IOWA CITY EELS

 

Contact: 351-3336 or swimice@aol.com            website: www.iceels.org   June 2005

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Thanks to our corporate sponsors: A.W. Welt Ambrisco, the Coral Fruit Market, Hills Bank, Hodge Construction, Iowa State Bank & Trust, The New Sycamore Mall, Oral B Industries, Scheels All Sports and Universal Climate Control- their generous support helps keep our Club in the water!

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Coming up:

 

6/25-26:                  Vinton Aquatic Club Invitational

7/4:                          No Practice due to holiday

7/9-7/10: RCA Stars of Tomorrow (Clinton)

7/9-7/10: Mason City Swim Club Invitational

7/11:                        ICE Board of Directors meeting; 6:30 PM at Mercer

7/15:                        ICE bills due

7/16-7/17:                BLAST Summer Sizzler (Cedar Falls)

7/21-7/24:                USAS Sectionals (Minneapolis)

7/30-7/31:                ISI Regionals (Dubuque)

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COACH’S CORNER

 

A Big Thank You to the Club. 

 

I would like to extend a big thanks to a great many people for helping me this season and making it possible to achieve both the Age-Group and Senior Coach of the Year Awards at the Iowa Swimming Inc. banquet.  Since the evening’s events were lasting pretty long I refrained from having to give a bumbling speech in public and would like to take this page and write down some of my thoughts.

 

I realize that these awards do not come without a lot of hard work, weekends away from home (and my family), and hours on end at pools but I also think these awards are a reflection of what ICE is about – much more than just being about my abilities as a coach.  There is no way to win these types of awards without the help of a small army. 

 

First off, I have to thank my wife and the twins for putting up with me and my weekends and odd hours of work.  I would not make it through the long stretches of meets and training sessions from mid-season on without their humor, support, and love.  Hopefully the girls will become swimmers soon so I can see them a lot more often. 

 

Second, I thank the staff for making me look like I know what I am doing everyday.  Many times this season the staff rose to the occasion and helped me out by running workouts, going to meets, and adjusting their personal and professional schedules to benefit the team.  Coach Adam, Jarrod, Steve, Kristi, and Matt provided the backbone of our staff that allowed me to keep things running even she dealing with some health issues.  Their knowledge, attention to detail, and love of the sport keep ICE in the hunt for ISI titles every season. 

 

Third, I would like to thanks the ICE Board of Directors and our parents.  Any good club in the mid-west would be happy to have this group and I feel especially blessed with our current group of parents.  A big thanks to Bryan Lawler and Kelly Eyanson for all their help with ICE home meets and to Bill Talman for all his years of service and his efforts to get the scoreboard and timing systems.

 

Lastly, I thank the swimmers for putting up with a sometimes grumpy and silly coach who still loves to come to work knowing I will be met with people ready to train hard.  The group of Morays and Eels I have had the last two seasons have been amazing and very committed (for the most part) and that has shown in our results each time we shave and taper.  I look forward to coaching some of the Waves and Cubes as they move up and I know our success will continue as my age up goes up too.

 

Thank you all again for the help the last two seasons.  I really accepted these awards in your name and on behalf of what you all mean to the ICE program.

 

Donald P. Spellman

Head Coach - ICE

 

 

 

ICE Coaching Staff for the Summer Season of 2005

 

You may have noticed a few new faces on our pool deck as we lost Coach Adam Osweiler (who took a job to be an age-group Coach at the Cincinnati Marlins) and Kristi Hruska (who completed her MBA in May and moved to St. Louis). Here is a bit on each coach we have working now with Matt Hamer and myself at various workouts.

 

Eric Jetter – Former City High and ICE swimmer.  Currently employed as a lifeguard / pool manager for Iowa City Rec. Dept.  Attends ISU and is a member of the Cyclone marching band there (so don’t boo too much at him when they play the Hawks in football!).  Also coaches for ACAC during the winter and spring seasons. Works mainly with Matt helping out with Frost, Cubes, and Waves.

 

Kathryn Crawford – Former BLAST and Cedar Falls HS swimmer.  Three time state team champ and relay state champ.  She is a former Zones and Sectionals qualifier.  Currently a student and lifeguard at Univ. of Iowa.  Will assist with the age-group program at Coralville and Mercer Park.

 

Jarrod Murphy – Former Dayton Raider swim club member and 4 time-letter winner with Kenyon College (25- time NCAA Div. III team champs).  Jarrod was the Asst. coach for the Iowa City Boys team this last season and will be leaving Iowa City for a job in Madison, WI after the season. Mainly helps with Masters and Morays this season. Jarrod has been helping with ICE for two years at various levels. 

 

Frannie DeBord – Former assistant coach at the Univ. of Ohio, Fresno State Univ., and Tulane Univ.  Frannie was a swim team member at the University of Iowa and student asst. coach in the late 90’s.  Currently she is a member of the Hawkeye staff and helps assist Marc Long in running the women’s program. She is member of the American Swim Coaches Association.  Originally from Peoria IL; she was a member of Central Illinois Aquatics and a High School All-American.  Frannie is helping coach the Eels program this summer in the afternoons and some mornings.

 

Robert Pinter – Former club coach at Badger Aquatics Club (BAC-WI) and was named Wisconsin Swimming Inc. Senior Coach of the Year in 2004. 1984 European Jr. Champ in the 200 Fly.  Defected to the USA from Romania in the late 80’s and was an All-American swimmer at the University of Wisconsin (200 Fly and 500 Free) in the early 90’s.  After the fall of the Communist dictatorship in 1989 he was named back to the national team and represented Romania in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona where he competed in the 100m and 200m butterfly (7th place in the 200).  Currently Robert is an assistant coach at the University of Iowa.  He is married to Christie Pinter and they just became parents last month (so please excuse him if he looks a bit tired at morning workouts every now and then).  Robert is helping with Eels group this summer.

 

 

Practice Schedule Announcements: Tuesdays and Thursdays at Coralville Rec. Center are now open to both Frost and Cube swimmers.  We have adjusted the schedule to allow for two coaches at that site for the remainder of the summer season.

 

NO PRACTCE JULY 4TH – AT ANY SITE FOR ANY GROUP– DUE TO THE HOLIDAY!  We will have normal practice on Sat. July 2nd and on Tuesday July 5th at all locations.

 

Mason City Meet: the older kids will be in the afternoon so we will head up on Saturday morning.  I do have hotel rooms booked and will have an itinerary out ASAP (still waiting on the meet invitation to arrive so I can check the time lines).  Contact me if you will be riding with the team as transportation arrangements need to be made very soon.

 

15 passenger vans: ICE is currently re-evaluating using these as an option to get swimmers to meets for Senior team trips.  We are going to use these for the summer but are looking at other options for the short-course season.

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Office hours: A reminder that Coach Spellman and Coach Hamer have shifted office hours to better mesh with the summer practice schedule.  Matt's office hours will be from 2:30 to 3:30 PM on Tuesdays.  Don will have office hours from 4:45 to 6:15 PM on Thursdays and by appointment on Tuesdays. Both coaches can be reached via phone at the office (351-3336) or by e-mail (Don: SwimICE@aol.com and Matt: swimcoachmatt@hotmail.com). If it is an urgent matter, Coach Spellman can be reached via cell phone at (319)-541-2062.  Don requests that calls not be directed to his home phone as his wife Emily works nights and is often trying to catch up on her sleep during the day. We will also try to post a Parent’s Representative in the ICE office on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30. Some weekends most of the parents may be gone for meets so if you have specific questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact Kelly at keleyn@inav.net.

 

Meet sign-up:  Do try to get all entries turned in to the coaches by the stated deadline.  It is very important that entry cards get turned in on a timely basis as some of these meets fill quickly and late entries may even be denied in some situations.  The coaches will no longer accept late entries.  Instead the swimmer’s parents will be responsible for contacting the respective meet hosts and making suitable arrangements for late entries.

 

CRAA Summer Kick-Off wrap-up: Final figures are not yet in but the team should clear at least $800.00 in revenue from the meet Cedar Rapids ran at Mercer the weekend of June 4th & 5th.  More importantly though, the meet provided many swimmers a chance to compete in a 50-meter venue.  With the vagaries of Iowa weather, outdoor swim meets are never a sure thing and as Mercer is the only indoor long course pool in the state many swimmers like to take advantage of this opportunity.

 

Billing changes: One of the most nettlesome problems any parent run non-profit deals with is the collection of dues and fees.  In the past ICE has been hampered by all manner of non-payment issues.  However, the move towards clearer policies and procedures as well as enhanced billing capabilities has proven to be somewhat effective in minimizing this concern. 

 

To this end, the ICE Board of Directors is looking into several changes set to take place during the 2005-2006 Short Course (fall/winter) season.  The most notable of these will likely be a move to a “pay as you go” system for handling meet fees.  Currently the team underwrites the meet fees with the expectation that the families will reimburse ICE.  Sometimes this doesn’t happen and before long a family can find themselves looking at a fairly large bill. Few teams in the country handle meet fees in such a manner.  Starting in the fall of 2005 a check covering meet fees will have to accompany each meet entry card. In short- no check no entry. 

 

In reality the collection of monies owed the club benefits everyone with the team.  Businesses cannot long function by failing to collect on debts and neither can our swim club operate efficiently if a significant portion of the membership fails to pay their fair share. 

 

 

Ray Edwards swan song: This summer will be the final time the Summer Sizzler will be held at Ray Edwards pool. To commemorate this event, Meet Director Jon Wessels reports that BLAST will be taking orders for a special t-shirt. There will be a discount for those that preorder these shirts as a team. Shirts will also be available at the meet (for $2.00 more per shirt). You can view the design online by clicking on the t-shirt link located on the “Meets” page of the ICE website. 

 

Summer State: Planning has begun for the Iowa Swimming Summer State Championships (August 5th-7th). This is the largest swim meet in the state of Iowa and we’ll need everyone’s help if we are to succeed in properly hosting this event.  The meet work sign-up sheets will be posted just prior to or immediately after July 4th.  Have no fear; there will be more than enough work for all.

 

USAS Privacy Policy: With clarification from USAS on rules regarding the posting of swimmer information we can once again list online ICE team entries, selective psych sheets for the meets we host, and, starting with the Summer Championships, after each session post results on our website.  ICE team entries are most useful and we will make every effort to post them on our website (“Meets” page) as soon as possible. 

 

End of the season picnic: We will be holding an end-of-the-season picnic at Mercer sometime the week prior to the State Championships. This is an enjoyable way to wrap up the long course season.  More details to be announced soon.

 

Blood drive: The DeGowin Center will be holding a Blood Drive at Mercer on Saturday, August 6th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  Twice each year they set-up operations during our swim meets in an effort to collect blood products for varied uses.  If you regularly give blood or have never done so but would like to start, please consider donating during this time. This is a wonderful gift to bestow on others. More details will be posted on our website soon.

 

Chair openings: A reminder that the team needs to fill various positions prior to the start of the fall/winter season.  If you have experience or are interested in fundraising, communications, technical planning, merchandise, social activities, concessions and hospitality, or swim meet operations your talent and energy is needed and welcomed. If you have any interest in any of these areas feel free to contact Sara ( hjesse02@aol.com), Erin (hertingde@msn.com), or Kelly at (keleyn@inav.net).

 

Scholastic All-Americans: Just another reminder- to be considered for this honor swimmers who have completed 10th, 11th or 12th grade, possess at least a 3.5 for the school year and who competed in an individual event at Summer Sectionals in 2004 or Spring Sectionals in 2005 should contact Don for the appropriate paperwork or download these documents from the USA Swimming website. The application deadline is August 1. 

 

Final note from communications: Summer is here and things will grow ever more hectic in the weeks to follow.  As necessary, meet information, schedule changes, etc. will be noted in swim team updates and on the club website (www.iceels.org). If you have difficulties receiving club e-mail do contact Kelly at keleyn@inav.net and alternate arrangements will be made.