Those climbing sport had much harder routes today, think semi-finals day at Divisionals or Nationals and that's what it was like. They all had mock comps again for the first 3 routes. The time limit on today's routes was 8 minutes. There were several flashes in the group. The coaches goal was to have them more familiar with the gym overall and climb on all sections of the wall. Believe me when I tell you this is no small feat. By the end of the day I think all would agree the goal was met.
The speed climbers had a good day of training. Each of them were faster than yesterday. Coach Stan is doing a great job motivating them while continually pushing them harder in the most laid back manner. The guys posted several times in the 7-8 second range. Stan says he is pretty sure John and Michael would have had sub 7 second times had the timer worked correctly on on a couple of their runs. The girls ran faster too. Many of the girls are consistently getting 11's and 12's, with all speed climbers consistently setting new personal records. The goal for today in speed was to for them to be more intense and give it all they had for 4 runs. At the end of the speed session, Stan split the kids into two teams, "Team USA" and "Team Russia", making a competition between the two groups. Naturally, Team Russia won!
I have to tell you that we have such a strong team of coaches this year. Meghan runs with them, coaches all day, then is out playing ultimate frisbee before and after dinner with several of the climbers. Claudiu is leading the coaches and climbers keeping everyone focused and following the plan for the day while still giving feedback to the kids individually. Dave provides feedback, guiding on utilizing the allotted time on the route efficiently and provides great insight to the IFSC rules. Alex gives the climbers a unique prospective for preparing for the upcoming competition having just transitioned from a competitor at last years WYC to a coach this year. ( And may I add doing an awesome job!) Stan greets us each morning with new USA apparel; yesterday he wore American flag shoes and today he sported American flag shorts. He has helped all the kids climbing speed to get FASTER! And last but certainly not least Chelsea has manages arranging delicious meals for 50, prepares schedules, plans our free day activities just to name a few and still coaches the kids. When you see these guys at the competition please give them a BIG THANK YOU. They put in long days, starting at 7:00 a.m. or earlier and ending after 10:00 p.m. before they have a minute of free time to themselves.
AND we all want to end the day by wishing Brandon Lieuw a Happy 15th Birthday. We celebrated with cupcakes for all.
