PaulDowey

Great to welcome 9 News to interview Archie at Mingara Aquatic One by Mingara - Aquatics Mingara Recreation Club on Friday about his most recent success at SWIM Australia Age Nationals. A promising talent for the future, he wasn’t our only success at nationals… watch out! Looking forward to showcasing our promising athletes over the upcoming season

Mingara superfish claims gold medal haul at National Championships - NBN News Mingara swimmer Archie Wright's back in the pool preparing for his next competition, after a success

Waterproofing coastal kids with a medley mentality 🌊🏊‍♂️
Our Australian Age Group Nationals & Multiclass Championships campaign marked a major national benchmark moment for One by Mingara.
Across three weeks of competition, our athletes delivered when it mattered most:
🏅 4 National Age Group gold medals, including a clean sweep of the 400 / 800 / 1500 Freestyle
📈 2 Australian Age & Open Multiclass records
🥇🥈🥉 9 Multiclass medals with finals in every event entered
⏱ A Commonwealth Games Trials qualifying swim
📊 77.7% personal best rate across the campaign
🏆 5th nationally in Age Group Multiclass and 72nd overall from 217 clubs
More than the results, this campaign showed who we are — adaptable, resilient athletes racing with clarity, ownership, and team spirit.
Proud of what was achieved. Grounded in how it was achieved.
Today we reset — and go again.
Dare to dream.

🍪 SHORTBREAD SHARPENING | Race Pace Quality
Simple ingredients. Baked precisely.

This week at One Swim, we delivered a session built around one core idea:

👉 Race pace is a skill, not just an intensity
👉 Quality > volume

The goal? Front-half control → back-half aggression
All without accumulating unnecessary fatigue, exactly what’s required in quality phases of the season.

🔵 Warm-Up | Aerobic readiness, not fatigue
Long strokes, relaxed breathing, efficient movement.
Progressive builds to prepare the nervous system without disrupting technique.

📚 Progressive warm-ups improve movement economy and readiness for quality work (Bishop; Seiler).

🟠 HVO | Neural sharpness
Short, fast 25s from a push.
Clean breakouts. Speed control. No wasted effort.

📚 Brief maximal efforts enhance neural drive without inducing fatigue (Behm & Sale; Ingham).

🔴 Main Set | Race pace is learned
Repeated exposure to exact race rhythm (150 → 100 → 50).
Stroke count discipline > speed chasing.

📚 Race-pace training improves pacing accuracy and technical consistency (Mauger; Toussaint & Truijens).

🟢 Kick → Swim | Hold shape late
Kick-to-swim transitions to simulate back-end race demands
Fatigue managed. Technique protected.

📚 Maintaining form under fatigue is key in middle-distance racing (Billat; Barbosa).

🟣 Speed Touch | Keep speed alive
Short speed swims for neural exposure, not conditioning.

📚 Speed is best maintained through frequent, low-fatigue exposure (Seiler & Tønnessen).

🔑 Coaching takeaway
✔️ Teach swimmers how race pace feels
✔️ Preserve technique under speed
✔️ Build back-half performance through precision, not exhaustion

Just like good shortbread, simple, deliberate, baked with intent.