NOVA News

Hello NOVA Families -

As the swimmers dive in to race 50 meters, take pause to think about what got us to this point. It was a true TEAM effort to fill up the kitty and open NOVA Regency. The Swim A Thon helps NOVA meet its annual budget, but when we exceed the goal we can use those funds for improvements and expansion. We always have our eyes set on future expansion which will allow us to add programming and host bigger meets, including State Championships, Zones meets and beyond.

We are 16 days away from finalizing totals and announcing the top 10 Individual Fundraisers, the 12 and under and 13 and over Group Grand Prize Winners, and all groups that have over 80% participation at the $100 level or more. If each and every NOVA swimmer contributes we will crush our goal of $110,000! As of this morning we are at 44% of the goal and Age Group Silver is leading in the Grand Prize Race. Abigail Ferguson and Mary Stuart Hawkins lead the way in individual donations at this time - way to go!

Donating online is easy for friends and family! Get out there and ask for pledges and collect the pledges you have already secured! Check out the picture - when you click on the Swim A Thon logo on the website you can easily click the green Please Donate button or +Offline Donation button and get your pledges turned in to help meet the team goal!

Thanks and GO NOVA - we are racing to $110,000!

Each year, as the weather turns warm and sunny, parents and kids alike start to feel that familiar energetic build towards SUMMER. Camps and vacations have been booked, summer league swim teams begin, and summer is in full-swing! All of this busyness and excitement might have some NOVA families beginning to wonder, “why should we still do the Long Course Season???” It’s a fair question to ask, so this week I wanted to take some time to cover the three biggest reasons why Long Course swimming is so important.

First, the technique improvement that a swimmer can see during just one Long Course season is huge. The longer pool provides swimmers with an opportunity to really hone in on skills and drills the group is working on, without having to stop as often. This forces the swimmer to either keep swimming inefficiently, which is harder, or fix things like head position, body position, how effective their pull is, and how their kick is helping their stroke. Long Course is honest, and a swimmer can’t hide behind poor stroke technique.

This improvement leads into the next reason why Long Course is beneficial - and that is how it affects their future swimming. Kids who come to practice consistently over the summer and compete in Long Course meets, almost always come back light years ahead of kids who took the summer off. These swimmers start back in September at the top of their practice groups and/or way more prepared if they are moving up or aging up to a new group. It also is super important for coaches when doing group recommendations for the Fall. If we barely saw a swimmer and they didn’t compete, it’s really hard to know where that swimmer belongs to start back. We are HUGE fans of summer league swimming, but keep in mind that it is not a true substitute for the Long Course season. Their overall improvement will happen by coming to NOVA with us!

Finally, we come to probably my favorite thing about Long Course, and that is the increased confidence that the swimmers gain. I still remember my first time swimming in a Long Course meet as a 9 year old and I was quite literally terrified. Whether a swimmer is competing in their first LC meet ever, trying a new event for the first time, or even if it’s their first LC meet since last July - the “big pool” can be intimidating. But once a kid has overcome each challenge, they think to themselves, “hey… I DID that!” This feeling goes beyond just swimming - overcoming fears, pushing through adversity, and conquering bigger challenges are lessons that will go a LONG way throughout the COURSE of their lives :)

I hope this gives you all a little insight into just a few of the incredible benefits of the NOVA Long Course Season. The coaches at every level of our program are so excited for the kids, and all of the growth and success that is sure to come!

Let’s go NOVA!