As we leave 2009 behind and enter 2010, I am
encouraged by the great things happening in our club. Utica Shelby Swim Club
grew in 2009-2010, adding several new families to our list of USSC
swim families. Welcome and we are happy
you have joined our organization!
Our Novice group doubled in the past year, now
involving more than 30 swimmers, who are learning about the four
competitive strokes, and gaining competitive experience needed
before moving forward in our program.
The Intermediate and Junior swimmers continue to improve their
stroke technique in all four strokes, and build their
endurance. Several Junior swimmers were
able to complete 200 lengths at the Swim-A-Thon last Friday, quite
an accomplishment and a testament to the willingness of our
athletes to challenge themselves!
Our Senior Development Groups continue to
produce Junior Olympic and State Qualifiers. Last year USSC qualified 28 swimmers for Junior
Olympic Meet, and qualified 9 swimmers individually for the 12 and
Under State Meet, placing 16th out of all of the teams
in Michigan. Our goal this year is to
qualify more than 30 athletes for Junior Olympics, and again place
Top 20 at the 12 & Under State Meet.
The Senior groups continue to provide the
opportunities for athletes looking to improve their skills before
their next high school season, to qualify for Junior Olympics,
State Meet, Sectionals and National-level meets. Last year USSC qualified 13 individual swimmers
for the 13 and Over State Meet, finishing Top 10 in the State, and
producing its first 13 & Over State Champion Medley Relay Team
and Individual Champion at a Short Course State Meet. In July 2009, Utica Shelby Swim Club qualified its
first swimmer in the history of Utica Shelby Swim Club for Junior
and Senior Nationals, Kayla Scott. In
2010 we hope to add additional items to the list of USSC’s
accomplishments.
In September 2009, we had several new families
take on larger volunteer roles within USSC, and become Committee
Chairs. Nine of our eighteen committee
chairs were new to their positions this year. What a great testament to the willingness of our
club members to volunteer their time for our organization. USSC was also fortunate enough to be awarded
two meets during the 2009-2010 season. The first meet in October 2009 was a great success
due to the commitment of our parent volunteers. Next weekend, we will be hosting the Odd Age
Distance Challenge. As you will note,
swimmers are competing in different age-groups and in many cases,
longer distances. This is a great
opportunity for all of our swimmers to challenge themselves and
grow as young athletes.
February 26-28 kicks off Championship Meet
Season with the District Meet. This
meet is only open to B/C swimmers. The
following weekend, March 5-7, is Junior Olympics; swimmers must
meet the Q2 qualifying Time Standard, but must be slower than a Q1
time in order to compete in this meet. March 12-14 is the 12 and Under State Meet, where
we aspire to place among the Top 20 teams in the state, again
swimmers must achieve the qualifying time to participate. March 19-21 is the 13 and Over State Meet,
for swimmers that meet the qualifying time standard.One step above our 13
and Over State meet is the Central Zone Sectional Meet. Last year USSC had five swimmers qualify for this
meet, in December 2009, we added a 6th Sectional
Qualifier. All six of these swimmers
have qualified individually for this meet, the largest group of
individual qualifiers in the history of Utica Shelby Swim
Club. For this year’s Central
Zone Sectional Meet, our swimmers will be traveling to
Indianapolis, IN to compete. I am very
excited that USSC have the opportunity to compete outside of
state. This is a great testament to the
dedication and hard work each one of these athletes has put into
swimming to get to this level, as well as a great testament to the
program we have here at USSC.
As many of you may already know, we are
graduating a great class of Senior swimmers this year, that are
academically and athletically very successful. In November we had two athletes sign their
National Letter of Intent to swim next year at Wayne State
University on a swimming scholarship: Kelsey Dischler and Kayla
Scott. We have several more who are
still deciding on which school they will study and swim at next
Fall. I look forward to sharing more
about our Senior class with each of you in the coming weeks.
USSC is unique in that our season does not end
after each swimmer’s championship meet, whether it be
Districts, JO’s, or State Meet.
Being part of the Macomb County Swim League allows us to
participate in a TEAM Championship Meet the weekend of March
27-28th.USSC swimmers will be defending their MCSL
Championship Title at this meet. In
order to continue our 10 year streak of Team Championships, we will
need all of our swimmers to compete.
Unlike the MCSL Mini-Meets, where only BC swimmers are allowed to
compete, the Championship Meet allows all of our swimmers to
participate. We hope to have 100% team
participation at this meet, and extend our Championship Record.
Our 2010 does not end with the conclusion of
Winter Session and the MCSL Championship Meet. We will come back in mid-April with Spring
session, followed by Summer session in June. USSC will continue competing during this time at
USA and MCSL meets. New this year to
Spring and Summer 2010 session will be 14 & Under Meets and
Senior Circuit Meets. Be watching our
website for further details on these new and exciting formats.
The coaching staff is looking forward to a
great Championship Season in the coming weeks. Thank you parents for all of your support!
Erica Zuercher
Head Coach and Aquatics Director
Utica Shelby Swim Club
