Making Waves

Julia and Natalia Michalski: Our swimmers of the week are two sisters who have become tremendous swimmers in a very short time. Julia and Natalia both swam only one year and qualified for the state meet in the eight and under age group. Both were on state relays and qualified for multiple events. Julia is a freestyle phenomenon along with butterfly, and Natalia is an exceptional breast stroke and freestyle swimmer. These two girls work extremely hard every day and we use them as an example for our team to emulate. The greatest benefit for our team is the joyful and fun attitude that both have every day. They are very positive and friendly to everyone, especially to their lane and group. These girls are outstanding swimmers with great talent and work ethic combined.

Notes from Coach Mike McHugh: We had an extremely busy weekend, with Ryan Scripp and Max McHugh traveling to Minnesota for the Minneapolis Grand Prix event. Unbelievable competition at the Olympic and Pro level. The qualifying times for this meet were very similar to some of the Olympic qualifying and USA National swim meet cuts. There were over twenty-six pro and Olympic swimmers at the meet. Ryan swam very close to his best times, with a great 200 fly in 1:55. Max qualified for the finals in the 200 Breast, swimming a 2:04 – the new Wisconsin state record in the 13-14 age bracket. He was the only 14-year-old swimmer in the event.

From the Grand Prix, we traveled to Oshkosh to swim at the champions meet. Each year, two to three Olympic swimmers swim at this meet against swimmers from each team. This year, Emily McClellan, Derek Toomey, and Roland Schoeman were the star guests. Roland will swim for South Africa in the next Olympics, qualifying for his fifth Olympics that he will swim. Fifty swimmers from our team attended this meet. We had countless best times, with three to four high point winners in each age group. The awesome part of this meet is a discussion and talk with the Olympic swimmers, along with medals signed for the high point winners. Max McHugh broke the pool record in the meet on Saturday in the 50 breaststroke. The record was held by the Olympian Clarke Burckle, set last year. On Sunday, Roland Schoeman broke Max’s pool record by .70 seconds. Roland holds the world record in the 50 meter fly and freestyle, and is the defending 50 breast champion the last two years at the world championships.

I don’t know if there are many better experiences in sports than swimming very well at a meet with Olympian swimmers swimming next to you. An interesting note was that in the 50 breast with both Olympians Emily and Roland, DCY took second place with Cassie Rankin and Drew Rass swimming for our team.

On our team we discuss nutrition in the best possible connection. We talk about food as fuel, much like gas for a car. Poor fuel equals poor performance. There are super foods similar to high octane fuel for jets. There is also the correct mix of fuel for performance. So here is a quick note on food choices during the holidays: turkey is an awesome protein – especially white meat, I favor the dark, though. Ham, very tasty, but leaning toward more fat levels. Eat moderately with good carbohydrates in potatoes, breads, etc. Your meals should include two to three vegetables, not just pumpkin pie. Apple pie might be stretching the fruit requirement. Athletes should (and do) understand this connection very well.

Swim Term: Qualifying Time (QT) – The time a swimmer must have achieved previously in an event in order to enter a meet.

Upcoming Meets

Green Bay Sprint Meet: Dec. 6

Schroeder Invite, Brown Deer: Dec. 12 – 14

DCY Jingle Bell Invitational, Sturgeon Bay: Dec. 20

For more information visit the DCY website, teamunify.com/Home.jsp?team=widcy.