There were a lot of activities at the Meadow’s pool this summer.

We were off to a bit of a rough start again this summer with equipment. Boiler problems caused us to open the pool late for swim team practice, but KJ got everything going and the club ended up with a state of the art, more efficient heater. From there the summer ran smoothly given all the transitions.

Swim Lessons

Our swim lesson program this year was run by SurRae Coleman, a long standing swim instructor with the community. We offered 3 sessions this summer with lessons for 3-12 year olds. We limited the classes to 5 kids with a total of 58 kids. We also offered privates, which were well utilized.

We had our first adult classes: A Masters class and water aerobics.

The feedback we received was that the club enjoyed SurRae very much. She hopes to come back next summer and continue to grow the program and serve more members.

We also continued with our diving program with Tony Novak (FHS, BHS & Flatirons diving coach).

Swim Team

The Swim Team continues to be an important activity at the Meadows providing the kids experiences that will last a lifetime. The team was down in size from previous years with the latest roster showing 60 girls and 43 boys plus about 10 kids on pre-team for a total of 103.

This year we participated in the 6 dual meets and hosted three. Our fundraising efforts paid off with bake sale bringing in $1530 and the grill $1253. We defeated BCC and Fox Hill in our dual meets and came in 5^th at finals a few points from 4th. Given the number of swim team members appears to directly affect the outcome; we are very proud of our performance!

During the BVSSL final meet the team placed within the top 8 positions 48 times.

Special thanks go out to staff that were challenged with keeping the team going during a year of transition.

8 and Unders: Carla Natali

9-10: Kate Compton

11-12: Stephanie Fellow

13-14: Kelly Klein

15-18: Nat Carruthers and JD Klingenberg

I would also like to thank all the parents who helped organize and volunteer during the meets. Dinners, social activities, bake sales, grill sales, the slide show, etc. all made the swim team experience a very special one. In addition I would like to acknowledge Wendy Corrigan for the countless hours spent working with the coaches , managing the heating area, and getting our home meets ready.

Knowing this was a challenging summer I solicited feedback from the head coaches, the age group coaches, parents, and swimmers at the close of the season. KJ and I reviewed all the information and identified areas that need attention before we move into another summer season. The Meadows has had a very strong swim team program and there are many treasured traditions. Unfortunately neither the philosophy, nor the program, nor the transitions were previously documented. A positive is that we had a lot of parents helping out during the season. A negative was that there was missed communications or miscommunications in many areas. There is absolutely no blame being placed. It is simply a matter of the club undergoing a huge transition.

At the close of the season we decided that the swim team would better be managed by a single head coach rather than having a shared position.

Given all that, I have solicited volunteers and have organized committees to establish baselines in 4 areas: 1) documenting the program and hiring a new head coach 2) volunteers (areas we need help, how to entice participation, etc.) 3) new members (how to welcome new families to the swim team, how to entice more kids to participate, etc.) and 4) social programs (recommend group programs, how to handle age group programs, outline the banquet, etc.). Employees, members and swimmers will all benefit by our documenting the program, the priorities, and the traditions.

Finally, for next season I recommend we make a few purchases for the swim team. There may be a few additional items, but the club would benefit by a new starting system that allows for both audible and visual starts. Last summer we started looking at what other clubs are using and the purchase would certainly be within the swim team budget. KJ and the coaches may have additional requests. Since the swim team’s revenue exceeded expenses by several thousand dollars, I think the club is in a position to make the purchases.

I look forward to a strong summer season 2009.

Respectfully submitted,

Audrey Irwin

Swim Committee, 2008