oh the places you'll go with a 10 & Under

When we moved to Oregon from Northern California 9 years ago, we did not make it a priority to vacation in Oregon.  Thanks to my daughter the swimmer and USA Swimming we have had the pleasure of visiting many towns in Oregon.   We have had quite the wild ride for the 2 years of 10& Under swim parents.  As my daughter has just recently aged up to 1the 1 year old competitions I have had time to reminisce about our journey.

Oh the places you'll go....

Lake Oswego, Oregon.  The first USA Swimming sanctioned meet that our daughter participated in was Lake Oswego an affluent suburb of Portland, Oregon.  The meet was named Dan Perz Memorial Open.  Who was Dan Perz anyway and why was this swim meet named after him?  I found an article written in The Oregonian by Amy Martinez Stark on February 17, 2003.  "Dan Perz would not have missed watching his kids swim at the state championships for anything. The Lake Oswego Swim Club swimmers were improving their race times, but he didn't dare get his hopes up. Another top club had won the title for most of the past 20 years. Perz, though, was hospitalized Feb. 7 and had to miss the weekend swim meet in Springfield. Throughout Feb. 8 and 9, the head coach kept in constant touch with him at the hospital. Then coaches and kids showed up with a huge Tshirt from the meet for the big man -- 6-foot-5, 300 pounds and shaped like a beer keg -- and told him his team had won the 10-and-younger state championship. Perz beamed. And the next day, he was gone. Dan Perz died Feb. 10 at age 50 of unknown causes."  Coach Perz must have been special.

Beaverton, Oregon home to Nike.  Our team hosts several meets in the very familiar scenery at THPRD in Beaverton Oregon.  The Tualatin Hills Swim Club is fortunate to call this 50-meter pool home in THPRD recreational complex. (Named for visionary Howard M. Terpenning (the district's GM from 1959-1992), this complex includes a 50-meter pool, 15 tennis courts, five multipurpose fields for soccer, football and lacrosse, five softball fields, two baseball fields, a roller hockey rink, two skate parks, four outdoor and six indoor basketball courts, two covered play areas and a 10-acre natural area with walking trails.) 

McMinnville, Oregon.  We Portlander's are lucky to live less than an hour from hundreds of top-notch wineries in the Willamette Valley.  The next stop was Oregon's Willamette Valley - home to America's best Pinot Noir.  The Wine Country Invitational in McMinville Oregon was in a beautiful setting.  The small downtown within walking distance had coffee and good eats. 

Gresham, Oregon.  We were no strangers to Mt. Hood Community College.  CYO swimming where our daughter first started to really enjoy swimming held many meets at MHCC Aquatic Center.  Mt. Hood Community College is a public community college in Gresham, Oregon, United States, named after Mount Hood.  We often drive through Gresham and by MHCC on the Mt. Hood Highway to get to Mt. Hood for skiing and snowmobiling.  The Aquatic Center consists of an indoor natatorium which includes a 25yd. 6 lane competitive pool, an instructional pool, and a hydrotherapy pool. The outdoor swimming pool is an Olympic size 50 meter pool with depths ranging from 6ft to 17ft.  Championship meets are often held here.  This is a great meet for spectators.  In the winter the outdoor pool is covered by a tent and is very warm even during the freezing temperatures.  In the summer this pool has seating for over 2,500 people with space for tents.  

Newport, Oregon is lucky enough to have two picturesque lighthouses, Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay, which were historically used to guide and warn ships at sea.  This meet was a lot of fun as the team had a bonfire by the beach, roasted marshmallows and watched the sunset. 

Portland, Oregon The Portland Aquatic Club hosted a great meet at the Matt Dishman Community Center after it's recent upgrade.  A fast 25 yard pool with new starting blocks proved a great meet for the 10 & Under group.  The PAC will be celebrating 30 years this fall.  It's always nice to attend a meet in your own city. 

Corvallis, Oregon is named one of the top 5 most beautiful college towns in America - the home of the Beavers and Oregon State University.   Corvallis Aquatic Team hosts a Spring Invite that we attended and is the home of Olympian Jacob Pebley.  Osborn Aquatic Center has four pools, one is an Olympic 50 meter pool. 

Springfield, Oregon is the home of the Oregon Ducks and often hosts swimming championships meets in its 50 meter pool.  Springfield is also known for Pre's Trail that runs along McKenzie's river and named after Steve Prefontaine who was a middle and long distance runner who competed in the 1972 Olympics. 

Forest Grove, Oregon is a short drive for us.  The Forest Grove Aquatic Center is next to Pacific University and the Forest Grove Swim Club and Forest Grove High School share the pool with the Pacific University Swim Team.  The name Forest Grove refers to the grove of Oak trees around and on Pacific University and has the world's tallest barber pole.

Astoria, Oregon is on the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean.  Named #5 best small towns to visit by Smithsonian Magazine and is known for the movie "the Goonies".  Other films made in Astoria include Short Circuit, the Black Stallion, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, the Ring and Into the Wild.  I had a great time at the meet in Astoria and also visiting the sights including: riding on the trolley, taking a leisure walk on the riverwalk, eating at the seafood restaurants and enjoying the view from our riverfront hotel room. 

Canby, Oregon is 21 miles south of Portland and is known as the garden spot and has the largest Dahlia fields in the United States.  The meet was the first time that my daughter had ever received swim swag for winning first.  She really enjoyed that meet for that reason, however the building that houses the pool is small and the pool was not as spectator friendly as other venues. 

Bend, Oregon was a travel meet for the team.  We lived in Bend for a year when my daughter was one and the pool at the Juniper Community Center was where she first started to swim a few times a week.  They have an outdoor 50 meter pool with a tent that kept everybody warm while the snowflakes were falling outside.  We were able to snowmobile near Mt. Bachelor.  The Deschutes River and the Cascade Lakes areas are points of interest in this area that has over 70 parks and 40 lakes and breathtaking mountain ranges. 

Federal Way, Washington was the first time that I had been to the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.  The facility seats 2,500 people and has been the site of the Olympic Trials and top national and international competitions such as the Speedo Junior Nationals, NCAA championships  and PAC-10 Conferences.  Over 200 world records have been set here.  The Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center was the first in the country to feature horns under each starting block. The equipment ensures all swimmers hear the start signal at the same time during competition. The water flow in the competition pool is also unique. It enters from the pool floor, causing less interference with swimmers’ speed.  The Aquatic Center is named after Weyerhaeuser because they donated the land that the center is built on. 

Victoria, Canada was a great end to the 10 & Under age group and my daughter's first international meet.  It is a beautiful city to visit and the pool is amazing.  The pool was originally constructed for the 1993 Commonwealth Games and has a 50 meter competition pool and a nice 4.5 meter deep dive tank.  The construction of the building is interesting as there is a red dome over the main pool area and makes for a great view for backstrokers.  This was the first experience for my daughter swimming prelims in the morning and finals in the afternoon.  

First Short Course Season

Registration for the 2015-2016 swim season began in August at our club.  Our club has a new head coach and he has made some changes in the structure of the club.  As parents we were anxiously waiting to find out what that meant.  In mid-August I found that the club was slightly restructured by age instead of named groups.  My daughter falls in the 10&U group.  I also found out that my daughter had been moved to a new squad called "black."  The new squad would meet about 6 days a week.  The practices would be longer and the demand would be higher.  My daughter was elated.  I was not.

We started the short course season on the new squad.  These girls swim faster and at higher volume.  My daughter wanted to keep up with the girls in the new squad.  She started to swim faster and after each practice she was exhausted.  I noticed that her technique has started to suffer.  Because my daughter wanted to swim at the same speed as others on the new squad she started to move her arms faster.  She increased her stroke rate which meant the stroke length decreased.  The ultimate goal is to increase one and maintain the other.  The new squad also uses different swim aids like snorkels in their training.  My daughter cannot figure out how to breath and is constantly lifting her head.  It is frustrating to watch my daughter struggle and I just felt totally helpless.

The only way to channel my frustration was to do something for myself.  I decided to sign up for Masters Swim in Oregon.  I have been an open water freestyle swimmer (in a wet suit) which is totally different than swimming in a pool. I do not know how to do flip turns, butterfly, or breast stroke. I have a lot to learn.  Masters Swimming offers so much for adults as their motto is "Encouraging Adults to Swim,"  They send helpful articles in a newsletter if you sign up.  https://www.usms.org/  I read an article about setting goals for the season.  I made some goals of my own.  My goals are to take lessons to learn how to do flip turns, butterfly and breast stroke.  I would also like to swim with the masters swim group at the local community center.

Time Standards

My daughter competed in a total of six swim meets during the Long Course season from April, 2015 ending on July 31, 2015.  I was not informed by the coaches about championship meets or A and B times when we started nor did I did know to ask.   This is the email that was sent to the team right before the championship meet in late May 2015.  **For the Mt Hood meets in June: all 8&unders will swim in the C meet (6/13-14 Sat&Sun only-indoor SCY).  9&10 year olds will swim in the Age Group Meet (6/12-14 Fri thru Sun-outdoor LCM) IF they have 4 or more qualifying times for the meet (OSI 9 year old B times).  When I found out that my daughter did not make the qualifying B times for the long course championship meet, I quickly realized that there is something more than just swimming on a team.  She was at a "C" meet that was going on inside in a small pool with a small group of girls while many of her friends were swimming in the outside pool in the sunshine that was olympic size, really nice and packed full of people.  Luckily my daughter was with a great group of girls who all had so much fun teasing the coach, laughing and playing together.  At the meets to follow, I started to talk to other parents and they were discussing A times.  I also heard the term State.  After the long course championships at the beginning of summer a few of my daughters' teammates were moved into another squad called "Storm."  My daughter really wanted to get onto Storm.  I was not that excited about this idea because I heard that the workouts are six days a week.  I told her that she would probably need to get "A" times to get moved.  Although many of the girls who were moved did not have "A" times.  I'm not exactly sure of the criteria to get moved to another squad.  I looked up Oregon Swimming and found the 9 year old "A" times.  There is a lot of information to sort through because much of it does not apply to your child until they are ready and need it. 

Here's what I think I've learned so far:

A common misconception is that the championship meets are called "state" championships.  These meets are open to registered Oregon Swimming Swimmers and Oregon Swimming does not only encompass the State of Oregon.  Oregon swimming includes SW Washington and excludes Eastern Oregon counties. 

Oregon Swimming hosts several championship meets a year during short course and long course seasons. During the short course season, the 10 and Under Championships are usually held the second weekend of February, open to all swimmers who meet the qualifying standard (during the qualifying period of February 1 of the previous year until the entry deadline) . During the Long Course season, Oregon holds the 10 and Under Championships during the second weekend of July for swimmers who meet the qualifying standard during the qualifying period July 1 of the previous year until the entry deadline.  Oregon swimming publishes a list of time standards can be found at:  http://www.oregonswimming.org/standards.  If your child has a birthday, than they need to meet the qualifying time standard for the age that they will be on the day of the championship meet. 

After the "C" meet, I printed out the 9 year old "A" times for my daughter.  During the summer, the workouts were 90 minutes on Tuesdays in an outdoor pool.  The other workouts were about an hour instead of the usual 45 minutes.  Because of these extra workouts, and my daughter's determination, she did get an "A" time in the butterfly.  She ended the long course season in a really positive way.  

2015 Long Course Season

My daughter was brought onto the competitive swimming squad in April 2015.  This is considered long course season.  I, of course, had no idea there was any type of distinction between swim races (25 meter vs. 50 meter).  Usually the pool is set up with 25 meters during practices and that is the distance that my daughter was racing at CYO.  During long course season the pools are set up with a 50 meter length of the swimming pool.  This is long course.  The Olympic Games and the World Championships are held in 50 meter pools.  This distance can be challenging for any eight year old.  There are less turns and the time used in gliding off the wall after a turn takes less effort compared to stroking.  Swimming 50 meters takes longer than in short course.  Since the team never practiced a 50 meter swim prior to the first race, the first meet was going to be about trying to get used to racing at that distance.  

These were the results:  

Cadence	Female (8 & Under) 50 Free			45.59L	5		8 9	5/3/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope
Cadence	Female (8 & Under) 50 Back			53.19L	7		8 9	5/3/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope
Cadence	Female (10 & Under) 100 Breast			2:24.26L	45		8 9	5/3/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope
Cadence	Female (8 & Under) 50 Breast			1:05.68L	5		8 9	5/2/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope
Cadence	Female (8 & Under) 50 Fly			53.04L	3		8 9	5/2/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope
Cadence	Female (10 & Under) 100 Free			1:46.47L	44		8 9	5/2/15	2015 OR Thunderbolt Spring Ope

After this race I found out that this was the only opportunity to qualify for the Long Course Championships.  Swimmers needed 4 "B" qualifying times from the Oregon Swimming time standards.  My daughter did not get 4 "B" times.  This was my first introduction to time standards.

Swim-Mom: How it All Started

When my daughter was 1 year old I would take her to the pool at the Community Center in Bend Oregon.  We used to go weekdays until she was about two years old.  There was a duck slide and fun water fountains for the young kids to play with in the "Duckie Pool."  She loved it!  I was training for the Boise half ironman at the time and we were at the gym alot with 11 workouts a week.

When my daughter turned two, we moved to Portland Oregon and immediately joined the Bethany Athletic Club because they had a great pool for young kids.  All summer long we would play at the pool weekdays when dad was at work.  When my daughter was two and a half she started private swim lessons with a sweet teacher and swim instructor named Abi.  For a year or so my daughter learned to dive and swim freestyle.  Abi was so sweet and a perfect match for my daughter at her age.  I used to work out with a trainer named Jim and the triathlon club there.

When my daughter was four years old we moved into a new house that had a neighborhood pool.  My daughter would swim every day in the summer.  She was really good at diving and pool games.  We no longer needed to belong to the gym for the pool.

I started teaching yoga at SHARC in Hillsboro when my daughter started Kindergarten.  She also had private swim lessons at SHARC in the summers.  SHARC is a great pool for swim lessons because of the several large pools, diving board and fun slide.  She learned to dive and swim freestyle for longer distances.

We decided to move our daughter to a private school in first grade.  The PE classes included swim lessons in the Spring.

Dad volunteering at swim lessons

I asked her PE teacher, who was also the swim coach, if my daughter would be able to join their swim team.  He said yes and my daughter started swimming for CYO when she was six.  She loved competing.  She loved being part of a team and representing her school in a sport.

After her first year of CYO swimming (non USA swimming sanctioned events) my daughter wanted to get better.  Her coach had mentioned that she could join THPRD Thunderbolts and get better over the spring and summer if she wanted to.  We went to Thunderbolts and tried out in March 2014. They placed her in the non-competitive squad called Olympic Way.  She needed to learn the breast stroke and the butterfly stroke.  She started on a squad called "Silver."  Once she learned the breast stroke and the butterfly she moved to "Gold."  We could only commit to two days a week for the Olympic Way because we had a conflict with another class on Fridays. On Fridays the Olympic Way squad would meet for races.  My daughter missed all those races.

 Eventually my daughter wanted to get onto the competitive squad of THPRD swim team called "Thunder."  Many of her friends were moved from Gold to the competitive squad Thunder in the fall and she was not chosen to be moved with them.  She felt really discouraged about that.  She missed her friends terribly and she felt like she wasn't good enough for the team.   My daughter continued to swim proudly for her school for third grade on CYO and was really enjoying competing and having fun on the CYO team.  Not getting onto Thunder was really nagging at her.  She started to lose interest in Olympic Way.

In the Spring of 2014 an email was sent out by the coach of the Thunderbolts notifying the parents that they planned on moving a large group of kids into Thunder - the competitive squad.  My daughter asked me to send an email to the coach and tell him that she was interested in getting on a competitive team in the Spring.

Here it is:

Coach:

I read the newsletter.  I relayed that information to my daughter Cadence.  She has been getting the flu on and off these past couple of months.  We took a couple of weeks off to stay out of the water and rest.  Cadence wanted me to tell you that her goal is to be on a competitive swim team this spring.  Her schedule will open up - especially Saturday's starting next week.  She said that she is prepared to swim 5 days a week.  She will be there on Friday and over the next few weeks to do her best and hopes that she will be considered for Thunderbolts team.

My daughter has always loved swimming.  In first grade she join her schools' cyo swim team.  She loved practicing with her team and competing.  She wanted to get better and so she joined Olympic Way one year ago.  She has improved alot thanks to the Olympic Way coaches. She has her own goals and she works hard for them.  

Thank you

Gabrielle Johnston

My daughter was prepared to try out and join another team although the Thunderbolts was her first choice.  She researched other swim teams in the area and who the coaches were and what the other teams had to offer in terms of practices and pools.

It was so exciting for her to find out that she was moved to Thunder in April 2015.  I officially became a swim mom!

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