NOVA News

New Year – Next Chapter

Happy New Year!! I hope you are as excited as I am to be here in this moment with all the potential in front of us that January offers. Alex Morritt offers the best insight into our decisions during this time of the swim season when he noted the “New Year — a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately, we write it. The choice is ours.”

Each swimmer was tested in December and knows their results, the decision now is what do you do with this knowledge? What story do you want to write? As a swimmer and swim coach – our goals are the lifeblood that get us up and out of bed to do the hard work we know it takes to actually achieve them.

There is no better way to help define your story than by setting (or resetting) your goals for the remainder of the season. What do you want to see as you review your results in March? While we are in the final sprint towards our short course championship meets, there is still time to focus on practice attendance, seek out advice from your coaches and implement the changes needed to make your next move.

The time is now, the opportunities are here, it's all up to you! Set your goals and do the work to write the next chapter for your story - Let’s go NOVA!

Championship season is around the corner!

There is at least one championship meet for every group across NOVA, which include all ages and levels of experience. These meets take place during the months of February and March, and are very important for all swimmers to attend. An end-of-season meet is a big part of the feeling of accomplishment that keeps swimmers engaged in swimming. Everyone wants to feel that they achieved something, especially when they put in months of hard work! Being a part of a TEAM championship meet win is something each and every NOVA swimmer can be proud of! There are a wide range of championship meets from local to national level with a progression between each. There are many 15 & over swimmers currently on the team that have attended every meet on this list!

First up are our local meets: District Championships.

DISTRICT LEVEL CHAMPS MEETS - Central District level meets are all competitions between Richmond area teams, and NOVA hosts them at Regency every year. They do not have qualifying times - anyone can swim!

• 8 & under Central District Champs (Feb 10 & 11) - This is the 8 & under champs meet for all teams in the Richmond area. 8 & younger swimmers from NB, NS, NG, AGDB, AGDS, and AGDG can attend this meet. This is a scored champs meet with relays, podium ceremonies, and lots of fast swimming! The sessions are usually pretty quick, and they’re only Saturday and Sunday.

• 9 - 12 year old Central District Champs (Feb 16 - 18) - This is the 9-12 year old champs meet for all teams in the Richmond area, similar to the 8 & under meet above. NOVA Swimmers from NG, AGDB, AGDS, AGDG, AGB, AGS, and AGG will all attend this meet! For each event entered in this meet, a swimmer can not exceed the qualifying times for VA Swimming’s State Age Group Champs meet. This meet is prelims/finals, meaning the top 8 or 16 swimmers of each event in the morning return to finals to compete in the evening. This meet is loud and fun with Speedo Hot Heats every morning (Friday - Sunday), and a great atmosphere at finals. Many swimmers use this meet to qualify for State Age Group Champs.

• 13 & over Central District Champs (Feb 23 - 25) - This is the District Level meet for anyone 13 years and older. Prelims sessions are a little bit bigger than the 9-12 meet and we often run 2 courses, meaning 8 lanes are set aside for only girls events and 8 lanes for boys. Swimmers use this meet to qualify for Age Group Champs (if they’re 13-14) and Senior Champs (if they’re 15+).

If you have questions about your swimmer's Championship meet please contact your
swimmer's coach.

2024 GSA January Jumpstart 1/13-1/15

NOVA LC Invitational (13 and over A+ swimmers)1/13-1/15, Entry deadline: Dec 30th Commit

NOVA BB/B/C New Year's Kick Off (BB/B/C swimmers) 1/19-1/21, Entry deadline: Jan. 8th Commit

NOVA Distance Day (400 IM and 1000 free) 1/27; Entry deadline: Jan 15th Commit

CHAMPIONSHIP MEET SIGN UPS COMING SOON!!

Group coaches: AGG lead/AGDS assistant Luke Nelson, AGDS Lead/ AGG assistant Carter Cline

How many swimmers are in Age Group Gold? currently 32

How many swimmers are in Age Group Dev Silver? 79! It is a big and fun group!

Luke, What skills are AGG working on this week? After slowing down to teach some skills and drills, we're entering a very important phase where we try to continue focusing on skills as training volume increases and we race a bit more. We're also learning how to figure out our race paces in multiple strokes so we know how fast we should be practicing!

Carter, What skills are AGDS working on this week? We have three main ideas this week. We are continuing to build on our freestyle technique combining great body position and kick with big, powerful pulls. We also are doing a heavy breaststroke focus, working on finding the power in our pull patterns and how that helps us get into a fast bodyline/glide. Finally, we are reviewing how to do proper IM Turns when switching from one stroke to the next!

Luke, what's your favorite part of working with AGG and AGDS? I love coaching 11-12s because they have the perfect level of maturity for my terrible jokes. I coached AGS for a long time before AGG so I have been honing my puns and lame jokes for almost 10 years! AGG is also great because the kids are always up for just about anything I ask of them. AGDS is a fun contrast to AGG because kids are so new to reading the practice. They are like sponges that soak up all kinds of new information and are always eager to learn!

Carter, what's your favorite part of work with AGDS and AGG? My favorite part of working with AGDS is definitely how much the kids improve in each part of the season. There are so many different ways that they improve, too, and that is what is most exciting! I get just as excited about a swimmer fixing their butterfly timing as I do about someone getting their first BB time, or trying a new event like the 500 Free. Months of work on countless little details in stroke technique, drills, starts, turns, underwater skills, etc typically come together at just the right time for kids in AGDS, making the end-of-season champs meets very rewarding!

Luke, what's your favorite part about working with Carter? The serious answer is that Carter and I have pretty similar coaching brains and love to bounce ideas off each other. We love analyzing strokes and coming up with new ways to do things. But my other favorite part is that she lets me cut loose a little bit and plays along with my jokes. Provided the kids are "doing their jobs" - meaning focusing on the practice - I usually try to have fun. I figure if I'm having fun then the kids are more likely to have fun as well.

Carter, what's your favorite part about working with Luke? Besides the obvious answer (his jokes!!), I would definitely say his creativity! Luke has this incredible ability to think outside-the-box that is really cool. In AGG, he is great at writing practices that are focused, but also mix in different types of specific skills and training. I will get really excited to go to practice because of a set I know we are going to do that day! He has even made up his own drills that break down really specific parts of a stroke, and it is crazy sometimes how fast the kids pick up on it and really apply it! With AGDS, he always has great advice on how to mix things up, which is awesome since I tend to be very methodical in teaching and practice-writing. We really do make a great coaching team and collaborate on a lot of things!

Luke, if you could celebrate New Years anywhere in the world where would it be and why? I guess I would have to say Granada, Spain mostly because I just want to go back. My wife and I honeymooned in Spain and it was my favorite city by far!

Carter, if you could celebrate New Years anywhere in the world where would it be and why? Somewhere very chill, like renting a beach house with my friends and our families, where we can relax in comfy clothes and just hang out :)

Four years ago, on January 14th, we lost Carson Brewer. His passing changed our lives and our club forever. I, like many of you, remember the pain that we felt that day and the love that we showed one another as we grieved together as a team. Through that loss we gained two beautiful traditions to celebrate and remember Carson’s life.

First, the coaching staff and the Brewer family created the Carson M. Brewer Coaches Award. This honor is given in the spring to the 12 and Under swimmer who best embodies the honorable qualities that Carson possessed: being a hard worker, dedicated teammate, and incredible friend to all. The names of the winners of this award can be found at both pools, alongside the plaque of Carson.

The second tradition is wearing RED, Carson’s favorite color, in his memory. The coaching staff hopes that swimmers and parents alike will join us in wearing red on January 14th and 15th in remembrance of Carson Brewer. We encourage all swimmers to wear red caps to practice on the 15th.

-Laurel

Congratulations to Charlie Mayr, a swimmer in the National group, for winning PPOW! His leadership, work ethic, and positive attitude help create a great atmosphere at NOVA.

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