LC: 2016 Pentathlon

Greetings Parents + Swimmers! Is everyone excited to attend one of our favorite LC meets of the year? Here are the details, see you there! -GCAC Coaching Staff-

     *  MEET  *     
2015 Etobicoke Pentathlon

     *  DATES  *     
Monday, March 16th, 2015

     *  LOCATION  *     
Etobicoke Olympium
590 Rathburn Road
Toronto, ON M9C 3T3

     *  FACILITY  *     
One 50m pool; the meet will be run from both ends.
There is ample spectator seating and free parking!

     *  SESSIONS *     
-Session 5-
ALL - Sunday Afternoon - Timed Finals
Warm-ups~1:00pm / Starts~2:00pm  / Finishes~6:30pm

     *  MEET FEES  *     
$55.00 flat fee per swimmer; includes coaching fee

     *  SCRATCH DEADLINE  *     
Sunday, March 20th

     *  SPECIAL NOTES  *     
-ONE START rule, one false start is a DQ!
-All events for all swimmers are Timed Finals!
-Swimmers are entered into all five events!
-Please bring a MASTERLOCK lock to store your valuables in the locker room!
-Times for swimmers in all five (5) sessions will be accumulated and prizes will be awarded for the top three swimmers with the lowest aggregate times in each age category and gender: 9+U's, 10s, 11s, 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s, 17+O's. 1st Place: $50.00 gift card, 2nd Place: $30.00 gift card, 3rd Place:$20.00 gift card

LC: HAC MAC Invitational!***updated

UPDATE!      UPDATE!      UPDATE!      UPDATE!      UPDATE!      UPDATE!     
The warm-up times have been slightly altered:
Saturday ~ 2:10-2:55pm; starts @ 3:00pm!
Sunday ~ 1:00-1:45pm; starts @ 1:50pm!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greetings Parents! Is everyone excited to attend our first meet after the break? Best wishes to our swimmers 'in the hunt' for those LC qualifiers! -GCAC Coaching Staff-


          MEET          
2016 HAC Spring Invitational
Hosted by the Hamilton Aquatic Club


          DATE          
Sat., Apr. 2nd + Sun. Apr. 3rd


          LOCATION          
McMaster University
Ivor Wynne Centre
1280 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON  L8M 1E2
905.525.9140 ext 24612


          FACILITY          
One 50m 6-lane pool with a scoreboard!
There is ample spectator seating, and parking fees are applicable. The viewing area is warm so parents might want to wear light clothing and pack extra water!


          SESSIONS          
-SATURDAY AFTERNOON-                                                                                     
Warm-ups @ 2:10-2:55pm / Starts @ 3:00pm / Finishes @ 7:00pm  
-SUNDAY AFTERNOON-                                                                                     
Warm-ups @ 1:00-1:45pm / Starts @ 1:50pm / Finishes @ 6:00pm  


          MEET FEES          
$10.00 coaching fee
$6.00 swimmer splash fee
$12.00 per distance events 
$10.00 per individual events
Please remit fees by Wed., Mar. 30th
 

          SCRATCH DEADLINE            
Tuesday, March 22nd


           AWARDS            
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS: ribbons for 1st-6th places;
HIGH POINT TROPHY: for each age + gender classification
(10 & Unders, 11s, 12s, 13s, 14s, 15 & Overs)


          SPECIAL NOTES            
-ONE START rule, one false start is a DQ!
-Please bring a lock to store your valuables in the locker room!
-Distance event heats will be swum fastest to slowest!
-Food is not permitted on the pool deck!
-The entrance to the pool is STILL under construction; you will need to enter through the main entrance to the Athletic Center!

Day 9: AZ Training Camp!

Welcome to Day 9 of our 2016 HAC / GCAC Arizona Training Trip!
Last day, one more swim, one more plane ride then... home!!! Yahoo!!!

It's our last early morning wake up :)... at least, here in Arizona!

Wakey Wakey, time to eat!!

It's really hard to get moving today. The kids had TONS of energy last night, didn't want to sleep! Now they wish they had :)

... And you thought this day would never come  :)

This was a sad day, because everything was the "last"... the "last" drive to the pool, the "last" swim of the trip, the "last" time we were Popsicles in the AM, the "last" time we were slaughtered in the pool,  the "last" super dryland, and the "last" time we heard the HAC boys say, "But.... Caarrmmmeeennnn". Ok, so not all lasts are sad lol!

What a great pool.  We'll miss that pace clock for sure!

Ava hopped out for a minute during a break... we LOVED the pool space!

So the girls took mostly videos  this morning, which we know doesn't post right, but snapped a few pictures.  Avacado's adrift or doing vertical butterfly? Ollie is smiling for the camera and Caitniss might be our lone bobber in the background.

Hmmm, I wonder who our photographer was today...this is one of 10 selfies LOL! (Also your best one Ellagator!)

After we got home, we had a quick bite to eat, packed up the car, ran to the mall by the house, then the BIG mall in Scottsdale, then finally we dropped off the rental and were on route to the airport!  Phew!  What a "packed" afternoon. Ha!

Syd & Daniel, they're good buds.  Her shirt was 50% off because the manufacturer printed it on the wrong color.

"Dude, have you seen Brennan?"  Yeah he's the one walking around wearing Chlorine deodorant [shhh it's a 'Secret' but you can 'Axe' me later for the brand], in an Ontario Swimming Championship sweatshirt in Phoenix.  And you thought finding Waldo was a challenge!

The kids hanging out waiting for "our ride"! It was a mix of emotions, the kids were tired, sad to leave but happy to see mom and dad and actually SLEEP IN!!!!!  For at least one day before getting back at it :)

Linda "Awesome" and Carmen "The Best Ever" :)

Goodbye Phoenix  :)  Thanks for the memories!

Goodnight , which ever state we're flying over now... Back to the cold we go.... 

So Emme was on camera duty and took a bunch of pictures of us.  Unfortunately, we must have hit a ton of turbulence, as this is the only one that turned out  :)  Or --like his swimming-- he just took the pics SUPER fast :) 

We had a great time and the kids were amazing! The coaches were proud of everyone!

Just wait until the Next Training Trip guys, this was just the Beginning...

FIN

That means the end.

You can go home now.

Wait, you probably ARE home.

You can close the tab now.

You know, the "X" in the top right corner on your browser.

This isn't a Justin Bieber concert you know, there's no encore.  

He has a date with Selena so he had to go.  Seriously, they're getting back together.

Seriously, Bieber has left the building.

....

Wow, ok you are STILL here.

I'm calling for backup, have you met O'gradyswatteamtime.

If this face doesn't say "Get outta here"  and scare the jeebees out of you, I don't know what does.

Man... that didn't work. You are STILL here huh?

Maybe the Biebs will show up at the Selena concert!  They could call it, "Jelena Live"!

Seriously.  FIN.

Okay.  I see what I have to do. You're making me do this you know, it's your fault... I just need to make EVERY practice, EVERYDAY to be like our Training Trip.  See, this way you won't miss me, and your life will be complete and wonderful.  And you won't be tired at all, "pinky promise"!!

What?  You suddenly have to go now?  

(Hehe I knew that would work!)

Sneak Peak... next year we might have 2 Daniel's on the training trip... SO looking forward to it!

Day 8: AZ Training Camp!

Welcome to Day 8 of our 2016 HAC / GCAC Arizona Training Trip!It FEELS like Day 8, but at the same time it's like we just got here.
The consensus seems to be that the kids are happy to be going home, but would like to stay longer... if they didn't have to swim anymore. Ha!
We let the kids sleep in a little later this morning to recover!
Side note: "Brenden" = "Brennan" ("Oops I did it again," thanks a lot Britney Spears!)

Nolan, the lone 'hungry' ranger!

It's a good feeling that we get to eat when the sun is already out!

Some of our girls having a leisurely breakfast.

Look! We spotted an O'notthelastonetime... in her natural habitat!

Everyone needs to have a couch this large and comfortable!

We surprised the kids this morning!  No morning swim, we're going for another hike, up a different mountain!  Most were happy, Caitlin and Syd not so much; Syd laid on the ground & wanted to cry!!!  (We later learned that one side of Camelback mountain was the Echo Canyon Trail, and the other side is the Cholla Trail. Guess which side was the "intense and difficult" trail.  We found that out quick! 1.23 miles to the summit (2704 ft above sea level), and we felt every inch of it :)

Okay, so today's HIKE was absolutely... (searching for the right words)... ridiculous, fun, hardest thing EVER, easy, insane, smart... it was absolutely... worth it. What a challenge!  I can't believe we survived!  Only one twisted ankle, one black & blue toe (mine) and a few scrapes to report. 

I was going to take some pictures of the inclines as we went up them to show everyone what we suffered through, but those views are NOT for the faint of heart.  I wanted to keep my balance as much as possible, too!!!  Our kids designated one backpack as the "cellphone bag"... they didn't even hold their phones in their hands going up or down. What does that say?!?!

Coach Beth and Coach Carmen near the beginning... of the mountain hike. Not the 20 minutes from the car to the park, or the 15 minutes on the trail from the bathrooms to the base of the mountain. I went "up" at 9:50am and came down at 12:20pm, the kids were way faster, but 2.5 hours of climbing. L-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y climbing. It's not supposed to be that long and painful is it?  There were a bunch of five year olds like running up the mountain. Every 10 minutes another one would run past... what the heck! There was a mom with a newborn strapped to her stomach (Awe... and yuk!), a basketball team, some cheerleaders, one pug, two airline pilots, families from California, Iowa, Idaho, plus our group! (Carmen was super tough too, she's my inspiration!!!)  I learned a lot, specially since stopping to be polite and talk is not the same as "taking a break"... Lots of the "locals" of all ages were running up with their iPod's and headphones on. One muscle guy was with his friend and said, "Hey dude I thought this would be tougher, our third time going up." Pfft yeah right buddy, whatever!  The seems not humanly possible lol! Linda said one man when up and back in 27 minutes.  [ WHAT! ]  I really wanted to zip line down, I said that all the way up the mountain to everyone I passed.  I mean, passed me! Ha!

We're on top of the world... and SO happy we're not in a swimming pool :)

Everyone say Cheese! 16 came up and 16 made it down!  (Phew)

Daniel hanging out.  Look at that view, that's unreal.  A full 360 of Phoenix, we could see everything!

The kids had to wait like 20 minutes for me to come up.  They say it was an hour, but NO way man.

Having a rest, enjoying some shade.  I think some of them just realized they have to go down now LOL!

 We've officially moved into the 400s... "Touch something pointy for good luck!" That's 'a thing' now I guess...

Uh oh, okay we come to Arizona and end up with only two swimmers stuck to a cactus. I call that success!

Fly Girl helped Hanna finish her veggies with a rousing rendition of airplane.

I have two more photos to share....

Sarah and Lauren, they could handle a second trip up the mountain for sure!

The boys were out like a light during the ride home from our LONG adventure this morning! Emme was still awake :)

 Virag + Sarah + Lauren chowing down at The Golden Corral!

Most of the girls + Emme on round 1 of dinner!

 Yummy!  (The table didn't stay this clean for very long!)

The HAC boys, they ate SO much, we totally got our money's worth!

 If you've never been to The Golden Corral, you definitely need to go...

 .... they have SO much variety...

 ... they have SO much food...

... the buffet feels like it never ends.  We ate our weight in food tonight!

 The top photo is Ollie G's chocolate plate art, below is a sample of the 'young ones' reserved signs. They used them at the table, in the van, brought them to the restaurant to make sure NO one took their seat.  That's cute eh?

Desert time!  Who's cone do you like better, Jenna P's or Syd's?

Day 7: AZ Training Camp!

Welcome to Day 7 of our 2016 HAC / GCAC Arizona Training Trip!
Two more days until home time!  The kids are counting down the workouts, they are SPENT!
Uh oh, Ellagator just informed me that our girl is "Hanna" not "Hannah"... I would go back and fix the other posts but I forgot to pack the white out. 

You know they're wiped when breakfast is on the table for 10 minutes before someone starts to eat.  The first few days they were down here in minutes!  Now they groan when they have to go up and down the stairs.

This is the first time Syd has had bananas in her cereal.  Say WHAT?  We just blew her mind!

Look at O'sleepytime- that's the face of a girl who wants to go back to bed. Right meow.

Check out Miss O'Readytime now... Ava and Syd enjoying a RARE social kick!

Have we showed you the personalized blocks yet?  I don't remember (thanks, 'Birthday')!

Brittany is a superstar!!!  Jenna was our underwater photographer...

... until Miss Hungary swiped the camera again. This time she figured out how to use the video function. Sorry folks no more pictures for the rest of the trip, our memory is totally full :)  [Little does she know that I can use the 'delete' function! Ha!]

Hmmm, I would guess Sydney is not a backstroker?!?

Avacado and O'flipturntime are almost synchronized!

Caitniss busted Jenna P trying to sneak a shot in.Smile for the camera :)

Yes, she's still there.  Don't you know by now Jenna P is always there... like Jaws.  Only scarier!

Lauren, Sara and Nolan warming down!

 Ellagator... 'kind of' doing a streamline! Good head position!


This is either Nolan or Daniel... they look nothing alike, but with a cap and goggles on I can't tell!

This for sure is Brenden!  (1 point for me!)

 Peek-a-boo Hanna!

 Everyone look! This is "the perfect catch"... brings a tear to a coaches eye...

 Emme, nice pull buddy!

Virag aka "Flower" and Brittany!



Our very own Fly Girl!... doing freestyle.  I feel like this is false advertising LOL!

Jenna P, Avacado, O'gradytime, Hanna- (that was close!), and Syd.

Caitlin making some bubble rings!  You go girl!

Ellagator is adorable!  Looks like she almost got her head stuck in that cone though.  That would lead to an interesting line of questioning from the customs agent eh?  (Aren't cones on the 'bad' list? ha!)

Yep, stuckaroo... your mother's gonna be so mad at me!  Ollie is getting a kick out of this, Emme is like, 'Not again!'

I'm not sure what's happening in this photo but it's freaking me out...

Some light core work after a tough test set!

We have access to the medicine balls again!  Score!

This afternoon was quiet.  We came home, watched a little more of The Flash, some of us went into the hot tub before dinner, some of us hung out in our rooms and had a nap.  We had delicious roast beef, corn, mashed potatoes and buns :)  Ice Cream for dessert!  After dinner, I took a few girls back to the mall so they could shop while I could have a massage. Close your eyes parents... (I meant it!)... then we went to In & Out Burger for a second dinner.  I mean dessert  :p. 

We have these pretty faux candles in the backyard that run on a timer!  It's very pretty!

The moon, looks like it might be a quarter only!