Next week is Spring Break. That means when we return to the pool we'll have officially begun our long course season. What does this mean??? For some of our new families this may be a really good question.
"Long Course" simply refers to the length of the pool. Short Course (SC) = 25yds; Long Course (LC) = 50m. In North Texas Swimming all of our meets for the A and BB swimmers are in LC pools from April 1 - August 31. Our B/C meets continue in SC pools. LC is the "olympic distance".
Most teams, including MARS, begin swimming in LC pools as soon as they become available. There are relatively few LC pools in the area. We are fortunate have use of the newly-renovated UTA facility. As soon as the water temperature rises to a tolerable level (usually about 75 degrees) we'll begin adding a LC practice session. Once school gets out in early June we'll begin our 2-a-days for our AG2 and above swimmers. We'll be posting the summer session practice times once we get a bit closer to that start date.
Some parents may wonder what the difference is between SC and LC. Why would the training be different? The obvious answer is that LC is longer....100m = 109.4yds. The way coaches train their athletes changes slightly to account for the increased distance. Also, there are fewer flip turns. Done properly, flip turns give a great advantage over just swimming. This can change some of the tactics and points of emphasis for the swimmers. You'll hear our swimmers complain that "the pool never ends" during LC practices, especially the first few weeks.
A question that comes up every year asks about the "LC tuition charge" that appears on the invoices of swimmers in AG2, P/S and Senior. It should not be surprising that it is quite costly to provide this very important additional practice time to these groups. Our pool rent, salaries and other reoccurring expenses nearly double during the summer. Each account in these groups therefore is charged an extra tuition charge for the months of June and July. Once the final contracts are signed we'll announce the amount of the charge, but it will be somewhere between $50-$70 (split across the two months).
Until we access to the UTA LC pool coaches will be adjusting their practices to prepare our swimmers for this LC season. The first LC meet of the season is our own meet at Mansfield.
As always, if you have any questions please let us know.
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Long Course is a very short season, if you can do not miss any meets. As for practice, I think we do need more time in a long course pool. As soon as school is over, doubles are good.
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