News
PALM SPRINGS, CA – February 6, 2023– Elite Otters Swim Team competed at the Eastern Committee Championship Swim Meet in Temecula, CA this past weekend. Although the weather was chilly, the swimming was smoking fast with another Otter qualifying for CA/NV Sectionals. Daniela Scott achieved her first-ever Sectionals Cut and will join Ava Otteson at the California/Nevada Sectionals in Carlsbad, CA March 2-6. Daniela Scott swam personal best times in 5 out of 6 races. The highlight of the meet was her 100 Butterfly where she qualified for her first...
PALM SPRINGS, CA – October 24, 2022 – Elite Otters Swim Team had some outstanding performances with huge time drops this past weekend swimming at Palm Desert Aquatic Center. Five Otters were in attendance and their swimming did not disappoint. Ava Otteson had a phenomenal meet swimming to 6 first place finishes dropping time in every race. She will go down in history as being the first Elite Otter to ever achieve a Futures Time Standard Cut. Otteson dropped an impressive 7 seconds in her 200 IM punching her ticket...
PALM SPRINGS, CA – June 27, 2022 – Southern California Swimming announced today that Daniela Scott and Ava Otteson were selected to compete in the Western Zone (Long Couse Meters) Age Group Championship. The opportunity to represent Southern California Swimming is a stepping stone to greater achievements. SCS criteria for being chosen was, “Fast swimmers who will be great teammates.” Junior Age Group Coach Laura commented, “I’m so proud of Dani and Ava! It’s a huge honor to be chosen for this team of SoCal All Stars. Both girls show...
Palm Springs Masters Swim Team Offering New Training Times The Palm Springs Masters Swim Team, the Coachella Valley’s newest swimming program for adults from 18 to 80, is pleased to announce new training / practice schedule times. To start, practices will be held on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Sessions will be held at both 12 noon and 6 pm offering participants the choice of attending one or both practices each day. These practices will be held at the Palm Springs Swim Center on Pavilion Way in Palm Springs. Masters Coach...
Palm Spring Masters Coach Rick Mignault Coach Rick was born and raised in Canada before embarking upon a career in the hotel business which had him living around the world for the better part of 30 years as a Senior Human Resources Executive with Hilton Hotels Corporation. Now retired and “Living the Dream” of being full-time in Palm Springs for the last two years, he is the latest addition to the Palm Springs Masters coaching staff. Coach Rick swam competitively in both age group and collegiate programs. Later he moved...
PALM SPRINGS, CA – January 8, 2022– ELITE Otters Swim Team announced today that 4 of their very own swimmers were chosen to compete in the Southern California All Star Festival. The Southern California Swimming All-Star Festival meet will be held the last weekend of January (22-23) in Las Vegas, NV at Pavilion Center Pool. SCS All Star Festival represents the best of Southern California Swimming. Selected swimmers are divided up into four teams, North, South, East, and West. Swimmers in the 10&U, 11-12 and 13-14 Age Groups will be...
AVA OTTESON BECOMES FIRST ELITE OTTER TO QUALIFY FOR SECTIONALS PALM SPRINGS, CA – December 5, 2021 – The ELITE Otters Swim Team, Coachella Valley’s premier and fastest growing swim team, announced today that Ava Otteson has qualified and will be competing in the 2021 CA/NV Speedo Sectionals at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California on December 16-19. Ava, age 13, becomes the first Otter swimmer to qualify for Sectionals since the team was formed in March 2019. She is entered in the 500 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, 50 Freestyle,...
PALM SPRINGS, CA – November 14, 2021 – Sometimes it’s the little things you see every day that you don’t really notice or appreciate. The ELITE Otters had a swarm of little ones make some big improvements in the 2021 CA YST Veteran’s Day ABC SC Meet on November 12-14 at Yucaipa. Seven Otters lowered their personal best times by more than 10% in a race. Twelve swimmers had drops 7% or greater in at least one event this weekend, led by: Blake Keller, age 11, in the Boys 11-12...
PALM SPRINGS, CA – September 20, 2021 – “From small beginnings come great things.” Walking into the Cynthia”Sippy” Woodhead pool this weekend it was easy to be reminded of this oft-quoted line from the movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. It was at this humble, municipal pool in Riverside, CA where Woodhead began her phenomenal swimming career that led to her winning three gold medals in the 1978 World Championships when she was only 14 years old, and by age 16 she was the world-ranked number one and favored to win the...
Ava Otteson and Casey Hecht Both Win Two Gold Medals PALM SPRINGS, CA – July 26, 2021 – The ELITE Otters Swim Team completed its rapid ascension to the top of the Coachella Valley’s swim hierarchy by putting on a dominant display of swimming prowess in the 2021 Southern California RAA Summer Junior Olympics at Riverside City College on July 22-25. The ELITE Otters were led by Ava Otteson and Casey Hecht who each won two gold medals in SoCal Swimming’s top summer meet. Ava Otteson, age 13, was a...
