The Carmel Swim Club Is
Special
Since the early
1970s, the Carmel Swim Club has established a strong tradition as
the best swimming team in Indiana and one of the top club teams in
the entire USA. More important than accomplishments alone,
Carmel Swim Club takes pride in offering a program for all ages and
ability levels. From the inexperienced beginning swimmer all
the way up to the USA Swimming National competitor, everyone has a
special place on the Carmel Swim Club. Age group swimming
builds a strong foundation for a lifetime of good physical and
mental health by teaching time management, self-discipline and
healthy fitness habits. Carmel Swim Club teaches the ideals
of honesty, integrity, fair play and sportsmanship in addition to
the techniques and values of hard work and
dedication.
History of Carmel
Swim Club - coaches perspective
By
Chris Nelsen
Nothing seems
able to derail the powerful juggernaut known as the Carmel Swim
Club. For more than 30 years, the club has managed
to prosper and maintain its greatness, despite numerous coaching
changes and tremendous growth.
The architect
responsible for laying the club’s early foundation was Ray
Lawrence, who joined the club in 1979 after a stint coaching the
Indianapolis Swim Club. Within a few years, he turned the Carmel
Swim Club into one of the state’s premier
organizations.
“I wanted
to create something that was systemically different than before
… and it takes five to seven years to do that,”
Lawrence said recently. “But if somebody doesn’t try to
make that happen, or doesn’t continue that, it goes away in
one or two years. The fact that we established something, we worked
hard to do that.
“You exist
for one reason,” he added, “for everybody to get
better.”
Lawrence, who
became the Carmel High School boys head coach in 1979 and the girls
head coach a year later, credits the girls high school state
championship in 1981 for helping create interest in the Carmel Swim
Club. It was the first high school swimming title for either of the
Greyhounds teams.
“The 1981
high school team is really what sparked the club,” he said.
“The state high school meet is a small enough venue –
it’s a lot smaller than an age group (state meet). We were
able to do that and it sparked the development of the club. It was
kind of an interesting thing.”
Seeing the high
school team succeed helped motivate the younger club swimmers. In
1985, the club won its first age group long course state
championship. In 1986, it claimed short course and long course
state titles at the age group and senior
levels.
“When the
club was different, where I knew I could coach differently, was in
1987,” Lawrence said. “That’s when I stopped
being the guy who had to push people, and became a guy that had to
manage their will. I didn’t have to say things like,
‘Fix your goggles, start on time, swim to the wall.’
All of those things I said over and over for years stopped being a
problem.
“There was
a whole different level of expectations if you were a Carmel
swimmer after 1984, ‘85,
‘86.”
Lawrence’s
passion and expertise rubbed off on his swimmers and coaches during
the club’s rise to prominence.
“What Ray
brought to the table was a vision and attitude of:
‘Don’t be afraid to set high
expectations,’” said Tom Avischious, who became the
head age group coach of the Carmel Swim Club in 1985 and held the
position for 10 years. He currently works as the Field Services
Director for USA Swimming in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. “It was my
job to give that vision and expectations to the kids, as far as
making them believe the sky was the limit in what they could
accomplish.”
Lawrence, who
always considered himself an “age-group coach at
heart,” began to experience great success at the high school
level once his club swimmers started funneling into Carmel’s
teams.
After winning the
girls high school championship in 1981, he led the Greyhounds to
five straight girls titles from 1986-90 and five straight boys
titles from 1990-94.
In 1991, Lawrence
handed the reigns of the Carmel Swim Club and the girls high school
team over to Tony Young. In 1995, Young replaced Lawrence as the
boys high school coach.
“There was
a strong tradition of excellence … and I did not change what
was working,” Young said. “My goal was to learn how the
program worked – strengths and weaknesses – and build
upon that to find what that next level was. Why would I change a
vision that emulated in the eyes of the swimmers in the water the
first day I interviewed for the job?
“Ray would
come back each season after retirement to speak to the
teams,” Young added. “Each new coach at Carmel, no
matter at what level during my tenure, was taught to embrace these
qualities of a successful organization. The well being of one
athlete or one goal was never sacrificed for the well being of the
team.”
Young’s
ability to make a smooth transition to the club and high school
teams resulted in numerous state championships at both
levels. He led the girls high school team to nine
titles, extending the streak to 14 consecutive; and the boys high
school team to three titles from 1995-97 (the ’95 crown was
taken away by the Indiana High School Athletic Association via the
court system).
He also guided
the Camel Swim Club to 10 age group long course titles; nine age
group short course titles; nine senior short course titles and
seven senior long course titles.
“I look
back to Ray Lawrence and Tony Young, I look back upon those years,
and talking with those gentlemen, they’re the ones that built
a great foundation upon which we’re still able to grow,
improve and exist,” said current club and high school head
coach Chris Plumb, who took over both programs in 2006.
“Those two gentlemen, along with lots of others, really put
Carmel Swim Club on the map.”
After
Young’s departure from the club and high school teams in
2000, the success didn’t end. Ken Stopkotte took over as head
coach and won three high school girls titles, extending the streak
to 17, and three high school boys titles. He also led the club to
three age group short course championships and two age group long
course titles.
Tom Burchill
replaced Stopkotte and won three high school girls titles from
2004-06, pushing the streak to 20 in a row, and the
first boys high school National Title in 2004.
Burchill also won age group long and short course titles each year
with the club. “We needed
to maintain the level of expectation of winning,” Burchill
said. “You’re always trying to improve what
you’re doing. You come into a program like Carmel,
you’re doing a lot of things right. I wanted to add things I
felt would make us even better.
“We also
worked to grow with the community, expand what people knew about
the club. In the swimming world, we were very well known. In our
own community, the high school was very well known, but the club
was not. We really wanted to get our name out there in a very
positive light.”
Following
Burchill’s tenure, Plumb took over the high school and club
teams. He has won three straight girls high school
titles, extending the streak to a girls national high school record
23 straight, and has gotten the high school boys team back into
position to compete for state titles.
With the club, he
has won age group long and short course titles every year.
Currently, the Carmel Swim Club is the top-ranked club in Indiana
and the top-ranked Indiana swim club in the Toyota Virtual Club
Championships.
“It’s
a tribute to the coaches, athletes and administrators that came
before us,” Plumb said. “I think it goes back to Ray
Lawrence; and whether or not he knew it, he created a vision where
repeated excellence occurred. To have that vision and belief carry
its way through today is absolutely
amazing.”
The only question
now is how much larger and better the Carmel Swim Club can become.
With membership at nearly 400 boys and girls, ranging in age from 5
to 18, Plumb said the club is exploring all options for further
growth. “We need to look at other places where
we can practice and have more water. The limiting factor we have is
the amount of water space available,” he said. “Right
now, we’re coming to a place where we can’t grow too
much bigger because we don’t have enough water. If we have
the chance and ability to find more water then we can continue to
grow, and if we don’t, we’re going to be
stagnant.”
No matter how
much bigger the Carmel Swim Club gets, members won’t suffer
from a lack of coaching.
“Having a
large number of kids is good, but having great instruction is
equally as important,” said age group coach Chris Webb.
“Our club has been focused on getting better, not just
bigger, in recent years.”
As long as the
passion for swimming continues to grow in the Carmel community and
more youngsters become involved with the sport, the possibilities
for growth and improvement seem limitless for the Carmel Swim
Club.
“The club
has a tremendous amount of parent resources and the volunteer base
is fantastic with so many people willing to help out and spend an
enormous amount of time,” Burchill said. “There are a
lot of great people in the club who support the kids in ways you
can’t even imagine.”
Chris Nelson is a freelance sportswriter from
Indianapolis.
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