"The Power Behind Your Potential!"

Coaches' Corner

Tips:

1. How to register for a meet

Articles:

1. Down to the Core (Core Strength in Swimming)

2. Why We Believe

3. Oh So Very Sore . . . And How To Stop Bobbin'

4. Filling Up At The Pre-event Meal

5. Small Bites

6. Recovery

7. Staying Hydrated

8. Victory Vittles

9. Food On The Fly

10. Nutrition I.Q.

11. Goldminds: Swimming & School

12. Character Counts

10/08/2007 
Hey Swimmers !
     What an awesome job at the KATY meet.  Everyone had a lot of fun and performed like true athletes.  Good swims and great times.  I enjoyed the weekend very much, but I lost my voice cheering for you guys on Saturday.  That's okay though, it will come back.  We will be focusing on a few things this week that Coach Jen and I noticed need some improvement.  Starts, turns, finishes, and breathing so be prepared and remember practice does not always make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.  See you guys on deck!  Elizabeth Tillotson & Kris Abbey earn MVP of the meet scoring 49 and 16 point respectively.

Coach Clay

10/15/2007
Great Job at HCAP!
     Way to go swimmers.  NEHA finished in 6th place this past weekend at the HCAP 10 & Under meet.  Everybody showed improvement in times, and we had a lot of fun doing it.  Hunter Watkins & Ashley Pollok earn MVP of the meet scoring 16 and 61 points respectively.

Coach Sara & Coach Jen

10/22/2007
Congratulations Elizabeth,
     Elizabeth Tillotson competed in both the 100 and the 50 Breastroke this past weekend at the PACK All-Star Qualifying meet.  On Saturday she dropped 3.9 seconds in her 100 Breast to finish 3rd, and Sunday dropped 1.2 seconds in her 50 Breast and finished 2nd.  This secured her a spot on the 2007 Gulf All-Star Team and will be competing at the 2007 LSC All-Star Championship Meet in Corpus Christi on November 10th and 11th.  Way to go!  Good Luck and Have fun.

Coach Jen 

10/29/2007
Way to go Swimmers!
     What an impressive weekend you guys had.  Everyone who went showed great improvement either in achieving a personal best in time or looking a lot stronger and correcting their strokes.  The women had two relays this weekend.  The 11-12 relay consisting of Malia Swerdloff, Alexa Garrison, Elizabeth Tillotson, and Amanda Pinney finished 6th picking up 6 points for the team, and the 10 & Under relay consisting of Laura Johns, Hanzelle Kleeman, Ashley Pollok, and Katy Esparza placed 5th earning 8 points.  A big congratulations to Shawn Denegre-Vaught, Jonathan Ng, and Samantha Huffy as they competed in their 1st meet.  You guys and gals should be proud of your first meet.  We can't wait to see what you'll accomplish in the future!  Our MVP's of the meet go to Fernando Saenz and Jacob Gillespie for the men, and Elizabeth Tillotson and Ashley Pollok for the women.  

Coach Clay

11/06/2007
Hello NEHA Parents and Swimmers,

We want to thank the following swimmers who participated in our first USA Swim-a-thon and the 100+ and 200 lengths that were attained:

 Kris Abbey
 Megan Anderson 100+
 Melissa Badeaux 100+
 Brooke Bailey 100+
 Leo Baralt 100+
 Shawn Denegre-Vaught
 Katy Esparza
 Tony Frey
 Sarah Gallow
 Alexa Garrison 100+
 Tori Gatling
 Grant Goedjen
 Anna Goodell
 Jonathon Hickey
 Samantha Huffy 100+
 Laura Johns 100+
 Hanzelle Kleeman
 Troy Phillips
 Amanda Pinney 100+
 Ashley Pollock 100+
 Katie Power
 Clay Pruitt 200
 Kristen Rushing 100+
 Malia Swerdloff 100+
 Elizabeth Tillotson 200
 Callee Torrey 100+
 Hunter Watkins 100+
 Riley Wilson

Congratulations to everyone who swam and Thank You! Together we raised $1,412.50. After returning a portion to USA Swimming we will be applying these funds to the purchase of starting blocks.

We also have to acknowledge the top two swimmers......
Hunter Watkins came in first with a total of $374.00 and Coach Clay came in second with $320.00.

Congratulations Hunter your Legos are on the way. Coach Clay you have earned the privilege of coaching another great season of NEHA!!

11/27/2007
Over the weekend of November 10th and 11th, NEHA participated in two exciting meets. One being the Texas All-Star meet which Elizabeth Tillotson qualified for in the 50 and 100 breast. She along with other swimmers from local USA teams competed as a Gulf team and won the meet! Elizabeth finished 3rd in the 50 breast, 8th in the 100 breast and the medley relay placed third. Texas is a competitive swimming state and to swim in the Gulf area is more of a challenge. The coaches are proud of her accomplishment and for representing NEHA!

At the 10 and under meet at Kingwood High School, all of our swimmers performed very well! Coach Sara, Jan and I were so impressed with your races. Ashley Pollock walked away with an impressive five 1st place finishes. She is inching her way to TAGS times. Laura Johns dropped five seconds in her 200 IM and scored points in the event. Hunter finished his first 100 IM and 50 breast. Aubrey Baker and Jordan Anderson competed in their first USA meet and both scored points. Katy Esparza was a very impressive anchor on the relays. Leo Baralt raced his first 100 fly and 200 IM and placed in the top eight. You all raced like true champions! Your hard work is paying off. Our MVP's of the meet are Ashley Pollock and Hunter Watkins scoring 59 and 7 points. Way to go NEHA!

Coach Jen

12/04/2007
This week at practice we will be handing out articles regarding proper nutrition before and during meets. It is very important to eat and drink properly to fuel your body to swim fast. You can also find information at www.usaswimming.org.  This just in time for the Winter Champs meet this weekend!!! Have fun and swim fast.

Coach Sara and Jen

12/11/2007
NEHA swimmers are going strong! 
The Gulf area of Texas is one of the most competitive in the sport of swimming, and you guys are definitely standing out. Ashley Pollock and Laura Johns competed in Austin at the awesome University of Texas facility. Ashley took all first places out of her seven events, and Laura placed second in the 200 breast, 5th in the 50 breast, 8th in the 200 IM, and two 9th places in the 50 free and 100 breast! For 10 and under swimmers this is quite impressive.

Elizabeth Tillotson competed in the Gulf Age Group Championships which is a qualifying meet. She was competing against the top swimmers in the area. She placed 4th in the 50 breast, 9th in the 100 breast and 13th in the 200 breast! Way to represent!

At the Sienna Plantation meet we saw our 11-14 year old swimmers swimming in certain events for the first time and performed very well. They raced a few longer distance events, and their hard work certainly paid off. Amanda Pinney placed 4th in the 50 breast and 8th in the 200 breast. Fernando Saenz took both 6th places in the 50 free and 100 IM, and 9th places in the 50 back and 100 free!

Coach Jen

12/21/2007
Hey Swimmers!
Recently Coach Jen's picture was published in the November/December 2007 issue of USMS Swimmer magazine.  The picture was taken while she was competing at the 2007 USMS Long Course Championship Meet in the Woodlands.  Check it out here.  Way to represent Jen!

01/07/2008
What an AWESOME event !!  It's the only way to describe how you guys & gals did at the A&M Open this past weekend.  You all had a perfect meet.  Over all there were 98.56 seconds in time improvements this weekend.  That is a lot of time!  Just some of the highlights . . .  Elizabeth Tillotson dropped 19.13 seconds in her 500 Free & 4.59 seconds in her 100 Fly.  Malia Swerdloff dropped 12.15 seconds in her 200 IM.  Alexa Garrison dropped 8.61 seconds in her 100 Back.  Amanda Pinney 6.87 seconds in her 200 Breast.  Fernando Saenz dropped 4.29 seconds in his 100 Back.  Meaghan Anderson dropped 3.40 seconds in her 50 Breast.  Kris Abbey dropped 2.92 seconds in his 200 Free.  Daisy Beals dropped 1.80 seconds in her 200 IM & 1.76 seconds in her 100 Back.  There were a lot of swimmers swimming in events for the first time including Kris Abbey in the 1650 Free, and our newest swimmer at the meet Jake Harrison who swam the 50 & 100 Free, 50 & 100 Back, as well as the 50 Breast, and performed very well for only his second US Meet!  We are all very proud of your accomplishments at the meet this weekend.  Keep up the great work!  Our Most Improved swimmer for the meet goes to Malia Swerdloff for improvement in 6 out of the 7 events she swam.

Coach Clay

01/21/2008
The 8 and under TWST Meet is always a FUN event to attend. It is a perfect time for our young swimmers to swim in their first USA meet. One of NEHA’s newest competitors had an extremely successful day. David Fluker entered the meet with No Times and placed 1^st in the 25 fly, 1st in the 25 Free, 2^nd in the 25 back, and 2^nd in the 100 IM. Leah Posey also swam her first USA meet and performed well.  Jordan Anderson placed 5^th in the 25 breast and continues to drop times as well as Hanzelle Kleeman who placed 7^th in the 25 breast. Aubrey Baker placed 5^th in the 50 breast. Hunter Watkins and Rachel Gillespie got through their flip turns for the first time in a competition in their 50 free! Way to Go! (Thanks to Jan and Meagan) Hunter Watkins placed 8^th in his 100 IM and Ashley Pollock WON the 50 breast, 2^nd in the 50 fly and 100 IM, and 7^th in the 50 free which was a Very competitive heat!  Overall NEHA scored 123 points! YEAH!!! Ashley Pollock took 3^rd place in High points and David Fluker took 2^nd overall for the 8 and unders at this meet. We are extremely proud of all our swimmers!!!

Coach Jen and Coach Jan

02/04/2008
What an amazing weekend in Austin! Next year I would encourage more of our NEHA swimmers to participate! There were teams not only from Texas, but also Florida, Oregon and Bermuda! Laura Johns and Ashley Pollock competed a few months ago at the UT facility, and this was their second go around. Laura fought hard to stay close to her best times, and her best race was the 200 free in which she dropped 2 seconds. Ashley Pollock performed personal best times in her events. Her biggest drop was the 200 IM. Her seeded time was a 3:15.00 and she swam a 2:57.04. Her most impressive swims came Sunday night at finals. In the 50 fly she was shooting for her TAGS time. She came in with a 35.41 (TAGS is a 34.29), finished with a 33.47 and placed second in the 10 and under group! Shortly after she competed in the consolation finals for the 100 breast and dropped 3 more seconds from prelims. She had already cut three seconds that morning! The next day she obtained her 50 breast TAGS time. That makes two! Siobhan McGurk, Katy Esparza and Fernando Saenz competed for the first time at the UT pool, and the facility made quite an impression. Fernando performed personal best times in all of his events. Katy dropped between 2 and 5 seconds in all of her swims! This is Katy and Fernando's first USA season and their technique has improved with every competition! Siobhan stayed right on her best times and had an impressive 10 second drop in her 100 back! The girls had a fantastic medley relay Sunday night. They all raced beautifully and dropped 3 seconds off their time! And to add more excitement to the weekend, Olympic athletes Aaron Peirsol and Ian Crocker were around signing autographs and taking pictures with the swimmers! Keep up the hard work! The season is winding down, but remember LONG COURSE is around the corner!!!

Coach Jen

02/04/2008
NEHA started the meet on Friday night with an impressive 33 points from Kris Abbey, Rachel Martin, and Elizabeth Tillotson.  Rachel dropped 3 seconds in her 200 IM and got 1st place.  She also took first in the 500 Free.  Kris placed 2nd in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 500 Free.  The swim of the night was Elizabeth's 500 Free when she dropped 25 seconds and finished 7th overall.  What a way to start a meet! Saturday began with the 200 free and Hunter Watkins swam the event for the first time (along with the 50 fly) and finished with a 4:15.69! He placed first in the 8 and under group. Elizabeth Tillotson had a successful meet, dropping 4 seconds in her 200 free and 100 back and a 1/2 a second in her 50 free. The 200 free was an impressive event to watch. Daisy Beals dropped 10 seconds, Andres Baralt dropped 2 seconds and Evan Rowan and Kris Abbey both broke 2 minutes! Aubrey Richardson, Malia Swerdloff and Alexa Garrison had outstanding races this weekend. They dropped significant time in the 100 breast and stayed right on their best in the 50 free and breast. Matthew Power, Shelby Eastman and Allyson Hunter competed in their first USA meet and swam exceptionally well! Hanzelle Kleeman swam an impressive 500 free staying on a consistent pace time for each 50! Sunday was filled with fast times.  We had 37 swims, and 31 of them were best times!  Our 10 and unders did exceptionally well.  Jordan Anderson dropped a total of 19 seconds across 3 races, and David and Brent Fluker did best times in all of their events.  Allyson and Leah both same the 50 backstroke and did great.  Rachel Martin had a good day, getting best times in all her events, and breaking 5 minutes in the 400 IM.  Some other outstanding swims were Malia in the 100 Free, dropping 23 seconds, Alexa dropping 7 seconds in the 200 breast, and Shawn dropping 6 seconds in the 100 Free.  Elizabeth made the 12yr old TAGS time in the 200 breast with a time of 2:43!!  Megan Anderson, Amanda Pinney, and Aubrey and Maddie Richardson all had good swims.  Everyone had a blast and showed great team support, cheering everyone else on.  Way to go NEHA!!!

Coach Clay, Jen, & Sara