Do you want to be safe and good, or do
you want to take a chance and be great?
James William "Jimmy" Johnson
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Sunday, October 09, 2022
Quote of the Day
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Saturday, October 01, 2022
Quote of the Day
Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one
less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Lee Frost
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Quote of the Day
Everything you want in life has a price connected
to it. There's a price to pay if you want to make
things better, a price to pay just for leaving
things as they are, a price for everything.
Harry Edson Browne
Monday, September 05, 2022
Quote of the Day
In my own life, as the nearer I get to the end of
life on this earth, the simpler I want to become.
Fred McFeely Rogers
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Quote of the Day
I may have many faults, but
being wrong ain't one of them.
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Quote of the Day
An optimist is a fellow who believes a
housefly is looking for a way to get out.
George Jean Nathan
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Quote of the Day
Failure seldom stops you. What
stops you is the fear of failure.
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III
Monday, July 25, 2022
StrokeMax Podcast with Norbert Ágh
This gentleman truly is a globetrotter!
He was in the states recently at The World Games in Birmingham Alabama. Ágh works with the Hungarian National Lifesaving team. They took home two relay golds in men's competition, along with a pair of silvers for the women.
We've been trying to pin Norbie down to visit and he found a few minutes for us last week.
Here's our episode with Hungarian Olympian Norbert Ágh:
We love to throw out terms like "feel for the water" and "early vertical forearm" in our sport.
Norbie's StrokeMax anti-paddles require swimmers to use those forearms and enhance their feel for the water.
Buy two (2) pair and get a third pair free here
Quote of the Day
I'd rather make the cut in the
Crosby than win another Oscar.
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Pool Markers
"Okay, kids, yer gonna do underwater dolphin kick to the first rust spot, then break out and swim butterfly to the missing tile section. From there, let's see sprint freestyle to the wall...but no breaths from the plaster patch to the finish."
Looking for a better way?
Make some pool markers that are:
- easy for athletes to use,
- safe for the pool bottom,
- simple for you to store,
- & cheap to make.
Materials I used to make mine:
- one 10' stick of 1" schedule 40 pvc pipe
- 24 1" schedule 40 pvc caps
- pea gravel
- cleaner/glue
- spray primer/paint
Sorry, no video to go with this. If you need help working w/pvc, spray paint, etc., you can find it at YouTube. My materials/methods certainly aren't the only way to go. Threw in a few hints. Take 'em or leave 'em.
1. CUT - Cut your pvc pipe down to size. I wanted to make a dozen markers, so each piece was around 10". Do they have to be perfect? Nope. We're not building a violin here, are we? I buzzed them off w/a Sawzall.
b. GLUE - Glue a cap to the end of each pipe piece. If you're not used to working w/cleaner & glue, just find a short video and you'll be fine.
If videos don't remind you, it's a good idear to give about a quarter twist to spread glue well.
III. FILL - Fill the pipe w/pea gravel, sand, or both. If you purchased BB's, ball bearings, etc. for this purpose, ATF is at your door by now and you can skip the rest...
4. GLUE - Glue the other cap on the opposite end. Quarter twist.
E. GRIND - I
added this step in case you have a slightly sloping pool bottom or currents that
might cause your markers to roll. Just flatten out one side of the caps
with a grinder if this is a concern. Yes, pvc will get hot and melt some.
VI. PAINT - Paint your markers with colors that will stand out against the background of your pool bottom. I roughed up the surfaces first using orbital sander. Don't ask me what grit, I have no clue. We're not building a piano, right?
Stores sell spray paint for plastic, so look for that. You might want to use primer, then the color you're finishing with. They sell combo primer/paint for plastic as well.
Several light coats > one thick one.
You say you're a high school coach without an extra second to spare?
Delegate!
This is so easy, a water polo coach caveman can do it!
Diving coach need a pep talk? Tell him/her to relax! This is basic stuff - 101 tuck, baby - 1.2!
Quote of the Day
If you think it's hard to meet new people,
try picking up the wrong golf ball.
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Quote of the Day
The government at all levels is overly represented by white
men. That's part of the problem, and I'm a white man.
Saturday, July 16, 2022
Quote of the Day
At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable,
as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding,
ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism
is a philosophy of sniveling brats.
Patrick Jake "P.J." O'Rourke
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Quote of the Day
It is a way to take people's wealth from them without
having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the
most universal tax of all.
Thomas Sowell
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Quote of the Day
The more I heard that I couldn't make it, the more I
was determined to do it. I never liked being told
that I'm not good enough to do this or that.
Archie Mason Griffin
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
You asked for it...
...okay, so you didn't ask for it, but here it is anyway.
DJA has our recent Swim Talk A2B podcast episodes up on YouTube.
We talked to writer/swimmer Mike Stott about getting publicity for your swim program:
Dana & I visited with our buddy Patrick Henry so he could share what he learned in his two interim coaching jobs at MAC and New Trier.
Great stuff for coaches taking the reins in an already established program. So much to talk about, we had to break it into two parts.
Part I:
Part B:
Most recently, VP of Sales for American Shield Roofing and Construction's Jon Lamson took the time to chat about the Victoria Advocate's Varsity Cup.
American Shield is a major sponsor of the event that recognizes local high school athletes and coaches for their efforts beyond the court, field, and pool:
Monday, July 11, 2022
Wednesday, July 06, 2022
Quote of the Day
Too often I would hear men boast of the miles
covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.
Louis Dearborn L'Amour
Tuesday, July 05, 2022
Quote of the Day
Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth,
but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and
austere, like that of sculpture.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell
Monday, July 04, 2022
Quote of the Day
Never in human history have we ever blamed a product's
failure on the people who didn't use it; and then
thanked the product after it failed us.
 |
| via YouTube |
Steven James Deace
Sunday, July 03, 2022
Quote of the Day
If one does not know to which port
one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Saturday, July 02, 2022
2022 Directors' Cup
It was a Texas repeat in the Division I Directors' Cup.
The Longhorns grabbed NCAA titles in men's indoor track, rowing, women's tennis, and men's golf. Texas needed runner-up finishes in six (6) sports, including both the men's and women's swimming, to pull away from 2nd place Stanford. The Cardinal had won a record 25 consecutive Directors' Cups from 1995 to 2019.
Links to his year's final D-I standings and all previous years (all divisions):
Quote of the Day
You can't do ordinary stuff and expect unique results.
Michael Pettaway "Mike" Tomlin
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
BOGO Free!
 |
| via Pinterest |
Used to think "BOGO" was a dangerous chemical.
Sign at CVS said "Tide Detergent, BOGO Free!"
Thought to myself "Damn, hope we're not using detergent with that BOGO in it!"
Quote of the Day
Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your
nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.
Joseph Rudyard Kipling
Monday, June 27, 2022
Quote of the Day
Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is
to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.
Henry Valentine Miller
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Quote of the Day
Vitality shows in not only the ability to
persist but the ability to start over.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Quote of the Day
Read, every day, something no one else is reading.
Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day, something no one else would be
silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to
continually be part of unanimity.
Christopher Darlington Morley
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Quote of the Day
If you make it in the NBA, for your entire life up to that point,
you were probably the best player on every team you were on.
When you get to the NBA, one of the things they tell you coming
in is that 80% of the league is role players. Essentially they
tell you, you're no longer going to be the star of your team.
Most of us are not going to be the star ever again. That's
a hard pill to swallow. Honestly, the reason a lot of guys
don't make it in the NBA is they can't swallow that pill,
they can't accept it, they can't take a back seat,
they're unwilling to take on a "lesser" role.
Keita Bates-Diop
Saturday, June 18, 2022
Quote of the Day
I've learned a lot more in my failures than
I ever had in any of my successes.
Allison Rodgers Schmitt
Friday, June 17, 2022
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Quote of the Day
Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings
out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks
before they had money, they are simply
jerks with a billion dollars.
Warren Edward Buffett
Monday, June 13, 2022
Quote of the Day
If you care too much about being praised, in the
end you will not accomplish anything serious.
Leo Tolstoy
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Quote of the Day
If you add only a little to a little and do this
often, soon that little will become great.
Hesiod
Friday, June 03, 2022
Quote of the Day
Since wealth is the only thing that can cure poverty, you
might think that the left would be as obsessed with the
creation of wealth as they are with the redistribution
of wealth. But you would be wrong.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Thursday, June 02, 2022
Quote of the Day
Nothing is easier than to prove that something human
has imperfections. I'm amazed at how many
people devote themselves to that task.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Wednesday, June 01, 2022
Quote of the Day
It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis
to people who are enjoying a sense of moral
superiority in their ignorance.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Quote of the Day
Knowledge is one of the few things that can be
transferred to others without those from
whom it is transferred having any
less remaining for themselves.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Monday, May 30, 2022
Quote of the Day
Some things are believed because they are demonstrably
true. But many other things are believed simply
because they have been asserted repeatedly -
and repetition has been accepted as
a substitute for evidence.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Quote of the Day
Why anyone would expect better decisions
to be made by third parties who pay
no price for being wrong is one
of the mysteries of our time.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Saturday, May 28, 2022
Quote of the Day
There has never been a shortage of
people eager to draw up blueprints
for running other people's lives.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Friday, May 27, 2022
Quote of the Day
One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education
is how many people are unable to make a coherent
argument. They can vent their emotions,
question other people's motives,
make assertions, repeat
slogans - anything
except reason.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Quote of the Day
It is amazing how many of the intelligentsia
call it "greed" to want to keep what you
have earned, but not greed to want to
take away what somebody else has
earned, and let politicians
use it to buy votes.
 |
| via Free To Choose Network |
Thomas Sowell
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Quote of the Day
The only way I'm going to win a Gold
Glove is with a can of spray paint.
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Quote of the Day
To his dog, every man is Napoleon;
hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous Leonard Huxley
