First Dip N Dance of the Summer

Although a bit chilly, the Dip N Dance was held last night and a good number of kids showed up.  Several relays were incorporated into the night, including the T-shirt and the Kickboard Relay.

The T-shirt relay required kids to get into groups of four.  The lead swimmer had to swim across the pool with a t-shirt, get out, take it off and and hand it to the next relay swimmer.

Taking a wet t-shirt off a body can be a bit difficult as can be
seen with the pictures above and below (click to enlarge)

Or was putting on a wet t-shirt the hardest part of the relay?
(click on picture to enlarge)

Several kids commented that they never knew that it was so hard to swim with a t-shirt.  Although one mother commented that she had never seen her son swim so well, even in practice and swim meets.  If you see a kid swimming in this summer's meets with a t-shirt, you'll know who we are talking about.

The next race was the kickboard relay.  This was a bit different from the kickboard drills in practice.  The first swimmer had to kick down the length of the pool.  Once at the other end, that swimmer had to "pick-up" swimmer number two and both kick back down the lentgh of pool.  Swimmer number three joined in and all three kicked down the lentgh of the pool to get the anchor swimmer.  All four swimmers had to kick down the final lentgh of the pool to finish the race.  If any swimmer let go of the kickboard, the team was disqualified.

First Dip N Dance a Success

Jersey Shore's Summer Swim Team's first Dip N Dance was a success as nearly 100 kids braved the intermittent showers and there was fun to be had on land and water. A serious game of "pickle" took place half-way through the evening as a large number of boys took to the turf area.

JS Summer Swim Team Social Calendar

Jersey Shore swimmers march down Allegheny Street during the 2009 Jersey Shore Town Meeting. This is one of several events on their swimming social calendar

Swimming is a great sport. It is a good physical workout and a great lifelong activity. I do think there is a big mental aspect to swimming and breaking that up with with some social events can really benefit the swimmers. The American Swimming Coaches Association lists several items that a swimming program may want to achieve with their social events:

• Create an environment where kids want to swim


• Create an environment where kids want to stay in the program


• Create a safe, stimulating positive environment where excellence in technique and improvement in skills at all ages is the priority


• Create an environment that facilitates swimmers and families "selling" the program to others through their enjoyment of the social program and confidence in the coaching program


• Encourage attendance at all levels.

The following web page, gives a good overview on some ideas. I like the quote at the end of the web page. In October 1997, Legendary Australian Swimming Coach (the late) Joe King was asked, "Mr. King if you were starting a swim club from scratch, what is the first thing you would do?" He replied, "Knowing what I do now, the first I’d do would be to put together a social program for the kids."

A group of parents have started a committee and have several events planned for the 2010 summer.

June 5 - Swim Team Sponsored Dip N Dance
June 19 - Swim Team Sponsored Dip N Dance
July 8 - Jersey Shore Town Meeting Parade
July 17 - Swim Team Sponsored Flik N Float
TBD - Penn State Field Trip

1. First stop would be the Penn State outdoor pool. This is a heated, (82° F) Olympic size pool which has four diving boards, and1, 3, 5, 7.5 and 10-meter diving platforms. The 1-meter spring board and the 5 and 7.5 meter platforms are open to the public. The kids just love the high dive. Check out this photo


2. The next stop would be across the street to the Penn State Creamery where everyone can get a taste of Penn State’s famous ice cream.


3. Final stop would be at the other end of campus near Rec Hall where everyone could pile on the Nittany Lion statue for a team picture

Fil N Float to be held at the Jersey Shore Borough Pool on July 17.

View of the summer swim team float in the 2009 Jersey Shore Town Meeting