Kallen Garnier-Chan has been selected in the first round to the 2024 Florida Age Group Zone Team that will compete at 2024 Southern Zone Age Group Championships at Midland, TX on July 24-27, 2024. 4 more spots in each age group / gender will be filled at 2024 Summer FLAGS. Roster

Are you training to be good at training… Or training to be good at competition? Camille Adams is a two-time Olympian and NCAA champion whose specialty events were two of the hardest on the program… The 400m IM and 200m butterfly. (Oof.) At practice, once a week, Adams and her teammates got up on the blocks and raced. The goal? To practice racing. Swimmers often get lost doing endless laps in training, building up a ferocious ability to practice… But little ability to race. For Adams, this regular racing helped...

GCST placed 7 swimmers on the Florida Open Water Zone Team based on their finishes at the 2024 Florida Open Water Championships held on April 13th at Fort Myers Beach. 11-12 Boys - Kallen Garnier-Chan 13-14 Girls - Katia Bushko, and Karter Seluk 13-14 Boys - Ben Lopez 15-16 Boys - Gio Medina and Parker Seluk Open Boys - Josef Florek FL OW Zone Team Head Coach - Don Henshaw Congratulations to these swimmers and good luck at the Southern Zone Championships on May 31- June 2, 2024 at Lucas,...

Understanding what YOU need to perform your best on race day is critical. Each swimmer has their own blueprint for a high-performance mindset in competition. For Leon Marchard, world champion, NCAA champion, and the man to finally beat Michael Phelps’ 400m IM world record, the key to electric swims is being relaxed. "The first thing I worked on with my mental coach was managing my stress and nervousness before competitions,” says Marchand. “Because when I was really nervous, I couldn't swim well at all. So I've been working on that,...

Goals are essential to help swimmers as they provide motivation, direction, and focus. They are the proverbial rocket fuel during long training cycles, tiring weeks of practice, and the yo-yo of confidence when viewing the results of competing swimmers. Which is why it is so important to set goals intelligently. Goals where you have maximum control of your performance. Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps’ longtime coach and current coach of 400m IM world record holder Leon Marchand, advises this approach with his swimmers. Encouraging them to focus on outcome goals that...

One of my least favorite sets as an age grouper (and to this day as a noon-hour lap swammer) were sets with a breathing pattern. The dreaded “lung buster” sets. Laps and reps were designed to be completed using a specified breathing pattern. For example, 8x200 freestyle breathing 3/5/7/9 by 50. Or doing 50s taking just three breaths. And so on. There is something very normal about being uncomfortable having your face down in the water, lungs aching for air. That said, the unique demands of swimming require being able...

As the temperatures climb we will be experiencing thunderstorms soon. Parents must be avialable in the event we get a lightning warning and have to leave the pool. Swimmers cannot stay in the facility. Make sure a parent is there to pick them up or make arrangements for your child to get into someone's car of your choosing. We have lightning detection systems at all of our pools. Our coaches also monitor Weatherbug, and The Weather Channel apps as well as local news / weather apps. Wondering about pratice cancellations...

Florida Swimming is gearing up for the launch of our Why Swim FL campaign to boost interest in competitive swimming. We need your help to make the campaign a success. We are launching a teaser social media blitz this week and would love for you to encourage your swimmers and families to visit, like, follow and share the Why Swim FL social media pages and posts. We want this to be an interactive campaign where we will be encouraging swimmers to share and add content, telling the story of their...

Gabby Botello, Grayson Mondragon, and Kallen Garnier-Chan won High Point awards at the GCST Spring Invite. Gabby won the 8 & Under Girls award, Grayson won the 10 & Under Boys award, and Kallen won the 11-12 Boys award. Event Winners: Gabby Botello, Anna Bushko, Katia Bushko, Kallen Garnier-Chan, Lexi Jaquins, Sarah Kirby, James Mayo Reynoso, Grayson Mondragon, Ellie Ruiz, and Jonathan Ruiz. All Best Times: Gabby Botello, Bryce Crawford, Colton Graves, Connor Graves, Chase Hemmersmeyer, Colton Hemmersmeyer, Lexi Jaquins, Hadley LaFluer, Jude Maus, Jonathan Ruiz, Mia Thomas, Caroline Tibbetts,...

The afternoon high temperatures are rising quickly as we move into Spring and then Summer. All GCST swimmers should bring an insulated cooler to practice filled with ice and a Gatorade and water 50/50 mix for good hydration. Small clear coolers / jugs are not acceptable as they heat up quickly. Disposable, plastic water bottle are not allowed as they heat up quickly and are left behind on the deck after practice.