Our Last Training Day :(

And that's a wrap folks. We've done all of the Training there is to be done on this training camp. Swimmers I hope you are reading this and its Sunday morning, as if not I should've gone to bed!

I'll go through our day today with pictures and a few words as has been done for each day so far. I hope all of the fun and excitement that we've had today comes across in this post.

Again our alarms go off at 5:00AM, with us rolling out of bed into the BBF kit we have been wearing proudly this week. Grabbing the essentials and making our way down the 10 floors to the lobby to meet and get our cereal bars off of Susan and Terri-Louise, who've ensured their downstairs before everyone else yet again to enable us to get something to eat whilst we congregate before walking to the pool.

On our way to the pool the realization that it's our last day sinks in, there is some excitement about that we are going to have some fun later in the outdoor pool but also some unspoken sadness too that this fantastic week with our Blue Fins family is about to come to an end.
We arrive at the pool and the swimmers put their bags down outside the entrance as usual and get started with their jogging up and down the walkway in front of the building. We go through the heart raising, mobilization, activation and potentiation with a bit more focus today, it's the last hard session we have in Torremolinos and we are going to #SMASH-IT. We then realize that 6:00AM has come and gone, it's now 6:10 and we are still outside, and so are the lifeguards! The BBF Swim Camp staff are on the case with Sports Abroad rep Gloria (I know your like me and picturing the Hippo from Madagascar - I assure you that is an injustice, Gloria is nothing like the animated movie-star we are picturing!). Gloria explains that the pool doesn't open until 8AM, this kinda confused us due to our booking being 6-8, and Susan is looking at her phone as if it's in a different language BUT NO, the email does say that our training times are confirmed in the Indoor pool, Tuesday to Saturday 6-8:00AM! We continue with the pre-pool work and go into a bit more Activation and Potentiation, with me (Craig) thinking 'oh dear, I don't have 2 hours of land training, outside, with no equipment - planned or even unplanned locked away in my still half-asleep brain!! We are then offered the outdoor pool from 7-9, it's 6:20 and I start to think oh no! with that finish time i'll miss out on the Sausage Sandwich i've been promising myself all week!! (i've gotta be honest - sorry!!). But it's ok, the manager shows up in his Peugeot 206 with the key! I'd like to say the swimmers are all delighted BUT I think some of them were secretly thinking 'oh drat - we nearly got away without swimming' or no, never they wouldn't wish for that would they!?!?

Anyway onto the swimming, we were then given our 2 hour time slot so had 6:30-8:30 instead of 6-8:00. Great! The Sausage Sandwich is a go!! YES!!!

The session was a hard one (surprise of the year!) but this time a Pace Set. Something Blue-Fins can handle like no other, with a ton of Number 1 stroke 50s @ 200Pace and 100s Freestyle at 400Pace, the swimmers absolutely killed it! With our Boys Captain leading the way this morning with great pace times. We had a number of swimmers stretching, rolling, and generally keeping themselves together. Also a few not feeling 100% so just resting but being there with the team. We then had a little chat at the end after post pool work where the swimmers were informed that we would be getting breakfast, they could then collect their evaluated log books from myself and Darren before heading to bed for some rest. We would be doing lunch a little different today, the usual food was starting to get a little boring so we had decided that we'd go to the little supermarket that the ladies had gone and tracked down for us the day before.

To cut a long story short - we did exactly that and all had rolls from the bakery section with Ham & Cheese, the swimmers were also allowed to buy a few little bits to have with their lunch, not as much as they tried to get past us though!! Note: oh and family members, there should be a good number of presents coming your way that we're assured are not for them to have and that's why they just had to buy this stuff that they definitely aren't going to eat..... that's got to be the truth rite?!? Lunch was great, I think everyone appreciated the break from routine on this, our last day :-( !!

After lunch we had about 45min to get packed and back downstairs with our kit for the pool session, yes - the fun session! We arrived at the pool to be greeted by the pool staff/lifeguards who then told us that again - they were giving us 4 lanes, this was perfect as we have 4 teams that the swimmers have been split into to score points over the camp to be the top team. So we did a warm-up in Team lanes. We stayed in these lanes long after the warm-up and started doing some interesting drills in pairs. After the drills we then started some relays, with simple ones like 4x50FR, 4x50MR and then moved onto 2man medley where the swimmers had to go in pairs, 2 doing Fly/BK and the other 2 doing BR/FR, with bands keeping a leg each together and arms linked of-course! This was a fantastic source of laughter and entertainment for the staff and we took the opportunity to take some #FAIL pictures of the swimmers doing this! After some more fun relays we then had some group pictures of the swimmers and had to get one of Will in as he was feeling a little fragile during this session so didn't get in the water.

We then had some more group photos, before then having some more group photos!!










We then got onto the football pitch on the inside of the running track and the swimmers had a football tournament, the winning team being Team-1! Due to the enjoyment being had we decided to stay a little longer and the swimmers had a combined match, teams 1&4 vs 2&3. I can tell you that it was teams 2&3 that won this match with some very tense penalties being taken to decided the winners of this match (and some impressive saves from some - I'm sure Charlotte will show you the video of her saving the ball at some point!!).

We then made our way back to the hotel to get showered and changed for the Team Meal. For this, once again we owe it to our Team Managers, Susan and Terri-Louise for finding us a restaraunt that want's to take 17 extremely hungry swimmers in, and 4 nutcase adults that agreed to be responsible for them for a whole week! The meal was at a restaurant called Little Italy (I don't feel I need to explain the type of cuisine they serve...), it was a fantastic little place with some delicious Pizzas that we all thoroughly enjoyed - even if some of us were kept waiting longer than others!!!! It was a very enjoyable evening with a group of wonderful Kids and Staff, as was the whole week. And a perfect last day to finish off on a high.

The smugness rite now.... ;-D

We are looking forward to seeing all of you back at home tomorrow :D

Goodnight - Oh and yes, the weather was amazing!!!

#DOMESTIC

DUDES!

Watch me whip.....

Training Day 4 - The BIG Challenge...

Today started off much like our 1st Training day, with a session based on 200s. Some swimmers are getting tired/worn down a little now with the volume of training & effort they are putting in. A perfect example of this is our very own Tom Thornley this morning, feeling a little unwell and needing to catch up on sleep (picture below). Nevertheless this was the time for our younger swimmers to shine!! With all of them working hard and showing how they are able to put in the work over and over again. A few of the older swimmers, especially Captain Chloe were right there, showing that the old-timers aren't out yet!!

 After the session the swimmers were told that they needed to get some more rest today, and that they therefore will be expected to return to their rooms to rest after breakfast. All did this and felt the benefits this afternoon in their challenge set.

Once finished at lunch some of the boys decided they'd have a bit of a Table-Tennis tournament, I'm still waiting for that ball to end up in the hotel pool and one of them go flying in after it!!

Following on from lunch, we had a little more time to rest before heading over to the outdoor pool. With the weather a little overcast swimmers (and staff) had on their jogging bottoms and hoodies to stay warm and well over the afternoon.

The session 2-4PM was another Challenge session. Warm up was 1K Championship style warm-up, followed by a Maximal effort block of swims. Our younger swimmers (B14&U/G13&U) did 10x400 IM on either 7:00 or 7:30, our B15YO did 12x200 ALT 1FR/1No1 on 4:00, and our older swimmers 16&O (age as of 31/12/2016) did 12x50 + Med-Ball Slams. With a look of envy in the eyes of our younger swimmers, they all set off. We had a whole bunch of swimmers SMASH this set up, showing real determination and achieving some fantastic times from it. The pool staff were very good to us today & gave us an extra lane to use. This meant that we had exceptionally low numbers of swimmers per lane which meant they were able to leave good gaps between each other and eradicate any cheeky drafting from the craftiest of our Blue-Fins swimmers.

Happy Swimmers :D

After a nice easy swim down we then made our way to the track just outside the pool area. We used our land training session today to do a little sprint running but also some dynamic moving and stretching.

Mr Flexable

Need a book Liv?

Can you feel the stretch Freddie??

#POSER

With all of the swimmers helping each other to stretch, we had a good time learning some new stretches and i think they had an especially good time 'helping' their partners to feel the stretch!!
Needles to say, it was nice to do something different today and I'm sure many of them are feeling the benefit of some proper time and attention to stretching out all of their aches and pains after the afternoon's session.

The swimmers then met after dinner to complete today's extra opportunity to score points for their teams... in the QUIZ! I can announce that the winning team was that of Tom, Will, Charlotte I & Freddie A-S with 14 out of a possible 18 correct answers - Well done!

We go into our last day tomorrow feeling a little sad that it's coming to an end. We've really seen some fantastic efforts from the swimmers this week and thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend some extra time with them. I think it's only fitting that I finish today's post in the usual manner... with a couple of group and TEAM shots.

Goodnight all.

TEAM

Training Day 3 - Karma....

So yes... I'm feeling a little silly for gloating about the weather yesterday. Unfortunately we weren't blessed with sunshine today BUT we are hopeful for tomorrow!

A contrast to yesterday's shot.

Morning training was a recovery session today. The swimmers were somewhat tired after their big session last night. We did some work on kicking technique and drills before a little build swim, there should be some interesting things written in the log books with what they were doing (very happy with some of them really considering technical and skill aspects of their swimming). The Log Books got reviewed by the coaches yesterday & lets just say, we are hoping for some more gripping reading material when we check tomorrow.

Anyway back to the day. We had down on the schedule to go for a run/land training at 11:30 (or thereabouts), but after having a day with and a day without it, we decided it's too much within a short space of time due to our early afternoon swimming sessions. Therefore the swimmers got to rest up well and recover ready for the days Session 2 Challenge: Xx100s

We had a brief team chat before heading to the Outdoor pool for the day. Unfortunately it was brought to our attention that ALL of the swimmers at some point over the camp so far, had used the lift. I'd like to take the opportunity at this point to tell you, I haven't!! Yes all 10 flights, every time. (The swimmers tell me its 171 steps). So we had a think about our punishment for the little darlings.... :)

Upon arriving at the pool we found it looking a little like a steam room, with the coldness in the air (yes i know i shouldn't have been so cocky about it yesterday) and the warmth of the pool, it was a little foggy. Nevertheless this didn't deter the swimmers from their mission - the Xx100 set!

We started the set on 01:50 and reduced the turn around time by 1 sec every 100M repeat (so 1:50, 1:49, 1:48 and so on...) the swimmers did a fantastic job, with almost everyone beating their target, and the one or two that didn't still doing a final time to be proud of! Once all done with the set we did a swim down (approx. 15min) and then allowed the swimmers to have a extra long shower. Unfortunately this was wonderful for the boys but not so much for the girls, with the showers being cold until maintenance have them fixed!

We then had our PUNISHMENT land set - or shall we say alternate option from taking the stairs...

The swimmers had to repeat a set of running half a football pitch, doing 10 press-ups, running back and doing 10 crunches - 15 times (once for every ray of sunshine that was at the session). This turned out to be a fantastic land session in the end, especially with some of the swimmers encouraging the others in their teams (they are currently split into 4 teams and earning points for effort, sportsmanship and other good deeds, and equally losing points for things like lateness, USING THE LIFT!!!, and other rule breaking acts). The swimmer that came in first therefore only lost 1 point for their team, the 2nd - 2 and so on to 15th losing a whopping 15 for their team. I'm not going to tell you the points at present but it is a close race between them so far.

We then came back to the hotel for a little down time and then DINNER. Dinner was amazing, we went to the other restaurant in the hotel, which was more of a Bar Grill Buffet. The swimmers had definitely deserved this with their efforts in the Xx100s and the land session. I think I speak for all when I say it was divine! Everyone was allowed chips and desserts so there was a fair few extra smiles at the tables tonight :) - Captain Bird nearly knocked me over when I informed the table he was on that we thought that it was fair to allow them a dessert for their efforts over the day... and he says he isn't a sprinter! Bolt - watch out!!






I think a summary would be - drizzly day but the kids were still shining brightly. Maybe i'm being a little too nice but they have made their coaches & staff proud tonight.

I hope you're all well back at home and missing us all greatly! :D

Goodnight

Another one of the TEAM :D
(TT & CCL at hotel with TLP as unwell)

#SELFIE

Training Day 2 - The Amazing Sunshine Has Arrived!!!!

Yes we are going to rub it in!!! We had a day with fantastic sunshine and it was AWESOME!!
Even in this afternoon's session we saw 21 degrees... look ----> 
See it actually was - not even lying!!!!



Anyway, onto the detail... this morning we had our MAX KICK Session. The swimmers doing a building session with 8x50, 4x100, 2x200 and 1x400. Some great efforts in this session, keeping it going from yesterday.

Today we didn't have a 'run' session allocated, and therefore the swimmers (and staff) made the most of the free time to catch up on rest/sleep. This seemed to work well (certainly for me personally!!) and the swimmers all seemed more refreshed this afternoon, ready for their big aerobic set. We will more than likely do the same tomorrow, with the intention of doing some more land work after the afternoon's challenge set.

As i've already mentioned, we had blinding sunshine throughout the day from seeing it rise whilst indoors at the 50M indoor pool, to watching it go down from our balconies. Due to this the swimmers seemed much happier/warmer in the pool for the PM session. We had the chance to get some more pre-pool work done (as if the walk isn't enough for us staff!!) and then got stuck into the pool session. The swimmers had 12x300 working different bits Build swim, MAX Effort & DPS Freestyle. A few got out not feeling well, but have improved well over the afternoon/evening. For those that were in, there was some great swimming. Some fast turn around times for this ranging from 3:45 in the top lane, to 4:45 for the younger swimmers! A fantastic achievement from them all.

Due to the weather holding up for us, we decided to get some stretch-band work done after the session (once the swimmers had changed). All got on with this well, some hadn't done too much of this before so learnt some new injury prevention exercises here.

Due to the great effort from the swimmers today, we decided we'd allow them a small trip to the local shop opposite for a few little snack items if they wanted to. with some time to go put their things away and fill in their log books, we set a meet time of 18:00 - let me inform all of you parents now... these kids were ALL on time. for the first time this camp... EVERY SINGLE SWIMMER was there 5min early to go get some bits from the shop. this was pointed out to them with a 'request' for all to now do it again tomorrow morning for training!! A few little things were bought in the shop by the swimmers as they deserved a more tasty snack.

Dinner was good, all still seem to be eating well. Hydration seems to be the lacking part at the minute but they are improving, Our water-ladies inform me that more and more are having bottle refills during the sessions which we're delighted to know.

A number of swimmers then headed straight off to bed after dinner (around 19:45/20:00) to get some extra sleep, I think the training demands are now forcing them to make good decisions to keep themselves functioning effectively.

Here's a team photo for the day:

Goodnight all!
Note: Stay tuned to see how they get on with tomorrow afternoon's challenge set.

Training Day 1 - Familiarization & the Work Begins

Training day 1 begins! We all wake around 5/5:15 to the suspiciously sprightly Terri-Louise bidding us good morning. Not a bad effort from the team with getting to the lobby on time, we won't have the luxury of a wake-up call from our one-in-a-million welfare officer - fingers crossed all are up on time tomorrow (otherwise their teams will be unhappy with them losing points!!)

We had a tough set this morning, with a fairly high volume to get the swimmers used to swimming Long-Course as quickly as possible. Some fantastic efforts from the swimmers, with many working times harder than back home when swimming Short-Course.

We had a terrific few announcements to make, firstly highlighting Alex's recent move from Potential 1 into Performance 2, but also now both Ben and Liv's move from Performance 2 into Performance 1. All very well deserved moves!!

It was only fair that being so close to the beach, we used our 'run' time to find the beach and do a little land training by the sea. This seemed to be a big hit with both the swimmers and staff! We didn't have the best weather whilst down there but had some time to get our toes wet and do a little bit of exercise on the sand.

Oh and Terri-Louise was bursting with excitement once again, this time due to the green parrots down on the beach, something I'm told brought back memories from last years camp....

We had a little bit of time to get some pictures on the beach, something which our Mini-Fins 3 coach Charlotte, along with our Girls Captain Chloe were more than happy to take the lead with #Posers . We then got stuck in with a run (nothing big at all) even the two coaches got stuck in with this, BUT one swimmer decided he'd cut the run short to get back before the leaders... oh yes, Mr Whitley was then awarded a re-run as his prize for such a cunning trick!

 

Just as we decided to leave to get lunch we felt a little dribble of rain start to make itself known! So we had a speedy walk back to the hotel, via a lovely staircase I can see being used later in the week....

We had a good bit of lunch before heading to the pool, this time the Outdoor one!!! With the swimmers all warmed up (it was a little chilly!) we then started on the afternoon's challenge, 30x100 Freestyle, best average time. We had some fantastic efforts from the swimmers with a mixture of older and younger, performance and potential swimmers all getting stuck in and impressing the coaches.

We then had a goal-setting meeting before dinner, some truly lovely food once again! (all doing well to resist the cakes!!!!!!) and the swimmers then got to have a good bit of down time to relax and do as they please (within reason) before bed at 9:30PM.

Let's hope we have a 2nd day with just as much success as the first. 

Goodnight everyone.

(some additional pictures from the day below)