Quote of the Day

The way to get started is to

quit talking and begin doing.

via Walt Disney

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney

Opportunities

KATY needs an age group coach.  Details at ASCA site here.

Dripping Springs (YMCA) needs a swim coach.  Info here.

Quote of the Day

Adventure is worthwhile in itself.

via Huffington Post

Amelia Mary Earhart

Quote of the Day

I never thought I'd lead the NBA

in rebounding, but I got a lot of

help from my teammates -

they did a lot of missing.

via USA Today

Moses Eugene Malone

Quote of the Day

Wise men speak because they have something to

say;  fools because they have to say something.

via Unequally Yoked

Plato

Prescription Strength Nature

Found here

Labor Day Weekend

Let's salute the workin' man/woman this weekend:


Here's a pic from May.  Missed a turn in Pennsylvania and ended up lost for forty-five minutes out on Boulderfield Trail.  That's probably where my foot pain started going from just horrible to nearly unbearable...

Journal entry for the stretch that included that "adventure" is here

The Richardson Family YMCA needs a program director

The JCC Piranhas Swim Team (Austin) needs a head coach

Northstar School (Arlington) needs a middle/high school swim coach.  Contact Lisa Odom

TISCA clinic schedule is here.  The Doubletree is sold out, so you'll need to either pitch a tent or find a different hotel.  Let me know if you need a (very, very used) tent...

Edited 9/6/15, 9:30 p.m.:

While out on the trail, I heard the UIL was going to allow 24 qualifiers to state meet in each division.  Thought it was a done deal and we'd be seeing that happen this year.  Guess that may not be the case.  We'll see...

Quote of the Day

My former wife made me a millionaire.

I used to have three million dollars.

via HockeyGods

Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull

Recent Fishin' Pics and More!

Bobby's blacktip shark and bull red:

Leon fighting and landing a ray:

A few jobs:

The YMCA of Abilene needs a swim team coach

Highland Village needs an assistant age group coach

TeamFINS needs an assistant head coach

We have room for four (4) two (2) one (1) more teams in our Fantasy Foosball league.  It's FREE and champion will get a trophy.  Info here

Quote of the Day

When everything is said and done

there is nothing left to do or say.

via The Times-Tribune

Darryl Dawkins

Quote of the Day

A window of opportunity won't open itself.

(via Twitter)

Dave Weinbaum

Quote of the Day

You measure the size of the accomplishment

by the obstacles you had to overcome

to reach your goals.

via biography

Booker Taliaferro Washington

Quote of the Day

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued,

is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you

will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Quote of the Day

Forget past mistakes.  Forget failures.

Forget everything except what

you're going to do now and do it.

via Buick Factory History

William Crapo "Billy" Durant

Quote of the Day

I got hit in the head pretty hard.  My

clock ran backwards for two years.

via NASCAR

Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker, Jr.

We're Back!

We hit the summit on July 30.  Got back to Texas on August 5.

Link to the blog (with plenty of pics from the thru-hike) is here.

Links to the journal:

Start (keep clicking on "Next" to read in order)

Finish (keep clicking on "Previous" to read in reverse order)

Links to the "bests" lists:

First Third

Middle Third

Final Third

Doctor visit this a.m. went well.  Lost sixty pounds and blood pressure has dropped a bunch.  Blood work and foot x-rays scheduled for tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

People remember Don being a country bumpkin,

which he wasn't, and Howard being a pain in

the ass, which he was.  I was the law and order.

via newstimes

Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford

Quote of the Day

The most common way people give up their

power is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Malsenior Walker

That's a Wrap!

(via Appalachian Trials)

Quick reminder that Scott Scofield is handling this year's high school state meet call-up list.  Look for that here.  Contact Scott here.

If you'd like to keep up with the hike, here are the links:

Journal

Blog

Follow @texasswimblog




Time, energy, cell service, and internet connections will determine how often those are updated.

Planning to come out of retirement in the fall, so keep me in mind if y'all hear of something.

Good luck to all Texas swimmers and coaches in your championship meets!

Quote of the Day

A rainy day is the perfect time

for a walk in the woods.

(via Environment & Society Portal)

Rachel Louise Carson

Another from Imelda May

The City of Round Rock needs a pool manager.

Wayland Baptist/Henderson State/UALR

Bobby & Leon with the boat's Thursday catch:

Leon's Wilton Wahoo:

Leon not feeding the pelicans:

MAC Junior Elite/15+ Open

Arizona/SMU/Texas (M&W)

The City of Kyle needs an assistant pool manager and a swim coach.

January 29 CSCAA D-I Women's Poll

(via Palo Alto Online)

#2 Stanford's Simone Manuel featured here.

At the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M in November, she set Stanford records in the 50-yard freestyle (21.59), 100 free (46.62) and 200 free (1:42.03). Her 100 time was an American record, although it was quickly broken by Cal-bound high schooler Abbey Weitzeil.

Oklahoma Baptist tops both men's and women's NAIA poll.  Drury did the same in the NCAA D-II poll.

Shamrock Invite (M&W)

Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center needs a swim coach.

Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa needs an assistant coach.

Prestonwood Country Club needs an aquatics manager.

Houston/Rice/Tulane/LSU (W)

Thousand Oaks Family YMCA needs a swim coach.

The City of Houston needs a pool supervisor.

UNT/TCU (W)

Latest on Austin Aquatics & Sports Academy with Brendan Hansen is here.

Hansen loves to joke around, but I have a sneaky feeling that the hammer drops when you’ve been training with him a few weeks. It wasn’t until the hour-and-15-minute session was nearly over that Hansen doled out a nice lung-burning sprint set, reminding us that “sometimes I like to drive fast.” He’s coaching the masters program now, but says he’s looking for a world-class coach to take over that program while he focuses on the club program.

Quote of the Day

I much prefer the sharpest criticism

of a single intelligent man to the

thoughtless approval of the masses.

(via Einstein)

Johannes Kepler

Another Misc.

TAPPS region and state meet info (including psych sheets & results) will be here.

White Rock YMCA (Dallas) needs an aquatics coordinator.

Austin vs. Centenary (M&W)


TFA BB & Under

Cleveland 2015 ASCA World Clinic info here.

Alvin Classic

Shady Oaks Country Club (Ft. Worth) needs an aquatics director.

Jesse Coon Memorial (masters)

Who pooped in the pool?  Probably a lesson kid, right?

Who pooped in the gym?   CSI Gustine is on the case!

Quote of the Day

Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not

in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

(via biography)

Sir Isaac Newton

Quote of the Day

You must try to generate happiness within

yourself.  If you aren't happy in one place,

chances are you won't be happy anyplace.

(via wttw)

Ernest "Ernie" Banks, a.k.a. Mr. Cub

Movie Premier

A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, will premier today at the Sundance Film Festival.  More here.

It's a film version of Bill Bryson's best-seller on his AT thru-hike attempt.

When an aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy, the duo learn that some roads are better left untraveled.

Quote of the Day

Information's pretty thin stuff

unless mixed with experience.

(via Britannica)

Clarence Shepard Day, Jr.

No horses were harmed...

...in the making of this film:

Quick into Texas Sports Hall of Fame

The late Richard Quick has made it into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.  More here and here.

Quick, an all-Southwest Conference swimmer at SMU, won a record 13 NCAA swimming titles as coach at Stanford, Texas and Auburn. He also was the head coach of the U.S. team in three Olympics and an assistant coach of the U.S. team in three other Olympics. He died in 2009. 

Induction ceremony for the Class of 2015 is scheduled for April 9.

Quote of the Day

A true conservationist is a man who knows

that the world is not given by his fathers,

but borrowed from his children.

John James Audubon

State Meet Schedule

2015 UIL state meet schedule is here.

What adjustments would you make to accommodate a third heat in each event for both prelim sessions?

See how easy it would be to bring twenty-four (24) per event?!?!

It's been a while...

...since I posted fishin' pics.  These are the first since May.

They're from Saturday out on the Gulf of Mexico.

To the rig:

One of Bobby's snappers:

Headed home:

The day's catch:

(l to r):  John Doe I, John Doe II, Blake D., Leon B., Clayton A., Bobby B.

Quote of the Day

When we try to pick out anything

by itself, we find it hitched to

everything else in the universe.

(via National Park Service)

John Muir

Odds-n-Ends

(via pfluger)

Austin Arena Pro (a.k.a. Austin Grand Prix) live stream here.

City of El Paso building first of two 50m pools.  Story here.

The pool is one of the quality of life bond issue projects that voters approved in 2012. Under the bond issue, a second 50-meter pool is slated to be built in the East Side.

2015 ASCA Hall of Fame inductees include A&M women's coach Steve Bultman.  See all here.

NCAA reforms and Title IX implications discussed here.

Recent and upcoming changes to National Collegiate Athletic Association rules -- including a new pilot program that will provide travel expenses to the families of basketball players who play in national championship games -- are rife with “serious Title IX complications,” a panel of gender equity experts said here Wednesday.

McMurry's Bev Ball featured here.   Abilene HS (and former Granbury HS) coach Casey Pacheco on Ball:

"She's been an inspiration through high school, I had her through high school and college and just seeing what she did with kids then and seeing what she has done with kids now, still to this day is pretty amazing," said Casey Pacheco, Ball's first recruit and current AHS swim coach.

Great little tune from The Hillbilly Moon Explosion & Sparky.

Warning:  Vid's a little bloody...

Quote of the Day

It is easy to sit up and take notice.  What

is difficult is getting up and taking action.

Allen "Al" Batt

Monday Morning Variety Post

The City of Kerrville needs a pool manager and an assistant manager.

The City of Austin needs three (3) aquatics instructors.

High School News

(via Dallas Morning News)

Officials hoping to work the UIL state meet (February 20 & 21) should get applications in ASAP.

Swimming Application

Diving Application

Both are due by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evening!

Traci Neely's UIL swimming director's report is here.  How much longer before they do something about that suggestive officials problem?  Us coaches is gittin' tired of all that winkin' an flirtin'!

Tex Robertson Invite

Tomball New Year's Classic

Waco Midway Winter Classic

El Paso ISD Invite

Midway HS Alumni

AAHSSL Dual Weekend #4 (Palo Alto)

AAHSSL Dual Weekend #4 (San Antonio)

The Woodlands vs. Kingwood Mixed Sprint Meet

Georgetown ISD New Year's Invite

Club News

Psych sheet for this week's Austin Grand Prix is here.  Tentative prelim timeline is here.

Info on the USA Swimming Diversity Select Camp (including coach and athlete applications) is here.

A coach up in Massachusetts was fired from his YMCA job, but USA Swimming has ruled he didn't violate their (USAS's) code of conduct.  More here, here, and here.

Border New Year's Resolution

Del Norte #3

LAC Level 1

Palo Alto Unclassified

AQTX Trained or Tapered

AAAA "C" (Palo Alto)

TXLA New Year's  Classic

AAAA "B" Champs

WAVE into 2015

CBA Winter Wonderland Unclassified

College News

(via Guajardo Imagery)

Several Texas college programs are competing in this week's Austin Grand Prix.  Info above in club news.

A&M vs. Alabama (M&W)

Texas vs. Georgia (M&W)

Torero Shootout (W)

Austin College Relay Meet (M&W)

Austin College Invite (M&W)  Ties for first, third, sixth, and eight in the men's 200 medley relay?  Plus one between tenth and the exhibition swim?  No way!

Nevada/Rice/San Diego State (W)

More back here.

Quote of the Day

Every day, I am reminded that our life's journey

is really about the people who touch us.

(via LA Times)

Stuart Orlando Scott

2015 Call-Ups Link

(via Derek Vreeland)

As many of y'all know, the Green Tunnel is callin' and I we must go.

Bobby has decided to put his career on hold and set out on the adventure of a lifetime!  Starting AT thru hike in about a month!  Catch/Keep up here and here.

Scott Scofield has volunteered to compile and post this year's high school state meet call-up lists for swimmers, coaches, and parents interested in finding out before the UIL posts their official list.

I appreciate all the help I had doing the 2013 & 2014 lists.  Thanks in advance for providing Scott with results and support.

Here's the site where he'll be posting that info (along with some other meet results):

Texas Swim Meet Results

You can contact Scott via email

Edited 9:41

Couldn't let y'all go into the weekend without sharing this:

Before it was the coolest pool in Texas*...

...it was the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach.  More here.

The oldest pool in Texas, Deep Eddy began not as a pool but as a privately owned swimming hole along the banks of the Colorado River, as this 1920s-era postcard shows. Students and locals alike flocked to the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach not just to swim, but also to rent cabins, ride a zipline, go down a slide, and watch shows like Lorena’s Diving Horse—a steed and rider plunging dangerously off a 50-foot diving platform.

*Sorry, Balmorhea State Park.  Y'all are a very, very close second!

While we're on the topic of women's hockey...

...kind of...actually out on a tangent...catch up here:

(via UMD Hockey)

Minnesota/Duluth non-renewed their women's hockey coach, Shannon Miller.

Last month, Miller’s $215,000 contract wasn’t renewed, with the university saying a shrinking budget no longer allows for such a salary. But, with the men’s hockey coach still employed and earning about $20,000 per year more than Miller, some are asking whether the firing was based on her gender as much as her salary.

“Coach Miller was a highly successful coach who has graduated her players, earned the respect of her community and peers, and hasn’t gotten in any trouble or in a scandal,” Nicole LaVoi, associate director of the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women In Sport, said. “I have never in my career in studying women coaches ever heard of a coach like that not being retained because they were being paid too much. It’s kind of a game-changer."

In her sixteen (16) seasons as the Bulldog head coach, the program has been in the NCAA tourney ten (10) times, reached the Frozen Four seven (7) times, and won the national championship five (5) times.

Read the entire article, along with some interesting comments, here.

In a statement earlier this month, Josh Berlo, the university’s athletic director, called Miller’s departure a “financially driven” decision, adding that UMD is “not in a position to sustain the current salary levels of our women’s hockey coaching staff.” Newhall called the justification "weak," saying it's "not hard to see that firing a female coach under the guise of being paid too much where there are other, less successful coaches who are paid more" is gender discrimination.

Mark Nagel, a professor of sports and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina, said a contract not being renewed because a college can no longer afford to pay a coach's salary is "very rare." Whether the gender disparity makes it illegal or not is a more complicated question.