Weekly Update: Week of April 1st
Weekly Update- Week of April 1st
Welcome: New Head Age Group Coach
Please help us ‘welcome’ our new Head Age Group coach, Mady Gomez!
Coach Mady has been an IFLY coach for several years, has been co-leading the JR/SR groups, and working in close conjunction with our former Head Age Group coach Amy Lenderink as the former Pre-Performance assistant coach.
Coach Mady brings an energetic personality to the pool deck, an intense desire to help swimmers enjoy the sport as much as she did, and a passion for excellence. Coach Mady will lead the AG1 group, assisted by Coach Lauren, Coach Erin, and others. She will also be present as an assistant coach at Pre-Team, DEV, and AG2 practices. Her ability move from group to group will help her form connections with all our 12 and Under athletes, while also working with all our Age Group coaches on deck.
Coach Mady will also take on several new, administrative duties. Those administrative duties will be detailed for our next Parent Advisory Committee and listed on our website so team parents know to whom to direct specific questions.
We’re excited for the future of our Age Group program with Coach Mady at the helm!
Please allow Coach Mady to settle into her new routine and role; your grace and patience while she acclimates to the administrative duties and deck hours is greatly appreciated.
Welcome, Coach Mady!
Weekly Adjustments:
While we try to stick to a consistent schedule as often as possible, the many moving parts of University life and swim meets means we frequently need to make minor adjustments.
This week:
Friday AM:
JR2:P/SR1/SR1/SR2:P/SR:3 Nat- 6:00 - 7:30 a.m. – Come in the AM, if possible!!!
Friday PM-
Location reminder: JR2:P/SR1/SR1/SR2:P/SR:3 Nat
4:45 – 6:00 p.m. – Water Polo at the CRWC- Diving Well
Location reminder: AG1, AG2 @ Field House
AG1- Shallow End (L4-8), AG2- Deep End
Practice will end at 6:00 p.m. so swimmers can leave in time to get to Xtream Arena for the Heartlanders game.
DEV- Starts and Turns @ CRWC- CANCELED
Para/Adaptive @ FH- as normally scheduled
Pre-Team @ FH- As normally scheduled- Shallow End (L1-3)
Saturday- @ Field House
AG2: Coach Paul Waas, Coach Jan, Coach Meredith - 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
AG1: Coach Blanca, Coach Erin O’ Rourke, Coach Lauren - 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Masters: 11:30 a.m. – NOON
JR1/JR2:P- Field Day at Hubbard Park
SR1/SR2:P/SR3:P-N:
10 swimmers: first-come, first-served: assisting AG1 and AG2 as MENTOR COACHES for Saturday practice at the Field House.
Communicate with Coach Jackson if you wish to act as a Mentor Coach at AG1/AG2 practice for double volunteer hours.
Rest of the group: Field Day at Hubbard Park, 10 a.m. - NOON
Upcoming Events:
Hockey Night at the Heartlanders- IFLY has been invited to attend the Friday, April 5th Iowa Heartlanders’ home hockey game at the Xtream Arena in Coralville @ 6:45 p.m.! Any person associated with IFLY is able to purchase tickets for just $15. Join us for a fun evening with teammates cheering on the Heartlanders!
Click HERE for more information: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/ih24ifly
Best Practices: To Stretch, Warm Up, and for Preventative Care
Join us on Zoom to listen to physical therapists from a local Iowa City PT from Team Iowa- Physical Therapy. We’ll learn what movements are best for pre-practice stretching, how to effectively warm up joints, tendons, and muscles, and the movements that prevent common swimming injuries (instead of just waiting to rehab them!).
When: April 14th, early evening. Exact time TBD
Where: Zoom, link to be sent out the week of the event
Who: Any and all IFLY swimmers and parents
Cost: FREE!
New IFLY Parent/Family and Full Team Meeting:
When: Wednesday, April 24th
5:30 – 6:15 p.m. in the Natatorium stands
Who: New IFLY parents/families & any and all IFLY families
Parent Advisory Committee members will be in attendance to help answer specific questions
What: Explanation of group expectations, summer meets, schedule discussion, etc.
Annual Armbruster Open Meet(s):
For the first time, we’ll offer two Armbruster meets this summer! After several years of our Armbruster Open meet filling up and selling out within 48 hours, we’ve split the meet into a Senior version and an Age Group version.
This year, the 2024 Armbruster Open (May 17-19) will offer Open events and we’ll ask teams to primarily send swimmers ages 13 and Over. Then, June 1-2, we will run the inaugural 2024 JR Armbruster, which will serve athletes 12 & Under.
Which Meet Should You Commit To? See below:
Armbruster Open: JR1, JR2:P, SR1, SR2:P, SR3:P-N
JR Armbruster: DEV, AG1, AG2, some 12&U JR1 swimmers
Swimmers Aging Up to 13 between the meets: Armbruster Open
Other initial points to consider include:
Officials: If you’re interested in signing up to work at one, or both, meets, please contact Bill Brown! We will get the Officials’ sign up posted to our landing pages as soon as they are available. Below is a Google Form for Officials to fill out to receive a polo.
Google Form for an Officials' Polo
Apparel- Click HERE
1. Open now - April 30, 2024, with a pickup option on May 17, 2024 at the 2024 Armbruster Open or shipping for a fee.
2. Open May 1, 2024 - May 19, 2024, with a pickup option on June 1, 2024 the 2024 Junior Armbruster or shipping for a fee.
3. Open May 20, 2024 - June 7, 2024, w/ shipping for a fee only. No pick-up is available.
Volunteering
We need help from all families (DEV ==> SR3:P-N) to efficiently run our home meets for our athletes!
Families should commit to volunteer positions for the meet they will attend.
If you have swimmers at both, please assist with the meet that has fewer volunteers.
As always, we will have food donation options available for families who absolutely cannot make it to the meet. However, we implore families to reach out to friends and other family members who can assist, if possible.
Volunteer positions will be posted to our website by late next week.
Swim Meet Registration Deadlines:
If you want IFLY coaches to sign your child up for events at a swim meet on our team schedule, please follow the instructions linked HERE
Below are the deadlines for families to let IFLY coaches know your child will participate.
We cannot late-enter athletes who sign up after the deadline. Please commit to swim meets proactively.
2024 DSMY May Invite (Des Moines): Pre-Team, DEV, AG1, AG2
Registration Deadline (on the IFLY website): April 7th
Connect with IFLY: Social Media
Looking for more information about our team? Follow us on social media!
Instagram: @iowaflyerswimclub
Facebook: Private Group- IFLY Parent Group
Groups:
We utilize email as the primary form of communication, so please make sure your email login for TeamUnify is an account you frequently check!
Please give our coaches 24-48 hours to answer any emails; if you’ve received no answer after 48 hours, please contact Coach Jackson Leonard.
Points of Contact:
Pre-Team: Email Coach Jackson Leonard with questions; CC Coach Mady Gomez
DEV: Continue to email Coach Jackson Leonard with questions; CC Coach Mady Gomez
AG1: Families will reach out to Coach Blanca for the remainder of this week and CC Coach Mady Gomez. Coach Mady will begin normal email communication on April 8th.
AG2: Families should reach out to both Coach Blanca and Coach Paul Waas with questions. They will co-lead AG2 with the support of our new Head Age Group coach and other assistants.
JR1 & SR1: Families should reach out to Coach Andrew Rottinghaus with questions. The groups will have different schedules, practice focus points, and different intensities.
JR2:P: Families should reach out to Coach Jackson Leonard with questions.
SR2:P: Families should reach out to Coach Chris Freeman with questions.
SR3:P-N: Families should reach out to Coach Chris and Coach Jackson Leonard with questions.
Para/Adaptive: Families should reach out to both Coach Megan Mindy and Coach Talz Leman with questions.
Masters: Swimmers should reach out to Coach Jackson Leonard with questions.
Email Contacts:
Jackson Leonard: [email protected]
Chris Freeman: [email protected]
Mady Gomez: [email protected]
Paul Waas: [email protected]
Blanca Castillo-Lehnertz: [email protected]
Andrew Rottinghaus: [email protected]
Coach Bios:
Information on the athletic, pedagogical, and coaching backgrounds of each coach can be found at:
https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/iauif/page/system/coaches
Required Equipment:
With the season underway, we want to remind our team members that our swim practices utilize training equipment to keep practices interesting and to focus on different technique aspects.
Each training group has different required equipment and optional equipment. The goal is to have less required items for our youngest groups and to slowly add more equipment as swimmers grow and progress through the team.
Lists of required and optional equipment can be found on our website under descriptions of each group, as well as on our Instagram page.
If you’re in need of a gear bag to hold training equipment (one that is meant to get wet), we have a custom bag with the IFLY logo design available for purchase. Please just ‘Commit’ to the Team Event on our website. That link can be found by clicking HERE.
The last day to ‘commit’ to purchase a new IFLY gear bag is April 6th
