Storm Forecast for April 11th, 2025

Getting our Fifteen Minutes of Fame

So, four braggy things to share about the team right now that we can *all* take a bit of pride in…

1. USA Swimming reached out to us over the break.  They identified 88 teams among the ~2600 clubs in USA Swimming that were “impressive” with their retention of both 11-12s and 13-14s.  We were one of them!  Essentially, they’re wanting to know how we’re doing it and what we can teach them and other teams.
2. At the banquet, I mentioned our IMS program gaining recognition.  I met with the National Age Group Committee earlier this week, and the program stands a good chance of becoming a national thing.
3. Tomorrow’s Swim School Challenge is turning heads, too.  We’ll be presenting the idea and objectives of the challenge on a webinar to all of USA Swimming’s Membership later this month.
4. Finally, I was lucky enough to be selected to be an assistant coach at the Western/Central Zone Select Camp at Arizona State the first weekend in June!

Add to this the success of the short course season and record spring numbers, and we have so much momentum going forward—thanks to everyone who has helped move this club forward in a positive direction.

Swim School Challenge

Tomorrow morning is our Swim School Challenge.  We’re at 92 swimmers for the event this year, up from 33 last year.  Thanks for the outpouring of volunteer support!  We look to be set on volunteer positions.  We’ll see volunteers arriving at around 8:30, participants arriving at 8:50.  If you want to come and watch, competition will start around 9:20 or so and go for about an hour.  It should be fun!

Capital Campaign

Talking about that momentum earlier—we’re now over $5,200 in Capital Campaign donations!  32 donors have now given—thank you!

If you’re interested and want to give, there is a shortcut right on the homepage.  Click the banner and look for the green “Please Donate” button.  It’s not necessary to go through the “Find Participants,” button, that’s more for Swim-A-Thons and situations where someone donates in the name of someone else.

Thanks to everyone who has pitched in so far.  If you’re willing and able to help, we’d greatly appreciate it.

Practice Changes

If you’ve not subscribed to your group’s calendar to keep current on changes, find details on the group’s page on the website.

Dryland

Dryland is looking a bit more ominous—Jerome’s schedule matches best when we’re starting our groups at 6pm.  But, we’re still trying!

Permanent Virtual Store

We’ve spent the last couple weeks thinking about items that swimmers are needing/losing the most…snorkels, nose clips, team caps, kick boards, all that fun stuff.  We’re also trying to make our shirts available more often for new families and those with fast-growing kids.  The apparel part is LIVE.  It’s got great workout gear in addition to some of the classics.  The site for all the swimmer accessories should be up in the next 10 days.  We’ll keep stock on hand so that families can order and have same-day pickups.

Blood Drive

We’re a week away from the Red Cross Blood Drive.  If you’re considering donating, you can sign up here. 

Kalahari Day

On April 26th, we’ve got a two-part day.  Part 1 is open water training.  We’ll get exclusive access to the lazy river to have swimmers train a little bit of aerobic training, spotting, sighting, and pack swimming to prepare for the summer open water meets.  That portion of the day is reserved for swimmers under 9:00 in their 500 freestyle.  Part 2 is open to EVERYONE, with a day of swimmers, siblings, family, and friends at the waterpark.  Signup is open for the open water portion, and tickets are now on sale for the Play Day package, which includes admission, pizza, and a drink.

May 3-4 Weekend - Swimming AND GOLF

The May 3^rd/4^th weekend has a pair of events….

On Saturday, we’ll host the first meet of the season.  It’s pretty standard, except it’s got a really fun 50 freestyle shootout.

On Sunday, we’ll have our annual golf scramble.  I’ve had a few people tell me they’d play if they were better.  Let me assure you, being not-so-good should NOT dissuade you from taking part.  It’s 100% about the finding a few friends and having fun.  The quality of golf is wide-ranging and only your foursome will know the truth about how your round went.  This year, we’re trying out the newly renovated Prairie Pines Golf Course right in SP.  If you’re interested in playing or sponsoring, click here.

Ashwaubenon Day Trip

This meet will be open to Tropical Storm, Cyclone, Hurricane, Tsunami, and Typhoon swimmers age 9-12.  We'll hop on a bus the morning of May 17th and swim the morning session of the Ashwaubenon meet.  Then, we'll grab a bite to eat and head over to Lambeau Field where we'll get a tour of the football field and all the things that come with it.  After that, we'll make the journey back to SP.  

We’ve moved to a bigger bus and will close up signup when 9 more swimmers sign up.