On Tuesday September 21, 2021, USA Swimming announced the swimmers selected for the 2020 – 2021 Scholastic All-American Team. SMAC is represented on the team by four athletes. The number of times selected is noted by the number inside the parenthesis. Catherine Andrews (1) Ryan Pak (1) Gillian Tu (2) Hannah Weissman (2) To be considered for this year’s team, swimmers must have completed grades 9 to 12, achieved a grade point average of 3.5 for the 2020-21 school year, and swum a 2019 Winter Junior qualifying time in any...

Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club Gives Advice on How to Conquer a Swim-a-Thon by Devonie Pitre//USA Swimming Swim-a-Thons are a great way for USA Swimming member clubs to earn additional funds for their upcoming swim seasons. Take it from the Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club (SMAC), who exceeded their fundraising goal earlier this year. In a total of 17 pools with around 500 swimmers, SMAC was able to use multiple resources to help implement a successful Swim-a-Thon. Erika Jackman, Fundraising Director at SMAC, gave her advice on how to implement a successful...

Hip Rotation Part 2: External External rotation of the hip is when the top of the femur or thigh rotates towards the outside, or away from the midline of the body. As this motion is made your knees will turn outwards. To illustrate this further, if you’re sitting down on a chair with your leg bent at 90 degrees, move the inside of your foot toward the midline of your body. Do not get this confused with hip internal rotation.As you guessed, hip internal rotation is the opposite of external...

Hip Rotation Part 1: Internal I recently had a swimmer in my group have problems with his groin. After talking with a Physical Therapist, he found out it was not his groin that was the problem, but the strength and flexibility of his hip. It does not matter if you consider yourself a breastroker or not, having a good range of motion in your hips can lead to being a better all around kicker, having reduced lower back pain, and improved posture. Healthy hips become even more important when an...

Upcoming Tryout Dates & Locations The Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club will be holding open house tryouts for interested new swimmers throughout the remainder of July and into August. Locations will be spread throughout the Seattle metro area and you are invited to attend any tryout that is convenient for you. The currently scheduled open house events are below. Tukwila Pool (4414 S 144th St, Tukwila, WA) Wednesday July 14, 2021 6-7 PM Wednesday July 21, 2021 6-7 PM Wednesday July 28, 2021 6-7 PM Kent Swim & Tennis Club (25821...

Foam Rolling Part 3: When and How To Foam Roll Always, always, always stick to rolling your muscles, rather than ligaments like your IT band or joints like your knees or elbows, says Polly de Mille, R.N., C.S.C.S., director of performance services at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. You should also skip your lower back. “If you foam roll your lower back, it could cause the muscles surrounding [the vertebrae] to go into spasm,” he says. “The risk really outweighs the potential reward” since this part...

Foam Rolling Part 2: How Foam Rolling Actually Works Although there isn’t a concrete cause and effects to how foam rolling works, there are some solid theories. The leading one is focused on myofascial release. But what is fascia—and why would you want to “release” it? According to Polly de Mille, R.N., C.S.C.S., director of performance services at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City puts it like this: “Think of fascia as the sausage casing surrounding every muscle fiber, every organ, every nerve fiber, every bone in...

Foam Rolling Part 1: Potential Benefits I recently had a major realization about how obsessed high level athletes are with foam rolling. In college, I remember it being a big part of our warm up in the weight room. I recently started watching “Head Above Water” on Prime, which follows four elite level international swimmers, including Olympic Champions Kyle Chalmers and Ian Thorpe. There are scenes that show athletes walking in and out of high level facilities and they ALL have foam rollers or massage/percussion guns hanging or clipped onto...

Does RedBull Actually Give You Wings? We often see the commercials for energy drinks like RedBull, Monster and more recently, Bang. Every company claims that their drink increases mental awareness, energy metabolism and physical performance. Some of the older athletes on the team might have started trying out pre-workout drinks that also claim to increase performance. In a sport where any edge one has over the competition is needed, does caffeine actually help with physical performance? What is caffeine? Caffeine is found within coffee beans, tea leaves, chocolate, cocoa beans...

What Causes Muscle Soreness? Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a common yet unforgettable pain and stiffness that haunts you days after your workout. DOMS can occur anywhere in the body that has recently been exposed to unfamiliar or intense physical activity. Symptoms of DOMS can be local muscle pain, tenderness to the touch, stiffness of the joint, reduction in a joint’s range of motion, and temporary reduction in strength of the affected muscles. Delayed soreness develops within the first 12-24 hours and peaks at around 48-72 hours after exercise....