Do It Yourself Parent Guide to Recruiting

You know...my goal is really simple!  I want swimmers to have as many options as possible when deciding which university or college to attend.  They need the right fit both academically and athletically, so if my services provides them with options so they find the right fit, then that swimmer is going to be very happy, as well as the parent and the coach!  A happy swimmer is a fast swimmer after all. 

So why shouldn't you the parent have options as well?  Do you hire a recruiting service, like World Swimming Prospects, or do you pursue the recruiting process on your own, hook, line and sinker!  Do you have any idea how to start and what to do, where to look?  You do now because I want you to have an option as well, you can hire us to do all of the work for you, but if you want to pursue this on your own then I have put together a Do It Yourself Parent Guide to help get you started!!!  Why am I doing this, because I am one of the nicest guys you ever met, or haven't met!  Ok, the real reason is not everyone is in a position to hire a recruiting service to perform all of this work, or maybe you want to do this with your child, a little bonding before they go off to school and you become an empty nester!  Please enjoy the guide and if you need some information please do not hesitate to contact me at Kevin.Anderson@WorldSwimmingProspects.com.  Just so you know, we do offer one of the more affordable rates and we have an awesome track record of success!  All the best in your scholarship search!

Kevin

Swimming Produces Great People!

I have just returned from attending a former swimmer's wedding.  Adam Sioui swam for me as an age group swimmer, narrowly missing the Olympic Team in 2000.  He then went on to swim for the University of Florida where he won the 200 yard free at NCAA's in his freshman year.  He went on to graduate from UF and make the Olympic Team in 2008.  I attended his wedding in Fort Pierce, Florida this weekend, a spectacular wedding I might add, and met some of my former Canadian swimmers and alumni friends of Adam's from the University of Florida and the University of Calgary Swim Club.

Adam's alumni friends are all extraordinary people.  These swimmers are successful, productive members of society.  They have all come from different areas throughout Canada and the United States, have bonded through our great sport and have gone on to become doctors, surgeons, dentists and successful business men and women.  As I looked around I realized quite clearly that the demands of our sport and the influence of their coaches have helped shape the lives of these young people.  They know how to work hard, how to focus on their goals, maintain motivation and how to strive in a positive manner to insure their success.  Swimming has taught them extraordinary life skills that they now bring to their daily lives and their families.  I was in awe after meeting swimmer after swimmer and finding out what they do now for a living.  There is life after swimming, and if you are like all of these former swimmers at this wedding, it is pretty awesome!

Track Start Force Plate Analysis

This video provides an analysis of the horizontal and vertical forces of each foot in the track start, the impulse of each foot and the performance time from when the last foot leaves the block to where the head crosses the 5m mark.  We were able to improve performance times by up to .17 seconds over the first 5m in 3 starts.  Imagine the impact for the sprinter if we can improve the start time by .25 seconds.  A great analysis by biomechanical expert, Pro Stergiou of the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary.   Reaction time was not the best indicator of start performance, the impulse was.  It was awesome to see the change in the horizontal forces of each leg and the improved impulse of my swimmers in such a short period of time.  The improved impulse of the back foot had the most impact to the start performance with my swimmers.  A couple of things we noticed that may help you with your athletes:

1.  Try to have more of the back foot on the block, those with the heel raised too high and only the forefoot on the block generated a poorer impulse.
2.  If the back foot was too far back the impulse again was poor.  When the back foot was a bit closer to the front foot we were able to get a greater impulse.
Also, the horizontal and vertical forces of each foot are displayed and of course we are hoping to get the horizontal force curve to be higher and the vertical force curve to be lower.  I looked at the initial movement of the hip to see if the swimmer was applying too much downward force with the back foot to begin the start.  With one of the girls, she's one of those great listeners, I told her to try really hard not to let the hips raise as she begins the start and to bring the hips straight forward and down toward the water.  Wow, did she ever improve her horizontal force but really improved her impulse with the back foot and was .17 sec faster.  Not to mention there has to be some corresponding speed improvement passed the 5 m point due to the increased velocity during the entry.  It was a great day of teaching skills and I hope this helps you a bit.  Please share this with your swimming community, I think it is great leading edge stuff!! 

Thanks again to Biomechanic Expert Pro Stergiou from the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary for designing the force plate system for analysing the swimming track start...you the man!  It was great working with you, let's do it again soon!

Welcome Everyone!

This blog will provide some great stuff to help swimmers and parents navigate the recruiting process but also just some awesome swimming information in general.  I hope to help swimmers become better swimmers, help parents and swimmers understand recruiting and help coaches as well with their recruiting efforts and some technical tips that can help their athletes improve.  This blog is dedicated to the swimming community and all of your comments and questions are welcome.  Please fire away and let me help you find that university scholarship and maybe we can help you get the edge on the competition as well!