please know that we really appreciate your help. We couldn't do these parties without your assistance.

Did you miss out on the fun? We'll have more events coming up in the spring! Our TAGS fire-up party will occur in late February, our Swim-A-Thon awards party will be held in April, and the Dallas Mustangs annual awards banquet will be scheduled for late April/early May. The exact time and place of these events are being finalized, and we'll let you know the details in an upcoming newsletter.

Finally, we encourage those parents who missed these events to participate. It seems like it is always the same small group of people who work at our swimmer's parties. If your kids enjoy the party then we need you to join in and help out. Show up. Introduce yourself. Or call me (before 9:00 pm, please) and let me know that you'd like to be involved. No experience is required and all the jobs are simple and social. I look forward to working with you next time!

Stuart Roth, Social Chairman

Courtney Patterson, who swims with the National group at Loos, has been named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American Team. In addition, Courtney recently signed with Texas A&M for next year. She is currently a senior at Plano West High School.

(Sing to the tune of "The Beverly Hillbillies")

Let me tell you a little

Story about a Swim-a-Thon

Mustangs are a swim team

You can really count on.

Swimmers getting pledges

And raising dough,

For the Dallas Mustangs

And for prizes, you know!

Great Prizes for outstanding kids!

Well, the next thing you know

Swim-a-Thon’ll be here,

Everyone’ll be swimming

February 12th of this year.

Raising lots of money for

Their favorite swim team,

Winning great prizes

You know what I mean!

Mook in a dress! Unbelievable!

Others? You bet!

10-Meter Tower!

Jumpin’ in the water!

The Swim-a-Thon is right around the corner. February 12th. Two hours to swim up to 200 lengths of the pool. Get your Swim-a-Thon form from your coach. Get pledges from everyone you know. They can pledge per length or a flat pledge amount. Everyone wins a great prize if they get 10 pledges and collect $100! Don’t forget about "MOOK IN A DRESS" and other coaches jumping off the 10-meter platform.

It’s never too early to start organizing pictures for this year’s slide show. We would like to have photos of swimmers from all of the pools. If you have taken any pictures at swim meets, social events or even practices, please set them aside so that they can be shared with the team. Remember that the slide show is only as good as the slides we have!

As many of you have noticed, the meet schedule for 2001 is different from the format of previous years. The meets have been reorganized in order to make them more manageable. Even though this new schedule is not believed to be the answer, the LSC and the LSC’s Technical Committee will learn from it, and hopefully make some even better decisions in the future. Until then, please take note of some of the major changes that have been made up to this point: B/C meets will now only have the 12 & under age groups; all 13 & over B/C swimmers will now compete in the BB meets. Also, the Dallas Mustangs will be in Division A for all meets.

Open tryouts are held at Loos and Highland Park Pools from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. and at CFB from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Remember, if a swimmer recruits another swimmer to the team, he/she receives $50 in Mustang bucks to apply towards the next quarter’s tuition!

The following is a list of new swimmers who were referred by established members of the Dallas Mustangs from September through November of 2000. The referring swimmers were awarded Mustang bucks, a credit system that applies to the swimmer’s tuition. Many thanks to those who worked to have other swimmers join our team and welcome to those who are new to the Dallas Mustangs!