Welcome to Gator Swim Club!

Gator Swim Club in its current form has been in existence since January 2000. A USA Swimming club has trained at the O’Connell Center since its construction in the early 1980s. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the club was known as Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST). In the mid-80s it became known as Holmes Lumber Gators under the sponsorship of University of Florida Gator great, Tiger Holmes. In the 1990s it again became FAST and at the turn of the millennium was reborn as Gator Swim Club.

Many Olympic, NCAA, National, Junior National, and Junior Olympic champions have been produced by the club in its various incarnations. We are proud of this tradition of success and look to build upon it in the future. Gator Swim Club is known throughout the country as a first-class, year-round competitive swim program. We offer a guided age-group youth program for children age seven and up, from the beginning swimmer to the most competitive and skilled swimmer. When a young person becomes a member of the Gator Swim Club, he or she learns the values of sportsmanship and teamwork. Swimming with Gator Swim Club provides physical, emotional, and intellectual skills that will last a lifetime.

 

Gator Swim Club Philosophy

Gator Swim Club uses the sport of swimming and its environment to teach goal setting, dedication, commitment, and a strong work ethic to athletes of all levels of ability, from novice to highly experienced swimmer. Gator Swim Club takes a long-view approach to swimming. We emphasize kicking and technique at the younger ages, and progress to training in all four strokes as the athletes grow within the program. This philosophy allows athletes to become their best in their teenage and college years. Gator Swim Club provides the opportunity for all athletes to swim for the love of the sport and to reach their highest potential.

 

Gator Swim Club Objectives

Personal and Physical Development

  • To provide an opportunity for young people in the Gainesville area to engage in a wholesome, life-saving, lifetime sport and recreational activity.
  • To promote physical fitness and encourage proper conditioning and health habits.
  • To provide opportunities for healthy social, emotional, and educational development, and to encourage peer and family participation.
  • To foster the development of high self-esteem and help cultivate positive self-images.

Competitive Development

  • To create an environment in which the desire for self-improvement and goal achievement motivates the individual to fully develop his or her natural abilities and to help others to do likewise.
  • To provide opportunities to learn the values of hard work, dedication, self-discipline, and perseverance.
  • To promote the ideal of honesty, integrity, good sportsmanship, and team loyalty.
  • To provide quality instruction, training, and competition at all peer and ability levels.

Community Involvement

  • To cultivate the support of community-oriented individuals, corporations, and foundations to help fund programs and improve facilities.

State, Regional, and National Administration

  • To participate in the direction and management of Florida Swimming and to further the growth and development of competitive swimming in the state.
  • To provide leadership in the Southern Region that will allow the southeast to become one of the national centers of competitive swimming.
  • To participate in the administration of USA Swimming, Inc. to represent the interest of Florida Swimming and the Southern Region and to establish Gator Swim Club as a contributor to the national program.

 

Coaching Philosophy and Mission Statement

Our mission is to develop abilities in our young people that will inspire and empower them to achieve excellence in life through a positive competitive swimming experience. We believe that our sport teaches fundamental life skills that are invaluable beyond the pool. By molding, teaching, and instructing our athletes, we aim to develop in them the self-discipline, personal responsibility, physical fitness, and personal excellence necessary for success in competitive swimming and beyond. GSC is committed to providing a safe, healthy, and positive environment for athletes as they seek to achieve their goals in our sport.

Our Coaching Beliefs

  • Steady, committed, planned progressive training is the only road to ultimate long-term success.
  • Aerobic development and maintenance with proper technique is the foundation for swimming achievement in all strokes over all distances.
  • Communication between coach and swimmer, coach and parent, and swimmer and parent is vital.