UNIVERSITY CITY SWIM CLUB (UCSC)

2008-2009 Practice Schedule

2008-08-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

Practices at The Natatorium Begin Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Super Swimmers

Level 1 5:30-6:00 PM, T & Th
Level 2 6:00-6:30 PM, T & Th
Level 3 5:30-6:30 PM, any 2 days M-Th

AGD, High School, HS Prep

5:30 – 7:00 PM, M-T-W-Th
10:00 – 11:30 AM, Sat.

Masters

6:00 – 7:00 AM, T & Th
10:00 – 11:30 AM, Sat.
Optional evenings

Indoor season registration is Monday, September 8, 2008, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM in front of the Natatorium (7420 Shaftesbury Avenue).

New swimmers are also welcome to register anytime throughout the year.

Rate Schedule

2008-08-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

2008-09 Rate Schedule

Adults

Masters $50/mo

Youth

Fulltime $90/mo
(4+ practices/week)

AGD/competitive $75/mo

Superswimmer (Levels 2 & 3) $60/mo
(1 hour practices)

Stroke training (Level 1) $55/mo
(30 minutes, beginners)

Youth swimmers must also join USA Swimming for insurance coverage and competition eligibility. $50 annual USA Swimming membership is billed at signup time.

The University City Swim Club will work with families to make sure everyone who wants to swim can do so. Reduced rates and scholarships are available upon request.

2007-08 UCSC Indoor Season Details

2007-08-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Indoor season starts with registration
on Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Come between 6:00 and 7:00 PM to the circle drive in front of the Natatorium (7420 Shaftesbury) to receive a registration and information packet, meet coaches and current swimmers, ask questions, and be measured for optional team swim suits if desired.

Practice starts Wednesday, Sept. 12

Practice schedule

Super Swimmers
Level 1 5:30-6:15 PM, T & Th
Level 2 5:30-7:00 PM M-Th (pick 2 days)

AGD, Seniors, HS Prep
5:30 – 7:00 PM, M-T-W-Th
9 – 10:30 AM, Sat.

Masters
6:00 – 7:00 AM, T + Th
9:00 – 10:30 AM, Sat.
Optional evenings

The UCSC Board wants to take this opportunity to welcome all new and returning swimmers for the coming season.

This year we will again be utilizing this website as our source of communication. Please sign up for email updates using the "Subscribe" window at right (scroll down). This will send you an email whenever this site is updated.

Information regarding practice changes, upcoming meets, practice calendars, meet results etc. will be updated in the website.

We will still send out information via email when necessary. We will try to keep emails to a minimum, but it is important we have a current email address to let you know about certain things.

If you experience any problems with the website (actually a blog masquerading as a website), or have any suggestions for it, please contact:

George Lenard @ george1314@charter.net or gll@hdfh.com

Important Swimming Story in Wall Street Journal

2007-03-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

I thought many of you would be interested in this.

Perhaps even a team outing to see the movie together?

The following is a partial quote from the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, March 20, 2007:

Minorities and the Swimming Gap

Perhaps no institution in America is less racially diverse than the swimming pool.

The result: Black children drown at rates far above average.

The problem has drawn little attention because drownings kill a fraction of the number of African-American children who die in, say automotive accidents, and because black parents haven't much protested against the dearth of pools and swim instruction in the inner city.

In part this is because of higher priorities such as improving schools and reducing crime.Yet it also reflects the lingering effect of spurious research -- some of it published in academic journals as recently as the 1960s -- describing blacks is inherently less buoyant and disadvantaged in water.

Little wonder that black parents in disproportionate numbers of never learned to swim, have harbored a fear of water and have cautioned their children to stay away from it, according to many who studied the problem. . .

Now, a coalition of local and national health officials and some groups are creating programs to teach inner-city children how to swim, focusing particularly on minorities. . .

The same parents who make sure their children can read, write and play basketball need to make sure their children can swim.This is a life-saving skill.

These efforts are expected to get a boost from the release this week of a movie featuring a long-ignored hero in American storytelling -- the black swimmer.

Called "Pride," the movie is based on the true story of a Philadelphia parks-and-recreation coach who salvaged an abandoned pool and turned and inner-city group of blacks into athletic stars. Leaving their dingy pool for meets in fancy suburbs, the young black swimmers encounter looks of disbelief from their all-white competitors.

But the results make clear that nothing inherent is keeping blacks from achieving success in the pool.

Public-health officials hope the publicity about African-American success in the pool will put misperceptions to rest and help narrow a swimming-proficiency gap that helps explain why black children between ages 10 and 14 drown at 4.5 times the rate for white children.

Swimming ability is such a vital survival skill that some health officials believe it should be a school requirement.

Check out info on the Pride movie, including a link to the trailer.

USA Swimming has a new program to address the problem. It includes "Sponsor a Swim Lesson":"Through retail partnerships and individual donations, the USA Swimming Foundation will provide free swimming lessons to children who can’t afford them in ethnically and economically diverse areas. The first program will launch in March with a soon-to-be-announced retail partnership."

UCSC alum Emily Lenard will be Swim Lesson Coordinator at Heman Park this summer, and UCSC alum Jesse Winters has offered to help out with UCSC. There may be some opportunity to work with them on participating in "Sponsor a Swim Lesson". It could be a good recruiting opportunity, as well as just plain a good thing.

E-mail subscription

2006-11-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

This year I changed our e-mail subscription service to what I hope is a more reliable one, Feedblitz.

If you sign up at right under "subscribe," you will receive an e-mail each time new material is added to this site.

Although we are communicating a lot through regular e-mail, the subscription will ensure that you are alerted to special items such as the meet photos I posted yesterday.

Missed last night's parent meeting? Here's the lowdown.

2006-11-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

About 10 of us met at the Nat last night and kicked around a number of issues for quite some time.

The following are our recommendations. If you have any disagreements, questions, or comments, please use the comment function at the end of this post or e-mail us at universitycityswimclub.com.

Practice schedule:

Eliminate Saturday practices for kids. This is the most popular practice for Masters, whereas it is not well attended by the kids. Eliminating it will allow the Masters to spread out over more lanes, while also allowing Jon to focus fully on the Masters swimmers.

Older non-Masters swimmers who are able to keep pace with Masters and do the same workouts as Masters will still be welcome.

Eliminate Friday practices. Friday night, for obvious reasons, is the least well attended of our practices. Currently, attendance is usually only a couple of summers.

We will maintain this time slot availability for possible special events as announced, such as intra-team meets, family swim, pizza parties, etc.

Practice times.

All kids will start practice at 5:30pm.

The more advanced swimmers will practice for an hour and a half, ending at 7:00.

SuperSwimmers will end at 6:30.

The beginning swimmer class will be Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:15.

Coaching staff supplementation:

To avoid having to cancel practice due to coach absences, we will explore the possible availability of several individuals as on-call substitute coaches. We will also talk to them about taking over the Tuesday 5:30-6:15 beginning-swimmers class.

Finalizing the fee structure:

Beginner class. This class on Tuesdays will be 45 min/week at a cost of $30/month. This comes to $7.50/45 min, which is comparable to Clayton Center group lessons, and cheaper than one-on-one private lessons.

At this rate, enrollment of two kids will cover our coaching cost for this class; four or more kids will make a positive contribution to team finances.

The suggested maximum age for this class is 6, subject to coach's discretion.

Other age groups. No change to present fees.

Super Swimmers pay $50/month and practice twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday).

Age Group Development (AGD) pay $75/month and practice 3-4/wk.

Timing of promotion to AGD is subject to coach's judgment, normally around age 9, or for older beginners, at least within a year of starting with UCSC.

Other arrangements may be considered in the future.

Meet registration:

We continue to have some difficulty competing with large clubs in getting registered for meets, most recently getting shut out again by our Clayton neighbors at CSP.

We will make clear to the CSP-Swim-Your-Own-Age organizers and Ozark Swimming that this is a big deal, and hope for some "political" flexibility.

However, we can improve our registration chances by:

Notifying UCSC early of participation preferences

Responding quickly (even no-thanks) to email questions on participating in a particular meet, so we can finalize our applications as early as possible.

Action as a board:

The above recommendations were adopted at an informal meeting with no representation of Masters swimmers. That is why at this time they remain recommendations only, and why we seek additional input.

We intend to schedule a board meeting on these and other issues after putting together some budget figures. Please volunteer for the board. Masters swimmers are particularly needed -- your interests should be represented on the board.

Halloween Howl a Hoot!

2006-11-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

Quite a number of UCSC swimmers participated in the Halloween Howl at Marquette High School, and a good time appears to have been had by all. Here are a few pics.

See recent UCSC graduates performing in college

2006-11-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

Here's where you can follow the collegiate careers of three great former UCSC swimmers:

(I know I'm missing someone, so please let me know and I'll add on)

Taylor Swyers is playing water polo for the University of Redlands, in Redlands, California, as a freshman.

Check out the water polo team news here. Glancing at the schedule and results page, I note they've seen a lot of action, and appear about 22 and 9, quite a good record.

Molly Jennings is in her second year of swimming for Milliken University, in Decatur, Illinois. Here's their swimming home page.

November 11, the Milliken women beat rival Augustana 136-66, and Molly is mentioned in the writeup:

Women’s 400 yd. Free Relay of Bielecki, senior Mia Gardiner (Marion, H.S.), sophomore Farrin Gregg (Elwood, Ind., H.S.), sophomore Molly Jennings (St. Louis, Mo., Ritenour) - 4:10.81.

Finally, Emily Lenard, a freshman at Hendrix College, in Conway, Arkansas, has been hard at work as well. We're not sure, but we suspect the above photo, from the Hendrix team's site, is of Emily, who's been tapped mainly for fly and IM, including quite a bit of relay action.

There's a lovely photo of Emily in her team polo shirt here, and she was mentioned with praise (as a "highlight") in the writeup of her first meet:

Highlights from the day included the team of freshmen Emily Lenard of St. Louis, Mo., and Allison Miller of Springdale, Ark., and sophomores Jane Santa Cruz of Dallas, Texas, and Claire Allison of Berryville, Ark., taking second place in the 200 yard Freestyle Relay. Other highlights included Lenard’s second place finish in the 200 yard individual medley and sophomore Katie Greshowak’s of Austin, Texas, win in the 1 meter diving competition.

The Hendrix women are a young team, with only two seniors, and they're looking forward to moving into a brand-new pool next season, which should help with future teambuilding by attracting more swimmers.

Welcome Back, Swimmers and Parents

2006-09-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

The UCSC Board wants to take this opportunity to welcome all our returning UCSC club members back for the coming season as well as all our new members beginning their swimming careers with us.

We are now ready to "hit the waters with a splash," with practice staring tomorrow, Monday September 11, 2006.

Our new Meet Calendar and Practice Schedule and Fees are now posted.

As the season progresses, we believe you will be very pleased with our coaching staff and team. I’m sure the swimmers are fired up and motivated to get the season started.

This year we will again be utilizing this website as our source of communication. Please sign up for email updates using the "Subscribe" window at right (scroll down). This will send you an email whenever this site is updated. Please do this even if you signed up and got updates before, because we had to change the service we use for this purpose (now Feedblitz).

Information regarding practice changes, upcoming meets, practice calendars, meet results etc. will be updated in the website.

We will still send out information via email when necessary. We will try to keep emails to a minimum, but it is important we have a current email address to let you know about certain things.

If you experience any problems with the website (actually a blog masquerading as a website), or have any suggestions for it, please contact the following persons:

George Lenard @ george1314@charter.net or gll@hdfh.com

Charlee McBride @ cusoon61@yahoo.com
(314-322-3705)

Coaches:

Jon Lane @ jblane79@yahoo.com
Jane Ratner @ jaratner@artsci.wust.edu

See ya at the pool

Charlee McBride
Parent Advisory Board Member

2007-2008 Meet Calendar

2006-09-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the meet calendar for the 2007-2008 indoor season:

January 27-28
UCSC January Thaw
University City Natatorium,University City, MO
Parent participation required

February 1-3 (overnight trip)
Gator Great Times
Central pool, Cape Girardeau, MO

February 22-24
Ozark Short Course Championship (Div. I)
Rec-Plex, St. Peter's, MO
Limited to swimmers with qualifying times

March 14-16
HEAT 8 & Under Championship & Lightning Invite
Lafayette High School, Wildwood, MO

April 12-13
UCSC Small Club Championship
University City Natatorium, University City, MO
Parent participation required

Introduction to UCSC

2006-09-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

University City Swim Club (UCSC) is a community-based team affiliated with USA Swimming (USS), the national governing body for competitive swimming. UCSC belongs to, and competes within, USS's Ozark Local Swimming Committee, which includes Eastern Missouri and seven counties in southern Illinois.

UCSC swims year-round, utilizing the University City High School Natatorium, 7420 Shaftesbury Avenue during the school year, and the Heman Park Outdoor Swimming Pool, 7210 Olive Boulevard during the summer months.

Read more about us: our history, philosophy, and goals.

Coaches and Contacts

2006-09-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Coaches

Head Coach:

Jon Lane jblane79@yahoo.com

Assistant Coach:

Jesse Winters

jesse@jwinters.com

General e-mail contact (forwards to Board members):

info@universitycityswimclub.com

Report from one of our swimming college freshmen

2005-09-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

We just received an email from Molly Jennings, who is starting her college career -- and college swimming career -- at Milliken.

Molly says:

Just thought I'd let you know that school's going good and so is swimming. The season begins September 26 but right now we're doing preseason conditioning.

Best wishes in both endeavors, Molly. Keep us posted.

Meet Calendar

2005-09-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the meet calendar for the 2005-2006 indoor season:

Please print this post directly -- or click here for a Microsoft Word version -- complete, and return to Jon as soon as possible. We would like to have an idea of expected participation as far in advance as possible.

Note: These are the meets to which we plan to send coaching staff. We are planning one of these per month. Other meets on the Ozark Swimming calendar may be attended without coaching. See your coach if you wish to enter such a meet.

Participating in meets is an important part of the swim team experience. We particularly encourage team members to attend our two overnight meets, at Carbondale and Cape Girardeau. They are a really positive and fun teambuilding experience for parents as well as swimmers.

October 15-16
RPLX Fall Festival
Rec-Plex, St. Peters, MO

November 18-20
SALU Carbondale 500
Shea Natatorium, Carbondale, IL (overnight trip)

December 4
CSP Swim Your Own Age
Center of Clayton, Clayton, MO

January 21-22 UCSC January Thaw
University City Natatorium,University City, MO
Parent participation required

February 3-5
Gator Great Times
Central pool, Cape Girardeau, MO (overnight trip)

February 24-26
Ozark Short Course Championship (Div. I)
Rec-Plex, St. Peter's, MO
Limited to swimmers with qualifying times

March 10-12
HEAT 8 & Under Championship & Lightning Invite
Hazelwood West High School, Hazelwood, MO

April 29-30
UCSC SMALL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
University City Natatorium, University City, MO
Parent participation required
UCSC%20MEET%20CALENDAR%20FOR%202005.doc indoor_season_2005_application.htm UCSC_MEET_CALENDAR_2005.doc UCSC_MEET_CALENDAR_2005.doc

It's Back-to-Nat Time!

2005-09-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

We're all back to school; now lets get back to Nat!

Registration for the Fall Swim Season will be held at the Nat:

Tuesday, September 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

All swimmers must register, including Masters.

Practice begins:

Senior team: Monday, September 12, 5:30 p.m.

Masters: Tuesday, September 13, 6:00 a.m.

All others: Tuesday, September 13, 5:30 p.m.

Practice schedule will be the same as last indoor season:

Senior Team: Monday-Friday 5:30-7:30 p.m.

AGD: Monday-Friday 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Super Swimmers: Tuesday and Thursday 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Masters: Tuesday and Thursday 6:00-7:00 a.m. and Monday and Wednesday 6:30-7:30 p.m. (new option for late sleepers)

All: Saturday 10-11:30 a.m.

Note: Spring season this year will will run through the April Small Club Invitational meet only, except that Masters will continue through May.

(underwater photo by emineau via flickr)

Summer 2006 Practice Schedule & Fees

2005-09-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all new and returning swimmers.

We hope to have an exciting and fun summer season.

Schedule

Beginners

Tuesday-Thursday evening, 5:00-5:45 pm and Wednesday morning, 7:30-8:00am

Super Swimmers and AGD Swimmers

Monday-Saturday 7:30-9:00 am

Senior/HSP Swimmers

Monday-Saturday for 7:00-9:00 am

Masters

6:00-7:00 am

Fees (monthly)

Beginners $40

Super Swimmers $50

AGD $50

Senior/HSP $60

Masters $40

There is also a UCSC Registration fee of $45 per swimmer.

New swimmers must also pay the USA Membership fee (no exceptions) of $46 per swimmer.

Fees from the previous season must be paid in order to enroll for the summer, or contact Charlee McBride to make an arrangement for payment.

Any questions contact Charlee @ 314-322-3705 or by email at cusoon61@yahoo.comsummer05app.htm

(ladder photo by Redskynight/steph carley via flickr, creative commons license)

End-of-Season Hours

2005-05-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

As school winds down, our practice attendance has dwindled somewhat for obvious reasons.

Accordingly, the practice schedule for the remainder of the season shall be reduced to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (at the usual times). Last indoor practice May 26.

Despite the construction, Heman Pool will be open this summer, and we will soon be providing information on our outdoor summer schedule.

April Meet a Success

2005-05-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who helped make the April meet a success. With the exception of a brief equipment glitch, things ran smoothly and as planned, and our swimmers performed well.

Spring Break Swim Break; Swim-A-Thon

2005-03-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

In case nobody noticed, UCSC is breaking this week, along with the U. City schools.

Also, remember SWIM-A-THON April 15, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

McDonalds Night Out for Swimmers

2005-02-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

As a fun little social activity, especially for the younger kids, we are planning a night out at McDonalds, date and time to be announced.

UPDATE: We will have to do something else instead, but are still working on it.

Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Events

2005-02-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

Before we know it, Spring will be here, and it will be time for us to host the Small Club Invitational at the Nat April 30-May 1.

We ran the January Thaw very well, with the help of lots of volunteers; lets put on another great meet!

Also note we have scheduled our Swim-a-thon for April 15, starting at 6:00 PM.

This is an opportunity for members to raise money for their fundraising obligation.

The Spirit/Activity committee will organize a "Pot luck" menu for that evening to feed the spectators and swimmers.

Sign Up Now For HEAT meet

2005-02-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 2 is the sign-up deadline for the HEAT Lightning meet March 11-13 at Hazelwood West High School.

We previously billed this as an "8 & under meet," and strongly encourage our younger swimmers to contact coaches this week to sign up for the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions, i f you have not already done so.

Additionally, there are a number of "open" age events Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and 9-10 and 11-12 events Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Kudos to all Cape Swimmers; onward to next meet for the 8 and unders

2005-02-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

The following UCSC swimmers all put in great efforts (some while not feeling very well) at the Cape Girardeau Gators' Great Times meet:

Michael Lenard
Jamie Lenard
Laryn Brown
Naomi Tao
Tom Kenyon
Emily Lenard
Molly Jennings
Laura Bliss

8 and under meet on March 12-13

The Head coach ( Jon Lane) along with Mary Kenyon(SuperSwimmers) and Jane Ratner (Intermediate Super Swimmers and AGD) would like to have our 8 and under swimmers attend the Heat Meet Championship on March 12-13 in Hazelwood.

It is a GREAT Meet and also a lot of fun. Normally, it's held in October. We thought we had missed the meet , but we have an opportunity to attend.

Please email Jon ( jblane79@yahoo.com) and he will make the entries.

We hope to see as many UCSC 8 and under SWIMMERS attend as possible.

January Thaw A Big Success; Onward to Cape

2005-01-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Our club hosted a fine meet this weekend.

Thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible.

From the Head Timer perspective, things have never run smoother (except that the doggone strobe went on the fritz). Thanks to generous help from members of the water polo team and our senior team and older AGD swimmers, as well as Masters swimmers, parents, and a few old-timers, we relied less on parents from other teams for timing than in any meet I can recall.

All the kids gave it their best, and for quite a few I believe it was their first meet. With a little luck, I'll be posting some photos from the meet to this site soon.

Onward to Cape

While we hoped for greater interest in the Cape meet, I know those of us going will have a great time. The timing was unfortunate; maybe two weekends in a row of swim meets is too much for some people (hard to imagine).

But I would like to make the point to the new families that the Cape meet has traditionally been a special time for everyone, and we'd really like you to join us next year. Being away overnight means we all hang out together and get to know each other better, and the kids get to be in a hotel pool just splashing around for fun (after being in a pool all day, go figure, they just love the water). Personally, I'm looking forward to watching races with many more lanes running at a time (it's a much bigger pool) and eating at the Chinese buffet!

January Thaw timers and other volunteers still needed; timer list posted

2005-01-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who have already volunteered to help time.

I've uploaded a list of all who have signed up. Please verify I have you in the correct time slot. Click here to see the list.

There are still many openings in all sessions. To volunteer, call George Lenard at 721-8526 or email georgeL314@charter.net.