Swim Orlando YMCA

Message from Coach Mel - June 2009

Amazing Short Course Season Success!

We are starting a new summer season.

      School is out.

      Schedules are changing.

     WE ARE TRAINING LONG COURSE!!!!

But before we get too far along into those hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer I think we should look back on the last short course season.

We could go through all the names of people who swam well; talk about percentage of time drops; mention High Point Awards and so forth. But as most of you know, I am always concerned that someone will get left off the list and we never want to slight anyone. Additionally, I want to see how the overall TEAM is doing and that reflects on the collective individual accomplishments of ALL our swimmers.

The best way to do this is through the USA Swimming Virtual Club Championships Program.

To quote USA Swimming, the Virtual Club Championships Program is designed to:

 “Recognize and highlight clubs that are developing athletes and achieving success at multiple levels in the club swimming continuum emphasizing the team element in club swimming. This program serves as a key part of the Athlete Development & Performance component of the Club Recognition Program.”

The rankings are available on USA Swimming and rank about 7000 clubs across the country.

We are two and a half years old, smaller than many clubs out there and yet are ranked Nationally 328^th for the past 2008-2009 SC season. It gets even more exciting when you look at Florida Swimming LSC rankings. The following are the Top 25 Teams out of 78 in our LSC.

We are the highest ranked team in the Orlando area!!!!  Please look at the teams around us. To be eleventh in the LSC with the vast majority of teams being in existence much longer than we have is very gratifying. This lets us know that we are on the right track.

I hope this gets you as excited as it does me. Sometimes we get caught up in the day to day details and lose sight of how well we are doing in the bigger picture. I know that is what this made me remember. Let’s keep it going into the summer and next short course season as well.

Introducing Coach Tom Nielson:

We are extremely pleased to add Coach Tom Nielson to our staff. Many of you know him from his days as the Head Coach at Kissimmee Swim Association. Many of you know him as that guy with the cool car. Some know that he was a Navy Seal for 20 years. That’s the one which impresses me. Most recently Tom was the Head Coach of Tiger Aquatics at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California in addition to being an assistant coach with the University. Tom is working with all groups with a focus on Age Group and assisting with the Senior Group.

We are so fortunate to add someone with Tom’s experience and seasoning. He brings so much to the table and I know he will help us continue in the direction toward excellence.

Summer Workout Times:

Senior: Mon-Sat 8:00-11:00am (includes drylands and weights)

Green: Mon-Sat 8:00-10:00am or M-F 5:30-7:30pm (includes drylands)

Blue: Mon-Fri: 8:00-9:30am or M-F 5:30-7:00pm

Yellow: Mon-Fri: 8:00-9:00 or M-F 5:30-7:30pm

Sharks: Mon-Thur: 8:00-8:45am or 5:30-6:15pm

We strongly urge you to try to make the morning workout times as we are in the thunderstorm season. While we can stay in the water much longer than outdoor facilities, even in our pool we lose a little workout time. 

Summer Events 2009 for Swim Orlando YMCA

June 12-14          Trinity Prep Meet in Winter Park. ALL

June 26-28          Liberty Meet hosted by Swim Orlando YMCA @ Aquatic Center.  ALL Swimmers and Parents 

July 7-12             USA Nationals in Indianapolis. For qualifiers

July 11-12            Area 2 Meet in Clermont. ALL except SR Champs, Sectional and JO Swimmers

July 16 – 19         JO Meet in Ft Myers. For qualifiers age 14 and younger

July 16 – 19         Sectionals in Gainesville. For qualifiers 

July 23-26            Senior Champs in Ft Pierce.  For qualifiers

July 28 – Aug 1  Southern Zone Age Group Championship @ Aquatic Center. For Qualifiers. Hosted by Swim Orlando YMCA and Florida Swimming

Aug 1-2                 Titusville meet (tentative) Green and younger

Aug 4-8                 US Open in Federal Way, WA. For qualifiers

August 8              Y League Meet at our pool for the Area YMCA league swimmers. 

                                For Sharks, Yellow, Blue and ALL who wish to participate.

Aug 10-14            Junior Nationals in Federal Way, WA. For qualifiers

Aug 22                  SO….You Think You’ve Got Talent???

*ALL – Yellow, Blue, Green, Senior

*Qualifiers – Swimmers must swim a time that meets the qualifying standard. See FloridaSwimming.org and USASwimming.org for “time standards”.