IOWA CITY EELS

 

Contact: 351-3366 or swimice@aol.com                                           April 22, 2002

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Coming up:

 

4/24-       Cookie night at Mercer and Coralville

4/29-       Practice resumes at Coralville for Frost and Cubes

5/1-         Flower Baskets can be picked up at Coral Fruit Market

5/2-         Deadline to sign-up for CRAA Pentathlon

5/4 5/5-   SPRING MELTDOWN at Mercer

5/6-         ICE Board Meeting at Mercer 6:30 PM

5/10-       Deadline to sign-up for Senior trip Meet (13+) Titan Wheel Firecracker Classic in Quincy, Illinois

5/15-       ICE bills due & newsletter submissions due

5/16-       Deadline to sign-up for ANW Meet

5/18-       CRAA Pentathlon at Cedar Rapids

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Flower Baskets: The order forms for the baskets from Coral Fruit Market are due.  Please get them in as soon as possible.  People can begin picking up their baskets on May 1st. If you have questions you can e-mail Bryan at: BLawler@universalclimate.com

 

Cookie Night: Wednesday, April 24th is Cookie Night at both Mercer and Coralville.  Starting when Stroke Clinic begins (6:00 PM at Mercer and 6:30 PM at Coralville) cookies& drinks will be available for the swimmers and ICE parents will be on hand to answer questions prospective swim parents or anyone for that matter might have about the sport in general and the Club in particular. If you have answers or questions, you are strongly encouraged to attend.

 

Swimming merchandise:  Anyone planning on ordering swim suits and gear from Vicki needs to do so by April 30th. This is the only swimsuit order that will be processed during the long course season.  Order forms and details about swimsuits and other swimming related merchandise can be found on our website (www.iceels.org).  Vicki can be reached at kennedy-mcbreen@iowa-city.k12.ia.us or on Monday evenings from 5:45-7:00 PM at Mercer.

 

Practice to resume at Coralville: Beginning Monday, April 29th the Frost and Cubes will be able to practice at Coralville again.  Both groups will begin at 6:30 PM with the Frost running till 7:15 PM and the Cubes going till about 7:30 PM. In conjunction with this change in practice facilities, the folders for swimmers practicing at Coralville will be moved by the 29th too. If your swimmer will be practicing primarily at Coralville, you should notify us at iowacityeels@aol.com so we can have their folder at the Coralville pool when practice begins there next week.  As always, it is a good idea to check the folders on at least a weekly basis for any news, forms, or other goodies that might be present.

 

The following submission is from Bryan Lawler, past ICE President and recently installed co-chair of ISI’s Officials Committee.

 

Swim Officials Corner

Have you ever wondered what those swimming officials are up to on the deck?  Have you ever held your breath while you son or daughter was competing wondering if an official would issue a disqualification for a stroke infraction?  Have you ever grumbled when the officials take those frustrating 5-minute breaks when all you want is to get the meet over with so you can go home? 

 

Many swim parents have asked these types of questions or had these concerns about the officiating at swim meets.  I certainly did.  So I decided to become a USA Swimming official to get some answers and have been at for almost six years now.

 

In the Officials Corner, I want to try to better inform the ICE membership about the philosophy of officiating, discuss the various officiating jobs, and explain what the officials are looking at during the competition.  By doing this, I hope to answer some of your questions, possibly generate more questions, explain some of the rules of competitive swimming, and increase your understanding of swim meet operation.   I also hope to interest some of you in considering becoming a swimming official.  So here goes with the first installment.

 

 

What is the general philosophy of swimming officiating?

 

Swim officials are on deck to ensure that safe, fair and equitable competitive conditions exist at every meet.  The goal is to give each and every swimmer an opportunity to swim his or her best, while not allowing any swimmer to have an unfair advantage.  THE GOAL IS NOT TO CATCH VIOLATORS OF THE RULES!!

 

In carrying out their duties, officials are required to give swimmers the benefit of the doubt.  In other words, unless an official is 100% certain that a swimmer violated a rule, there can be no disqualification.  This is why officials are required to immediately raise their hand when making a disqualification call.  This immediate action is directly related to being certain a violation occurred.  In fact, if an official does not immediately raise his or her hand, no disqualification call can be made.  If an official has to take time to think about whether a swimmer committed a stroke infraction, then that official is not 100% certain. 

 

The reason for giving swimmers the benefit of the doubt is the drastic nature of a disqualification.  In most other athletic events a violation only results in a penalty against the team (i.e., free throw, yardage, free kick), and the violator is normally allowed to remain in the game.  In swimming, however, a swimmer who is disqualified is completely eliminated from that event and is treated as if he or she never swam the race.  Therefore, all swimmers must be given the benefit of the doubt.

 

Officials are also required to apply the rules of swimming in a consistent manner for every swimmer in every race.  This requires a thorough understanding of the rules, equal observation of all swimmers within each official’s jurisdiction, and a focus on observing rather than inspecting the swimmers and NOT anticipating stroke infractions.

 

In summary, the philosophy of swimming officiating boils down to maintaining a protective attitude towards each and every swimmer.  Our young athletes work very hard, and they deserve the fairest and most equitable competitive environment possible. 

 

The next installment will cover the role of the Meet Referee.  If you have any questions about officiating, please contact me at blawler@universalclimate.com or 354-9005.         

 

 

Swim Meets:  Like most Clubs, the Iowa City Eels host several swim meets a year.  Clubs host Meets primarily to support competitive swimming but these events are also a way to generate income for the organization.  We host three Meets a year, each with it’s own unique character.

 

·        Irving B. Weber Invitational: Held in late November or early December this is typically an Open short-course event.  It consists of four sessions spread out over two days and last year attracted about 375 swimmers.  After expenses, this Meet generated about $5,300.00 in December of 2001. 

·        ICE Spring Meltdown: Usually held the first weekend of May, this Meet is the “kick-off” for the long course season in Iowa.  This is a primarily a Senior (13+) event requiring qualifying times (A-BB) to enter.  This is the smallest of our Meets, just three sessions over two days, but it often brings in swimmers from surrounding states. We had about 220 swimmers visit us last year.  After expenses, this Meet generated about $3,100.00 in May of 2001.

·        Summer Long Course Championships: Usually held the first weekend of August, this Meet is the state long course championship for all ISI swimmers. You need “Q” times to participate and this is the big Meet on our schedule.  With nine sessions spread out over three days this Meet is a challenge for us to host.  Last year we had about 400 swimmers.  After expenses, this Meet generated about $7,800.00 in August of 2001.

 

As you can see the proceeds from Meets, some $16,000.00- is no small figure.  When one considers that Club dues were roughly $55,000.00 during the same time period the importance of Meets as a source of funds for our Club is obvious. 

 

Income from Meets is derived from several sources; entry fees (about 50%), concessions (about 22%), program sales (about 12%), with the remainder (16%) made up of advertising, merchandise sales, and the cut we receive from the vendors present at each Meet.

 

Expenses for Meets fall into several categories; concessions (25%), awards and participation gifts (20%), program printing and postage (10%), pool rental (20%), with the remainder (25%) being merchandise costs, supplies, and equipment rental.

 

All of the numbers are irrelevant if the Club doesn’t have sufficient member support to properly host a Meet.  There are tasks available to suit anyone’s particular interests or skills. Making food, contacting area businesses for sponsorship, assisting with maintenance on the pool equipment, manually timing swimmers, officiating, announcing the events, or any of a myriad list of necessary duties- simply have to be carried out for a Meet to be successful.  Besides the coaches, nearly everyone you will see at most Meets is a volunteer and most of these volunteers are either swimming family members or dedicated supporters of the sport.  As Club members we share a responsibility to the swimmers to provide a pleasant, positive, and effective competitive Meet experience.

 

Don’t be shy- the Meet volunteer sign-up sheets are posted at Mercer for the May 4th & 5th Meltdown and we are in need of all sorts of support.  We have a continuing need for volunteers to learn how to operate the timing equipment. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but a properly functioning timing system is crucial to the success of any Meet.  Individuals interested in learning how to use the Meet Manager software or the Colorado timing console are encouraged to sign on as trainees.

 

Camps & Colleges:  The ICE notebook at Mercer now has some information about various swim camps and even a few colleges.  Anyone interested is invited to look this information over.  Additionally, if anyone has other related information to share, simply place that information in the file cabinet at Mercer. 

 

Where they are going: ICE High School Seniors are finalizing plans for their collegiate futures.  Becky Witnok-Huber is going to swim with the University of Vermont.  Katie Funk is going to swim for Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.  Andy Gray will attend Mercersberg Academy and prepare for entrance to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in the fall of 2003.  Their hard work in and out of the pool has served them well.


What they are up to: Former ICE swimmers continue to make a splash in the world of competitive swimming.  Micah Swesey – a former Little Hawk, helped the Luther College women (the Lady Norse) win the Iowa College Conference title and swam on the
championship 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, and 800 Free Relay.   Micah competed in the 50, 100, and 200 Free and made finals in all three events.  Her 100 Free was a personal best. 

Adam Yack and Dale Doershuk – These two former City High athletes both completed
successful seasons with Wooster College.  Adam placed 13th at the North Coast
Athletic Conference meet in the 400 IM with a lifetime best time and 15th in
the 200 Fly.  Adam also helped out on the 800 Free Relay and swam the 500
Free and 1650 Free during the season. Dale competed in the sprint freestyles, the 100 and 200 backstroke, and helped out on various relays throughout the season.   Dale placed 20th in the 100 Back and 22nd in the 200 Back at the North Coast Athletic Conference Meet with a personal best in the 200.

Allison Lyle - Senior team captain Allison Lyle capped an incredible career
at the University of Iowa by winning the consolation final of the women's 200
Breaststroke at the NCAA championships.  Besides earning Honorable Mention
All-American status for the second year in a row Allison broke both her U of
I records in the 100 and 200 Breaststrokes at the meet.  The All Big Ten
first team swimmer was a former West High Trojan swimmer (Keota High School)
who won 2 HS state titles and broke 10 ISI state records during her career as
well as competing at Nationals twice and qualifying for Olympic Trials in
2000.  We at ICE wish Allison the best with her future plans. 

 

Meet sign-up reminder:  It is important that all sign-up cards be submitted 16 days before the first day of any Meet you are planning on attending. It is critical to sign up for meets by the date listed on the calendar and entries folder. Meet hosts require entries to be submitted 10 days before the meet begins and to be sure we get everyone properly listed, entries need to be submitted six days prior to that cutoff date.  It is to the swimmer’s benefit to be entered on time- some meets do not allow late entries at all and others will only do so if space is available.  Your cooperation in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

 

ISI honors going to ICE include: Iowa City Eels Head Coach Donald Spellman was named the Outstanding Age Group Swim Coach for Iowa at the Iowa Swimming Awards Banquet at Coe College on April 13, 2002.  Iowa City Eel swimmers honored as one of the top five athletes in their respective age groups included:  Beth Eyanson, Stephanie
Choi, Katie Funk, Ashley Lawler, Melissa Loehndorf, and Christine Olson. Christine was also recognized for new state records; 10 & under girls in the 400 meter free (5:18.23), 100 meter breast (1:26.72), 500 yard free (5:45.92), 100 yard breast (1:13.83); and for 11-12 girls in the 200 yard breast (2:36.61).   Additionally, Christine was recognized nationally for the 2001 long course season as a top 16 swimmer for 10 & under girls placing 11th in the 50-meter breast (39.43) and 15th in the 200 meter free (2:26.29). 

 

Final note from communications:  With the beginning of the long course season there is a palpable sense of excitement about the pool.  It is a wild time of year- early morning outdoor practices; swim meets in the sun (and sometimes the rain); and lots of special activities- it is, truly, a fun time to be associated with the sport.   Everyone seems busy this time of year so we will be making an extra effort to keep folks informed about the Club and it’s activities.  You can always follow the Eels by visiting the website at www.iceels.org and by reading the newsletters, e-mails and folder inserts that come your way.