{"id":792,"date":"2016-05-04T17:36:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T15:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.e-spectations.com\/swimming\/?p=792"},"modified":"2016-05-04T17:36:19","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T15:36:19","slug":"swim-holiday-forced-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-spectations.com\/swimming\/2016\/05\/04\/swim-holiday-forced-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim holiday also known as forced rest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Swim

Swim holiday as we call it, is a period of forced rest.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0What is a swim holiday?<\/h2>\n

Our age group swimmer turned 9-years-old in March 2016 just before the Swimming South Africa Level 1 championships. \u00a0She started to swim at the age of 6 and she called her forced rest periods\u00a0swim holiday. \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Needless to say, the term stuck and coaches’ forced rest periods will forever be known in our household as a swim holiday.<\/p>\n

Forced rest and its importance to swimmers.<\/h3>\n

One of Monica’s\u00a0swim friends broke a toe in January 2016, just before the Provincial and Regional championships which took place at the end of March this year. \u00a0At first, she did not rest but it lead to complications and her medical professional recommended a period of 2 weeks’ rest in order for the bone to heal. \u00a0She was devastated after all the hard work she put in year-round, just to be booked off before the most important swimming event on the swim calendar.<\/p>\n

My advice to her mom was\u00a0not to stress too much, as one should never underestimate the power of rest<\/a><\/span>. \u00a0The principle of swim training includes the idea that you actually\u00a0train\u00a0<\/em> when your body is resting. \u00a0 Our swim calendar allows 2 weeks rest during the festive season in December, with training starting in January every year. \u00a0We also have a period of forced rest or as Monica calls it\u00a0swim holiday,<\/em><\/strong> at the end of the swim season meaning the 4 week period in April, after SSA Levels championship is used to rest with no swim training allowed.<\/p>\n

Swim training during the 4 weeks of rest means lots of play and fun – some swim families use this period to take their annual break and they go on holiday. \u00a0We are not so lucky to be able to do just that, so Monica entertains herself quite a bit with some creative street surfing and loads of play dates with friends.<\/p>\n