CVST Names Brooke Lively June SOM   The CVST coaching staff has named Brooke Lively as the June Swimmer of the Month.  For the month, the 13 year-old Silver/Gold practice group swimmer led all CVST swimmers with a total time dropped of 2 minutes 12 seconds and 67 hundredths.  Brooke started June off with her first long course meet (50m) of the season at the Tampa Bay Swim Classic, held at St. Petersburg’s North Shore Pool with a perfect 9 best times out of 9 swims with an average improvement...

CVST End of Summer (EOS) Meet Cancelled - Update Updated 7/11/2014 The CVST End of Summer (EOS) Meet which was cancelled earlier this week due to a venue conflict, has been replaced on the CVST Meet Schedule with the Florida Swimming Area 3&5 Championships.  The Area 3&5 Champ's are being held August 1-3rd, at Northshore Pool, in St. Petersburg.  This is a Championship Meet and therefore an Automatic Sign-up Meet.   All eligible CVST Swimmers will be entered in this meet unless otherwise notified through the CVST Web Site by the...

USASwimming.org To Sport New Look Starting Monday   When you log on to usaswimming.org on Monday, July 14, our homepage will have a new look.    After conducting an extensive usability study on our site this past winter, we have decided that while our current home page has a nice enough design, too much premium space is lost to the large, rotating images currently running at the top of the page. We want to create a more practical design that focuses on organizational news and articles, and emphasize the most...

Hydration 101: Sports Drinks vs. Water By Jeff Gaudette, Published June 30, 2014   Learn how each works and when it’s best to use one versus the other.   Most runners have heard over and over again that drinking fluids as the summer months approach is of the utmost importance; neglecting to drink when it’s hot outside is committing one of the cardinal sins of sports nutrition. Well, that’s somewhat true, but it isn’t quite that simple. Instead of telling you to drink more fluids when the mercury rises, over...

Webinar: "To Push or Not to Push- How to Get Results that Last"     Dear Parent, Have you wrestled with the dilemma of how much to push your child?  Check out the "Parents" section of our web site (Growing Champions for Life) where you’ll find the registration link to this month’s Life-Skills Webinar, “To Push or Not to Push – How to Get Results that Last” scheduled for Wednesday, July 16th.    This month’s True Hero Parent article, “Handling Adversity: Prisoner, Settler, or Pioneer” will help the entire family deal...

Simple Formula For Athletic Success By Dr. Alan Goldberg-Sports Psychology for Athletes, Coaches & Parents Want a very simple formula for athletic success? Then, GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE. If you learn to live by these four, very basic words, they will help you take your physical talent as far as humanly possible. Success comes to those who regularly practice stepping outside of their comfort zone. Read more:

The Story Behind The National Anthem   On this day, the birth of our nation we must understand that freedom has costs and meaning. Remember those who have brought us the freedom and the ability to represent our country in the pool. Here is the story of OUR flag. The item that is raised when we win Gold, Silver or Bronze. And then, if we have won, we sing our National Anthem or USA Swimming’s fight song. See the story behind the song. Watch here:

  “Conquer the Greatest Distraction of All”  Dear Parent, Learning the skills of mental toughness is one of sport’s greatest challenges.  Would you like to learn how to help that process along? This month’s Positive Parent Video on our web site, “Conquer the Greatest Distraction of All” describes the roadblocks to your child’s concentration and provides strategies for improving focus during competitions.  The concepts apply to every sport and life in general!  Be sure to check out the video’s companion Game Plan .pdf document to put this concept into practice. ...

Boys & Girls Club Nationals Make Time Magazine   CVST's Boys & Girls Club Nationals meet was featured in an article by Robert Sullivan a parent with the Marlins Swim Team and a writer for Time Magazine .  The article, published yesterday in the Living Section, is entitled The Unexpected Rites of Fatherhood.  It is about a dad who reflects on the changes in his teenage children.    Click Here   to read the article.  

A Quick Lesson in Antioxidants for Swimmers By Chris Rosenbloom, PhD, RDN, CSSD A young swimmer emailed me and wanted to know if antioxidants would help her swim better and recover faster. A great question, so here is a primer on antioxidants, with tips to help you choose antioxidant-rich foods. When you exercise, you take in more oxygen by deep breathing and then you deliver that oxygen in your blood to working muscles. As your muscles work, they generate power for sport but also generate molecules called free radicals. These...