(Posted February 21, 2001)

Last week I sent out an email explaining that we needed parent volunteers to work as Safety Marshals during TAGS. While I did get some responses for help we are still in need of many more parents to step forth and help out. This is our situation:

As a member of North Texas Swimming, the Dallas Mustangs Swim Team is responsible for providing Safety Marshals at all times during the meet. What this means is that we have to have eight to ten people working as Safety Marshals at all times while swimmers are in the water (this includes warm-ups, prelim’s, time trials and finals). Obviously, it is not ideal to have only 8 or 10 individuals work the entire meet. I would like to be able to have enough volunteers to rotate people as much as possible. There are 25 swimmers going to TAGS and I will be contacting each of those swimmers’ parents to come and help out. However, let me say that if there is any parent on our team who does not have a swimmer going to this meet but is able to help out, PLEASE call me. (The toughest spots to fill are going to be Thursday and Friday during the day).

Below is an approximate schedule for the meet. There may be changes once I have information about a more definite time line (at the printing of this newsletter, entries for TAGS are not yet due).

• Thursday, March 8th – 2:45pm-7:00pm
• Friday, March 9th - 6:45-2pm (end of time trials); 4:15pm-8:30pm (or end of finals)
• Saturday, March 10th - 6:45am-2pm (end of time trials); 4:15pm-8:30pm (or end of finals)
• Sunday, March 11th - 7:00am-2pm (end of time trials); 2:15pm-6:30pm (or end of finals)

The Dallas Mustangs Swim Team operates under the direction of The Dallas Mustangs Parent Association nine member Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors is elected for two-year terms with four (4) members elected in even years and five (5) members elected in odd years. Our Executive Committee, in addition to the nine elected Board members, includes our Head Coach (Mook), Head Age-Group coach (Doug) and three committee members who coordinate team and swimmer registrations, social activities, and our supplies and apparel. Our Board is a "working board", in that each member chairs/coordinates a specific operating area of the club such as fundraising, publicity, newsletter, meet direction, etc. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the operation of the Dallas Mustangs, the 2001 Nominating Committee would like to know your interests.

Specific areas we will be looking to fill include the Treasurer’s position and the Registration Chairman’s position. Our current Treasurer, George Cornelius, would like to retire from his position as Treasurer due to increased job responsibilities with his company. Our Registration Chairman, John Wherry, has expressed an interest in focusing more on fundraising and therefore would like to turn over the Registration responsibilities to someone new. Both of these positions require a considerable time commitment on a monthly basis (10 – 15 hours per month), good communication skills, detail orientation, and computer skills (Email, Excel, and for the Treasurer’s position; Quickbooks).

Many of our Dallas Mustangs swimmers have already had successful seasons. However, there are still seconds to be shaved off, medals to be won, and points to be scored. No one on the team (or in swimming history) has ever swum the "perfect race" so there is still much room for improvement!

You may ask, "How do I give myself the best opportunity to improve my times?" The following tips are a good place to start answering that question.

1. Get your rest
2. Eat healthy – the older swimmers may need to cut back on their caloric intake since they are tapering and not burning as many calories at practice.
3. Think about swimming fast
4. "A hungry dog makes the best hunter" – eat small amounts before you swim and eat big meals at least a couple of hours before you will compete.
5. Shaving – If you’ve never done this, you’re missing out. It’s tough to explain the incredible feeling that you have when you dive in the water right after you shave your arms and legs, but it enables the swimmers to feel the water a lot better and swim faster because of it.
6. Get excited about swimming fast. Continue getting to practice on a regular basis – if you normally go to three practices per week, then continue going to three practices a week or two before the big meet. Also, don’t try to get into better shape by working out harder or starting other training such as running or calisthenics the week of the meet. By the time you get to a week before the meet, the work should have already been done and it is time to get rest and sharpen up your skills.
7. Dress warmly at the pool while you’re waiting to swim your race.
8. Get excited about your teammates performances – we are fortunate to have an extremely competitive team, so get caught up in the success that your teammate have and then join in with success of your own. Also, the more you cheer for them, the more they will cheer for you.
9. Look forward to racing
10. Talk to your coaches before and after each race – this will help you focus on the race and make improvements on your performance.
11. Loosen down after races to reduce the amount of lactic acid, which is what builds up in your muscles after you race.
12. Don’t take short cuts – if there is something you know you should be doing or not doing, make the right choice.
13. BE POSITIVE!!!

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?

Let the parties begin! Our Championship Fire-Up party will be held on Tuesday, February 27th at 6:30 pm. Come cheer on the swimmers who have qualified for TAGS and Sectionals. We'll have pizza and drinks after the presentation of our Spring 2001 Championship T-shirts. Please bring $3.00 per swimmer to cover the cost of the refreshments. THERE WILL BE NO WORKOUTS AT HIGHLAND PARK ON FEBRUARY 27TH. Any swimmers who want to work out at Loos on this night should show up at 5:30 pm.

Our annual Awards Banquet and Meeting will be held at SMU, in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom, on Sunday, May 6, 2001. The banquet will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will probably be over by about 9:00 - 9:30 p.m. Reservation forms will be distributed in a few weeks, but please be sure to mark your calendars with this event now! As many of you know, one of the banquet highlights is a slide and sound show featuring our swimmers and coaches over the past year. We need your help to take photos/slides of our swimmers at meets, practice, having fun beside the pool, etc. All photos/slides need to be handed in to Mook by April 15. Talk to Mook or Stuart Roth if you have questions!

Thanks to those of you who called to offer help at our parties and events. But we still need more participation. Please call Stuart Roth, 972-939-1451, before 9:00 p.m. please, to get involved. No special skills are required!

Congratulations to Lauren Roth for the winning entry in her school’s prose competition of PTA Reflections. Lauren’s composition was forwarded to the Carrollton-Farmer’s Branch ISD district competition, where she came in second. Her entry is currently being judged at the state competition. Also, the week following the Reflections competition, Lauren won first prize in the Zoology category of the fifth grade Science Fair. Lauren attends Kent Elementary School and swims in the Silver group at Loos.

The swim-a-thon recognition party will be held a few weeks from now. The details are forthcoming, but those of you who remember last year's party know it was the most "dressed-up" event of the season. That's "dressed-up" as in coaches. As in men wearing dresses. As in going off the high dive in outfits not to be displayed to the general public. Parents, you don't want to miss this one! We'll keep you informed, as we get closer to party time.

This year’s team trip will be a swim meet that your whole family will want to attend. We will travel to New Braunfels for the Schlitterbaun Invitational from June 29-July 2. We will begin the trip with some rafting, inner tubing, or canoeing down the Brazos River on Thursday. Then on Friday and Saturday, it’s off to the swim meet. The competition pool is part of a park that also has a spring fed lake to swim in and all kinds of things to play on. Then we finish up the trip at the famous Schlitterbaun Water Park on Sunday. Details will be out soon, but for now, mark your calendars and reserve the weekend of June 29-July 2 for a fun team trip.

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!