This is where the soda can effect comes in.  Everywhere has seen winning teams shower each other with champagne.  And inevitably, everyone has put their dollar into the vending machine, heard the soda tumble down, open the can and been sprayed all over their face.  Let's relate this to swimming.  Every day that you train, you are shaking your soda can.  The harder and longer you shake, the more pressure builds.  You won't to explode out and have a great time in the water, but you just can't.  Now you can choose to shake that can of soda for 3 seconds, 3 minutes, or 3 hours.  The longer you shake, the more that soda gets ready to burst.  Finally, you pop the tab, and BOOM!  The soda goes flying in every direction with great power and speed.  The pressure is off and it's time to perform.  When that soda is inside the can, that is you training your body as best and effeciently as possible.  The longer you train, the more the pressure, but also the greater the result.    You could shake the can for 3 seconds, not much pressure, not much of a result.  But once, that can is open after a long shake, the soda is fast, powerful, and well worth the wait.  In swimming you get to pop the tab when you rest.  You've put in all the work, let your body adapt, and prepared yourself for the the long term.  Once you rest and taper, you get in the water and just like an exploding soda can, you're off and no one can touch you.  Those times that weren't up to your expectations were just a stepping stone to greater things instead of a setback.  They were just another shake to the can.  So the next time, you're frustrated with where you might be in training, ask yourself if you're shaking the can and shaking it hard enough and long enough.  And if you are, have faith that soon, that tab will be popped and all your potential for greatness will be unleashed.

These immortal words ring true.  You can not fail if you do not try.  And you can not succeed if you do not fail.  Since our last dual meet on Halloween, the team worked day in and day out at becoming better.  But somewhere along the way, we lost sight of our goals and slowly drifted away from the desired direction.  We were unable to see ourselves veering off course until Wednesday when we fell flat, fell face first, with a thud against our rival DePauw.  The team was crushed physically and emotionally.  You can look at the score and see that we failed to win the meet.  But that is not a concern at all.  What we really failed at was swimming within ourselves and meeting our expectations.  While we worked hard for the 10 days leading up to the meet, we failed to realized that we needed to work smart as well.  I failed as a coach to see this as well.  Mentally, I hadn't prepared the team to swim THEIR races.  I hadn't done enough mental training with the team to learn to control our emotions and concentrate on what made Wabash great, instead of what made DePauw great.  I failed to set a standard of urgency, creativity, and accountability.  It is through these failures and this defeat that we will be able to reach an even higher level of success.  The difference in swimming between and elite team and a good team is minimal.  It's a turn here, a start there, and the mental fortitude to never back down when facing failure, but rather staring failure in face, slam the foot to the pedal and drive right through to success.  We gathered for practice yesterday for a station workout.  We had 6 stations and 6 groups.  Each station held a purpose and each group held a strong focus.  It was one of our best practices of the year.  We were able to take a step back and see what changes we needed to make with our strokes, with our approach to the sport, with our approach to our team and our goals.  As a team, we realized we are capable of being more, of being better.  We saw that the little corrections can lead to drastic improvements.  We saw our potential and decided  to focus our sights on driving past our potential and to a new pinnacle of success.  We will no longer try, we will only do.  Even Homer Simpson knows that "trying is the first step towards failure," but what he forgot to mention was that if you're not failing, you're not working hard enough.  Failure knocks us down, so that we can pick ourselves up with more focus, more determination, more purpose and consistency that lifts us to success.  Our failures will not define us, only give us the character and stamina to better ourselves and each other so that we will appreciate success when we arrive there.  When we accomplish our goals this season, this moment will not be seen as a failure, but rather a moment of motivation that directed us to our final destination.

Swimmers often view pain as bad, but maybe if swimmers viewed pain as productive or pleasureful different results would occur.  I remember swimming the mile for the 1st time, around the 800 mark, I started to get a dull throbbing pain in my stomach.  I told myself to shut up, don't stop, and work harder.  Around the 1200 mark, my arms started to hurt, so I went to my legs.  Once I touched the wall after the 1650 mark, my legs, stomach, and arms all were in pain.  Then I looked up at the clock, saw a best time and the pain was gone.  I think that moment changed my perception of pain.  From that point forward, whether it be in practice or at a meet, I would try to find  that pain threshold and push it further.  Every time I swam the mile after that I couldn't wait for the burning pain in my stomach to hit me. 

To me this signaled that I was working hard, and that I was on pace for a great time.  Pain became something I searched for instead of something I hid from.  There have been studies done on marathon runners and pain.  Most of the best marathon runners in the world find pain to be a pleasureful experience instead of a harmful one. That is the mentality that all great swimmers need to have now.  If you want to get better, and you want to reach new heights, you can't hide from hard work.  You can't find from pain.  Instead be aware of your body.  Be aware of good pain and bad pain.  Be physically tough.  Be mentally tough. 

So the next time, you jump in the pool and you have a threshold set, lactate set, hypoxic set, or anything that will cause some painful discomfort, don't back down.  Push yourself harder.  Search for more pain.  Don't worry; be excited.  Make sure that you become comfortable being uncomfortable and you'll see that the strides you make are more than you could have imagined.

51.9 from Vetor on a push

59.4 back from Evan Rhinesmith for a personal best, and a 54.5 free as well

55 freestyles from Sanders and Beck, as well as a 56 from Woods!

Adam Current only 5 seconds off a PR in the 200 back with a 2:16...and going sub 2:20 on a 200 fly.

Fozkos breaks 2:00 in the freestyle...and Kermin gets close to sub 2:00.

Everyone got up and posted some times today!  That's how we get it done!

-  -Alex Beck '13

Yesterday, one of our younger beginning swimmers took the plunge off the 3M board.  That's awesome!  With the season only 11 days away, I hope the team is filled with the same anticipation and excitement to jump in the water on September 21st as all the younger swimmers were on Tuesday when lessons started.  So why I won't promise the guys time on the board (except for the divers), or swinging from the rope (unless it's part of a power circuit), and will promise them that if they work hard and give their best effort, that they can have a cookie if there are any left over once lessons conclude.

-Steve Barnes

Last week we voted for captains whereas Robert Fozkos, Pete Hewitt, and I were chosen to lead the team into next season. I have extreme faith in my peer captains and know that they will do their best to optimally perform at the helm that is Wabash Swimming. Already my peer captains have shown their passion for our program through their e-mails and willingness to set up and lead practices in this off-season not even a day after being voted to the position. This gets me extremely excited for next year and what we will be able to accomplish.

This last weekend was honors scholar weekend, where hundreds of prospective students come to campus to take a look around and get a feel for what it’s like to be a Wally. We had many prospective swimmers join the rest of the team at a cook-out on Saturday at our "Swimmer House" in a friendly get-to-know-you atmosphere. With burgers aplenty, lively music, and plenty of people to interact with, everyone seemed to be having a great time! Being at the cook-out and being in that kind of atmosphere was like peering into the future of Wabash swimming, and the future is very bright indeed! It is a new day…and the forecast calls for one to get out the sunglasses some SPF products…because it will be quite sunny.

-Craig Vetor ‘10

When sophomore Craig Vetor broke the Wabash 200 free record at the Conference meet, he was wearing a regular old fastskin suit. At Purdue, he tried on a BlueSeventy. The difference? For Craig, about .26 seconds. But your mileage may vary.