Westmount Y Centre Masters Swim Club

Westmount Y Centre Masters Swim Club

Westmount Y pool closed August 20-September 11

Just a not-so-quick note about the closure of the Westmount Y pool for maintenance and a new paint job. The pool will be closed from August 22 to September 11.  For those who want to keep swimming, you have options at the Downtown Y and at Jean Drapeau.
During this period, the Downtown Y will remain open.  Their Masters swims are Tuesday/Thursday 6:30-7:45am and Monday/Wednesday 6:45-8pm.  Be warned, they only have 2 lanes set aside for masters and expand as numbers demand, it may be squishy…
Also, we have our lanes at Jean Drapeau - 3 beautiful wide, 50m lanes – not so squishy :) .  Our reservation has been extended until September 11. The pool will be closed to the public but not to private groups like ours and don’t worry, the water is heated.
The Y will be covering the cost for all the extra rentals in September, thanks to Andrew Cox-Twardowski for taking care of us.
The schedule for the rest of our outdoor season at PJD is as follows (Downtown and YMHA swimmers are more than welcome to join us):
Sun August 21 – 9-10:30am ($3)
Mon August 22 – 7-8:30pm ($3)
Wed August 24 – 6:30-8pm ($3)
Fri August 26 – 6:30-8pm ($3)
Sun August 28 – 9-10:30am ($3)
Mon August 29 – 6:30-8pm ($3)
Wed August 31 – 6:30-8pm ($3)
Thur September 1 – 6:30-8pm (FREE!)
Sun September 4 – 9-10:30am (FREE!)
Mon September 5 – 6:30-8pm (FREE!)
Wed September 7 – 6:30-8pm (FREE!)
Thur September 8 – 6:30-8pm (FREE!)
Sun September 11 – 9-10:30am (FREE!)

Don’t forget the AGM on August 30 at 6:30pm at the Westmount Y.  The agenda and registration form will be distributed soon.

2011-12 season brings more training options

Good news for Westmount Y Maitres-Nageurs!  

The YM-YWHA (Snowdon Y) is expanding their Masters swim program this year to include additional early morning and evening practices and they are inviting all team members to join them if they wish.  Troy, fresh back from the arctic and still awaiting the birth of his first baby (as of writing), will be coaching all of their practices (don’t worry, we will still be seeing him at Westmount).  

The YM-YWHA is charging Westmount Y Maîtres-Nageurs a special fee of 125$ per session (the first session runs September 13th-December 22nd) and you don’t have to be a member of their gym.  Here is a summary of the information…

YMYWHA (Snowdon Y) Masters swim program:

*Coach: Troy Rhoades

*125$ per session (Fall: September 13th-December 22nd)

*Practices times do not coincide with Westmount Y practice times:

Mornings:

Tuesday and Thursday AM: 6:45am-7:55am and 8:30am-9:30am

Friday AM : 9:30am-10:30am

Evenings:

Monday and Wednesday PM 8:30pm-9:30pm

*Swimmers will affiliate with Westmount Y Masters if they choose to compete

With the exception of the Friday 8:30am practice at Snowdon, none of the practices coincide with the Westmount times.  This is great news for our club because it will allow our swimmers to train up to 6 days a week with consistent coaching and will offer more flexibility in practice times and location.

Downtown Y Pool

The Downtown Y pool will be closed for its annual maintenance period from December 6 2010 through December 12 2010. Come and join the Westmount gang:

  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 6:20 to 7:35 a.m.
  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8:15 to 9:30 a.m.
  • Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
  • Sunday, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Pool closed over Thanksgiving

From Gary…

We will close the pool as of Thursday, October 7 at 8:30pm and expect to re-open it on Tuesday, October  12 at our regular opening time of 6:00am. We also expect an additional period of interruption of our pool schedule over the Christmas holidays while we undertake a sandblasting and repainting of the pool. Specific dates for this work will be provided by mid-November at the latest.

download the full document.  pool_closing_westmount_y-fermeture_piscine_y

Parc Jean Drapeau

English version is below.  Un grand merci a Jean-Claude Rizzi pour la traduction.

Bonjour amis nageurs,
Bientôt l’été, il est temps de se préparer aux plaisirs du Complexe aquatique du Parc Jean-Drapeau. Ce courrier contient beaucoup d’information. Lisez-le attentivement. S’il vous reste ensuite des interrogations, envoyez-les moi directement.
Quand ?
Le calendrier peut être lu sur le site web, ou téléchargé bientot. En général, la grille horaire se lit comme suit, du 2 juin au 30 août :
Chaque lundi et mercredi à compter de 18:00h
Chaque dimanche à compter de 10:00h
Le dernier vendredi de chaque mois (25 juin, 30 juillet, 27 août), à compter de 17:30h
Prenez note qu’il y a des exceptions aux périodes ci-dessus; il vous faudra donc vérifier sur le site web.
Chaque séance dure 1.5 heure. Nous disposons de 2 couloirs, longs de 50m et plus larges que les nôtres, qui permettent aux nageurs de coexister facilement sans collisions, peu importe leur vitesse.
Prenez aussi note que les séances du dimanche après-midi au Y sont annulées durant l’été, et remplacées par celles du dimanche matin au parc Jean-Drapeau.
Où ?
Complexe aquatique du Parc Jean-Drapeau : http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/12-Aquatic_complex-montreal-attraction.html
Le bassin est fan-tas-ti-que !  Si vous n’y avez jamais nagé, vous devez l’essayer, au moins une fois. Nous utilisons d’ordinaire le bassin de compétition des championnats mondiaux 2005. Ce n’est pas un bouillon de culture, bien que je ne puisse vous promettre qu’il n’y aura pas de 400m papillon (si vous ne comprenez pas les allusions, allez voir les vidéos de Simon et Joey sur Facebook, pris lors de la fête de départ de Robyn).
Il y a de l’espace de stationnement, des supports à vélo, une station de métro toute proche (voir le lien ci-dessus), et il semble que la Ville de Montréal soit aussi en train d’installer un poste Bixi.
Combien ça coûte ?
Nous visons à couvrir les frais de location des couloirs. Cette année, nous proposons 2 modes de participation au programme Jean-Drapeau : un premier pour les nageurs réguliers, un second pour les nageurs occasionnels.
Les nageurs réguliers paient 30 $/mois pour un usage illimité avec l’équipeOn paie d’avance, soit par mois, soit pour tout l’été. Les chèques doivent être déposés au Y de Westmount. Sur le chèque, vous devez indiquer « Jean-Drapeau » ainsi que le ou les mois visés par le paiement. Vous recevrez alors des autocollants de couleur pour les mois visés. Les autocollants doivent être appliqués sur votre carte de membre du Y.
Les nageurs occasionnels doivent acheter leurs billets au préalable.  Les billets sont remis à l’entraîneur, à la piscine Jean-Drapeau. Vous pouvez acheter les billets auprès des membres du conseil du club, à votre Y, au coût de 4 $/ticketPas de ticket, pas de natation. Ça peut vous paraître sévère, mais nous voulons enlever ce fardeau administratif des épaules de nos entraîneurs, qui sont déjà bien assez occupés. S’il vous plaît, soyez prévoyant : même si vous pensez peut être aller au parc Jean-Drapeau, achetez des tickets. En fin de saison, tout ticket inutilisé sera soit remboursé soit crédité à votre compte de nageur, à votre choix.
Les vendredis sont GRATUITS ! Vous méritez bien de temps en temps de vous sauver du boulot un peu plus tôt. Faites-le donc le dernier vendredi du mois, et rejoignez-nous pour nager et pour socialiser. Les idées de lieux de rendez-vous pour l’après natation sont bienvenus; à défaut, notre point de chute est la terrasse du club social espagnol, pour les tapas.
En espérant vous retrouver au parc Jean-Drapeau.
Jen
Hello fellow swimmers

Summer is almost upon us and it is time to get ready for our summer of fun at the Aquatic Complex at Parc Jean Drapeau.

There is a lot of information in this email, so please read carefully.  If you have any questions after reading, please address them to me directly.

When?
There will be a calendar on our team website for you to look at and/or download, but in general, the schedule is as follows from June 2nd  to August 30th:


Each Monday and Wednesday at 6pm and each Sunday at 10am
The
last Friday of every month (June 25, July 30 and August 27) at 5:30pm

Please be aware that there are exceptions so be sure to look at the calendar.  Each session is for 1.5 hours and we have 2 lanes per session which is more than enough for swimmers of all speeds to swim – the lanes are longer (50m) and wider (no colliding with team mates).
Please note that Sunday afternoons at the Y are cancelled for the duration of the summer and replaced by our Sunday mornings at Jean Drapeau.

Where?
Parc Jean Drapeau Aquatic Complex (http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/12-Aquatic_complex-montreal-attraction.html).
This pool is a-maz-ing!  If you haven’t swum at Jean Drapeau before, you should try it at least once.  We typically use the competition pool from the 2005 world championships.  No pea soup here, although I can’t promise no 400 fly (if you don’t get the reference, there are videos of Simon and Joey’s performance at Robyn’s farewell all over facebook).
There is parking, bike racks and a metro station right there (see the link above) and apparently the city of Montreal is putting in Bixi stations as well.

Cost.
Our goal is to cover the costs of lane rentals. This year we are offering two levels of “membership” to our Jean Drapeau program, one for regular swimmers and one for drop-in swimmers.


Regular swimmers are asked to pay $30 per month for unlimited swims with the team. Pay per month or for the entire summer up front.  Please note on your cheques (to be left at the Westmount Y) that the payment is for Jean Drapeau and which month you are paying for, you will receive colour-coded stickers for the month(s) you wish to swim that are to be placed on your Y card.

Drop-in swimmers are asked to pre-purchase tickets that you will be able to hand to the coach on deck to swim.  You can buy these from board members at $4/ticket at your Y. No ticket, no swim.  Sounds harsh, but we are trying to reduce administration time for our hard working coaches to 0.  If you are even thinking that you will go, please plan ahead.  Any unused tickets at the end of the season will be refunded or rolled into your swimmer account as $$$.

Fridays are FREE!!! Everyone deserves an early mark from work every now and then.  Leave work a little early on the last Friday of every month and join us for a swim and social afterwards.  Venue ideas for the social are always welcome, otherwise it is the team fall-back of tapas on the terrasse of the Spanish Social Club.

I hope to see you there.
Jen

Dates – Cultural events – Margarita Island training camp


Hello swimmers,

(le français suit)

A new feature of our web site is under construction advertising
cultural events of our teammates (concerts, exhibitions etc.) Until it
is up and running, the bulletin board at the pool will advertise.
[+]

Robyn

Troy last swim meet

Troy in 200IM

Last news October

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND – NO SUNDAY 12th OR MONDAY 13th PRACTICE
Your coaches love to help Sunday practice afficionados earn a big
dessert, but it’s turkey day for us too, so we’re cancelling practice
on Sunday the 12th. (Further details about lap-swim availability to
follow, or check the schedule at the Y.)
Monday the 13th, the pool is open for laps during the usual holiday
hours – from 10 am to 5 pm – but closed during our practice times.
We’ll leave workouts on the board for those who wish to follow a set
on either day.

NEW FEATURE: ASK YOUR COACHES
Our club web site is in the process of being revamped; soon we’ll
feature an ‘ask your coaches’ section. Submit questions to Robyn at
robyn.ouimet@gmail.com or hand in a question on deck (write it down
for us please, we have lots on our mind when we’re coaching and we’ll
want to remember) and members of the coaching team will issue their
reply (or replies) starting in October. Replies will be posted online
and on our club notice board. Basic or advanced, we’re ready!

OFFICIALS NEEDED!
Jessica Sinclair is working with local officials to arrange a time for
new officials to be trained, qualifying them to help out at meets as
timers or stroke judges where our swimmers have a presence. This could
be you, a friend or spouse, or teen-aged or older children. Details
coming soon. First opportunity to help: Nov 22!

UPCOMING MEETS
stay ahead of the curve by reviewing the meet schedule at
www.swimming.ca

The Brossard Halowe’en meet Nov 1
(This meet is not yet sanctioned by the FNQ, so no details are
available.) Normally an afternoon meet with sprints (50s and 100s) so
it’s a great place for rookies to get their feet wet.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR – Saturday, Nov 22
Stop number one on our road to provincials – let’s win this one for the team!
Coupe de Montreal des Maitres Nageurs hosted by A Contre Courant

Volunteer officials needed for shifts of 7:30 a.m. – 12:30 and 11:30
a.m. – 16:30. In appreciation, the  host club will give volunteers a
meal at the start of their shift.

At Cegep de Vieux Montreal, a short course pool downtown. – Entry
deadline Sunday nov 9 (ASAP please for those who have never affiliated
with the team)
warmups 7:45, finish 1600.
Sign-up sheets on the board shortly, event list below. Want to put
together a stunning relay for provincials? Why not race together all
year, starting now?
More details at http://www.acontrecourant.qc.ca/en/coupe/ (English)
or http://www.acontrecourant.qc.ca/fr/coupe/ (français)

Events for Coupe de Montreal
1. 200 m freestyle
2. 100 m I.M
3. 50 m backstroke
4. 100 m breaststroke
5. 50 m butterfly
6. 4 x 50 m freestyle relay
Break and warm-up (30 min.)
7. 4 x 50 m medley relay
8. 100 m backstroke
9. 50 m freestyle
10. 100 m butterfly
11.50 m breaststroke
12.100 m freestyle
13.200 m I.M.

TEAM CALENDAR
Google allows groups to publish online calendars open to the public. I
have put key club activities online for those who don’t want to search
through their emails for dates. Find it here (and please let me know
if you have any problems with it…)

go to http://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=mc#
and search for ‘Westmount YMCA Masters’

LANE RE-ORG
So far, lane re-organizations seem to be working well, and our first
round of time trials were conducted at the 6:20 and 8:15 practices
last week (results are on the board.) More evaluation sets are on the
way – coaches use this information to track your progress and confirm
lane adjustments – you can use it too! Ask your coach how. Your
feedback is of course welcomed.

Keep up the hard training, the fast turns, and those showers before
you get in the water. Together we can keep our pool clean.

and, 196 DAYS UNTIL PROVINCIALS! (April 15-17, 2009)

See you in the water,

Robyn

1,000,000 m CHALLENGE AND THE SWIM AROUND THE WORLD!

Thanks to Martin’s great idea, his enthusiastic encouragement and your
equally enthusiastic participation, our team registered more meters
than any other team in Quebec in September – and we’re number 5 in
Canada, and gaining! If you haven’t signed up yet, hurry to

www.mymsc.ca

[ OR CLICK IN THE TOP LABEL my MSC IN THIS WINDOW ]

For those of you who have signed up, please double-check to make sure
you selected the name of our team in your account profile.
[Robyn]

Troy has been the ‘big’ swimmer for the month of September just squeezing past Dave Wiseman on the last day to a total of 52km. But it is all the swimmers who only swim once or twice a week who deserve the most credit. Their help and participation towards the team goal account for over half of the total distance so far and is what is going to get us to reach the target. Well done all round!
[Matin]

Hello Masters Swimmers;

First of all congratulations to all those who participated at the Contre Courant race last weekend at Centre Claude Robillard. It was a lot of fun and there were some really good success stories, especially in the long distance swimming races.

SWIMMING COMPETITION:
Do not forget to register for the next race at Montreal North taking place on December 9th, time is running out.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
The Board of Directors met last week and we would like to share with you some of the information. We have 115 master swimmers registered with the team, consisting of 57 recreational, 34 competing and 18 triathlon swimmers.
The most popular time to swim is the early morning practice with 49 registered swimmers.

SHOWER, SHOWER WITH SOAP!!! :
The YMCA is continuing to address the air and water quality of the pool as this continues to be a recurring problem.
We would appreciate your observations on this point.
One way for all of us to improve the air and water quality is to take a shower with soap just before entering the water. With the high pool use, the amount of body stuff such as lint, dead skin and perspiration negatively impacts the water thereby overloading the filters and creating a residue known as chloramines which rises to the air with the increased level of activity thereby also impacting the air quality. This has been confirmed to the team by Joe Schwarcz, Director of the McGill Office for Chemistry and Society who states: “Chloramines form from amino acids that are shed from the skin … and from pee in the water.”
Taking a shower is better for your overall swimming well-being. It is not merely a suggestion but is a mandatory requirement before going into the water, and it will, therefore, be more strictly applied going forward. We are counting on everyone’s cooperation in this regard.

WOMEN’S LOCKER ROOM:
We were advised that the entire women’s locker room will be completely renovated including new lockers sometime in the next year.

XMAS PARTY – HELP!!!:
Our swim team party is Friday Dec. 14th.
Do we have any volunteers? Everyone knows it is so much fun for us to get together, everyone cleans up (we will even pay for the services of a cleaning person if requested) and the host gets to keep a lot of the goodies that everyone brings on a pot luck basis. The host gets to chose the date. Please let me know as soon as possible if one of you are prepared to open your home and heart to keep this tradition going.

XMAS TRAINING CAMP:
We would like to know if there would be sufficient demand to create such a camp during the holiday period as was the case last year. If you are interested in attending such a camp between Christmas and New Year, please let me know.

VERSION FRANÇAISE ABRÉGÉE (Lors de la prochaine communication, la version anglaise sera abrégée) Bonjour tout le monde,

Félicitations à ceux et celles qui ont participé à la compétition la fin de semaine dernière au Centre Claude Robillard. L’événement était très bien organisé et nous avons eu beaucoup de plaisir et de succès, surtout nos nageurs et nageuses de longue distance.

L’équipe compte 115 membres dont la majeure partie nage très tôt le matin.

Pour les raisons mentionnées ci-haut (partie en anglais) il est extrêmement important que tout le monde prenne une douche avec du savon afin d’améliorer la qualité de l’air et de l’eau de notre piscine. Nous comptons sur la collaboration de tout le monde à cet égard.

Le vestiaire des femmes sera complètement rénové l’année prochaine, soyez patientes !

Au secours, au secours, pouvons-nous compter sur un de nos membres afin qu’il ouvre son cœur et surtout sa maison pour être l’hôte de notre party de Noël annuel. Comme vous le savez, nous procéderons « à la bonne franquette » (c’est-à-dire que tout le monde apporte quelque chose) et l’hôte garde les restants! Nous défraierons le coût du ménage aussi, à la demande de l’hôte. Laissez-moi savoir si l’un d’entre vous est intéressé à nous recevoir dans les meilleurs délais.

Faites-moi également signe par courriel si vous êtes intéressés à participer à un camp d’entraînement entre Noël et le Jour de l’An.

Merci et bonne nage !

SYLVIA

Communications Coordinator – Coordinatrice des communications

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