June Newsletter 2014
Dear Members,
SUMMER IS HERE!
With the summer heating up it is the perfect time to announce that we will be replacing the water fountains and adding shade structures out on the courts. We are investigating which fountains and what shade structures will work best for us and will be purchasing everything shortly. We hope to have everything completed in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
It is a good time for us to remind parents that you are responsible for DIRECTLY watching your kids at all times when they are in the pool. The lifeguard is not a substitute for you. Lifeguards are a supplemental service we offer to help ensure safety at busy pool times. It only takes seconds for a child to drown. We take this very seriously, so please help us by directly supervising your kids. Please do not be distracted by cell phones and conversations. No matter how good your child is at swimming, they can still drown. If you need to leave the pool area for any reason, your child must get out of the pool, unless you have another parent that is designated to watch your children. Thanks for your cooperation.
Camp begins on June 16th and runs through August 22nd. We have decided to scale back on the number of campers which means we will be using 7 courts from 10:30 to 12:30 and only 6 courts from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. This frees up 3 additional courts in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. The campers will be in the pool from 1pm to 3pm. From 1 to 2 we will designate 3 lanes to camp and 3 lanes to laps. From 2pm to 3pm we will use all 6 lanes for camp. Please adjust your schedules accordingly.
Last week we wrapped up another terrific 45+ Tournament. The weather was perfect and the competition was fierce. Last year’s champion, Jeff Tarango, defeated Curtis Dunn 6-2, 6-3 in the singles finals. Art Hernandez and Carsten Hoffman defeated Dana Gill and Richard Beijer to capture the doubles title. Thanks to all of the volunteers that helped again this year. You are what makes it such a special tournament for the players. We look forward to hosting it again in 2015.
Finally I would like to once again thank all of the sponsors who supported the tournament. Without their generous support we would not be able to put on such an amazing event. Please help show your appreciation by supporting their businesses. Several members have already taken advantage of the offer from Infinity of TO to pay for their first month’s payment (up to $500). Check the tournament section below for special offers from our sponsors. Sponsors for 2014 include: Infiniti of Thousand Oaks, Nissan of Valencia, K-Swiss, Sotheby’s, Pick Up Stix, LuggageBase, Samsonite, Pelican Products, Camp Bow Wow, Law Offices of Mark Brenner, Daniel’s Design House, The Printing Press, Sport Court, Winston Promotions Inc, Nati Malibu, Bablot, Conejo Valley Heating and Air and Vivo Pools.
Have a Healthy Day,
John Sutcliffe
General Manager
Member of the Month – Jim Altman
WAC has chosen Jim Altman as our member of the month for June. Jim has been a member of the club since 1987. Jim began playing water polo in high school where he competed for Beverly Hills High School. After stopping for 30 years, Jim started playing again when he turned 50, after years of watching his sons play. He currently plays 3 times per week for 1 to 2 hours. In addition to playing water polo, he also swims 2 to 3 times per week at WAC with his buddies Rich Olsen, Sandy Farag and Mark Valance. The fabulous foursome can generally be seen egging each other on at lunch time.
This past July Jim and his teammates traveled down to Irvine to compete in the Senior Nationals in the 55 to 60 age group. They played well and went on to take 3rd place in their age group. Congrats on a great tournament. In August Jim is headed to Montreal where he will compete in FINA which is an International tournament where they took the silver medal in four years ago. Join me in wishing Jim good luck in Montreal. He said he really enjoys the International tournaments because he gets to meet water polo players from all around the world.
What is your favorite thing about WAC, I inquired? He quickly replied “the people.” Jim said he met several “really good friends at WAC.” When he is not swimming you might catch Jim playing chess against Tony Migale up in the lobby. I am pretty sure he is still trying to take his first game from Tony!
When I asked Jim how he would best describe WAC he said “it’s a piece heaven.” It does not get much better than that! Thanks Jim for brightening our days with your never ending jokes and big smile!
USTA National Men’s 45 Hard Court Championship
It was another terrific year for the National 45+ Tournament. It was a perfect week of weather for the players. We estimate about 100 spectators were here for the men’s singles finals on Saturday between Jeff Tarango and Curtis Dunn. The match was a repeat from last year’s final and was a great match but in the end, Tarango had a little too much game for Curtis and took the match 6-2, 6-3. The doubles title was captured by the number 1 seeds Art Hernandez and Carsten Hoffman. We were very excited to see one of our very own, Reed Grinsell, capture the bronze ball with his partner Matt Suderman. Congrats to both of you on such a strong performance.
I would like to thank Calle Hansen and Paul and Carol Harvard for all they do to make this such a great tournament. They work tirelessly in the months leading up to the tournament to make sure we are fully prepared for the tournament. All of their hard work paid off as the tournament went off without a single hitch. Small details are what make this a special tournament for the players and we could not do it without you guys.
 3rd Place – Reed Grinsell & Matt Suderman |  1st Place – Art Hernandez & Carsten Hoffman | |
 Volunteers Carol Harvard & Kim Lane. Thank you. |  Thanks to all that came out to cheer the players on. | |
 Dennis Mestas – working on the wounded!! |
Special offers:
Infiniti of Thousand Oaks – 1st month’s payment on Infinity of TO. Negotiate your best deal and then provide your WAC membership card and Infiniti of TO will pay your 1st payment (up to $500).
Nissan of Valencia - 1st month’s payment on Nissan of Valencia. Negotiate your best deal and then provide your WAC membership card and Nissan of Valencia will pay your 1st payment (up to $500).
Sotheby’s – Receive $1000 towards closing costs with the purchase or sale of a home with Bana Zarrabian.
Pick Up Stix – Free Entrée with purchase of Entrée. See coupon for details.
LuggageBase.com – Enter discount code Tennis45 and receive an additional 10% discount at checkout.
Daniel’s Design House – Present your WAC membership card and receive 20% of your fabric purchase and 10% off labor.
Camp Bow Wow – As a member of the Westlake Athletic Club and owner of Camp Bow Wow Agoura Hills, I’d like to introduce WAC members and their pooches to the Camp Bow Wow experience. If your dog has never been to Camp Bow Wow, give us a call at 818 889 2267 and make an appointment for a FREE behavioral assessment and COMPLIMENTARY full day of Day Camp (that’s a $32 value). Just mention this newsletter to arrange your tour of Camp, where you’ll meet the Certified Camp Counselors and learn why Camp Bow Wow Agoura Hills is a multiple Golden Paw Award winner. We know your dog will love our climate controlled indoor and turf covered outdoor play yards, engaging and interacting with other pups and the constant attention from our Camp staff. And you’ll love it when your dog returns home calm and relaxed after a full day of play, exercise and mental stimulation. If you and your pooch are already Camp Bow Wow customers, just mention this newsletter on your next visit and receive a COMPLIMENTARY bath for your pup. Camp Bow Wow Agoura Hills – where a dog can be a dog!
Fitness Stuff
Meet your Trainers
Jared Tavaolian
Jared
has a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from CSUN with over 13 years
experience in the field. Jared managed a corporate training facility
where he was in charge of training and nutritional consultations for
500+ employees. Jared is certified in Yoga and for the past 2 years has
been specializing in gymnastic training and hand balancing. He has
traveled across the globe to study from the best in the world. Jared
uses a blend of Yoga and mobility to restore lost range of movement and
combines it with body weight strength training to keep his clients ready
for the any challenges that life throws at them. Jared believes
“before anything else we are movers and my goal is to help clients break
down the barriers that are limiting their ability to move.” Jared’s
extensive background and unique talents bring an exciting new dimension
to our fitness programming.
Jared will be teaching both one-on-one personal training and small group strength training with 6 to 10 students per class. Stay tuned for a list of days and times.
Patti Markowitz
Patti
has been helping people stay healthy and fit for over 20 years. Patti
feels that fitness is the cornerstone to overall health and wellness and
that getting fit is the first step to gaining a new and healthy
lifestyle. As a certified personal trainer Patti specializes in custom
training routines and likes to challenge and encourage her clients to
surpass their physical and mental boundaries. As your trainer she will
take your health and wellness personally, working alongside you to help
achieve all of your fitness goals. With your determination and her
dedication you can make anything happen.
Fitness Tip
Slow and in Control
Studies show that lowering the weight is just as important as lifting it. Going slow causes just as much muscle-cell damage as lifting it.
Why go Slow? The reason for wanting to go slow and in control is this: In any weight lifting exercise there are two basic motions. One is the concentric phase, or simply put, the lifting phase. The other is the eccentric phase, or the lowering phase.
During the lifting phase the muscle shortens and contracts. During the lowering phase the muscle lengthens. Lowering the weight causes just as much muscle-cell damage as lifting the weight does. The muscle-cell damage followed by the repair is how the muscles grow.
Those of you that are lifting the weight up and down quickly are risking serious injury to yourself and are not getting the full benefits out of your weight lifting routine.
So even though you may feel like it’s effortless to lower the weight while you are lifting, your muscles are still working and contracting, except just eccentrically or negatively.
You may want to consider slowing down the eccentric portion of your repetitions during your workouts and really concentrate on lowering the weights slowly and completely under control. Try lowering the weight very slowly and deliberately for a count of maybe 4-5 secondsand then explode up to a 2 to 3 second count..
You won’t be able to perform as many repetitions as you usually do with the same weight so you’ll need to use a lighter weight. But if done properly, you’ll get a great stretch and pump and chances are you will feel it the next day.
Swimming Tip
How to Get Faster at Swimming Freestyle
Increasing speed during freestyle requires a focused effort on improving your technique and avoiding bad habits that break the streamlined stroking. It is also about training hard and often, and competing with yourself. Here are 5 tips to help you increase your speed:
- Work the legs more. When kicking in freestyle, make sure your feet only come out of the water a tiny bit, if at all. Do not bend your knees. Keep your legs straight and use your thighs to power the kick. Develop a strong but smooth kicking motion. Feel the propulsion as a force and seek to build it into an even stronger one.
- Smoother arm movements. When putting your arm back into the water, have your fingers enter the water first. Do not have your fingers completely together. Have a small gap between the fingers. Then pull back in the water towards your hips. Keep your wrist straight. Make sure when you are putting your arm out to go back in the water that you glide on that arm for a bit. Don’t pull back in the water right away. Don’t shorten your stroke. Keep gliding, but pick up your pace.
- Flip turning. An easy way to ensure a faster time while swimming freestyle is doing a flip turn. When you do a flip turn you get as close to the wall as possible without hitting your head but still to be able to push off the wall with your feet when you finish the flip. When you do a flip turn, lean on a certain shoulder. It’s usually whichever hand you write with which is the shoulder you lean on. Then you flip. You will end the flip under the water and you will be sideways. That is good. That means you have executed it correctly. Don’t forget to breathe out while flipping!
- Breathing. Turn your head for breathing rather than lifting it. Lifting requires more energy and breaks your streamlined shape which slows you down. Instead turn your head and breathe in the pocket.
- Training. Train regularly. You cannot improve without regular training. Train a minimum of 3 times per week. Utilize the lap clock to compete against yourself. Do not always swim at the same pace. Vary your speed and the length of your intervals. If you are not aware of what you need to do for your training you can always join us in the master swim workouts.
Group Exercise Schedule
| Class | Day(s) | Time | Teacher | Description |
| Yoga | Tue/Thurs | 9am | Zabrina | Beginner/Intermediate |
| Yoga | Mon/Wed | 6pm | Beth | Beginner/Intermediate |
| Fusion | Tue/Thurs | 6pm | Katie | Pilates/Yoga |
| Yoga |
Sat | 8:30am | Katie | Beginner/Intermediate |
| Yoga | Sun | 9am | Zabrina | Beginner/Intermediate |
Aquatics
Lane Sharing
Swimmers at WAC are very fortunate, because they can usually swim in a lane by themselves. However, with summer approaching, the six lanes will fill up quicker, and it is important that all members wanting to swim gain access to the pool! Many already know of the WAC pool-sharing rules, but here is a reminder:
*Sharing a lane means 2 people can split the lane; one swims on the left side and the other swims on the right side of the black line at the bottom of the pool (see Lane 2 in diagram). If there are more than 2 people in a lane, then circle swim to the right (see Lane 3).
I am very excited that so many members are utilizing the water! I also greatly appreciate your cooperation during peak pool hours.
See you on the pool deck!
Masters Swim Schedule
Tues & Thurs 5:30 to 6:30am
Tues & Thurs 6:30 to 7:30pm
Sat 7 to 8:15am
Tennis Stuff
Video clip from Calle Hansen, Co-Director at WAC
Video clip from Chris Dudeck, Co-Director at WAC
Tennis Clinics
| CLINIC | DAY AND TIME | PRO |
| Ladies Inter. | Mondays 9:00-10:30 a.m. | Lorene |
| Intermediate Live Ball |
Mondays 6:30 -7:00pm | Matt |
| Serious Tennis. | Tuesdays 6:00-7:30 p.m. |
Chris |
| Cardio Lite | Wednesdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Chris |
| Men’s Live Ball | Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. | Calle |
| Live Ball | Saturdays 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Calle, Matt |
| Cardio Lite | Sundays 8:00-9:00 a.m. | Chris |
| Cardio Hard | Sundays 9:00-10:00 a.m. | Chris |
Match Finder
Steve Hamburger is looking for 3.5-4.0 players for singles and doubles. The group will play week days 8:30 to 11am. Steve will maintain an e-mail listing and help coordinate the matches. If interested please e-mail Steve at [email protected].
Ed Kronstadt is looking for 4.0-5.0
players for singles and doubles. The group will play week days 9 to
11am. Ed will maintain an e-mail listing and help coordinate the
matches. If interested please e-mail Ed at [email protected].
Evelyn Muller & Peggy Lorbach are 3.5 players looking for subs. Can play 8am Mon, Tues, Fri and Sat. Please contact them if you are interested.
Evelyn @ 805-496-1205 / [email protected]
Peggy @ 818-991-0975
