NOVA News
October 16th, 2023
NOVA wrapped up the Virginia Swimming State Championship season this past weekend with Age Group Champs. NOVA finished with finesse and flare, earning its 25th consecutive Age Group Championship banner! What an honor it has been to witness and share in this and every one of the past 24 banners.
The swimmers filled the weekend with energy, enthusiasm and support for their teammates, working hard for their “monster” swims and bringing out their team spirit every time they stepped on deck. Our swimmers scored a combined 6,365 points, topping our nearest competitor by over 3,600. WOW! Just Wow! We had an even greater balance in the points earned by our boys (3,256) and girls (3,109), emphasizing the strength of our team and how valuable each swimmer is in our success.
As you dive into the group highlights below, you will see the wonderful rewards of months of hard work by swimmers and coaches alike. It was awesome to experience the amazing array of swimmers earning best times, achieving new cuts, winning their events and most importantly being #NOVAStrong. I hope you enjoy reading about the kid’s accomplishments and are as excited as I am about NOVA’s future!
Coach David
#OneNOVA
March 7-10th NOVA's 14 and under swimmers took on teams from all over the state in Virginia Swimming's Age Group Champs meet held at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. Swimmers raced hard in this prelim/finals meet and along the way achieved new times standards, qualified for NSCA Age Groups and NCSA Juniors. NOVA won it's 25th straight SC Age Group Champs meet. Congratulations swimmers and coaches!
Age Group Dev. Sliver, Age Group Dev. Gold, Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold, Senior Dev Silver, Senior Dev Gold
by Coach Mike Julian
Part 4 - Time Management
We saved Time Management for last, not because we don’t feel it is less important, but because it factors into the previous three topics and more. As student athletes and swimmers at NOVA, time management is a skill that develops over time as the practices change time, get longer, become more frequent, and school workload becomes greater. Your swimmer’s time as a student, and friend can get stretched thin, so what are some tricks to help them manage time better to maximize their performance in the pool? Let's take a look at three areas in which time is important.
- We can group the last three topics into one - Nutrition, Sleep, and Mental Preparation. Taking the time to plan ahead for healthy meals during training or at swim meets saves time, especially at meets when rest is important. Scheduling a nap or a routine bedtime helps manage time and keeps a swimmer on a schedule. Good nutrition and good sleep only help them stay mentally focused during the day to stay on time with school work and practices.
How about at a swim meet, when everything seems to revolve around a timeline? As I mentioned before, plan meals ahead of time, both lunch and dinner. Going to lunch with friends is better than going out to eat late at night after finals, your swimmer needs their sleep! Before a meet, encourage your swimmer to get their school work from teachers and do it at the swim meet! Don’t wait until after the meet. This will help everyone be less stressed going back to school plus no one will fall behind trying to do all the work they might have missed.
Socially? How does a swimmer balance school, family and swimming activities? Have your swimmer talk to their coach and come up with a plan. Whether that is coming to a practice and leaving a few minutes early to get to grandma's birthday dinner or bringing a change of clothes to the pool to change into and then going to the school activity. Making the effort to come to practice is better than not coming at all.
There are only 24 hours in a day but with proper planning we can be the best swimmer out of the pool to maximize our potential in the pool.
Division 1
Zoe Dixon Florida - 200 IM, 400 IM 200 Fly
Josephine Fuller Tennessee - 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 IM
Grace Sheble NC State - 200 IM, 400 IM 200 Fly
Division 2
Shannah Dillman Univ of West Florida - 200 IM, 400 IM, 500 Free
Division 3
Dalton Jobe Washington & Lee- 200 Free, 200 IM
NCSA Juniors 3/19-3/23
SwimRVA Shamrock Showdown 3/21-3/24
NOVA Short Course Sendoff 3/22-3/24
NCSA Age Group Champs 3/27-3/30
Group coaches: Lead Mike Wenert, assistant Mike Julian
How many swimmers are in National? 31
What skills are NAT working on this week? They are preparing for NCSA's so we're bringing the intensity down and letting their bodies recover/rest for our focus meet of the short course season.
Mike W what's your favorite part of work with NAT? Developing relationships with the athletes and helping them get to their swimming goals.
Mike J, what's your favorite part of work with NAT? I've really enjoyed working with the National group this year because 83% of them swam with me in SDG and it's fun to see how much they have improved since they were13-14.
Mike W, what's your favorite part about working with Mike J? There's complete trust working with Mike J. He's very good at writing practices/sets and getting the most out of the athletes. His workouts are a little different than mine so I like having him write practices 2-3 times a week for a fresh perspective.
Mike J, what's your favorite part about working with Mike W? We get along and can talk about other things beside swimming, especially all sports, plus we agree about what the group needs from a training standpoint.
Mike W, if you could pick one super power to have for the rest of your life, what would you pick and why? I would like to have Superman's super power's. I would then enter the NFL and sign with the Cincinnati Bengals and lead them to multiple Super Bowl victories.
Mike J, if you could pick one super power to have for the rest of your life, what would you pick and why? In my interview with SDG I said Thor and his powers, so my close second has always been the power to regenerate like Wolverine, I think that would be cool.
