Junior League National Final (Sunday 26th November)

Thursday 23 November 2023

Junior League National Final (Sunday 26th November)

The gala will take place at:

Corby International Pool,

Parkland Gateway,

Corby,

Northampton,

NN17 1QB

Travel

All swimmers will need to arrive at John Charles no later than 8:20 am and check in with Team Managers ready for the coach to depart at 8:45 am sharp. When we arrive a Corby, we will not be allowed into the building until 12:30 so we strongly advise that children bring a warm/waterproof jacket with them as we could be eating on arrival outside. Warm-up starts at 12:50 pm with the parade of teams at approximately 13:30 pm. We hope to be back at JCCS for approximately 7:30 pm. All swimmers are required to travel to and from the competition on the team bus.

If your child has a team track suit, they should travel to and from the event in it. Each swimmer will be provided with a Junior League Final 2024 T Shirt. This must be worn whilst the event is taking place and for all team photographs. Junior League Final T Shirts will be handed out on Sunday during the journey down to Corby. Please also ensure your child has another Leeds t-shirt to wear on the way home.

Obviously, this will be a long day, so the children will need enough food and drinks to last the day. They should not be given all of their food for the day straight away, as they tend to eat too much on the journey down to Corby. Swimmers will not be allowed to leave our teams marshalling area to collect drinks from parents etc during the meet. Therefore, please ensure they are adequately supplied with nutritious snacks and enough hydration on arrival at the pool.

Racing Suits
There will be only 10 minutes to get changed into team kit and be ready in the changing village for the parade. Due to this swimmer will need to change into their racing suits before the warmup. Swimmers are advised to keep their hat and goggle on them at all times or zipped up in their bag. The competition is going to be very fast, and we do not want a team missing their race because of lost hats and goggles.

Swimmers, please remember everything you have practiced. This will be a very tough competition, every millisecond counts in an event like this so remember shallow dives, kick hard, get up, race hard and don't slow down into finishes. BE CAREFUL ON THE TAKEOVERS!!!! It is better to go late than early. We need to grab every point we can, getting disqualified can cause the team to lose 8 points.

Supporters

Parents, please wear team colours!!! Remember the louder you shout the faster the swimmers will go. We look forward to seeing you all dressed up in your hats, wigs, face paints etc. Make as much noise as you can! We want to see you go all out! We do not just want the best swimmers on the day, we want the best supporters on the balcony too. We are all part of the same team, please make sure you get behind every swimmer.

Tattoos

Due to the very tight schedule in Corby on Sunday we ask that all swimmers who want to wear tattoos to please apply them before arriving at John Charles on Sunday morning. Please see Anna Darnell if you do not already have some shark tattoos. Anna Darnell will be selling shark tattoos during the rest of this week at training for £1 each.

Spectator Tickets

Spectator tickets will be given out by Anna Darnell at John Charles on Sunday morning. Parents who are making their own way to Corby should collect your tickets when you drop your child off at John Charles on Sunday morning.

Car Parking at John Charles

The Aquatics Centre may be closed before we arrive back to Leeds on Sunday evening. Parents are advised to park in the long stay car park as the gates to the Aquatics car park will be locked once the centre closes.

Medication

Whilst we will have up to date records of your child's emergency contacts and medication on us, please inform the Team Managers (Anna Darnell & Marc Raven) if they need to administer any medication during the journey or competition.

TIMELINE & PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY

I hope you will appreciate that the day will be slightly extended for the presentations. There is to be no use of photography or video equipment during the gala. This includes the use of mobile phones and other recording equipment.

12:30 – Balcony & changing room access – due to lack of locker space please keep your kit with your team poolside (in a tidy manner)
12.48 Safety announcement
12:50 - Warm Up
13:20 – End of warm-up ONLY 10 mins to get ready for the parade and line up in the changing village – IT WILL BE BUSY – please listen to the stewards, they are trying to help the parade go smoothly
13:25 – OFFICIALS to line up along flume barrier
13.30 - Team parade from changing village (teams to be to lead by a ref/starter)
13.55 - Officials parade from 'flume line-up', introduction of Referees and Starter
Followed by National Anthem – please stand still for this and cheer at the end.
13.57 - Safety announcement revisited - first and second race competitors to go to start ready behind blocks
14.00 - Racing begins

Hope you all have a fun and exciting day.

Lane 1 - Newcastle Swim Team

Lane 2 - Leamington Spa

Lane 3 - Chelsea & Westminster

Lane 4 - Lincoln Vulcans

Lane 5 - Layland Barracudas

Lane 6 - City of Leeds

Lane 7 - Nuneaton & Bedworth

I hope you are all excited for the big day!

Good Luck Everyone! 😃 👍

The Regional Team

Quote Bank!

"Kevin!, On the whole I think C Central have swum absolutely fantastic this year". Jacob Butterfield - C Central.

"Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit"

"I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it". Michael Phelps.

"Train insane, or remain the same".

"Dream. Believe. Achieve".

"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get". Michael Phelps.

"I can definitely take more off my world record - a lot more. I have no doubt about that. I'm by no means putting pressure on myself, it's just the belief I have in myself ..... I'm not going to limit myself by nominating times or anything like that. I never thought I'd do 14:34 and I did. I thought I'd maybe do 14:38 or 14:39 that day, and I went nearly five seconds quicker so I don't want to limit the possibilities". Grant Hackett.

"In training everyone focuses on 90% physical and 10% mental, but in the races it's 90% mental because there's very little that seperates us physically at the elite level". Elka Graham.

"The hardest thing about climbing the ladder of success is getting through the crowd at the bottom".

"We need to create a way of working, and that's why I felt the need to set some rules. For example, we will all eat together, leave the table together - it is all about respecting each other. And being punctual is key". Fabio Capello.

"Unleash the Inner Beast!".

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing". Muhammad Ali.

"Many people say you are as only good as your last race, but we know we are only as good as our next race!".

"It was not the 10 work outs I did every week for four years that allowed me to overcome my competitors, it was the ones that they missed". Graeme Smith (1996).

"It's how you prepare months before in the training pool that will determine your performance at the main event. Your ruthless attendance, quality and consistency of your training will serge you forward to a result you will be happy with!"

"Winning the Gold Medal was undoubtedly the biggest day of my career, mostly because I won the way I had prepared to run it. It was a totally satisfying experience". Frank Shorter (American Athlete, Olympic Gold Medalist) (Munich 1972).

"Go into the sport because you have fun doing it, not because of 'what if's' and dreams of gold medals. That way, no matter what happens, you win". Shannon Miller (American Gymnast, two time Olympic Gold Medalist) (Atlanta 1996).

"As the years go by I train physically harder and I am always trying to go faster, further and higher. I train seven days a week and at the end of the day, I'm pretty tired but I never wish I was anyone else. If I miss a days training I feel guilty and I know I should have done it. I'm conscientious and unless I have a very good reason to, I never miss a session. It seems unfair to train for years and miss days just for the hell of it, and if I ever start to skip days, I would realise my attitude was not right and it was time for me to finish". Olympic Champion.

"Have a clear goal in your head of where you want to be and never give up!".

"Remember what doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you!"

"Not a day goes past where I don't go to bed with aching limbs ..... I have lost friends over it ..... I have lost girlfriends because of it ..... My family hates it ..... The only person that understands it wants to beat me ..... But I love it more than anything in the world!"

"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning". Robert Kiyosaki.

'Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday'. William Rudolph (American Athlete, three-time Olympic Gold medalist) (Rome 1960).

"It's been told that swimming is a wimp sport, but I don't see it. We don't get timeouts in the middle of a race; we can's stop and catch our breath; and we can't ask for a substitution".

"We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think we can".

"In 2004 , I won a bronze. This is a silver. Maybe in 2012, it will be a gold. Slowly, slowly". Eliud Kipchoge (Kenyan Athelete, Olympic silver medalist) (Beijing 2008).

"I came out here to beat everybody in sight and that is exactly what I'm going to do. Sure, I can do anything". Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson (American Athlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist) (Los Angeles 1932).

"Before the (Olympic) trials I was doing a lot of relaxing exercises and visualisation. And I think that that helped me to get a feel of what it was going to be like when I got there. I knew that I had done everything that I could to get ready for that meet, both physically and mentally". Michael Phelps. (6 Gold Medals, 2004 Olympic Games).

"Success comes with determination to get up the morning after the hardest practice of your life and do it all over again!"

"There is nothing like the smell of chlorine in the morning, and nothing like the smell of victory in the evening"

"Enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment and quit worrying bout winning and losing". Matt Biondi. (American Swimmer, eight-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992).

"You only get one shot, go out there and do your best". Chad le Clos (200m Butterfly Champion).

"No negative thoughts cross my mind on race day. When I look into their eyes, I know I'm going to beat them". Danny Harris. (American Athlete, Olympic Silver Medallist. Los Angeles 1984).

"When I go out and race, I'm not trying to beat opponents, I'm trying to beat what I have done ... to beat myself, basically. People find that hard to believe because we've had such a bias to always strive to win things. If you win something and you haven't put everything into it, you haven't actually achieved anything at all. When you've had to work hard for something and you've got the best you can out of yourself on that given day, that's where you get satisfaction from". Ian Thorpe.

"I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let other swimmers think about me, not me about them". Amanda Beard.

"An athlete cannot race with money in his pockets. He must race with hope in his heart and dreams in his head". Emil Zatopek. (Four Time Olympic Gold Medallist).

"If you win something and you haven't put everything into it, you haven't actually achieved anything at all. When you've had to work for something and you've got the best you can out of yourself on that given day, that's where you get satisfaction from". Ian Thorpe. (Australian swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medallist. Sydney 2000, Athens 2004).

"No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up and never give up!".

"Push harder than yesterday if you want a different tomorrow".

"Champions train, losers complain".

"Success isn't overnight. It's when everyday you get a little better than the day before. It all adds up." Dwayne Johnson.

"Life is full of disappointments, failures and setbacks. None of those things can permanently stop you. You have the power to overcome anything that life throws at you. There is nothing as powerful as a made up mind. Surround yourself with people who remind you that you matter, and support you in the ways that matter most to you. No person, situation, or circumstance can define who you are. Don't give up. cave in, or stop believing that it's possible. It's not over until you win."

Regional Age Group - Notice Board

Thursday 23 November 2023

Junior League National Final (Sunday 26th November)