NUS Splashdown

Heya people!

The annual NUS Splashdown will be held on 11th September this year! Refer to email attached below!

For those who are new, take part with us and experience something different!

For those who took part before, let us challenge the NTU record holder's total distance of 7.7km!

Those interested, please contact James @ 9119 5563 or Alex @ 9823 5074.

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

I hope this email finds everyone in the pink of health and relaxation!

This is Shuhui from the NUS Lifesaving Corps J

Once again, we are having our annual mass swim event, Splashdown'10, and we
are extending a warm invite to you and your lifesaving teams to come down
and join us for this event.

Details of Splashdown '10 are as follow:

*Date: 11th September 2010*

*Location: NUS Sports & Recreation Centre Pool *

*Time: 10am to 3pm*

* *

*Competitive category: Swimathon *

Individual - $18

*Open*

Individual - $15



*Registration officially starts on 7th June and will close on 15th August
2010.*

*Early bird discount!
Those register before 28th July 2010 will enjoy a 20% discount off the
stated prices.


*Event description*

Participants in both categories are given 3 hours to swim as many laps as
possible. Lap prizes are given according to the number of laps one swims.
The more laps you swim, the more prizes you will get. Top attractive prizes,
which include Tagger bags, Arena products & gift vouchers, will only be
awarded to the top swimmers from the competitive category.

Discounted Arena products will be up for grabs on the actual event day as
well!

We will be setting up a registration booth during the NUS Invitational
Lifesaving Competition on 19th Jun 2010. Feel free to drop by our booth to
register (Cash Only)!

Find out more information and *register via the online form* at our official
website: http://www.splashdown2010.blogspot.com.
Lastly, do join our Facebook group to get the latest updates on Splashdown
'10, and take part in our contests and quizzes! :
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111918218851676&ref=ts


See you there on 11th September 2010!

Best regards,

Shuhui

Why we do this part 3: On Yourself...

Now that you had read the simple rationale why we do pool events, the most important reason or key takeaway is yourself. That’s why in additionally to asking you guys what you all had for lunch, the mindless questions, I would additionally quiz you guys on why you all have intend to join competition? Some of the common answers are,

- Keep fit
- Just for experience
- Fun
- Win Medal
- Revenge (yes, someone said that along the lines)
- Break all the records (NTU LG records only)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, of course. But in general, I hope everyone can align their goals to be a better lifesaver.

- keep fit (putting in effort to train, you will definitely be stronger, faster better LG.)
- Just for experience (The most boastful, worst objective. You can tell everyone you partook in comp before. People will think you are a very good lifesaver, but you might not be)


- Fun (As long as you put in effort to make it an enjoyable experience for all, don’t whine and complain, it will be fun for everyone.)
- Win Medal (you will definitely be a better lifesaver)
- Revenge (yes, someone said that along the lines) {Nothingness is naught, naught is nothingness. Why bother? But you will become better}
- Break all the records (NTU LG records only) {Do I need to elaborate more? Such a straightforward goal}

It’s only in lifesaving that you get the opportunity to perfect your finning, manikin towing, clipping technique, surface dive, and endurance or sprinting.

I go to the pool every Monday and Wednesday hoping you guys can remember you are here to be a better lifesaver.

This is a skill that enables you to save lives, no matter how underrated it seemed. It’s only imperative that you perfect your craft.

Why we do this part 2: On everything else...

They are essentially based on very real scenarios that are very applicable to open waters and the pool (close water) provides a very good test bed for training these scenarios.

Manikin carry
- Simulate short distance sprinting of 25m surface dive to recover victim from underwater and tow for another 25m to complete the event.

Rescue medley
- simulates a swim out to a victim 50m away, dive under for a underwater search (17.5m) say the water us murky, so you got to hold breath and search for your victim and towing for 32.5m back.

100m manikin carry with fins
- pretty similar to the rescue medley above, just that with fins swim out 50m, pick up a submerged victim underwater and tow 100m back to shore.

Line throw
- The perfect skill of throwing a rope to a conscious victim and pulling him back to shore.

4x25 manikin relay
- Not so much of having a key relation to lifesaving technique, but is more on communication and teamwork amongst the 4 competitors to pass the manikin to one another.


4x50 medley relay
- Not so much of having a key relation to lifesaving technique, but is more on communication and teamwork amongst the last 2 competitors

Superlifesaver
- Combo of manikin carry and 100m tow with tube and fins.


100m Tow with tube and fins
- With the aid of both a lifesaving torpedo tube and fins, fin 50m, clip a conscious aka floating victim and swim back 50m.

Why we do this? 200m Obstacle swim.

Similarly to how army works, for every lifesaving competition event, there is a certain rational or argument of how we do things. For the next few blogs (if no one else blogs) will be on the different events, their rationales and how we can train to perfect them. Of course, these are all my personal thoughts.

These training styles may differ from place to place, and based on personal preference.
Completion starts out long long ago, where a few people come together to see who is better at a certain trade.

Obstacle Swim.
Rationale.
This is akin to doing an underwater search for a victim or going under an obstacle to a victim under the obstacle.

How we train?
Keep doing surface dives. Practice makes perfect. Make it 4 strokes to 1 surface dive to practice diving. Aid the dive with a breaststroke pull and kick to touch the floor, bring your knees to your chest and kick off the floor with both legs. For some, they do not like for hands to touch the floor before kicking off the ground. (personal preference)

When going up make sure hands are straighten, (a good habit, esp when surfacing at sea, might have debris, hull of boats) continue flutter kicking or dolphin kicks and surface with freestyle.

Note when going down, the surface dive, not to be a sharp 90 degrees down. Adopt a 45 degree angle for more distance. Note your breast stroke, not to do your breast stroke kick in the air.

Hypoxic or Endurance Training

Instead of breathing every 3, 5, or 7 strokes by 50s, try breathing every 5, every 3, every 2 by 25s. Try to remain just as fluid on the last lap of each interval as you are on the first.

If you normally breathe to one side, and if any hypoxic work is too much for you, swim the set breathing only to your opposite side. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy this will become after just a few laps, and at how it can help streamline your stroke once you return to breathing on your "normal" side.

Since excessive or improper head movement is the stroke error with the greatest potential to hurt your body position and balance, one of the most effective and simplest drills to correct it is to swim short distances with the head held absolutely still. Try swimming 25-yard repeats, taking 0 to 2 breaths per length. For 50-yard repeats, aim for 3 to 4 breaths per length. On longer distances, try to breathe every 3 to 5 armstrokes, BUT GO VERY EASILY in order to swim without feeling distressed or tense. Tune in to how this smoothes out body movement and what your stroke feels like when you do so.

You may find that when you do hypoxic sets, your body seems hungrier for air on the first repeat, but becomes progressively more comfortable with each repeat. This is because your body is adapting to the reduced oxygen availability by identifying and letting go of needless tension. Tension is nothing more than useless and involuntary muscle contractions that use oxygen without helping your swim faster. By relaxing and letting go of tension, you teach your body to use the oxygen that's available more efficiently.

Hypoxic sets are most often assigned with pull buoys. That's because the largest (and oxygen-hungriest) muscles in the body are your quadriceps or thigh muscles. Stop kicking and it gets easier to swim further between breaths. But unless you anticipate being able to use a pull buoy in your next race, you're better off training your aerobic and nervous systems to perform without the aid of extra flotation. To take the load off your thigh muscles while doing hypoxic work, think of your legs as passive, and simply do less overt kicking. If you use hypoxic training, do it with the awareness that the benefits will be in technique, not physiology. While you're swimming further between breaths, concentrate on better balance, controlling your head movements, and learning to relax more while swimming.

competition part 5: More on Food...

Read on the bold parts if you got no time...

"Clinical studies have proven that athletes who consume carbohydrates within two hours after exercise are able to more completely restore their muscles' glycogen levels." In support of this need to quickly consume carbohydrates, researchers at the University of Illinois found that laboratory animals who exercised until their glycogen vanished recovered more quickly with sugar water. In results presented at the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (April 6, 1999), they found that they recovered 60% of their glycogen in an hour and 100% within four hours. Animals who only drank water took eight hours or more to recover their glycogen and muscle protein synthesis.”

Therefore, its not wise to starve yourself after a heavy training session. Starving is a way the brain communicates to you that you need food. So do satisfy that craving, however we must replenish only what is right.

Protein Provides "OOOmph"
However, merely binging on sugar (the ultimate refined carbohydrate) or other sweets after working out will not maximize glycogen creation and storage. To most effectively store muscular energy, boosting "insulin is essential," Dr. Burke points out. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps move glucose from the blood stream and into the muscles. "Studies have shown that protein, when combined with carbohydrate, almost doubles the insulin response and increases the rate of glycogen synthesis by 30%," notes Dr. Burke.

Burke cautions, however, than an overindulgence in protein provokes the body's production of a biochemical called cholecystokinin (CCK). CCK slows down the rate at which food and fluid moves from the stomach and into the intestines for absorption. This process then hinders absorption of both carbohydrates and water, consequently slowing your recovery.

One effective way to eat protein with your sugar is to consume nonfat yogurt sweetened with fruit and fruit juice. A tuna sandwich (skip the fatty mayo) along with plenty of fruit juice and fruit also provides protein with carbohydrates.
That’s why in competition, there is always tuna, bread and nutella.

Chocolate may increase theta brain waves, resulting in relaxation, and contains phenyl ethylamine, a mild mood elevator.
Basically it’s a relaxing and happy food. Moderation is key! Competition is a highly stressful environment and the long waiting time between events sure will send your heart racing with excitement. A little chocolate will calm things down.

Banana- potassium can help in improving a person's alertness. However, it should be noted that excessive quantities of potassium cause decreased heart muscle activity. A medium-size banana contains at least 450 mg of potassium.

With all that toning down with the chocolates, you need this to perk up, recommended to be consumed not less then 15mins before your event!

Competition Part 4: All about food

Read on; especially note the bold pointers…

Before the competition

“To make sure you have enough energy, yet reduce stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.”

Eat way before competition to reap best benefits from your food, and reduce possibility of stitching, nausea, the need to pass motion, so on. Eat food high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. These include foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars. Have it the night before. In our context, no one eat pasta for breakfast, right? As least not for me. We all always need a comfort food, be it ice cream, spicy stuff, fried stuff. Start cutting them down ONCE you read this article. 1-2 weeks before competition, stop them. Control what you eat.

During the competition

“You should try to eat or drink something easily digestible about 20 to 30 minutes before the event. The closer you are to the time of your event, the less you should eat. You can have a liquid meal closer to your event”

This is where the Banana, Apple, Grapes, Oranges come in. Isotonic drinks and energy gels. You got to know by now, how much you need. So try not to overeat! all of us tend to do it during competition. Especially me.

Foods to Avoid Before Exercise Any foods with a lot of fat can be very difficult and slow to digest They also will pull blood into the stomach to aid in digestion, which can cause cramping and discomfort. Meats, doughnuts, fries, potato chips, and candy bars should be avoided in a pre-exercise meal. Spicy stuff should be avoided too!

After the competition
Feel free to indulge in the food you have been avoiding for the past 1-2 weeks. The feeling is very rewarding. You have just trumped yourself by controlling your diet, and you deserve it. However, if its National still water, this indulgence is short lived. Open water is less then 1 month away.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/EatForExercise.htm