IOWA CITY EELS

 

Contact: 351-3336 or swimice@aol.com            website: www.iceels.org      September 2003

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

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Coming up:

 

 

9/24:             Cookie Night & new swimmer registration (Mercer & Coralville)

9/30:             City High swim meet- no evening practice at Mercer

10/4:             U of I home football game- early practices for all groups

10/6:             Board Meeting at Mercer 6:30 PM

10/7:             West High swim meet- no evening practice at Coralville

10/7:             City High swim meet- no evening practice at Mercer

10/9:             West High swim meet- no evening practice at Coralville

10/10:           CIA Fall Mixer sign-up deadline

10/11-12:          ISCA Shootout at Dowling

10/15:           ICE bills due

10/24:           DMSF Fall Invitational sign-up deadline

10/25:           U of I home football game- early practices for all groups

10/25:           Masters Tailgate Party

10/26:           Dual swim meet with Cedar Rapids?

10/31:           CRAA Harvest Invite sign-up deadline

 

 

COACHES CORNER 

 

Welcome back everyone to a brand new short course season with ICE.  In case you have not noticed, have not been to the website, or have been dwelling in a cave the last few months here are a few housecleaning items we would like to get out to everyone for the start of the short course season:

 

  1. New Groups and New Practice times – There is a new group between Cubes and Morays this year at Mercer Park Pool.  The WAVE group will be for those swimmers with 11-12 cut times and who are ready to work into Morays within a year or two.  The focus of this group is to maintain good technique and stroke habits while increasing the yardage and intensity of what was done at the Cube level.  Matt and Don will use this group as a transition group from Age-Group to Senior level swimming.  With this new group our practice times have shifted so make sure to check your group start times (especially on Saturdays) before you come to practice.  
  2. Early start Saturdays – There will be a few early start Saturdays for Univ. of Iowa home football games.  We do this so that those members of our club who live on the West side of the river can attend workout without too many traffic problems and so that those members of our team who want to attend the game (including staff) can do so.  Practice start times will be 30 min. earlier on the following days (10/4, 10/25, 11/1, and 11/25).  A reminder to the Masters swimmers that we are planning a tailgater at Brad’s house on 10/25 for the Iowa vs. Penn State game so there will be no Masters practice on that day.
  3. There will be an ICE vs. CRAA dual meet on Oct. 26 most likely at Coe College pool.  This will be open to all swimmers who did not qualify to swim at the ISCA Shootout meet.  We are holding this instead of our Mock Meet this year. 
  4. Eels and Morays – starting in October we will be doing our Dryland circuit Mondays and Wednesdays.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays we will be doing some stretching and other exercise with core work.  Fridays will include light specialty work.  Please bring shoes and athletic clothing every night. 
  5. Masters – This month and October will be treated like pre-season period and on Fridays will be swim about 2000 and 2500 yards and then so some stroke drills and skill work.  Matt Henry will be helping us out twice a week with Masters. 
  6. The following are days there will be no practice due to high school swimming meets:  West High (Coralville Rec.) – October 7th and 9th.  City High (Mercer Park) September 30th and October 7th.  Please check the website for Jr. High dates and HS boys swimming schedule dates to come in the next few weeks.

 

That is it for now – next month we will introduce our new staff members and give you some background on them.  Look for some information on upcoming Masters meets as well.

 

Donald P. Spellman

 

 

Masters Tailgate: A pre-game party for ICE and U of Iowa Masters will be held prior to the of Iowa game on October 25th.  More details will be announced soon but most likely will be near Brad's house in University Heights.  Check with Brad and Don in October -- we should have some fliers out soon.

Dual meet with CRAA: Open to all swimmers not qualified to compete in the ISCA Senior Shootout.  This meet will be held at Coe College (bulkhead repairs pending) or another HS pool in CR.  Details and a meet invitation will be out soon.  Most likely entries will be limited to 2 to 3 individual events and one relay.  We are going to try this meet this year instead of our "Mock Meet" so that new swimmers can get a taste of USA-S competition without having to travel too far, more experienced swimmers can get some racing in while being able to help some of the new swimmers, and so both CRAA and ICE can race some people at a low cost to swimmers and the clubs.  Details will be posted soon.

DMSF Fall Invitational: This meet is a great first meet for all A+ swimmers.  Make sure if you swam at the State level or above that you mark the weekend of November 14-16 for some fast racing in Des Moines.  For you HS girls this is the perfect chance to get some racing in while you are still tapered from the IGHSAA State Meet especially in the 200 strokes and any off events.  HS Boys -- this is a great meet to get up and race some of the best talent in the state before the HS dual meet season kicks into high gear.  Age Groupers -- this is the kickoff to your short course season and a great chance to post some fast times for Age Group Top 5 and All Start spots.  I was a bit worried about our lack of numbers last year and I would like to show a bigger presence this time around.  Entries will be due October 28th. 

CRAA Harvest Invitational: This is great meet for our swimmers at all levels.  For beginners this is a good meet to attend and swim new events and strokes you have been working on without having to worry about some AAAA swimmers in every race.  For those of you age groupers at the Q+ level this is a good meet to swim some Senior races and / or your off events for fun!  Make sure to sign up by November 4th.

 

Another plaque for Coach Spellman: ICE Coach Don Spellman was named ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year for Iowa at the ASCA convention in San Diego, CA earlier this month.

 

Long Course ICE records: Congratulations to the ICE swimmers who set new team records during the 2003 long course season!  Numerous records were broken over the summer, including records dating back to 1984!  If there are any additions or corrections to the times listed here or posted at the pool, please contact Jan at blawler251@aol.com. 

 

New ICE Long Course Records:

9-10 Boys:

Sidney McMillin: 50 free-32.58; 100 free-1:13.11

Stuart McMillin: 100 back-1:32.09

Justin Choi: 100 fly-1:28.80

11-12 Boys:

Devin St John: 50 free-28.90; 200 free-2:24.22; 100 back-1:17.97; 200 back-3:01.82; 50 fly-30.51; 100 fly-1:08.77; 200 fly-3:09.79; 400 IM-6:09.58

Kanoe Russell: 800 free-11:08.27; 1500 free-22:44.08; 200 breast-3:24.83;

11-12 Girls:

Chelsea Hartman: 800 free-10:28.85

Beth Eyanson: 50 back-34.25; 200 back-2:44.79; 200 fly-2:58.17

Senior Girls: 

Ashley Lawler: 200 free-2:12.66; 400 free-4:29.84; 800 free-9:11.20; 1500 free-17:30.70

 

Central Zones wrap-up: The Central Zone Championship Meet was held at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 7-10.  Seventeen hundred swimmers competed in the meet from fourteen states in the midwest (Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Iowa).  ICE qualifiers included: Justin Choi, Beth Eyanson, Chelsea Hartman, Brian and Stacia Johns, Anna Kampling, Ashley Lawler, Sidney and Stuart McMillin, Devin St. John, Andrea Schubert, Sarah Striegel and Lauren Talman.

 

ICE swimmers finishing in the top twenty during individual events included:

 

Women:
11-12:
Beth Eyanson: 50 meter Back, 34.21, 6th; 100 meter Back, 1:15.19, 16th;


Seniors:
Stacia Johns: 100 meter Breast, 1:20.71, 13th;
Ashley Lawler: 500 meter Free, 4:30.63, 3rd; 800 meter Free, 9:14.23, 5th; 1500 meter Free, 17:37.47, 4th; 200 meter Free, 2:19.05, 16th;


Men:
10 & under:
Sidney McMillin: 100 meter Free, 1:11.24, 17th;
Stuart McMillin:  100 meter Free, 1:11.64, 20th;


11-12:
Devin St. John: 50 meter Fly, 30.84, 5th; 100 meter Fly, 1:08.77, 4th;


Seniors:
Brian Johns: 100 meter Back, 1:05.34, 19th; 200 meter Back, 2:20.80, 20th;

Girl’s HS news:  The 2003 Girl’s HS swimming season is fully underway. There are many ICE swimmers participating with their HS teams in several schools in the immediate area.  Ashley Lawler was named the Mississippi Valley Conference swimmer of the week for September 8-13. She has been setting West High swimming records all season long. In addition, the 400 FR relay broke another West High school record at the City High Invitational at Mercer September 20th.  Districts and then the State Championships will be held in late October and early November.  Expect to see many ICE swimmers going to state this year.  If you haven’t seen a City or West High meet this year there are still several chances to do so.

 

IBW Meet reminder: It is only September but planning for the Irving B.Weber Meet on the 13th and 14th of December is going strong. The Weber Meet has traditionally been a fairly large event- last year we had 450 swimmers.  As usual, we will need a lot of help to put on a good show again this year.  Every family is required to help out with our Meets because swim 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 there will be notice of more planning committee meetings coming in a few weeks or so.

Note from the team president:  I wish to welcome back all of the ICE athletes and their families.  I also wish to extend a greeting to those who are new to the club as well. September has been a busy month with Stroke Clinic and Registration activities taking up a lot of time and effort.  Things will slow a bit as October begins but soon we will be in the midst of swim meet season and then the craziness really begins.  Do feel free to contact me with any questions you have about the club or the sport.  I may not have the answers myself but I can point you to someone who might be able to help.  Coaching questions need to be directed to Don (swimice@aol.com) or Matt (Tyfish25@aol.com) but for just about anything else either call me at home 339-7579, e-mail me at keleyn@inav.net, or drop by the ICE office- I try to be available a night or two each week.  As a club we are very fortunate in that we have access to some quality training facilities, great coaching, and many wonderful team families.  There is always room for improvement however and the ideas and opinions of each member of the ICE family are valuable.  ICE is a better club now than when my daughter began swimming in 1998 and I believe it can be an even better organization in the future.

 

Merchandise: Vicki McBreen is once again handling ICE merchandise.  She will be placing her fall order in just a few days time so if you haven’t placed an order do so soon.  Extra order forms can be found at both Mercer and Coralville pools or downloaded from the club website.  Vicki tries to get to Mercer on Wednesday evenings and will make it to most ICE social functions as well (Picture Night, etc.). 

 

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.  The blue sign-up cards can be found at both pool locations, downloaded from the club website, or you can use the online meet entry form also available at the ICE website (www.iceels.org).

 

Picture Night: Picture night will likely be held either the week of November 10th or 17th. There will be no practice at either pool on Picture Night.  Swimmers are asked to wear a team suit if they have one and to bring a towel.  Following group and individual pictures there will be pizza and pop available for the swimmers.  More details will be forthcoming.

 

Practice scheduling:  Since we share the pools at both Coralville and Mercer there are times when we will have to cancel practice due to other demands on the facilities.  The Jr. High and High school swim seasons do make the months of September through January somewhat difficult to schedule around.  Do make an effort to check the newsletter, club e-mail updates, bulletin boards, and the website for the latest changes. 

 

Fundraising: The annual ICE holiday wreath sales fundraiser will begin soon.  This is a fairly successful fundraiser for the team and is a relatively easy way to meet your club fundraising requirements.  More details will be announced soon.

 

Note from communications: We conduct the bulk of club communications via e-mail.  This is by far the cheapest and most effective tool at our disposal.  If you have a new e-mail address or you are simply new to the club just drop me a note at keleyn@inav.net and I’ll place you on the team e-mail list.  As the short course season shifts from training to racing expect more updates and if you wish to stay current with the team reading ICE e-mails is one of the best ways to do so.