USC CLUB NIGHTS:
Our first Club Night for the2014/2015 season will be taking place at Stirling Primary Pool next Wednesday evening the 3rd of September.
The Committee's goal for the Club Night is for our swimmers to learn race skills in a fun, relaxed and friendly environment. It's not just about winning races, instead focusing the swimmer on improving their times and race tactics while creating bonds with other swimmers and their families.
These nights provide parents the opportunity to socialize in an informal atmosphere and to gain valuable experience as a timekeeper or judge.
In order for our Club Nights to be successful , we are needing Volunteers. USC encourage ALL families to get involved and have a go at different duties to help the night run smoothly.
ALL duties are simple, so there is no need to worry if you're not familiar with what is required, there will always be someone to help teach or assist you, especially if it's your first time, please don't be afraid to ask questions.
We are needing about 14 volunteers to make the Club Night run smoothly,those parents willing to volunteer for our first USC CLUB NIGHT, please could you email Lisa Els at lisa@ultimate-swim-club.com.
The Club Nights Are scheduled for once a month on a WED evening, they have been marked out already on the Club Website Calendar and you will be emailed a reminder the week before.
Club Nights will start at 6pm and aim to end at 7pm, warm up for all swimmers will be at 5:15pm, volunteers can report by 5:45pm. There is no entry fee for Club Night.
I have developed a points system for the club nights, to encourage swimmers to race fast.
Point System:
Each Club Night swimmers earn points according to their individual performance in each event that they enter. Points are awarded relative to each swimmers best time(Club Night PB) in that particular event.
1 point for a 1st swim at club night.
2 points for a PB 1sec faster.
3 points for a PB 2sec or faster.
Times and Scores will be recorded and prizes will be awarded to the swimmers at the end of the season.
We would also like to do a few spot prizes at our club nights and eventually offer, arranging dinner from NINAS for the swimmers so that parents can have the night off from cooking etc.
Please let us know what you think about this idea and if you have any more ideas for the committee regarding USC Club Nights or are willing to donate prizes etc , please could you send your ideas to Lisa Els via email.
The Events for Club Night 1:
50 free
200 breast
100 back
50 fly
200 free
Swimmers may enter only 3 events, please use the gala entry form on the website for now to enter your child, so we can try lane and seed the swimmers according to age, before the time, to try help speed up proceedings on the night.
(We will still do entries on the night for swimmers)
We look forward to see you all at our very first Club Night.
Sincerely,
Matt Palmer
Head Coach
Go Tigers!!!
BORDER SHORT COURSE CHAMPS 2014
18TH & 19TH July 2014
STIRLING PRIMARY SCHOOL POOL
Name:……………………………………..……………….. Age:….…….
Club:…Ultimate Swim Club…………………..
Hereunder please find the events for the Border Short Course Champs, please highlight the events that you are entering. Please note that a swimmer may only enter 5 events.
Closing Date for Entries: Friday 4th July 2014
Entry Fee: R15 per event (max 5 events per swimmer)
Please highlight the events entered. Also, please bear in mind that if you withdraw from a gala for personal reasons, your entry fee will be forfeited. NO LATE ENTRIES will be accepted
No of Events entered: ______ Amount paid by Cash / EFT: _________________
You may pay the Gala Entry fees by EFT into the Ultimate Swim Club account.
Reference to be used is : Border SC/Surname of swimmer. If paying by EFT, please attach proof of payment to Entry forms submitted. Alternatively you may also e-mail the completed Entry Form & Proof of Payment to smitkaren5@gmail.com
Name of the account : Ultimate Swim Club
Name of bank : First National Bank (FNB)
Account No : 62387571401
Branch Code : 250655
…2/…
-2-
Friday Evening @ 6pm Saturday Morning @ 10am
1 Girls 8&under 25m Freestyle 17 Girls Open 200m Backstroke
2 Boys 8&under 25m Freestyle 18 Boys Open 200m Backstroke
3 Girls Open 50m Freestyle 19 Girls Open 100m Freestyle
4 Boys Open 50m Freestyle 20 Boys Open 100m Freestyle
5 Girls Open 100m IM 21 Girls Open 50m Butterfly
6 Boys Open 100m IM 22 Boys Open 50m Butterfly
7 Girls 8 & Under 25m Breaststroke 23 Girls Open 100m Breaststroke
8 Boys 8 & Under 25m Breaststroke 24 Boys Open 100m Breaststroke
9 Girls Open 100m Backstroke 25 Girls Open 200m Freestyle
10 Boys Open 100m Backstroke 26 Boys Open 200m Freestyle
11 Girls Open 50m Breaststroke 27 Girls Open 50m Backstroke
12 Boys Open 50m Breaststroke 28 Boys Open 50m Backstroke
13 Girls 8 & Under 25m Backstroke 29 Girls Open 200m Breaststroke
14 Boys 8 & Under 25m Backstroke 30 Boys Open 200m Breaststroke
15 Girls Open 200m Butterfly 31 Girls Open 100m Butterfly
16 Boys Open 200m Butterfly 32 Boys Open 100m Butterfly
33 Girls Open 200m IM
34 Boys Open 200m IM
35 Girls Open 400m Freestyle
36 Boys Open 400m Freestyle
One of our very own USC DAD'S Andre Schoombee will be jailed on Sat 31st of May, let's get behind this great initiative, every cent counts......you gotta go see this!!!
HI GUYS THIS VIDEO IS A MUST FOR ALL SWIMMERS AND OFFICIALS
https://vimeo.com/95230516 OR https://swimswam.com/video-examination-finas-tweak-backstroke-finish-rules-featured/
Two weeks ago I was fortunate to attend a function where Penny Haynes was the guest speaker. To hear her story was, to say the least very inspiring... Just like all of yours, her story started with a little flame of hope that, in a short space of time became passion, fuelled by talent, inspiration and lots of hard work... How, you may ask? Well, her story. Began at church, where she heard a parable of three brothers who were given talents, this made her wonder what hers was... It just happened to be swimming and the places it took her, well, it can just be described as magical...
We've just come out of our Level galas and many of our swimmers participated, got personal best times, medals and some reached personal goals that they've set for themselves. Level 3'was held at the UWC Indoor pool complex. Despite cramped conditions, our swimmers swam their hearts out and once again made us proud. Our representatives at Level 3 were Luke Coetzer, Bryce Pendock, Bryce Grassi, Nicholas Els, Blaine Kruger, Jordan Ramoo, Paige Riddin and Lesley Blignaut.
Blaine had an exceptionally good Level 3 (could it have been his new Cammo carbon Pro skinz? Or is the man just THAT talented? ☺️I'd go with the talent bit). Nicholas qualified for Youth for the 100m fly and Jordan and. Bryce P made finals for the 50 Breast. Lesley won the bronze for the 50 Breast and finished 7th in the 100 free final. Jordan made a final for the 100m free and finished in 6 th place... Bryce P and Lesley made finals for the 50 fly events, Bryce finished in 8 th place and Lesley won joint 3 rd, earning herself another Bronze medal. Bryce P and Lesley also made the finals for 50 free and finished in 8 th and 6 th place respectively
Our Level 2 swimmers also made their coach, parents and club extremely proud. This meet was held in Oudtshoorn and our representatives there were, Ruan Schoombee, Rhys Poovan, an Alex Goddard and the rose between the thorns, Kristen Mc Intyre.
Despite having come down with a really bad flu virus, Ruan put in a stellar performance and showed everyone just how much of a TIGER he really was. Not even a flu bug could keep him down boy! Here all the swimmers swam pb's as well. Kristen made a final for 50 back and finished 6 th. Alex won the gold for 50 and 100 m fly and Rhys won .....................
At Level one our little Tigers showed us the true meaning of camaraderie. They supported each other and most stayed until the very end of the gala every day of the gala to support their relay teams.
Our little team here consisted of Michaela Peinke, Sanchia Poovan, Paola Signorile, Tumi Mac Donnel, Jaci Collins, Tatum Nienaber, Oliver Benn, Keagon Mnyaka, Matthew Rowe, Pablo Battiss, Aaron Hayward and Rushen Pillay.
This little team is the first lot of level one swimmer's for our club and for most, their first level one... All of them were stars! All of them swam pb's as nervous as they were and it was SO heartening to see some of the seniors in our club come out to support the littlies... They were in for some awesome results though, because Michaela medalled for just about every event she swam.
Marne Erasmus Bronze medal 100fly NCAA Champs 51:1 new SMU Record #ultimateswimclub https://t.co/Kos7LXwYZA
ALL JUNIOR AND SENIOR ELITE SWIMMERS PLEASE NOTE:
ALL SQUADS will train together on THU 13TH of March to SAT 30TH of March.
MON: 5:15 – 6:45PM
TUE: 5:15 – 6:45PM
WED: 5:15 – 6:45AM (MORNING)
THU: 5:15 – 6:45PM
FRI: 2:30 – 4PM (JOAN HARRISON)
SAT: 8 – 9:30AM (JOAN HARRISON)
Note: FRIDAY 28TH AND SATURDAY 29TH OF MARCH training will be held at STIRLING.
It's amazing what you can find on TWITTER, I have attached a really great article about Nick Thoman, his parents and his road to Rio 2016.
As our countdown to Summer Olympics 2016 continues (only 884 days to go!) we have two-time Olympic medalist Nick Thoman. Currently holding the world record in 100-meter backstroke, this 27-year-old swimmer got his start at a young age. Parents caught up with the champion and his mom, Kathy Brewer, at a Winter Olympics viewing party sponsored bySwim Today to discuss why swimming is a great sport for kids, his family’s role in his success, and his plans for Brazil.
P: What makes swimming such a great sport for kids?
NT: A lot of my best friends were swimmers with me. The friendships that you build along the way are definitely one of the things that brought me into it initially. [My sister] Vic was swimming and she was having a lot of fun and I was bored, bouncing off the walls so Mom found a speedo small enough and tossed me out in the water.
KB: Swimming was also the best way to find babysitters because you had all-age swimmers. You have kindergarden through high school. You really get to see the high school swim-team kids interact with the younger kids. You really see their character.
NT: It’s true. You did always use swimmers. I never knew why.
KB: Because they were really responsible!
P: What does it take to raise an Olympian such as your son?
KB: I think Nick’s determination. He and Victoria were both determined kids. The focus in swimming is all about lifetime bests. It’s inevitable that you’ll compare yourself somewhat to other people, but the coaches and the parents get you to focus on bettering your own time. But, we don’t coach our kids. Just let the coaches do the coaching and you’re there for the moral support. Good or bad, I love you. I’m proud of you.
P: How important was it to have the support of your parents to alleviate that pressure?
NT: It was awesome. One of the things that I actually remember most from the Olympic trials was my father sent me an email the day of my event and I didn’t actually see it until I had made the Olympic team, but it basically said “No matter what happens, we’ll all still love you.” That was a fantastic thing. He was always, both he and my mother, very very supportive. They did a great job of not coaching me and I know that was hard, [especially] for my father because he was also a swimmer. I really do appreciate all the support I’ve had. Driving me to practice at 4:45 in the morning. Hell, even when I got my driver’s license my mom would wake up and make me breakfast before I went.
P: What a good mom!
NT: She is a good mom!
KB: It makes a big difference if you get involved, too. That shows your kids you’re really supportive of all their efforts. Swim meets from the outside might seem boring, but if you get involved it’s not boring at all.
P: What does it feel like at the Olympics right before your event? What goes through your mind? What are you feeling?
NT: It’s kind of a surreal experience. I’ve only been once and I swam a total of four times. Ending up with two medals at the end was just amazing. There’s a feeling that you get—or that I got—that I knew I was going to go out and have a good race. I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be; I didn’t know how I was going to place, didn’t know that I was going to win a silver medal, but I knew that I was going to race my best for myself, for everyone that supported me, and for my country and that was just a great feeling.
P: What is your message to young aspiring athletes?
NT: Have fun! Just go out and have fun and what you’re passionate about will call you back. Swimming always called me back. I even took nine months off last year, didn’t know if I was going to retire or not but swimming, again, it called me back. Have fun doing whatever you want to do—be it sports, be it musicals, whatever you get into.
P: Mom, what’s your advice for the moms of aspiring athletes?
KB: Oh boy. Be supportive. Allow the children to show their commitment to a sport and whatever they choose to commit to, be there for them. Back them up. One of the things that helped me was finding someone professional to talk to. Because I didn’t want to make my stress his stress. That was really important.
P: Gearing up for Rio, what’s on for the next two years?
NT: I took almost all of last year off and it really got me re-focused and hungry again. I was at a point where I didn’t know if I wanted to swim or not after the last Olympics. Taking that time off really helped. Coming up this year I’m really hoping to make the Pan Pacific Championships and the World Championships next year and we’ll see how we do.
In little over two months, former USC swimmer Marne Erasmus took home the American Athletic Conference championship title in the 100-yard butterfly in a time that set a new SMU school standard and pool record.
Erasmus clocked in at 51.73, which bettered the previous school best 51:89, held by former Olympian Martina Moravcova in 1999 and qualifies her for the NCAA Championship.
Erasmus will be in action at Kings Park Durban mid April to take part in the Commonwealth Game trials.
Download level entry forms for reference to order of events.
Level 1 Entry Form (1).pdf (541417)