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contact: 351-3336 or SwimICE@aol.com November, 2001

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Coming in November:

11/5- ICE board Meeting 6:30 PM Mercer 11/16- Sign up deadline for DMET Winter Frolic

11/8- Picture Night 6:00 PM Mercer 11/21-11/24- Thanksgiving Break Practices

11/9- Sign up deadline for Weber Meet 11/23- Sign up deadline for ANW Pentathlon

11/15- ICE bills due 11/29- NO PRACTICE at Mercer (H.S. Meet)

11/15- December newsletter inputs due 11/30- Sign up deadline for ISI Postal Meet

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Coaches Corner

Where are the boys?

Splash magazine recently had a special report on the problem with keeping boys interested in our sport. A great deal of that article made sense and gave concrete examples of how swimming is not keeping male athletes in the sport as well as other countries in our Olympic family. The article listed many reasons for the declining interest among boys; more high profile sports, pressure from coaches and peers, having to shave and wear Speedos, the applications of Title IX, and the fact boys mature later than their female counterparts. Iowa Swimming Inc. (ISI) president Jodie Theobald believes that “alternative sports” are a threat to swimming participation among boys. I think they are both right, but there are other reasons. Having lost the Overall ISI Long Course Championships title to DMSF I dissected the points and two areas, 11-12 boys and Senior boys, were the only categories they had an advantage on us. For my club, this is a key to future success. For my sport- it is a crisis situation.

First and foremost, and this is coming from a person who loves the sport of swimming, the sport is a time consuming activity that gobbles up more and more time at each level. A good high school football player puts in two to three hours of workout/practice time a day, a great one a little more. A good high school swimmer in a club program puts in three to four hour days all the time in the summer, three to four days weekly frequently during the winter, and commits to weekend practices and meets. The time a swimmer spends in the pool and weight room add up and require more dedication than most sports. At the college level all sports require at least 20 hours of work per week, but swimming still has all the morning practices during the school year that other sports only require during “off” seasons. Ever hear the term “mandatory optional”? I have- from my college captains at UNLV.

The Splash article mentioned pressure from other sports. This is especially intense in high school when male teenagers are developing a sense of who they are and how others view them. High profile sports like football, basketball, and baseball get press and fans and a lot of boys notice that when making decisions about which sports they are willing to try-out for. I remember how big of a deal it was when I decided to not play football in the middle of high school. My dad thought I was crazy, my two brothers (both former football players) didn’t understand why I was not going out, and my girlfriend at the time was dumbfounded as well. Had I not gone to Central Zones the summer before I most likely would have still played football. After having a taste for a big meet like that I made my mind up that getting pounded all fall for a piece of inflated pig-skin was not worth messing up my swimming. I later qualified for high school state in swimming and decided to drop track & field in the spring. My Athletic Director pulled me aside after that one and asked what was going on. I had to drop sports in order to drive to Des Moines to practice with my club team (a 40 min. trip) and these other sports got in the way. I did get quite a bit of attention in my town from the paper and the radio station when I made the state swim meet and got medals at Zones but in bigger cities with larger high schools (and more important news- haha) I would not have received as much attention.

My high school AD did not realize what I was doing all summer, all fall, and all winter but in time he realized what our sport requires. What is odd is that most AD’s, like mine at Perry High School, have no idea what club swimming entails nor do they have very much support for it because it takes away from other high school activities. In small towns, like mine, that is a huge problem for getting kids involved with school sponsored activities. USA-S club swimming is in competition for participation like all other activities. Throw into the equation the competitive nature of youth soccer, baseball, basketball, and you have a tough sell to parents to get boys to the pool on a regular basis for meets and practices.

The elimination of collegiate male swimming programs is a huge problem that the article touches on as well. This is a factor later on because it is becoming harder for American males to swim on college teams. With foreign athletes and less spaces to swim (72+ spots in the Midwest at the Division I Level with the elimination of ISU, Nebraska, and Kansas last year) this is becoming the horrible reality for a lot of still maturing male swimmers in our country. Swimming is a non-revenue (and a “non-marketed” sport), which means it is not a high priority for most Division 1 athletic departments. The trend is getting worse every year. One positive aspect has been the growth and increased speed of Division III and Division II swimming males but for the most part this whole situation is not good for the health of the sport. Males are losing scholarship opportunities to develop at the Division I level and that is going to hurt us in national competition and in international competition. While there are opportunities to turn pro in swimming most athletes need some time in collegiate competition to advance their skills. All this is being done under the cloak of “gender equity”. Personally I like Title IX legislation: as a progressive and as a father of two girls I openly support it. What I do not like is how it has been used as a shield to gut Olympic sports for males. If small colleges like Grinnell, Coe College, and Loras can find enough money to support male swimming programs then the University of Nebraska (with it’s multi-million dollar support from Adidas and Russell) can find a bit of money to have male swimmers as well. Call me biased (I am) but even someone with rudimentary economic skills could make this case.

Our sport is not marketed enough. In other developed countries swimming is a legitimate spectator sport. I blame USA Swimming and the USOC for most of these problems. Our USA-S Nationals and the last FINA World Championships were nowhere to be seen on the big networks this summer. Track and Field got both the TAC Nationals and the IAAF World Championships on ESPN/ ABC for three different dates. Gymnastics found a way to get mainstream TV coverage for big events. Volleyball found money to get on TV this summer. We get a token slot on the Outdoor Life Network (which is great if you have a satellite dish) and little else outside of marginal print coverage. Every four years we get a week in the spotlight (like in 2000 at Sydney) then disappear. Why is this the case? In Australia and in Europe our National Team members are revered and looked at as elite professionals but here they toil in obscurity having to get other jobs after college to supplement their training and competition. We need to get on TV and into the public eye. Ian Thorpe chose to swim in a country that values it’s male swimming stars. This climate does not exist in our sport culture right now.

This touches on what Jodie Theobald was talking about at the ISI meeting. The alternative sports have made themselves legitimate due to media exposure and getting money into the sport. We are getting money into the sport but not getting it where it needs to go to promote the sport more fully during non-Olympic years. This causes us to miss those males who may be at home on the weekends bumming around looking for something to do. If we can get our sport on before a basketball game, after a football game, or during a Saturday afternoon Wide World of Sports we can reach a few more kids. I know I watched all the BMX and Freestyle events at the X-Games this summer on ESPN (I am a big Matt Hoffman fan from my teenage days). I think we could get a similar audience to watch our sport because it is just as exciting. Imagine if our sport had our own Tony Hawk out there doing commercials and clinics?

We have a lot to do to get our male numbers up around the country. Without the added incentive of organized high school water polo in our state we need a multi-pronged approach that includes help from the media and our governing bodies. We also need NCAA schools to quit killing our men’s swimming programs in the name of gender equity (which is bogus when a place like Iowa State can pay outrageous salaries for the men’s basketball coach and football staff then turn around and tell swimming and baseball they are out of “legitimate funds”). We need pro-swimming Athletic Directors at the high school and collegiate levels. We need USA-S to get our Nationals and other big meets on TV consistently. We need to work harder to talk about our sport, show others how cool it is, and rope in new male members. We need to address these problems now at the national and local level before it is too late.

Technique Tip- from Coach Spellman

Make sure to practice good technique during cool down swimming. Try throwing in some drills or doing the whole cool down swim DPS (distance per stroke). Make cool down not just a time to shake out the stiffness and soreness of the regular workout, use it as a time to reinforce good training habits.

OCTOBER SWIMMERS OF THE MONTH: Congratulations to our October Swimmers of the month:

Frost: Callie Larson

Cubes: Chelsea Hartman

Morays: Christine Olson

Eels: Katie Funk & Ashley Lawler

THANKSGIVING BREAK PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

11/21 NO PM Practice

11/22 NO Practice- Turkey Day!

11/23 Regular PM Practice at Mercer Park Only

11/24 Regular Saturday AM Practice at Mercer Park

PICTURE NIGHT: On Thursday, November 8th the Eels will be having their annual picture night. Bring your suit, a towel, and a smile and be at Mercer by 6:00 PM for the photo shoot. Afterwards there will be pizza, pop, and cookies for the swimmers. Parents are encouraged to attend, as this is a good opportunity to meet other parents and ask questions about swimming in general and the club in particular. Merchandise will be available for purchase. There will also be a chance to sign up to volunteer at the Weber Meet in early December.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE CHANGES: Due to high school use of Mercer pool for swim meets, the pool will be closed for practice on the following dates- 11/29; 12/4, 12/13, & 12/18; and 1/15, 1/19, & 1/22. Frost and Cubes can still practice at Coralville on these nights.

MASTERS MEETS: There is a Masters meet at Grinnell College on Sunday, November 18th. Warm-ups are at 8:00 AM and the meet begins at 9:00 AM. Information and an entry form are located in the “Masters” folder in the front of the file cabinet. Another Masters event is the 50-50s and brunch scheduled for Saturday, December 8th. Warm-ups are at 8:00 AM with the swimming set to begin at 9:00 AM. Lanes will be set aside for swimmers of all speeds. Afterwards, there will be bagels and other goodies in the Procter and Gamble room. Everyone is invited and the swimmers will need timers and lap counters. This is a fun event for all involved- please consider helping out on the 8th.

ICE LOGO BAGS: If anyone is interested in having the embroidered ICE logo put on a gym bag, please contact Michelle Larson at michelle-larson@uiowa.edu or 351-1075 before November 9th. You supply your own bag, that way you get the style that you want! If we have a group of 8 or more bags, the embroidery charge is significantly reduced.

COMMITTEE SIGN UP: Committees for the winter swim season will be finalized in early November. If you didn't fill out a volunteer form during registration, now is the time to let us know your preferences for the year. We would like to place you on a committee you'd enjoy working on, so please send an e-mail to Jan at Blawler251@aol.com or give her a call at 354-9005 as soon as possible. Standing committees available include: Fundraising, Social, Technical Planning, Communications, Meets and Merchandise. Committee lists will be posted in the ICE notebooks following the board meeting on November 5.

WREATH SALES: Thanks to all who participated in the wreath sales fundraiser. Fundraising plays an important part in keeping the club financially sound and stable.

GIFT WRAP FUNDRAISER: We have again arranged with the Barnes & Noble Book Store at the Coral Ridge Mall to do a gift-wrapping fundraiser. Barnes & Noble provides space and materials and ICE members (parents and swimmers) provide their gift-wrapping skills for store customers. ICE keeps 100% of any donations received during our shifts. This year we have reserved the following dates and times:
December 8, 2001 1:00 to 4:00 PM
December 9, 2001 1:00 to 4:00 PM
December 15, 2001 1:00 to 4:00 PM
December 17 through 21, 2001 1:00 to 6:00 PM
These are heavy shopping times, so if we can staff the sessions, we can have a very successful fundraiser.
Barnes & Noble would like to have at least two adults present during each shift. Sign-up sheets are available at both Mercer (on coaches office door) and Coralville (in ICE notebook). We need you to sign-up by November 15, 2001 so we can confirm with Barnes & Noble that we have enough staff there for each session. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact Bryan Lawler at 354-9005 or BLawler251@aol.com.

FUNDRAISING REQUIREMENT TRACKING: Starting with the November 2001 ICE billings, there will be a charge for each family’s winter season fundraising requirement. As the note in the Remarks Section states, this amount is NOT currently due and can be raised or paid at any time during the winter season. As funds are raised, the fundraising requirement amount will be correspondingly reduced on subsequent billings. We hope this will allow families to better track their status during the season. Any balance at the end of the winter season will then be due. Any amount you earn over the required amount for the winter season will be carried forward toward your spring fundraising requirement. Contact Bryan Lawler at 354-9005 or if you have any questions.

CONGRATULATIONS: Present and past members of the Eels are wrapping up a successful season with both City and West High Girl’s Swim Teams. Swimming with City were Mollie McBreen, Elysia Dolder, Gayle Dunlap, Katie Funk, Heather Gray, Robin Karkowski-Schelar, Paige Knebel, Kaela Kramer, Kristen Lee, Gabi Mackay, and Jessica Murillo. Swimming with West High were Courtney Hitchon, Amanda Knight, Joanna Krajewski, Morgan McCarthy, Jane Schlapkohl, Heather Buresh, Stephanie Mohr, Sam Sheeley, Andrea Siefers, Lisa Stewart, Lauren Talman, and Becky Witinok-Huber. Great job girls!

RECENT MEET RESULTS: The Iowa City Eels Swim Team began the short course season on October 13-14 by competing in the Senior Shootout Meet hosted by the Iowa Swimmers at the Iowa Field House on October 13-14, 2001. The following ICE swimmers finished in the top 10 in their individual events: 50 Yard Free: Kampling, Anna , 25.89, 2nd; 100 Yard Free: Kampling, Anna, 58.22, 5th; Lawler, Ashley, 58.65, 8th; 200 Yard Free: Lawler, Ashley, 2:02.21, 2nd; Kampling, Anna, 2:08.64, 5th; Astor, Jacqueline, 2:14.20, 8th; Olson, Amy, 2:14.68, 9th; 500 Free: Lawler, Ashley, 5:21.36, 2nd; Astor, Jacqueline, 6:00.03, 7th; Olson, Christine, 6:06.90, 8th; 1650 Yard Free: Lawler, Ashley, 18:06.47, 1st; Astor, Jacqueline, 20:48.60, 6th; 100 Yard Breast: Olson, Amy, 1:15.21, 4th; Olson, Christine, 1:17.41, 6th (National Reportable Time for 10 and under swimmers); 200 Yard Breast: Olson, Amy, 2:42.02, 5th; Olson, Christine, 2:50.32, 8th; 100 Yard Fly: Kampling, Anna, 1:05.03, 7th; 200 Yard Fly: Kampling, Anna, 2:28.98, 5th.

The Iowa City Eels Swim Club competed in the Central Iowa Aquatics Fall Mixer at Dowling High School in Des Moines on Sunday, October 21. The following ICE swimmers finished in the top ten in individual events: Girls 9 & under: Sarah Striegel: 100 IM: 1:27.10, 1st; 100 breast, 1:37.14, 7th; 50 fly, 38.21, 1st; 50 breast, 43.83, 1st; Girls: 10-11: Christine Olson: 500 free, 5:58.72, 3rd; 100 Breast, 1:18.29, 1st; 50 breast, 36.79, 1st; 50 back, 37.52, 2nd; Vanessa Striegel: 1:28.32, 4th; 100 breast, 1:37.04, 6th; 200 free, 2:52.68, 1st; Girls 11-12: Ashley Matteson: 500 free, 5:57.57, 2nd; 200 IM, 2:44.14, 2nd; 100 breast, 1:25.08, 3rd; 200 free, 2:17.47, 2nd; Senior: Ashley Lawler: 500 free, 5:21.53, 1st; 200 back, 2:23.47, 2nd; 100 breast, 1:23.05, 2nd; 200 free, 2:04.29, 1st; Amy Olson: 50 free, 28.22, 1st; 200 breast, 2:42.11, 2nd; 200 fly, 2:37.06, 1st; 400 IM, 5:25.24, 1st.

The Iowa City Eels competed in the Halloween Spooktacular Invitational Swim Meet in Cedar Falls on October 21, 2001.  The following ICE swimmers finished in the top ten in individual results: 
Girls: 8 & Under:  Callie Larson: 25 Yard Free Costume: 22.89, 7th; 25 Yard Breast, 29.43, 4th; 25 Yard Fly, 27.46, 3rd;  10 & Under: Stephanie Choi:  50 Yard Free, 33.58, 3rd; 50 Yard Breast, 40.15, 1st; 50 Yard Fly, 39.84, 2nd; Lilly Doershuk: 25 Yard Free Costume, 20.69, 1st; 50 Yard Back, 51.55, 9th;  50 Yard Fly, 57.41, 8th; Hannah Osborn: 50 Yard Back, 40.72, 2nd; 50 Yard Breast, 49.81, 6th; 50 Yard Fly, 41.45, 6th; 11-12:  Chelsea Hartman: 50 Yard Free Costume, 32.13, 4th; 50 Yard Back, 37.60, 4th; 50 Yard Fly, 34.24, 1st; Veronika Nelson: 50 Yard Breast, 45.34, 7th; Heesoo Yoo: 50 Yard Breast, 46.50, 8th;

Boys: 8 & Under: Ben Hartman: 25 Yard Back, 26.24, 7th; Heejoe Yoo: 25 Yard Back, 31.18, 9th; 25 Yard Breast, 37.58, 7th; 10 & Under: Justin Choi: 50 Yard Back, 46.25, 4th; 50 Yard Breast, 52.72, 4th; 50 Yard Fly, 47.90, 2nd; 11-12: Hong-Bin Yoon: 50 Yard Free Costume, 50.51, 10th; 50 Yard Breast, 48.07, 6th; 50 Yard Fly, 51.21, 3rd.

WEBER MEET UPDATE: On December 1st and 2nd we will be hosting our annual Irving B. Weber Meet. This will be an open meet this year and we are anticipating 300 swimmers. To make this meet a success we will need help from every club family. Meet volunteer possibilities are many and varied and a good volunteer turnout is critical to a smoothly functioning event. At picture night we will have a volunteer sign up sheet available and more experienced parents will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about volunteer opportunities. Don’t be shy or hesitant- we will train you for more technical positions and no one will be handing you a clipboard and asking you to officiate! Seriously, the club depends on the many talents of its membership.

WEBER MEET GOODIES: The concessions committee is looking for persons to supply salads and homemade pies for the hospitality room. Interested individuals can contact Sharon at keleyn@inav.net or 339-7579.

MEET BUDDIES: Your first swim meet can be a confusing affair. To help reduce some of that confusion we are considering partnering more experienced swimmers with those new to the sport. The Meet Buddies will assist the new swimmer with getting through that first meet experience as easily as possible. If interested in getting a Buddy or being a Buddy call Kelly at 339-7579 or e-mail at keleyn@inav.net.

POSTAL MEET: In late December ISI is sponsoring a Postal Meet and ICE is likely to participate. The format of this type of meet is unique- each team runs the meet in it’s own pool, at a time of it’s choosing, and then the results are tabulated by ISI for all participating swimmers. Think of it as a series of coordinated intra-squad meets operating statewide. For this meet we will need a full complement of officials, timers, technical people, etc. Once again your assistance will be required to make this event a success. This meet might be a fine time to learn about some of the more detailed aspects of meet operations- volunteers for learning the computer and timing systems are especially encouraged to sign up. As part of this meet we are considering some sort of post-meet social gathering so the Postal should be fun for all. We are tentatively looking at December 29th as a date and we are still awaiting information from ISI about what sort of events we are to offer, etc. We should have considerably more detail to share in next month’s newsletter.

COMMUNICATIONS: Registration this fall has gone very well and we have over 100 swimmers in the water! Welcome to all our new swimmers and welcome back to everyone else! Once again this year we are trying to emphasize good communications, so you will be well informed on what is going on with ICE both in and out of the water. Just a couple of reminders on ways you can keep up to date on events. ICE does have an e-mail list to pass along announcements, reminders, schedule changes, etc. If you have not been receiving these e-mails, please let us know and we will be sure your address is added to the list. Folders are available at both pools. Please check them at least once a week. If you do not have a folder or it is located at the wrong pool, please let us know. The address for the club webpage is: http://clubs.swimmersworld.com/iowacityeelsswimclub. It provides club announcements, basic club information and links to other swimming sites that you will find useful (especially the Iowa Swimming site). The club notebooks at both pools should also be checked on a regular basis. Also, check the bulletin boards at both pools and the ICE office door at Mercer for announcements. If you have any suggestions, contact: Jan Lawler at BLawler251@aol.com or 354-9005 or Kelly Eyanson at keleyn@inav.net or 339-7579.