NOVA News
October 16th, 2023
THE TIME IS NOW!!
Next weekend we begin this year’s 8-week spring championship sprint, starting with the 8 and Under Champs and cumulating with NCSA Age Group Champs in March. It’s time for your swimmers to focus on a championship mindset and to remember THE TIME IS NOW!
The championship meet season gives every swimmer the opportunity to put themselves to the test and see how fast they can swim. Swimmers and coaches have been working since September learning to stay strong in the face of pain (I’m talking about you, distance sets) and overcome natural fears and challenges (I’m watching you, clock). Every aspect of life, and especially swimming, requires courage and faith that the work put in will reap the reward desired at the end of each race and meet.
Each swimmer should strive to achieve excellence rather than focusing on perfection. Excellence is a wonderfully forgiving concept while at the same time asking a swimmer to give their all to a particular task. If a swimmer fails despite their best efforts, they have been given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and move on. If a swimmer succeeds, and achieves the goal it's the best result possible! If a swimmer fails without giving a best effort, they always are left wondering “what if”. Further, striving for perfection will always leave a swimmer wanting, as no one gets it 100% right, 100% of the time.
This is FINALS . It’s GO time! Every swimmers has been given the tools and has put in the work. They are ready to swim faster than they ever have before. So remind them to dream big, stay positive, work hard, strive for excellence and enjoy the journey.
THE TIME IS NOW!
NOVA INDEPENDENCE DAY IS THIS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4th . . . a milestone day in the history of our club, and this year we celebrate the 27th anniversary of that day. Many current NOVA swimmers only know and enjoy a two location NOVA; Regency and Gayton. The older swimmers remember when the whole team swam in the 2 pools at Gayton. However in the early days of NOVA, the team did not own its own facility and had to rent space at the Northside YMCA, and the University of Richmond. Lead by the vision of Head Coach and Founder, Geoff Brown, the building of NOVA Gayton allowed the team to control it's own pool time and allowed the expansion of the team.
It is amazing to contemplate that passage of time and all the accomplishments that were sparked due to the perseverance of those that had a vision. Coach Drew was part of the crew that drove from U of R to our first AM practice at the NOVA Gayton site. The team started practice at U of R that day and ended up at Gayton Road. Now, we are creating new memories at the Regency pool with each practice and meet we host.
Please read the link below to get a perspective on the hard work of Don Farmer and many others who helped get the Gayton pool built
January 19th-21st- NOVA swimmers raced hard all weekend long at the NOVA New Years Kickoff. We had many new time standards achieved, many new cuts achieved, and lots of fast swimming.
Novice Sliver/Bronze, Novice Gold, Age Group Dev Bronze, Age Group Dev Silver, Age Group Dev Gold, Age Group Bronze, Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold, Senior Dev. Bronze, Senior Dev. Silver, Senior Dev. Gold, Senior Bronze
January 27th- NOVA swimmers of all ages tackled the 400 IM and the 1000 free at the NOVA Distance Tune Up. The swimmers raced new events, achieved new time standards and meet cuts and had a great time supporting each other.
Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold, Senior Dev Silver, Senior Dev Gold, Senior Silver, Senior Gold, National
by Coach Luke
Championship season is starting in 3 weeks!!
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.
Next up are our national level meets: NCSA Age Group Champs and NCSA Juniors
- NCSA Age Group Champs (March 27 - 30 in Orlando) - This is the highest level of competition for 11-14 year old swimmers, qualified swimmers get to race teams from all across the country! This meet has single age qualifying times, and anyone that qualifies for even 1 event gets bonus events so they can swim a pretty full lineup. This meet is prelims/finals where the fastest 16 swimmers from the morning qualify, as well as 8 of the next fastest younger single age group (for example, only 11 year olds). It is held in a famous and historic pool, the Rosen Aquatic Center in Orlando FL, and has a great atmosphere, including walk out songs, a great live-stream, and professional announcers!
If you have questions about your swimmer's Championship meet please contact your
swimmer's coach.
NOVA, 501 c-3, non profit corporation relies on fundraising to help meet our annual operational costs. In the contract each family signed at registration, there is an explanation of the fundraising and volunteer requirements. NOVA offers several ways to meet your fundraising obligation during the season. This year NOVA offered a Virginia Diner Peanut Fundraiser in the fall, and Giving Tuesday in November. In February NOVA swimmers can sell digital dozen Krispy Kreme coupons and in April the annual NOVA Swim A Thon returns. On April 20th spend “A Day In Paris”, swim laps with your teammates, enjoy a croissant and raise money for NOVA. 100% of donations for the Swim a Thon count towards your fundraising obligation.
What is a Swim A Thon you may ask? Swimmers go out in the neighborhood and ask for pledges, or email friends and family near and far and ask for pledges and log them onto a pledge sheet. Some people might pledge 50 cents a lap, $1 a lap or even $5 per lap! Swimmers come to NOVA on April 20th at theory groups assigned time, check in, pick up a 2024 SAT t-shirt, and head to their assigned lanes. The goal is for every NOVA swimmer to complete 200 laps. There is fun music, food, and an opportunity to take photos with teammates and coaches during the event. After the event swimmers have 2 weeks to collect their pledge money and turn it into the business office. 100% of funds turned in count towards your fundraising obligation.
Fundraising obligation information is HERE
Group coaches: Lead Anita Dillman, assistant Amanda Blaha
How many swimmers are in Age Group Bronze? 64
What skills are AGB working on this week? Everyone's favorite, of course, butterfly, butterfly and more butterfly. And with our championship meet coming soon, we're also working on those streamlines and underwaters. Oh, and did I mention butterfly?
Anita, what's your favorite part of working with AGB? Refining technique is my favorite part of swimming and I get to do a lot of that with AGB. The best part of working with an AGB swimmer is when they really start improving, realizing their potential and ultimately moving to AGS, based solely on the results of their hard work.
Amanda, what's your favorite part of work with AGB? I really enjoy working in AGB because the kids in this group are at a great age to start putting in hard work while still keeping it fun and exciting. They’re able to hit a lot of new milestones with us and watching them build confidence and take off is really amazing to see and be a part of.
Anita, what's your favorite part about working with Amanda? Well first, our names begin and end with A, so we're practically twins. For 2 people who have only worked together since September, we have this weird 6th sense that is tied to one another. We can both spot, at the same time, an issue with one out of 40 swimmers in practice that needs correction. We end up calling the swimmer's name in unison and look at one another exclaiming, "That's what I was going to say." So we're practically the same person sometimes. Amanda is a fabulous supportive assistant and I have loved working with her. When Amanda finds something particularly humorous, she has this great hiccup-like laugh that will make you laugh right along with her.
Amanda, what's your favorite part about working with Anita? Where do I even start? I love working with Anita! I knew that I wanted to learn from her well before coaching with her was in the cards for me. She has such an eye for detail and runs a tight ship, which I love. Her coaching aside, though, Anita is just such an amazing person to be around. We are always laughing and having fun together. I mean, even taking the picture for this newsletter took about 10 takes and some breathing exercises before we could hold it together. (I’m sure Anita didn’t even send in the serious one we worked so hard for!) We’re just always on the same page, borderline telepathic at times, and that makes working together so much more fun!
Anita, if you could be any animal, what animal would you be? Probably a cat. I despise cooking, so having an owner who feeds me every meal every day would be great. I want to sit in the sun watching the wildlife outside and take daily naps. I would exercise my right to Cattitude with the whip of my tail while I slowly push stuff off counters and tables with a flick of my paw. I would have a dog sister named Amanda as my BFF. She would need to be one of those big, fluffy friendly dogs and I would want to go on walks with her around our neighborhood.
Amanda, if you could be any animal, what animal would you be? I think I would be a dolphin. My sister and I used to choreograph and perform synchronized swimming routines for our parents when we were little, and I have always loved the way that I could move my body in water. I think I taught myself dolphin kick before I even knew what a swim team was!
13 and over PPOW
Our 13 and over PPOW is Jordyn Dillard. Jordyn has been crushing it at Senior Gold practices since September. She can be found leading lanes and setting a high bar for others on fast swims. Jordyn frequently chooses to work harder by swimming sets using boy intervals! Her recent work on distance freestyle pacing sets is what has earned her this PPOW.
12 and under PPOW
