IOWA CITY EELS

Contact: 351-3336 or swimice@aol.com September 30, 2002

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Thanks to our corporate sponsors: Scheels All Sports, the Coral Fruit Market, and Hawkeye State Bank- their generous support helps keep our Club in the water!

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Coming up:

9/30: Cookie night at both Mercer and Coralville sites

9/30: Coralville Rec Pool open again for evening Frost and Cubes practice

10/1: City HS Swim Meet: early AM practice for Morays and Eels only no PM’s at Mercer

10/3: Senior Shootout sign-up deadline

10/4: ANW meet sign-up deadline

10/5: All Saturday practices begin 30 minutes early due to home U of I football game

10/6: Parent Meeting 3:00 PM Mercer open for everyone not just new members

10/7: ICE Board Meeting 6:30 PM Mercer

10/8: City HS Swim Meet: early AM practice for Morays and Eels only no PM’s at Mercer

10/12: All Saturday practices begin 30 minutes early due to home U of I football game

10/13: Mock Meet at Mercer- 4:00-5:30 PM

10/15: ICE bills due

10/19: City HS Swim Meet (MVC): 7:00 AM start for all groups but no Frost

10/19-20: Senior Shootout: Fieldhouse Pool at the U of Iowa

10/25: DMSF Meet sign-up deadline

10/27: ANW Invitational: Williamsburg

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Coach’s Corner

Swimming Teams – The Big Differences, The Same Sport

One of the big decisions that swimmers have to make is when to move from the club and into a different setting. This usually occurs in states like Iowa when the High School season hits but in Iowa City it sometimes occurs when kids try the Junior High teams. The biggest move and more permanent one that most swimmers have relating to their USA Swimming club participation is when they decide where to swim in college. Some swimmers compete with YMCA teams as well as USA-S teams (and some teams have double affiliations). I want to break down the pros and cons to swimming in different settings and at different levels. Each of these programs can offer ICE swimmers something different and could be beneficial at different stages of their swimming careers.

YMCA SWIM TEAMS

These teams are based around the philosophy of the YMCA/YWCA national organization and are geared towards offering character building in a competitive setting. There are vast regional variations concerning YMCA programs so depending on where you live these programs are run in extremely different styles. In Florida and on the east coast a majority of the YMCA teams are dual affiliation teams and compete in both YMCA and USA-S meets. Some of these teams are national powerhouses. Teams like Sarasota Y (Fla.) and Wilton Y (Ohio) have both produced Olympic and National team members. On the west coast states YMCA swimming is less popular and does not have a historical base like in the eastern and southern states. In the Midwest the strength of YMCA /YWCA based teams depends greatly on the state governing body and the local setup of the team. There are vast differences at the local level on weather the team in recreational or competitive in nature and many Y teams depend on volunteers to coach and run the club. Other YMCA function like big USA-S clubs and provide professional (paid) coaching staffs that run programs from swim lessons through age-group and senior teams. YMCA also sanctions Masters meets and holds Nationals at both regular and masters levels. In the state of Iowa there has been an historical organizational split between USA-S clubs (which were historically AAU based clubs before the Amateur Sports Act of 1981) and long standing YMCA based teams that has remained for years. This has lead to a lot of the YMCA teams functioning as Seasonal ISI clubs in the summer and focusing on YMCA regional competition in the winter months.

JUNIOR HIGH SWIM TEAMS

These teams are great introduction to the sport and are based as smaller models of their high school counterparts. These teams are geared towards introducing the swimmers to the dual meet formats used at the high school level and offer competition on a consistent basis during a short season (usually lasting 6 to 8 weeks depending on the area). Most workouts are skill and technique based and are low to moderate intensity levels. The main aim is to provide a means for future high school swimmers to get their feet wet and try out a few meets while learning some skills. These teams are ideal for Frost and Cube swimmers but not geared towards more elite competitive swimmers whose training needs will not be met with under this format. For about 75% of our swimmers this is a format they should consider in 7^th and/or 8^th grade but they should also consider their seasonal and long-term goals before taking the plunge.

HIGH SCHOOL SWIM TEAMS

High School swimming in Iowa consists of divided seasons with boys swimming being a winter sport and girls swimming being a fall sport. This split exists for two reasons. One - pool space in most of Iowa is at a premium and since most pools are 25 yard 6 lane indoor high school facilities it would be hard to accommodate both girls and boys teams at the same time without severely limiting participation. Second – there are two state governing bodies in Iowa that control high school athletics and they are split based on sex. The girls sports are controlled by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and the boy sports are run by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. The IGHSAU (Girls) High School State Championships take place in November in Fort Dodge and the IAHSAA (Boys) State Swim Meet occurs in late February right here in Iowa City, IA.

The positives of high school swimming include a close-knit team environment; a dual meet schedule which provides consistent competition (albeit on a localized basis), the pride of doing something for your school, and the team environment that exists. High school swimming is a lot of fun because it is helps teach the individual how they fit into a team structure. It is a social environment that carries over into the athletic realm. There is also media coverage and attention given to the athletes from their peers at school and in the community that they do not receive a consistent basis with USA-S clubs. Most print media and members of the press find out about club swimming every 4 years and then focus on high school athletics the rest of the time during Olympic games. The parent and school support enhances the atmosphere and the peer recognition swimmers receive makes them feel like they have a special place with their school.

The potential negative drawbacks are similar to the concerns one has to deal with under the Junior High format but are more apparent due to the age of the athletes and the length of the seasons. Teams in Iowa are vastly different and some problems are more localized in nature. On teams that exist in small towns pool time and finding a coach are always problems. When my father and I convinced Perry High school to start a swim program one of the first problems was trying to wrestle pool time away from lessons, water-walkers (I am not kidding), and aquacise. We ended up getting use of three lanes and the diving area in a 6-lane 25-meter pool for 2.0 hours after school. If we wanted to swim mornings we had to do so on our own and buy punch passes like the general public. We did get access to the weight room on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (when football wasn’t in there) so that was plus but overall we had a pretty minimal. In contrast my senior year at Dowling High School we had 2.5 hours after school for practice, mandatory weights two mornings a week, mandatory swimming two mornings a week, and we alternated mornings in the pool or the weight room with the JV. We had a team of 28 and had priority access the weight room in the morning and the pool as well. This situation is the ideal for most high school coaches. Big boarding schools, private schools, military schools, and prep schools usually have better pool access and can require more for their athletes just based on how the school is run. Many public schools have to make arrangements with communities to use pool time around other programs, share the pool with club teams (which is why we practice later than the HS programs), and in some cases combine with other schools close by just to have the numbers to justify having such a program. My old team in Perry combined with Boone for boys (since the numbers dwindled to 4 by 1995) and while the still existent Perry girls program has swimmers from Adel and Guthrie Center on it (they get four lanes now too). In our town we only had two people with any former competitive experience and both had full-time jobs on top of the coaching so our pool of expert applicants for the jobs was rather limited. Small town high schools are also dependent on having kids do a lot of sports. Year-round swim programs (and year round elite swimmers) are few in these areas so high school swim teams are not as big of a priority for the community as basketball teams and football teams.

Another drawback is the timing of the season in relation to personal goals. Some elite swimmers choose not to swim the high school season if they are tailoring their training plans to allow them to compete at USA-S Nationals, Sectionals, or the US Open. If the high school program is inflexible in some way the swimmer has to make a decision to accept the limitations of the high school program and join or forego a mini season of being around their friends and train exclusive on their own. This happens to a lot of Olympic level athletes and it is a very hard decision to make. Catherine Fox, who swam with the KC Blazers and later with Stanford University, did not swim on her high school team in order to train for the 1996 Olympic Trials (and then the 1996 Olympic Games when she qualified for the 400 Free Relay). Michael Phelps, a 2000 US Olympian at age 15 in the 200 Fly, has never swam a stroke in high school competition and is now barred from doing so in high school and college (he turned pro last year at age 16). High school swimming could have potentially hurt his chances of making the 2000 team by focusing his training on the sprint events (his world record events, the 200 Fly and 400 IM, are not offered in the high school format). All the lost training time Michael Phelps would have had to deal with for dual meets and Saturday invitational meets. On the other hand Olympian Gary Hall Jr. had no problem working out a suitable training situation in Arizona with his high school team and his club team (the high school season is some southwestern sates like Arizona and Nevada is held in the spring). Many high school teams in California for this reason just have their swimmers train with their club and do meets once week so as not to disrupt the elite swimmer’s training for bigger and faster competitions. Some swimmers also work out ways to only compete half the season or only do certain meets. States like Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa have more restrictive contact and participation rules so the atmosphere is vastly different not only from state to state but also between school districts. Athletic directors play a role and ultimately have the final say along with the high school coach on just how much (if at all) an athlete can train with club team at any point of the season.

Overall the high school situation can offer a lot to most athletes. High school swimming is the way to go for over 90% of club swimmers with the exception being kids who specialize in events out of the high school scope (distance, 400 IM, 200 strokes, etc.) and those who already have National cuts and need alternate and more intense training. A swimmer must look at the structure of their high school team because each team is vastly different along with each coach and each team culture.

COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY LEVEL SWIM TEAMS

A big goal for most USA-S swimmers is to one day be able to compete on a college swim team. Most kids who get into the sport can become NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, Junior College, or NAIA swimmers. A smaller number will be able to compete for NCAA Division I programs. Girls have a better chance because there are more programs (more spots), more scholarships, and these teams are not cut very often because Div. I athletic departments look to these programs as one of the balance factors for gender equity (Title IX) compliance. Historically the USA collegiate system has been the deepest training ground of international talent in our sport. While that still holds true to some extent many great swimmers are finding ways to train outside the college or university system to excel. The Aussies and Europeans have created professional circuits for swimmers that draw major talent (like Ian Thorpe) away from the American colleges and into a situation where they can swim professionally in meets around their own corner of the world.

Swimming in college can provide a swimmer with a family type atmosphere and very intense training. There is a dual meet season that usually culminates with a conference championship meet. Beyond the conference meet a very elite group swims at a National Championship meet (each NCAA division has a national championship). In college swimmers have access to professional coaching and more resources both in training and equipment. The intense dual meet format creates swimmers who not only know how to race but also helps the swimmer race a variety of different competitors. Meets are only held in short course formats at the college level and swimmers average about one every two weeks during the season. Within the university/college system the athlete is exposed to new ideas and new ways of thinking both at the pool and in the classroom too.

Some of the potential drawbacks are that training is not focused on the international long course format so some swimmers opt to red shirt or delay college swimming seasons during Olympic years in order to better prepare. Another drawback is the pressure that some programs place on their athletes that is directly related to the amount of money that swimmer receives. Division I schools offer scholarship money in large amounts that are chopped up among team members. These are based on talent, potential, performance history, and whatever else the head coach tends to value. The problem arises when money becomes an issue among teammates and when people feel they deserve more than they are currently receiving. This can build animosity in a program and create a problematic training environment. Another issue is when the athlete is exposed or sent into a training program they may not be ready for (either mentally or physically). Every program is different but some are considered “meat-grinders” that pull in the best talent and then let the crème rise to the top with little or no concern for the side effects of the system.

I hope this helps everyone understand what else is out there beyond USA-S club swimming and I hope it gives some insight into what is the best route for each swimmer. There are a lot of options for swimmers to choose from depending on where they live but the overall goal should be similar: what is going to benefit the swimmer in the long run. Each coach, parent, and swimmer must look at these aspects when deciding what organization and what format is best for the swimmer at that time. Next month I am going to have ICE Age-Group coach Matt Hamer provide his insights on the structure, pros, and cons of USA Swimming. Matt just attended the annual convention of our national governing body and I am sure he can write a whole article on what USA-S is doing well and what it needs to work on right now.

See ya at the pool,

Donald P. Spellman

Saturday Oct. 19^th – Practice for Morays, Eels, Cubes, and Masters will start at 7AM due to the MVC High School Conference Championships. There will be no Frost practice that day.

Saturday Oct. 5^th and Saturday Oct. 12^th – Practice for all groups will be held 30 min. early due to the University of Iowa Home Football games. Morays, Eels, Masters, and Cubes will start practice at 7:30AM. Frost will swim at 8:45AM.

Senior Shootout Assistance: Officials and Timers are needed to help with the Iowa Swimming Coaches Assoc. Senior Shootout meet on Oct. 19^th and 20^th. This meet is a Senior Q+ meet held at the University of Iowa pool and is a fun and fast meet to watch! Contact Coach Don for details.

Recommended Meets: If you have any questions about what you should swim please contact either Matt (Frost & Cubes) or Don (Morays & Eels).

Frost – A’N W Meet (Oct. 27) and CRAA Harvest Invitational Q- (Nov. 23-24).

Cubes – A’N W Meet, DMSF Invitational (Nov. 15-17 for those with cuts), and CRAA Harvest Invitational.

Morays and Eels – ISCA October Shootout, A’NW Invitational, DMSF Invitational.

Masters – Grinnell Invitational (Nov. – TBA).

A note from our president: The training for short course is in full swing and the stroke clinic comes to a close as we come to the end of September.  It has been a hectic month with registration and everyone trying to get back into a regular routine.  As practices resume in Coralville and meets begin, October promises to be a busy one, so be sure to check your calendar, the ICE notebook at the pool and our website.  One date to remember is Sunday, October 6 when we will hold our annual parent meeting at 3:00 p.m. at Mercer.  This meeting is for all parents of swimmers, not just the new parents.  The coaches will be there and it will be a great opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions and to meet other parents. Merchandise will also be available.  Hope to see you there!

Jan Lawler
ICE President

SWIM-A-THON FUNDRAISER: Many thanks to the all ICE swimmers who participated in the 2002 Swim-a-Thon in June. The swimmers raised $1,465.00 and ICE keeps 95% of this!! Also, thanks to all the parents who volunteered to help with setup and lap counting.

The top Swim-a-Thon fundraiser was Josh Schubert who raised $415.00!!! Josh received a $50.00 gift certificate from the Coral Ridge Mall for his great effort. The CUBES raised the most money ($602.00) and won the first ICE Swim-a-Thon Top Fundraiser plaque!! Way to go CUBES!

In addition, the top three fundraisers in each training group won gift certificates as follows: 1^st - $25.00; 2^nd - $15.00, and 3^rd - $10.00. The top fundraisers were:

FROST: 1^st Place: Ben Hartman

2^nd Place: Thane Somers

3^rd Place: Ben Fick

CUBES: 1^st Place: Megan Hingtgen

2^nd Place: Sarah Striegel

3^rd Place: Chelsea Hartman

MORAYS: 1^st Place: Andrea Schubert

2^nd Place: Christine Olson

3^rd Place: Jennifer St. John

EELS: 1^st Place: Ashley Lawler

2^nd Place: Jessica Murrillo

3^rd Place: Jacqueline Astor

ICE in Chicago: This year several ICE Masters swimmers participated in the 2002 Big Shoulders Masters Invitational in Chicago. A total of 353 swimmers took part and the Club was well represented by these Eels stalwarts:

In the 2.5K, Omar Suwarno placed 7^th overall with a time of 35:43 (broken
toe and all). Dan Smith posted a time of 50:31, which garnered him 67^th
place.

In the 5K, Warren Tunwall swam to 52^nd place overall with a time of 1:12:17.
Kristi Bontrager earned 146^th place at 1:30:00. Brad Gilchrist finished at
1:34:50 in 159^th place.

ICE Triathlete: Congratulations to ICE Masters swimmer and assistant coach Brian O’Dowd on his recent participation in the Mrs. T’s Triathlon. Brian placed 5^th in his age division and 231^st overall (out of a field of 1170).

From friends of the team: Courtney, Yoshimi, Amy, & Christine are doing well in Gilbert, Arizona. It has been a big lifestyle change for the entire family but everyone seems to be adapting successfully. The kids in particular seem to be enjoying the change of pace. The structure of competitive swimming is a bit different in the southwest but the family seems to be adjusting to any and all changes in that sphere as well. The Olson’s would love to hear from their friends in Iowa and can be reached at this address:

P.O. Box 2665

Gilbert, AZ 85299-2665

Girl’s High School swimming: The 2002 High School Girl’s Swimming Season is well under way. You can follow along by keeping an eye on both local newspapers. The Iowa City Gazette has been quite generous in their coverage of the sport this year. On Tuesday October 1^st at Mercer Pool City High will host West High in a dual meet that promises to be both fun and exciting. Stop by at 6:00 PM to support your favorite swimmers and High School sports in general! Other key dates of the season:

Girls HS Districts – Nov. 2^nd @ Marshalltown HS

Girls HS State Meet – Nov. 9^th @ Fort Dodge HS

Mock Meet: ICE is scheduled to hold a Mock Meet at Mercer Pool on Sunday October 13th from 4:00 to 5:30 PM. The Mock Meet is designed specifically for Frost and Stroke Clinic swimmers and families. We will run 25’s in all strokes for 8 & Under swimmers and 50’s for those 9 and Over. This will be a time-trail format event that is geared towards helping our developmental and younger members get some meet type experience in a practice type environment. The goal is to provide an opportunity for all so interested to get an idea what competitive swimming is about in a setting that is supportive, educational, and fun. Bring your swimmer and your questions- the Mock Meet should be informative and entertaining. Refreshments will be provided and a sign-up sheet will soon be posted at both Mercer and Coralville. ICE will need help with timers for this event. Check the website for details or contact Coach Matt or Coach Don at the ICE office.

United Way Campaign: The United Way annual fundraising campaign is underway. Please be aware that you may designate the Iowa City Eels Swim Club to receive some or all of your contribution. ICE is eligible to receive United Way contributions because it is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. Funds contributed to ICE are used to maintain a quality competitive swimming program for our community and to help keep fees as low as possible.

You may find that being able to donate through a United Way contribution taken directly from your paycheck will allow you to contribute to your Club with the least amount of financial effort. (This can count toward your ICE family fundraising requirement.) If you already contribute to the United Way campaign, you may even benefit ICE without any additional out of pocket expense. Keep in mind that contributions through United Way incur a 15-20% administrative charge, so that ICE would receive $80-$85 for each $100 pledged.

If you wish to donate to ICE through United Way, just write in "Iowa City Eels Swim Club" and the amount in the OPTIONAL (or designated Agency or Program) section on your pledge form. (Some United Way forms also require the agency address and phone number, which are Iowa City Eels Swim Club, 2701 Bradford Drive, Iowa City, IA 52240, and 351-3336.)

For more information, contact Rick Noeth at lent9@mchsi.com or Jan Lawler at BLawler251@aol.com.

IBW Meet reminder: It is only September but planning for the Irving B.Weber Meet on the 14^th and 15^th of December is well underway. The Weber Meet has traditionally been a fairly large event- last year we had 370 swimmers. If this trend continues we will need a lot of help to put on a good show again this year. This Meet will also be the first test of the Club’s new Meet Work Requirement. Every family is required to help out with our Meets because Meets are our largest fundraiser for the Club and everyone benefits from a successfully run meet. Luckily there are a wide variety of duties to be performed before, during, or after the meet itself. If you are looking for ways to help out please feel free to contact the Weber Meet Directors Bruce MacKay (bpmackay@home.com) or Kelly Eyanson (keleyn@inav.net).

Postal Meet reminder: Once again ICE will be participating in the ISI Postal Meet. A tentative date of December 28^th is being set for this Meet. This was a fun Meet last year and we hope to make it as enjoyable again this year. More details will follow in the weeks to come.

Picture night: Circle Thursday November 14^th on your calendar- it is picture and pizza night at Mercer Pool. More details will follow in the weeks to come.

Meet sign-up reminder: As the USAS swim meet season begins it is time to remind everyone about the meet sign-up procedure. It is important that all meet sign-up cards be submitted about three weeks before the first day of any swim meet. It is critical to sign up for meets by the date listed on the calendar and entries folder as meet hosts generally require entries to be submitted 10 days before the meet begins. To insure that we get everyone properly listed, entries need to be submitted a week and a half 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. “Space available” often means a poor seed or a missed opportunity to swim a desired event.

ANW Invitational change: The ANW Invitational in Williamsburg scheduled as a two-day meet is now a one-day meet set for Sunday, October 27^th. As of this writing no further details were yet available but if you are interested in swimming at Williamsburg keep your eyes on the website and ICE notebooks at Mercer and Coralville for more information.

Office hours: The Short Course Season office hours have been established. Head Coach Don Spellman will be at Mercer on Wednesdays from 4:00-6:00 PM & Thursdays by appointment. Head Age Group Coach Matt Hamer can be found at Mercer on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:30 PM. You can always e-mail Don at swimice@aol.com or Matt at Tyfish25@aol.com. The office phone number is 351-3336.

A note from communications: If you have any questions or suggestions about the newsletter or communications in general, just let me know at keleyn@inav.net or try calling at 339-7579. For questions about the Club and swimming in general I would suggest visiting the ICE website at www.iceels.org. One of the best sources of information is other parents. If you have any questions related to swimming, especially if you are new to the sport, try asking someone who has been around for a while. Most everyone is willing to share some of his or her swimming related experiences. If you are lucky you might even get to hear some pretty funny stories!