MM Weekly Announcements for Week of 06/22-06/28

John VanDriessche

Good afternoon Marlin Families!

Practice Schedule

Penn High School

Splash 1 & 2: Monday & Wednesday 6:00-7:30

Splash 3: Monday, Wednesday 6:00-7:30, & Thursday 5:30-7:30

Splash 4: Monday 6:00-7:30, Tuesday 4:00-6:00 (at Elkhart), Wednesday 6:00-7:30, & Thursday 5:30-7:30

Fins Flex: Monday 5:30-7:30, Tuesday 4:00-6:00 (at Elkhart), Wednesday, Thursday 5:30-7:30

Fins Compete: Monday 5:30-7:30, Tuesday 4:00-6:00 (at Elkhart), Wednesday & Thursday 5:30-7:30

Elite AM: Monday Tuesday,Wednesday, & Thursday 6:00-8:00 (8:15-9:00 weights)

Elite PM: Monday 3:45-6:00 (at Elkhart), Tuesday, Thursday 5:00-6:30

New Prairie High School

Splash: Monday & Wednesday 6:30-8:00 AM CST

Fins: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday 6:00-8:00 AM CST

Elite: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday 6:00-8:15 AM CST

Knollwood CC

Splash 1

Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:30 or 4:30-5:30 or 5:30-6:30

Tuesday & Thursday 4:00-5:00

Splash 2

Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:30 or 4:30-5:30 or 5:30-6:45

Tuesday & Thursday 4:00-5:15

Splash 3

Monday and Wednesday 5:30-6:45

Practice Notes:

New Prairie families for the month of June use door S1 to enter the building. The doors will open at 5:45 AM CST. Please do not arrive prior to this time. If you arrive at Penn and the gallery door is locked, please feel free to get my attention on deck to let me know.

No practice on Friday due to the DUNE Splash Spectacular

Here is the link to this week’s Fins and Elite practice plans.

DUNE Splash Spectacular/Hobart High School/June 27-29

Here is our entry as of 6-18-25. Coach Kelly Laneman (574-339-6076) will be the coach on deck Friday and for the 10 and under sessions. I (574-276-6057) will be the coach on deck for the morning sessions Saturday and Sunday. If you are running late or will be unable to make it please text the appropriate coach. Here are the pertinent times for this weekend’s meet. All time listed are CST, local to Hobart.

Friday (events #1-#8)

Warm-up 12 & Under 3:30-4:05 CST – our athletes should be on deck by 3:15 CST

Warm-up 13 & Over 4:05-4:50 CST – our athletes should be on deck by 3:45 CST

Meet Starts 5:00 CST

Saturday and Sunday AM (11 and over)

Warm-up 7:30-8:25 CST – our athletes should be on deck by 7:15 CST

Meet Starts 8:30

*Saturday and Sunday PM (10 and under)

Warm-ups 1:00-1:55 CST – our athletes should be on deck by 12:45 CST

Meet Starts 2:00 CST

*These times are an adjustment from the meet letter.

Prelims Finals Meets

It’s been a while since I’ve been asked to share my thoughts on a swimming-related topic, but after several conversations this past weekend, I felt it was a good time to revisit and reflect on our approach—specifically when it comes to prelims and finals meets, and what we will call The Marlins Standard.

We are a competitive swim team, and competition plays a vital role in each athlete’s growth—not just in swimming, but in life. That said, we also recognize and respect that every family has unique needs and commitments. Meet attendance is not mandatory in our program; we trust our swimmers and their families to choose the meets that best align with their schedules and family obligations.

That being said, during the regular season, I do hope to see our athletes participating in every meet on our schedule. Not because it’s required, but because consistent racing provides invaluable experience and builds confidence. Still, I fully understand that swimming is often just one of several important activities in a young person’s life, and sometimes attendance at every meet simply isn’t possible.

When it comes to prelims/finals meets, however, our mindset shifts. These meets are designed to push athletes, to help them rise to the challenge and experience the reward of making finals and racing again when it counts most. It should be every swimmer’s goal to qualify for finals in the events they swim—and if they do, and even if it is in just one, our expectation is that they return to race in that final.

I had several requests over our last two meets asking to scratch from finals, and while I always try to consider individual circumstances, I believe we need to be thoughtful about how we approach this as a team. Feeling tired after a long weekend of racing is natural—but pushing through fatigue is part of the growth we’re aiming for. If there’s a legitimate scheduling conflict or commitment, I ask that it’s communicated well ahead of time so we can plan accordingly.

Frequent scratches, especially ones without clear reasons, run counter to the culture we’re building. Wanting to step away from finals doesn’t just affect one swimmer—it can affect the whole team. We want to foster a mindset of resilience, commitment, and pride in showing up when it matters most.

As Marlins, we don’t shy away from hard things—we lean into them. That’s what builds strong athletes, strong teammates, and a strong team culture. That’s The Marlins Standard.

SwimCloud

Over the years I have been asked by several swim families if paying for a recruiting service is worth the money. Personally, I do not believe it is. Here is the reason why. The leading recruiting service charges anywhere from $250 up to $1200 for paid accounts. Cost aside, I am not aware of many college swim coaches that use those paid services.

From my conversations with college coaches they all seem to use SwimCloud. SwimCloud offers free and varsity memberships. The varsity membership is a one time fee of $49. The amount, I believe, far exceeds what you receive. I recommend every athlete 13 and over create a free account. For our high school athletes I believe you should give strong consideration to the varsity membership. I have included a link on our website that can outline some of the benefits of this membership. If you have any questions about this or swimming at the college level please let me know.

USA Swimming Futures Championships/Madison WI/July 23-26

If your swimmer is planning on attending this meet please commit them ASAP. We are planning on making this a team travel trip. The sooner we know the numbers for the trip the sooner we can put concrete plans into place. If your athlete has not yet made cuts but is close please commit them to the meet.

USA Memberships

We will need all of our athletes that have not done so already, to renew their USA Swimming memberships. Here is the link.

If you qualify for the Outreach Program email me and I will send you the link you will need to use for registrations.

If you have any questions about any registration issues you can reach out to me or our team/business manager Kelly Laneman ([email protected])

Spring and Summer Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit

This is our tentative meet schedule for the spring and summer. We may add meets if we find ones that fit our club’s needs or delete meets if there is not enough interest from our members. There will be two different dates listed with each meet The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit.

Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines will be based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets, if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend.

Some meets will be marked with an * and those will require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. You can view all pool locations on our website under the "Pools" tab.

NASA Off The Block Invitational/Northridge High School/May 3/Our Results

Dual Meet Vs. Concord Swim Club/Concord High School/May 9/Our Results

VSC Spring Classic/Valparaiso High School/May 16-18/Our Results

CON Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Invite/Elkhart Aquatics/May 30-June 1/Our Results

ELK Summer Bash Invitational/Elkhart Aquatics/June 13-15/Our Results

DUNE Splash Spectacular/Hobart High School/June 27-29/Our Entry

GSI Last Chance Luau/Goshen Aquatic Center/July 11-12/Our Entry Coming Soon

*IN Swimming Senior State/IU Bloomington/July 17-20/June 29

*USA Swimming Futures/Madison, WI/July 23-26/June 15

*IN Swimming Age Group State/IU Natatorium-Indy/July 25-27/June 29

*USA Swimming Junior Nationals/Irvine, CA/July 30-August 3/TBD

*IN Swimming Divisional Championships/Valparaiso High School/August 1-3/July 13