Newsletter: March 12, 2023
Thank you for your patience as we work to fix the issues with the Olympic pool at our Upper East Side campus. As a reminder, if you're a member at our Upper East Side campus, you have complimentary passport access to our Battery Park City campus and its pools for the duration of the closure. You're may also attend Masters practices at the Battery Park City campus.
Swim Spotlight
Welcome to our AGUA Masters Swim Spotlight! Here, we’ll highlight a few of our fellow swimmers and lane mates. Get to know them outside of swimming and greet them on deck (before or after practice please 😊).

– Coach Jim Wu
Meet AGUA Masters Swimmer Danielle Honrath!
How long have you been swimming with AGUA Masters?
Almost two years! Joined in May 2021.

What's your favorite stroke/distance/event?
Open water races, freestyle, and breaststroke.

Which practice times do you normally attend?
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings at the Upper East Side campus.
What's your favorite AGUA Masters memory?
Holiday dinners and happy hours with teammates!

What do you do (your job)?
I work in marketing/advertising and am currently the Executive Director in VMLY&R's New York office.

What song(s) are you listening to on repeat right now?
Karma Chameleon by R&B artist Drew Love. We recently re-imagined the song and created a music video with our clients, Virgin Voyages.
What do you like to do for fun outside of the pool?
Spending as much time as possible with family and friends and all of the adventures with my husband and sons, Grant (three years old, pictured left) and Rowan (soon to be two years old, pictured right), who are travelers in training!
Training Tips
If you have any swim workouts you've done or would like to share, we’d love to highlight them! Submit your workouts to Coach Jim at jwu@asphaltgreen.org.
Swim Workout

For those that are able to find extra time to swim, check out the following pool workout. Please note, these intervals are for short course yards but feel free to adjust as necessary.

  • Warmup (Set yards: 800)
  • 400 swim / 200 kick / 200 pull

  • Pre-set (Set yards: 750)
  • 10 x 50 freestyle swim (smooth pace at 85%) at 0:50
  • 10 x 25 kick at 0:30

  • Main set (Two rounds; Set yards: 2,000)
  • 10 x 200 freestyle swim (smooth pace) at 3:00
Announcements
Practice Protocols
Coaches on deck are around to write practices, help with mechanical corrections, and assist with the upkeep of the practice. However, they might not always catch all of the nuances that happen within each lane including changes in intervals and strokes or any adjustments you or your lane mates may make within each set.
Here are a few considerations:

  • If you're making a change to the set (distance, interval, effort, etc.), please take a few seconds to communicate with your lane mates:
  • If you’re adjusting the interval, make sure all swimmers in your lane know.
  • If you’re changing your stroke, pick a position within the order of the swimmers that will be less likely to disrupt the swimmer behind you.
  • If you plan on making a stronger swimming effort, let your lane mates know to avoid potential collisions or pileups.
  • Communicate when you plan to leave for the start of the set.
  • To avoid pushing off directly into someone’s feet or vice versa:
  • Make sure you’re going five seconds apart if there are five or fewer swimmers in the lane.
  • If there are six or more swimmers, make sure you’re going three seconds apart.
  • If you’re flipping or finishing at the wall, do it towards the middle or at the left side of the lane.
  • Flipping at the right side of the lane means pushing off across the lane and possibly colliding with a swimmer.
  • Finishing at the right side of the lane allows swimmers behind you to finish at the wall.

All in all, swim well, have fun, and encourage your teammates! Everyone deserves an enjoyable swim.
Asphalt Green is a nonprofit. When you participate in our programs, you stand with Asphalt Green to provide free sports and fitness opportunities for all New Yorkers.

Get 25% off AGUA Masters-branded suits, hoodies, and swag on our online team store with TYR when you use code AGUAM25 at checkout.