SPONSORED BY
CHARLOTTE SHAMIA
how they train
BY MICHAEL J. STOTT [PHOTO BY DAVID CERVENKA]
www.NZcordz.com
PROGRESSION OF TIMES SCY
AGE 5
AGE 6
AGE 7
AGE 8
AGE 9
AGE 10
AGE 11
25 Free
25.40
21.00
16.36
15.28
—
—
—
25 Fly
37.96
25.69
17.99
15.53
—
—
—
50 Free
—
—
—
34.59
31.90
29.53
27.69
50 Fly
—
—
—
37.55
31.54
30.10
28.75
100 IM
—
—
1:34.07
1:25.04
1:17.06
1:09.86
1:05.97
O
f all the thousands of youngsters Steve Haufler has taught in his 45-year career as a swim instructor, it just may be that Charlotte Shamia is his quintessential poster child. Shamia is now 13 and a straight-A eighth-grader at Head-Royce School in Oakland, Calif., swimming for Orinda Aquatics with a love for dance and musical theater. But it was at age 5 as a beginning swimmer that she was drafted by Haufler to learn butterfly in five minutes in front of 75 coaches! Haufler’s assistants assured him that Shamia had learned the basic skills of air exchange, body position and kick, and possessed the perfect butterfly body with the requisite flexible shoulders and back. “I began with testing her body for flexibility,” says Haufler. “I had her lie on the deck with a stack of four kickboards under her hips and one kickboard under her chest. I kept her arms straight and positioned them higher than her ears. Her 5-yearold body contoured beautifully into the butterfly landing position. Then, she got in the water, and I taught her the body dolphin (hands by her side and in front), the arm pull and recovery and how to put them together. Pull, swing, body dolphin—success. “As I came to find out later, Charlotte was very shy in new situations,” says Haufler. That didn’t stop her from joining the 300-member Orinda Country Club team, developing new friendships and a love for swimming. “From the beginning, Charlotte rarely missed a practice and would attend rain or shine. Her humble personality, quiet confidence, coupled with her strong work ethic and a great group of supportive
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teammates, made her a team fixture,” he says. Though introverted, Shamia is a good listener and extremely coachable. “From the start, Charlotte has been laser-focused on mastering the strokes, and she never cut corners to go faster in the moment,” says Haufler. Initially unsure of her capabilities at meets and concerned about beating her friends in practice, Shamia has since cultivated a competitive edge that has led to winning six Orinda Moraga Pool Association and Costra County high-point awards in the 7-11 age groups. In addition, she has enjoyed Junior Olympic success (as a 12-year-old, she swam 27.92 and 1:03.78 for the 50 and 100 yard fly), and she has been the recipient of numerous club sportsmanship and “hardest worker” awards. Future plans include becoming one of Haufler’s junior instructors. SOME FAVORITE SHAMIA OCC SETS • Warm-up set: 4x {25 FR zero breaths, 25 BK 15 meters underwater dolphin, 25 BR (distance per stroke), 25 FL with 15 meters zero breath, then EZ FR 30 seconds rest between following set elements:
• 4x {4 x 50 (descend 1-4) @ 1:10; rest extra :20; 100 IM (descend 1-4 by round @ 2:00) (The first round of 50s was FL, or KS FL, 2nd round BK, 3rd round BR, 4th round FR) IMs were done 1:22, 1:20, 1:18, 1:16 • 2x {8 x 50 FL, FL/BK, BK, BK/BR, BR, BR/FR, FR, FR/FL) @ 1:10; rest extra :30; then 3x {75 IM w/o FR @ 1:20; 25 FR @ :50 (3 breaths or less, FAST) • 3x {25 FL @ :30, 50 BK @ 1:10, 75 BR @ 1:40, 100 FR @ 2:10, 25 FR @ :30, 50 BR/FR @ 1:10, 75 IM w/o FL @ 1:40, 100 IM @ 2:10 • 6x {75 FR @ 1:20, 25 FL @ :40 • ALL FR — 2x {4 x 50 @ 1:15 breath control 3-3, 3-2, 2-2, 2-1; rest :30; 4 x 25 @ :30 w/paddles and fins (technique focus); rest :30; 4 x 50 @ 2:00 w/paddles and fins FAST=50 race time; rest :30; 6 x 25 (distance per stroke)v
Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach whose Collegiate School (Richmond, Va.) teams won nine state high school championships. A member of that school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, he is also a recipient of NISCA’s Outstanding Service Award.
