IOWA CITY EELS

 

Contact: 351-3336 or swimice@aol.com            website: www.iceels.org      November 2004

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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:

 

11/20:               U of I home football game- 7:00 AM start for all training groups

11/24:               No Wednesday evening practices at Coralville or Mercer

11/25:               Happy Thanksgiving!  No practices.

11/26:               No Friday morning practices; regular Friday evening practices          

11/27:               Regular Saturday practices- 50-meter format

12/2:                No Coralville practice due to HS Boy’s swim meet

12/3-12/5:            BLAST Holiday Classic

12/7:                No Coralville practice due to HS Boy’s swim meet

12/11-12:            Irving B. Weber Invitational

12/14:               No Coralville practice due to HS Boy’s swim meet

12/15:               Sign-up deadline for All-Stars

12/18:               Boy’s HS Invitational at Mercer- practice times to be announced

12/18-19:            DMET Winter Frolic

 

         

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COACH’S CORNER 

 

STATE OF SWIMMING IN IOWA

 

Part 1 of a 4 part series

 

This season I am going to write a series of articles about our sport and more specifically – the state of our state with regards to swimming.  I hope to broaden the view of our athletes and try to explain some of the things that make being a swimmer in Iowa special.  I really want to drive home a few of the key problems and key strengths that our sport has in the state.  Some of these views will be heavily laden with my opinions (surprise there eh?) but I mainly want to show our athletes and parents what it takes to succeed in our sport if you live here and what routes to take.  As someone who swam with an Iowa Swimming Inc. club (DMSF and later ICSC – now ICE), swam on two high school teams (Perry HS – which I started with the help of my dad, and Dowling HS), and coached both at the summer league (Perry Swim Team) and USA-S club level I think I have some insight and background on what the sport is like in the Midwest.  With my time at UNLV and swimming in the Southern California LSC I also got to see one of the nation’s hot-beds of swimming success with National Team members and Olympians present at all kinds of meets.  I hope you read this series and enjoy it and end the end I wish to motivate you to use it to help make decisions on your career and help do your part for you club, your high school team, your college team, and Iowa Swimming Inc. (our home LSC).

 

Pools and Access

 

Our pools in Iowa could be classified with under the following words: fair and adequate.  We have an abundance of 25 yard 6 to 8 lane pools located at High Schools, Community Rec. Centers, and YMCA’s.  What we do not have is top level, nationally recognized, fast competition pools open for year round use indoors. While we also have some 50-meter pools to utilize in the summer, we are losing them at a greater pace than they are being constructed.  Cities are looking at water parks and more recreation based facilities as moneymakers, which put competitive courses as a secondary consideration when pools are built. 

 I always view the short course season as a time of hibernation for our swimmers.  Gone for a spell are the days of worrying about sun block lotion, finding shade, and measuring how much the wind will blow the backstroke flags back.  While I respect and love racing in the short course format I always look at swimming indoors in a 25 yard pool as a half –court basketball game, arena football, short-track speed skating, or three on three soccer.  It is like the real game but a more intense and exciting version.  I value the short course season and what it does for scholastic swimming but the real game at the international level is done in the large pool.

Long Course season is where people do their REAL swimming!   While short course provides a lot of excitement and helps swimmers get good at turns and technical aspects the 50-meter format encompasses everything the sport is about: endurance, technique, speed, and most of all – MORE SWIMMING!  To be successful in a long course pool you have to be in shape.  The tall people do not have such a distinct advantage (which is good for us under 6 feet) because there are fewer turns.  With the Olympics, World Champs, and National Champs held under this pool formation the importance for knowing how to race long-course increases.  Most of the great swimmers you see at the Olympics may not always train the whole year in a 50-meter pool but they all know how to race in one and what it requires of them in training to do so at the elite level. The best swimmers need access to long course water. 

In Iowa we are lucky enough to have two full seasons of racing, one in each format.  This is plus for our state and it helps keep us competitive on a national and regional level.  In this regard we are pretty much even with our surrounding LSC’s and ahead of a few.  It is possible to train in a short course 25 meter or yard pool and still succeed in 50-meter courses – this has been shown even at the Olympic level.  The problem is access to water and the expense incurred to clubs for that access.

There are usually one or two entities involved in controlling water time.  Schools (which house a pool – usually alongside their gyms) are very common owners of pool time who rent the time to independent clubs (like most in Iowa).  City Recreation Departments are oftentimes involved as well (like with our club).  These relationships need to be maintained for clubs to have stable water time and most of the time they are. Sometimes this situation has some fluency and is done well on both sides – sometimes it is the city holding the swim club hostage.  The YMCA’s in Iowa run their own teams in pools they own and maintain so that is another avenue for swimmers in certain areas.  Each town in Iowa is different – which combined with our low numbers per capita for swimmers statewide – makes our competitive environment slower.  This can really be seen at the High School level.  Most of the points at state high school meets are put up by teams that have stable coaching, access to weight rooms and dryland equipment, and morning and night pool time.  Those other schools that have limited (sometimes only 3 or 4 workouts / week) may get a state qualifier here and there, have a relay get in, or score some points in a sprint, but for the most part they function as a sideshow next to the big schools.  With Iowa not having a class system for the state meet and many combined programs this puts some swimmers at a huge disadvantage and leaves them to find some innovative ways to train, compete, and find a place to swim.  Small schools in small communities have an uphill battle with the limited water and resources there and our meet results and participation rates show this. 

All the large clubs in Iowa have swimmers who commute for over 30 min. to swim.  I can name 3 families on our team alone.  I can name about 10 families statewide – and I am sure there are more.  This makes swimming a huge time earlier in a child’s life in these cases.  Sometimes this is due to coaching and peer relationships – but most of the time it is due to the availability of adequate training space and time.  This makes the sport a greater economic burden on the family as well.  I distinctly remember how much gas money I needed every week for my commute on a weekly basis. 

ICE has always had a great relationship with the City of Iowa City and with the school district regarding pool usage.  We are also blessed to have access to a 50-meter pool on weekends almost all year round.  This makes us the envy of a lot of clubs in the Midwest.  While Mercer Park is a huge advantage for us we still need to look at the future and do all we can to influence the Univ. of Iowa to build a great facility to replace the ageing (yet historic) Fieldhouse pool.  Our club would benefit immensely from having more access and we could add more programs and strengthen our age-group teams.  We would also be able to compete in some great meets there at a state of the art facility in our hometown.  I for one would like to try and find a way to not have to leave the pool at 9PM during the week while kids are in school. 

We do hear the occasional story of club’s having trouble with space and when they can swim but we have been able to work around that ourselves.  Outside of having to cancel for some school related meets or moving our workout times we are able to keep our water time stable year round for all of our groups.  But one of our priorities, which will grow with our club’s success, is getting our kids to out of state venues and the big meets held at those sites.  We have to look at venues such as those in Minneapolis and Indianapolis as important sites in the development of our faster swimmers.  This is a problem facing clubs all across the mid-west and will continue to plague those teams not affiliated with such venues for years to come.  There are some bright spots in our state – the Mason City outdoor pool being a prime example – but the concern that we are losing water (like in Cedar Falls) is not going away.  I think it is critical for all swimmers in the LSC to utilize our best venues as much as we can for meets.  I think it is critical for our own club to maintain what we have with City Park and Mercer Park while making pool time at a future Univ. of Iowa pool a top priority.  You can be a great swimmer from Iowa but a lot of that success is based on the club you swim with, how much pool time they have for workouts, how far you are willing to drive to meets on a monthly basis, and how much money you want to invest into the sport.  Access to pools for practice and meets does add up – but so can your enjoyment of the sport.  I think it is a fair trade-off in the long run. 

 

Don Spellman

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Wreath pick-up:  The holiday wreaths will be available for pick-up at Mercer on Monday, November 22nd and Tuesday, November 23rd.   Your wreaths and order form will be turned over to you at the time of pick-up.  Look for Sara, Robin, or Kelly, as they will be on hand to assist with your order.

 

Merchandise link: We will soon have a direct link to Elsmore Aquatics installed on our website. You can use this link to order all manner of swimming goodies directly from the team’s supplier. 

 

All-Stars: Information about the All Stars meet in Lawrence, Kansas is now available.  The All-Stars meet is a 14 and under competition which draws swimmers from several different states and regions.  To read more about this meet visit the ISI website at

www.lornet.com/iowaswim/. The deadline to apply for the meet is December 15th (though times will be updated until January) but it might be wise to sign-up early if you wish to stay with Team Iowa as hotel space tends to be limited.

 

Scheduling changes: The final home University of Iowa football came takes place on November 20th. On this coming Saturday all training groups are scheduled to begin practice at 7:00 AM.  Frost and Cubes will swim until 8:10 AM.  Waves, Morays, and Eels will wrap it up around 9:00 AM and Masters should finish around 8:30 AM.

 

The Thanksgiving practice schedule is greatly affected by when the pools themselves are actually open.  Therefore, no evening practices on Wednesday, November 24th, no practices for anyone on Thanksgiving Day, and no Friday morning practices on November 26th.  Regular practice resumes on Saturday, November 27th with this date tentatively designated as a Long Course (or 50-meter) practice.

 

The HS Girl’s season is over and the Girl’s Junior High swim seasons will soon wrap up as well. However the Boy’s HS season has just begun and that means altered practice schedules. This year the Boy’s team practices and swims most of their meets at Coralville. In December, there will be no practice at Coralville on the following dates due to Boy’s HS meets: Thursday, December 2nd, Tuesday, December 7th, and Tuesday, December 14th.  The Boy’s Invitational will be held at Mercer on Saturday, December 18th.  Any changes in the practice schedule that day will be announced later.

 

A bit about swim meets: The annual Irving B. Weber meet is about three weeks away. Supplies have been purchased, ribbons have been ordered, the meet work sheets have been posted, and soon we will begin receiving entries.  It would seem that now might be a good time to touch on the issue of swim meets and how and why we host them. 

 

Starting with finances and the Weber Invitational- in 2003 our income and expenses looked like this (all figures rounded to nearest $100.00):

 

             INCOME                                                             EXPENSES

 

Entries:            $4,700.00                                Printing & postage:             $300.00

Program sales: $1,200.00                                Facility rental:        $700.00

Concessions:    $2,400.00                                Concessions supplies:     $1,300.00

Merchandise:    $1,100.00                                Awards:                            $700.00

Other:                  $100.00                                   Other:                                $100.00

 

                         $9,400.00                                                                        $3,100.00

 

                                   2003 Irving B. Weber meet profit: $6,300.00

 

INCOME- most of these categories are fairly self-explanatory but listed below is a bit more detail.  We also receive other contributions from various sources in the community- from the use of a popcorn popper to donated paper products.  ICE certainly appreciates and acknowledges all such assistance for without this level of support operating swim meets would be a much more costly enterprise.

 

Entries: Last year we had 414 swimmers attend this meet.  These entry fees for individual and relay events constituted about 50% of meet income.

 

Program sales: We sold around 190 programs last year and these sales generated about 13% of meet income.

 

Concessions: Both our self-run concessions area and income from Carlos O’Kelly’s brought in about 25% of meet income.

 

Merchandise: This represents the percentage of the sales we receive from the onsite vendor (last year and this year that vendor is Action Accents).  In 2003 that figure accounted for about 12% of meet income.

 

Other: Includes direct advertising in the program, etc. generated less than 1% of meet income in 2003.

 

EXPENSES- operating a swim meet is not without costs.  Listed below is a brief description of the various categories of expenses we incur for every meet we host.

 

Printing & postage: Covers the printing of the Invite and it’s mailing as well as the cost of getting the programs themselves copied and ready for sale. This figure is about 8-10% of meet expenses.

 

Facility rental- this is the fee we have to pay to the City of Iowa City for the use of the pool, gym, and P & G room for the period during which the meet is taking place.  Mike Moran and the Iowa City Recreation Department have been very cooperative and generous with the team in this matter.  We are billed hourly so the charge fluctuates a bit from meet to meet but normally the facility rental fee constitutes about 20-25% of the meet expenses.

 

Concessions supplies- this figure notes not only the cost of supplies for the items we sell (from Powerade to puppy chow) it also includes the cost of provisioning the Hospitality room.  The Hospitality room is where the coaches and officials gather to grab a bite to eat and to relax a bit between sessions.  Meet hosts are required by ISI regulations to supply such an area and the ICE Hospitality room always receives positive comments from our visitors.  Concessions supplies typically account for about 40-45% of meet expenses.

 

Awards- this includes whatever ribbons, medals, or participation gifts we distribute as well as any purchased items (fruit roll-ups or granola bars) that we might use as heat winner prizes.  Usually this figure makes up about 20-25% of meet expenses.

 

Other- this includes the rental of circulation fans and the meet sanction fee and generally runs to less than 1% of meet expenses.

 

This income/expense ratio is fairly consistent from year to year for the Weber meet.  Other ICE hosted meets have similar expense and income breakdowns as well.  Each meet is different- the Senior Meltdown in May is generally light on merchandise and concessions sales for example but overall these figures are fairly representative of how profits are determined for ICE hosted events. Overall the hosting of swim meets is a major fundraiser for the team.  Roughly 20% of the teams’ revenue is generated from this source alone. By hosting swim meets we can keep ICE team dues and fees lower than they otherwise would be.

 

Of course the main reason for hosting meets is that by doing so we provide an opportunity to swimmers to participate in a competitive meet in a quality pool.  We are most fortunate to have access to Mercer Park Aquatic Center one of the best short course pools in the state and the home of the only indoor 50-meter (long course) pool in Iowa.  It should come as no surprise that athletes from around the area want to come to Iowa City to swim in a fast pool- especially when they are trying to post top times in order to qualify for other regional or national meets.  The hosting of meets is a task we share with other teams in our LSC and ultimately with all of the clubs in USA Swimming. Hosting meets is an immense amount of work.  This effort is tiring and it can be frustrating but there is also a real sense of accomplishment when a meet is successfully run.  Swimming depends heavily on parents to make the sport the success that it is.  Volunteers are needed at every level and in nearly every capacity or the sport, as we know it, would not exist. From the eight year old still confused about how to manage a flip turn to the possible Olympic qualifier aiming for a National cut, we share an obligation to provide the best competitive swimming experience possible.  All of our efforts should be directed towards the goal of providing a fair, safe, competently run, and, however possible, enjoyable meet experience for each of the athletes as well as their families and friends.

 

The meet work sign-up sheet was posted on November 11th and so far the response has been most encouraging.  We currently have a little over 80 non-Masters families with ICE.  If each family works only two shifts (the bare minimum required) that gives us a total of some 160 meet work units to work with.  At a bare minimum we could use over 130 folks just to run concessions and hospitality, man the stopwatches, assist with ribbons, serve as Clerks of Course, Safety Marshals, or operate the timing equipment.  This figure does not include those ICE members who serve as Officials at the swim meet- an area in which we try to cover as many slots as possible with our own membership.

 

It is because of the high number of people needed to run swim meets that ICE adopted a Meet Work Requirement several years ago.  Most other clubs in the nation have such requirements as a way of insuring that enough people are present in order to run their meets as efficiently as possible.  In August the ICE Board of Directors increased the penalty for not working at swim meets from $20.00 to $50.00 per session missed.  This was an effort not to increase revenue but to better spread the workload amongst all members of the club.  All of the work that goes into running a meet has to be done whether every slot is filled or not. In the past this has meant that some folks were required to work multiple shifts- an inconvenience to them and their families and arguably inequitable given the number of possible workers available on the club’s membership roles.  It is the hope of the ICE Board of Directors that by instituting a better tracking system and increasing the penalties for not assisting at meets that this situation can be somewhat relieved. 

 

As December 11th approaches more details concerning the meet will be announced.  If you have any questions about the Weber meet or your role in it please contact Kelly at 339-7579 or keleyn@inav.net.

 

Billing: Expect to see monthly billing statements beginning within a few days. Some folks may see two bills this time around- one reflecting previous charges from the Long Course season and another covering the Short Course season to date.

 

HS Girl’s State swim meet TV: Jan Lawler reports that technical difficulties delayed the broadcast of the 2004 Girl’s High School state swim meet.  Mediacom will be broadcasting the meet on the next two Wednesday evenings on channel 74 beginning at 8:00 PM. Jan reports that in North Liberty the broadcast will be on channel 22 but she is unsure of the time and dates. Lots of ICE swimmers, amongst other local HS girls, participated in the meet and this is a great chance to see the sport on TV.

 

All about swim officiating: A couple of years ago Bryan Lawler, former ICE President and current Chair of ISI Officials, submitted a series of articles covering the theory and practice of swim officiating.  At a recent New Parent’s meeting Bryan was approached by several people with questions about this part of the sport and he felt that folks new to the team might benefit from a re-run of this series.  Even if you remember reading this series from before it never hurts to reacquaint oneself with this aspect of the sport.

 

 

PHILOSOPHY OF SWIMMING OFFICIATING

 

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 over seven years now.

 

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 swimming officials.  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 exit 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.

 

A question often asked by parents and even swim officials is whether the rules should be applied in the same manner to beginning swimmers, particularly 8 and Under swimmers, as they are for all other swimmers.  The short answer is – Yes.  The rules are there to ensure fair and equitable competition, and this applies to all swimmers no matter their ages or their levels of experience.  In addition, a more lax application of the rules to a particular group of swimmers may only penalize these swimmers later by reinforcing bad habits.      

 

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.         

 

Final note from communications: The short course season is now in full swing so it is more important than ever before to stay in touch with ICE.  Over the next few weeks there will be periodic announcements on practice schedule changes, etc. and by far the best way to keep up is to read your e-mail or the updates as posted at Mercer and Coralville.  If you have access to e-mail and have not been receiving electronic communications simply contact Kelly at keleyn@inav.net. The same goes for folders- if your swimmer does not have a folder at either Mercer or Coralville (your choice) contact Kelly at 339-7579 and a folder will be readied for you. It is frustrating for everyone when communications links are broken or otherwise lost.