By Coach Mackenzie M, MV2. With many meets under their belts heading into the final weeks of the season, it is extremely important that VIK swimmers have some sort of awareness of what they plan to do in their races at Regionals and Provincials.

By Coach Lauren, INT2. Woohoo! It is the most wonderful time of the year! It is TAPER TIME – like Christmas in July! You have made it through almost three months of hard training in the pool. You have survived Challenge Week – the most demanding week of the year. Now, during your taper, your coach will finally take the …

By Coach Alex, INT1. We are more than halfway through the season and, at this point, swimmers should be revisiting their goal sheets, adjusting, and refocusing where necessary. The Vikings have developed a strong aerobic base, from which we can now focus on working on speed and race tactics. However, in order to swim faster, we need to swim smarter, …

By Coach Kiersten, SR2. It is well known that 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week is beneficial to maintaining a positive mood as well as reducing stress. However, what if this exercise, ie competitive summer swimming, is the source of your stress?!

By Coach Mackenzie G, MV1. When Michael Phelps stood behind the blocks before his Olympic races, he was not saying to himself, “I can’t do this” or “This is too hard, I should give up.” Because, how would telling himself that have helped him become the greatest swimmer of all time? Three words: it wouldn’t have.

By Coach Hadley, MV2. After swimming many seasons with the Vikings, I know personally how hard it can be to wake up and jump into a freezing pool at 6 am. However, as gruelling as these morning practices seem, here are 3 reasons they are beneficial for you:

By Coach Mackenzie M, JR. With the first month of the season completed and the competitive portion of our season upon us, I think a lot of swimmers are starting to get those pre-race jitters and, in particular, are not feeling confident in themselves to swim certain races.

By Coach Lauren, INT2. Over the last couple of seasons, the Coaches’ Corner has been a great venue for VIK coaches to pass on our knowledge to help our swimmers compete at their best.  We have addressed important issues such as nutrition, sleep, pre- and post-race management (cooldown and warm-up) and developing a winning mental approach. 

By Coach Alex, INT1. With the first meet of the season fast approaching, I thought it would be fitting to discuss the importance of warming-down after a race. By now you have all heard the coaches talking about the importance of warming-up and activating before a practice or a race, but what about after?

By Coach Kiersten, SR2. The beginning of the season is the time to integrate new habits into one’s routine. As we learnt from Coach Jon last week, there is more to swimming than pool workouts; dryland and nutrition are also major contributors to success.