By Lindsay Hock<\/p>\n
PHOENIX, Arizona. September 19. THIS summer, the weather in Phoenix, Ariz., was hot in epic proportions. The city set a record for consecutive days above 110. Many people suffered in the sizzling desert heat. <\/p>\n
But the weather isn't all that's hot in Phoenix right now. Brophy East Swim Team or BEST is beginning their season with high hopes and expectations. Head Coach Dave Gibson, who begins his second season at Brophy, hopes to continue the success of the club whose former stars include Gary Hall Jr. and Klete Keller. <\/p>\n
"We are trying to do some new things with our older swimmers while at the same time, do some pretty old-school things with the entry level kids," said Gibson. "Our senior swimmers will get a week off at Christmas, which is obviously pretty unusual and something we haven't tried before." <\/p>\n
Coach Gibson hopes that this break will give his swimmers a chance to refocus on long-course swimming, which they will begin training for in the middle of December. <\/p>\n
"We just want to balance out the long-course and short-course seasons with the lack of a short-course Championship in March," said Gibson. "If I can get my kids to swim as fast in March as they did the previous season, how much faster will they swim in July or August?" <\/p>\n
Hopefully, the answer to this question will be much faster.<\/p>\n
The entry-level program at BEST is also getting a facelift, with a more attentive focus being on education for both swimmer and parent. <\/p>\n
"If we teach our parents the real basics of swimming at the early stages, there will be less confusion and unawareness once the kids progress through the program," said Gibson. <\/p>\n
This "education is most-important" approach is headed up by Dave's wife, Head Age Group Coach Jennifer Gibson, who was recently named to the ASCA Board of Directors.<\/p>\n
Focusing on making his swimmers better is made easier by BEST's affiliation with Brophy College Prep School. The team uses their facilities and is also financially supported by the school. <\/p>\n
"A school is a great way to do a swimming program," said Gibson. "We are proud to have such a fine institution backing us."<\/p>\n
The heat isn't the only thing breaking records in Phoenix. BEST is giving Mother Nature a run for her money.<\/p>\n
Brophy East Swim Team Quick Facts:<\/b>
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Dave Gibson
\nStaff:<\/b> Sandy Lee, Takahisa Ide, Maureen Rankin, Ellen McCoy, Mark Rankin, Jennifer Gibson, Kevin Rytel, Liz Hastings
\nNumber of Swimmers:<\/b> 200
\nNumber of Training Groups:<\/b> 8
\nFacilities:<\/b> Brophy Sports Campus
\nClub Web site:<\/b> brophysportscampus.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lindsay Hock PHOENIX, Arizona. September 19. THIS summer, the weather in Phoenix, Ariz., was hot in epic proportions. The city set a record for consecutive days above 110. Many<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n