SWIM TEAM ORIGINAL VERSION

                                           1428 Darbee Drive

                                           Baton Rouge, LA 70804

                                           November 23, 1994

Floyd Tuttle

W.C. Folsom, Jr. YMCA

15550 Old Hammond Highway

Baton Rouge, LA 70816

Dear Mr. Tuttle,

     This summer I coached the Gonzales Swim Team, and through the course of the season we ran into many problems.  The main problem was the great number of beginning swimmers.  It is wonderful that children are interested in competitive swimming, but most of these swimmers had never swam before.  This caused numerous problems that affected the more advanced swimmers, but it also affected me, the coach.  I had to constantly devote my time “teaching” the new swimmers the strokes.  In return, I spent little time “improving” the others strokes.  I also could not watch every swimmer for safety. 

     Katherine McCanless, our meet director, and I discussed the new swimmer problem and decided that the main cause was the parents.  In the pamphlet on the YMCA Aquatics Program, parents read that for two weeks of lessons, the price was $22.00, and for seven weeks of the swim team, the price was $35.00.  Which is the better bargain? Of course the $35.00 swim team is cheaper.  So parents of new swimmers registered their children for the swim team , thinking that it is the same as swim lessons.  They ignored the fact that the pamphlet states, under the swim team, “Learn competitive swimming skills and compete” which is not the same meaning as “teaching people to swim.” 

     Having to teach the new swimmers all four strokes only frustrated them for several reasons.  They could not keep their heads out of the water, nor could they understand the concept of the strokes.  This frustrated both myself and the youngsters.  For me, coaching is helping improve swimmers strokes and techniques, not teaching swimmers from scratch.  During  practices, we could only swim approximately twelve laps because they had to swim one lap at a time.  After each lap, the swimmers had to sit on the wall and wait for the beginners to finish or for me to complete demonstrations of how the strokes are swam.  Also, because the new swimmers fell so far behind, the swim meets lasted much longer than scheduled. 

     If this mistaken addition of new simmers continues, we may lose many old members due to the disturbance from the new ones.  Even the new swimmers would drop from disappointment in trying to learn the strokes.  At meets, there would be more disqualification s on the new swimmers because of the uncertainty of how the strokes are swam.  These consequences would hurt the child and therefore make him/her uninterested in continuing the sport.  Not only do these consequences hurt the swimmers, but also the YMCA.  If the child discontinues swimming, the YMCA lose money in the aquatics program.

     One simple solution could be to hire more coaches.  Hiring extra help would enable each coach to take a certain number of swimmers and devote individual attention to help improve their performance.  However, this solution has been tried, and has failed.  I was given three extra coaches, but they did not do their jobs.  And, when they were doing their jobs, different coaches coach with different styles.  Therefore the children learn different techniques and further get confused on what is correct.

     Since most of the swimming problem begin at a young age, another simple solution would be to eliminate the six and under age group and start at the seven and eight year old.  Six and under are too young to learn the strokes.  Still, this solution would not pass because the problem belongs to a higher board, the USS Swimming Association.  The USS Swimming Association has a special group called pre-competition, which is devoted to children who are six years and under to teach them how to swim the strokes.

     I propose this solution for the problem.  I recommend that a first-year swimmer that is interested in joining the swim team be required to take the two week progressive program swim lessons that are found in the “YMCA Aquatics Pamphlet.”  Because of the child’s age and level of skill, the parents may choose which of the seven sessions their child belongs in.  Additionally, each swimmer who has not swam for more than two years on the team will have to take a mandatory swim tryout called a “performance test.”  All swimmers will have to swim three of the four strokes (back, breast, fly, and free) the whole length of the pool (forty yards).  If each swimmer passes, he/she may join the team.  However, swimmers who fail will be asked to take swim lessons and not be allowed on the team that summer.

     Many parents may find this solution unfair, judgmental, and almost cruel, yet this solution will benefit both the team and the new swimmers.  The practices will be more productive, with the kids swimming better yardage and improving strokes, therefore benefiting the team.  The coaches will be able to spend more time with each swimmer, helping their skills and techniques without the worry of teaching a new swimmer the basics.  The new swimmers will benefit from swim lessons because they will get more hands-on teaching, learning the very basics of swimming and then moving to understand each stroke.  Furthermore, they will feel more confident about swimming when they join the team than if they would have joined with now previous knowledge of the strokes.  This also benefits the YMCA because this new solution will reduce the probability of drowning incidents or other swimming related accidents, thus giving the YMCA a notable safety reputation for its aquatics program.

     The first step in implementing my solution would be to produce two separate pamphlets of information; one for the swim lessons and one for the swim team.  Although this will cost a substantial amount of money, the readers will benefit and thus be encouraged to join.  Therefore, the YMCA will get money from the new members who join.  In the pamphlet for the swim team, parents would find information discussing the goal of the team, which is for the child to have fun, but also learn competitive swimming.  There will be information on the job of the coach, and on the new performance test policy.  Another idea to get more families aware and involved would be to have discounts on the price of the swim lessons.  If the child does both the swim team and swim lessons in the same summer, then the YMCA should charge half price on the price of the swim lessons.  However, the only requirement to this idea would be that the child must pass the test for the team and must take lessons for extra skills practice.  (I have seen this happen with a number of my swimmers this summer.)

     The best well-formed solution to the problem of the new swimmers would be to have a performance test or tryout to determine if the child is capable of competitive swimming or if he/she should take a session of swim lessons.  If this solution is carried out, the practices will run smoother without interruptions, which will allow the swimmers to get more attention.  The YMCA will have more interested swimmers join, and therefore , the profits will increase.  Also this solution s will be a better safety policy of the YMCA aquatics program.

                                           Sincerely,

                                           Jackie Doe