SO September 6th Weekly Email
SWIM OMAHA TEAM NOTES
Happy Labor Day.
Regular practice schedule starts this week for ALL groups on Tuesday.
Starting Tuesday, SwimQuik will have inventory for all the Swim Omaha gear and accessories.
Swim Quik Store Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10-6, and Saturday 10-3
Some meets have been added to the website.
- Ace River Races - Sept 10th
- Bellevue Intro meet - Sept 10th
Parents can be in the stands at both pool as long as you remain masked at all times. Lockers rooms are still closed at this time.
Swim Omaha Garage sale this Sunday at Westside. Coach Lisa is emptying out the storage room. New equipment, apparel, warm ups, and more - Free gift with any purchase!!!
Picture order forms will be handed out this week at practice.
OnDeck App
OnDeck Parent: Expert in 5 Minutes
Available for FREE; parents can download OnDeck and in real-time, access your account, team events, news, jobs, and more. In a matter of minutes you can connect to Swim Omaha's information.
Team Pictures and SwimQuik suit sizing
Group times
1:00 Senior group will have team pictures. Team shirts will be handed out that day. Please wear blue jeans or other dark pants. After pictures Seniors will have a team meeting and then can try on suits.
1:30 Gold group and then silver group pictures. Please wear blue jeans or other dark pants. Before or After pictures Gold and Silver can try on suits.
Arena will be present with Tech suits for sizing also.
Sunday, Sep 12, 2021, 01:00 PM
Westside High School, Pacific Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Shady Lane Hayrack Ride and Bonfire
Monday, Oct 4, 2021, 05:00 PM
Shady Lane Ranch, Inc., Shady Lane, Council Bluffs, IA, USA
Article of the Week
SWIM MOM MUSINGS: EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY - Found on SwimSwam.com
Courtesy: Donna Hale
When my daughter started to swim 18 years ago, we had no clue what we were unleashing: a lifelong journey that would lead to amazing friendships, heartbreaking losses, and exhilarating moments of longing, love and laughter. She was just a four-year-old who loved the water from the moment she could walk and found the pool a happy place. Now she is 22, and I can honestly say that all these years later, swimming remains her solace in an ever-changing world.
Hannah can never repay this sport for all it’s given her. All she can do is the pass on the lessons and love to those who follow behind her.
As a senior in college, she got to experience what is the ultimate for every girl next door swimmer – a conference title for a D3 program reborn just last season. Hannah learned how to get the most out of the circumstances that surrounded her. This year it was COVID. But looking back over this journey, there are myriad lessons she learned as a swimmer and how they molded who she is and what she will always be. She will forever be a swimmer – as it’s a part of her. But as she learned as she got older, it’s only a part who she is.
This extraordinary journey was filled with shining moments like swimming lifetime bests in her beloved butterfly in her senior conference meet, making Junior Olympics five times, making ODAC All-Conference, and feeling the pure rush of finals in both age group and NCAA swimming, she was made better by meeting more amazing people than anyone deserves in a lifetime. The journey was also filled with heartbreaking losses, injury and illness, and even the harsh lessons of bullying by some teammates and coaches, and the quest for fairness over the course of almost two decades. Hannah learned that the tough times can either make you bitter or better. And that choice is completely up to you – the athlete.
Swimming is not about a single race or even a single season. It is about practices, team trips, locker room antics, swimsuit addiction, and the never-ending search for dry towels. It is about the never-ending quest for food – yes the love of food was something she learned to embrace with passion. It is about a mission to score some rubber ducks by winning heats at a travel meet. It’s about meeting a long ago goal so your much loved guy friends had to wear girl suits at practice.
Most of all It is about sportsmanship – win or lose. It was one of the first lessons summer coaches taught her as a little girl. And she tried to model these through all her years in this sport. I believe it is one of the most important lessons every swimmer should learn whether they are competing in their summer league or on the college stage. You never know who you will inspire by always being a person of character. She’s hoping she inspired others. I can say beyond any doubt: she did. She inspired me.
Most of us will not be at the top of this sport. Someone is always coming along who can swim faster. She had records and watched them fall. She lost to her toughest competitors who were also friends and role models. She practiced for countless hours and still has not been satisfied with times. She tells herself she can go faster. Swimmers embrace a quest for excellence. It runs through their veins like chlorine.
But one thing I can honestly say is she has always done her best in the moment and celebrated the success of teammates. In college this is especially important because you won’t win titles because of the success of one or two swimmers or even three. It takes a village. And everyone has a role to play. If you can help foster a culture of support and camaraderie, you will discover what is special about this sport. It is truly the souls you touch and those that touch you along the way.
Hannah owes so much to the coaches who believed in her, to the friends who supported her and the extended swim family that grows ever deeper along the way. As parents at times we have made her crazy and embarrassed her (especially mom) with cheering loud enough that all the stands could hear. Hannah never doubted for a moment that she was supported and loved. There are so many quiet moments I can recall on deck when she was lost in conversations with coaches, teammates, and even competitors. These are the moments that will remain in her heart. They will remain in mine too.
We don’t know what is coming next. She is figuring this out along the way. But, she is excited about the possibilities. She will always be a swimmer. She will always rejoice in the joys and solitude of life between the lane lines. She will cherish the extraordinary Journey of being a lifelong swimmer to inspire others and to make her mark in the world. There are still dreams to chase on this journey that began so long ago. And, as she has heard thousands of times now: take your mark!
Safe Sport
Directions
- PARENTS MUST REGISTER AN ACCOUNT WITH USA SWIMMING before taking a course. Swimmers, coaches, and officials have an account already.
- Make sure you enter Midwestern (MW) as the LSC and Swim Omaha (SO) as the LSC and team.
- Click the Safe Sport Learn button below to access USA Swimming's Learn website.
- Scroll down to enter your name and birthdate
- Go to the courses and select the appropriate one for you or your child.
- Add the course and then select it from the dashboard.
- SWIMMER COURSE takes 10-15 MINUTES
- PARENT COURSE takes 1 Hour
- Once you complete your course - screenshot the completion screen and submit it to the google form below (Or click the button). This will help us track the completion percentage for Swim Omaha and enter your child in the drawing for Arena products.
- Drawing is Sept 12th. Submit your completion by Sept 11.
- Each athlete can complete a course for one entry. A parent is one entry for each of their registered swimmers.
New Coaches
Coach Kristoff Berzins:
Kristoff began coaching competitively in 2010 with HLA in Lincoln Nebraska. There he developed stroke technique and timing with the age group swimmers and helped many of them develop a love for swimming with his enthusiasm and love of the sport. In 2012 he moved to Omaha to become a teacher at Omaha Central High School. It was at this time he joined up with Omaha Swim Federation and helped to grow that team from a group of 12 swimmers to just under 80 swimmers. It was during this time that Kristoff also became the head coach for Omaha Central High School. He brought many swimmers to OSF and Central, thus developing a pipeline for both teams that benefited the swimmers, the coaches and the community! Kristoff is looking forward to working with the swimmers and parents of Swim Omaha and can't wait to help bring this team to the forefront of Nebraska swimming
Coach Adam Kruszka:
Adam swam for Swim Omaha, Omaha Westside Swim Club, from age 7 to age 16. He has been a Lifeguard since 2015 and a Lifeguard Instructor since 2018. He also swam for Omaha Westside High School his Freshman(2013-2014) and Sophomore(2014-2015) years. Adam is currently a Lifeguard and Lifeguard Instructor at the College of Saint Mary.
Coach Autumn Caniglia - Autumn swam for Swim Omaha and Omaha Westside from 2013 to 2017. She lifeguarded and taught swim lessons from 2014-2015. Autumn is currently a CNA at Nebraska Medicine and is working toward her nursing degree.
Coach Sage Porter
Coach Grace Harden (sister of Sage)
Coach Ashton Porter (Not related to Grace or Sage)
Novice and Bronze - Coach Lisa
Bronze M/W/F at Westside
5:30-6:30pm
6:30-7:30pm
7:30-8:30 pm
Novice T/TH at Westside
5:30-6:15pm 6:15-7:00pm 7:00-7:45pm
7:45-8:30pm
Practices will start with rules, expectations, and practice norms. Parents are encouraged to join in for this part of practice.
Please have your own fins - If you do not you can purchase them at https://swimquik.com/collections/swim-omaha or at the store
Silver - Coach Vic
Practice Schedule
We will start the regular schedule next week. The schedule for this week will include “new” stuff, rules, expectations, for swimmers and the new coaches.
Monday- Thursday 6:00-7:30
Friday- 5:30-6:30
Next week we will start our “normal” times
Monday- Thursday 5:30-7 and 6:45-8:15
Friday 5:30-6:30 ONLY
Equipment reminders:
Fins - Kickboard (jr) - Water bottle - Mesh Bag
Dryland attire:
Tennis shoes and workout clothes over suit.
Silver: will not be using the locker rooms so all swimmers will need to come in their suits and leave in their suits. (Through the blue gym)
Senior Westside - Coach Doug
3:45-6:00 (6:30 with dryland/weights) Swimmers will be notified in advance.
Senior Ralston - Coach Docker and Coach Drew
Swim Omaha
Email: SOCoachLisa@gmail.com
Website: SwimOmaha.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/108737654386/
Twitter: @SwimOmaha