Well Swami Fan(s), it's been quite some time since our last entry. Lots has been going on and the bloggers of Race Swami Central apologize!
Top of the order should be the fact our kids had some great days of training this past week. Junior Swami looked tough and they took everything the coaches threw at 'em. Be it coach Mark or coach Erika, they were ready for anything. Senior Swami numbers continue to grow as more kids come back to the pool. They have big goals and aspirations set for the summer meets and they showed it by working through some challenging stuff.
We also wanted to say goodbye and good luck to coach Sam, who took a summer job in California as a river rafting guide. We wish Sam all the best and look forward to his possible return in the fall.
Truth be told, all kinds of stuff has been happening, least of which the fact that we finally completed the tedious task of preparing paperwork for the IRS. With the help of our awesome attorney, we sent forth our application for the 501(c)k nonprofit status approval and now it's "just" a 90 day wait until we find out what the deal is. If we make it to the Pile 1 we're good to go. If we go to the Pile 2 or, worse—the Pile 3, it means a red flag and we're likely waiting for 6 to 9 months more. From what we've been counseled, no one ever wants to go to Pile 3 because Pile 3 essentially means you are screwed.
On another front, USA Swimming blessed us with becoming one of their latest officially sanctioned clubs in the annals of USA Swimming! Translation: Race Swami (club code: RACE) is official! If you have been following us on Twitter (twitter.com/raceswami) then you'd know we were busy the last coupla weekends... First, there was a local clinic at the U. It was general stuff covering stroke techniques/drills/trends. It also covered nutrition, dryland and sharing ideas. The day prior, we met with USA Western States rep Bill Krumm at Red Iguana near Rose Park and covered a number of topics having to do with being a new club with no money, being a new club with very few members, being a new club with a dumpster full of pool rental costs, and a new club with a pretty groovy business model. Bill had some great ideas, but it was unfortunate he didn't give us an envelope full of Benjamins, which would have helped pay for said pool rental costs, but not really. We also saw Bill a week later in Twin Falls, Idaho, as we took the club leadership and business course to make the club sanctioning complete. It was a terrific course and we took a lot home... reenergized with an ever-growing "to do" list.
Here's another point of contention, with apologies to the reader(s) for going off on another tangent: Salt Lake County pool rental fees. The question? Why so high? Though we haven't undergone an extensive Google search on the average pool rental means nationwide, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Salt Lake County is charging far too much and is making off like a bandit. In contrast, having talked to a few coaches and club administrators in other markets—Park City, the Bay Area, DC—they are reaping the luxury of much better hourly rental costs—or at least, fair rental costs.
In a nutshell, we're trying to deal with these costs while balancing the need to make swimming affordable to west side residents. So far, neither has been an easy task. On the one hand, the rental costs aren't going anywhere any time soon. Until county rec officials come to their senses and figure out this is growth-binding shackles their bestowing on fledging new businesses, they'll keep those costs high and smile while they happily take our $$. We'll see how Plan B plays out... Don't wait here because things are still in the infancy stage, but let's just say the little guys around the county have a plan...
As for garnering more kids from the communities of Rose Park, Glendale and Fairpark, it's been slow going. The Race Swami Clinic afforded the chance for some great kids come out and give swimming a try. However, out of the 11 kids we hosted for three days, not one has signed up to become a Rising Swami. Again, we have a plethora of ideas and hope to implement all as we move forward with the club.
In the meantime, our current Swamis are swimming well. The last meet (OTAC) was not huge by any means, but it was good for our kids to get back into racing, long course, no less. Now we set our sights on the summer training in June. Our next meet is the SYAC meet at the Steiner East pool. Then it's on to the Florida Keys for many of our kids, along with the head coach Matt for a Race Club camp. After that, Amelia and Autumn head to the Bay Area for the Santa Clara International Meet, now part of the Grand Prix series sponsored by USA Swimming and Speedo. Autumn will swim at the DACA Open meet in nearby Cupertino while Amelia competes with the fastest swimmers in the world at the legendary George Haines pool.
All the while, we'll be training hard and getting many of our Swamis back into shape after brief hiatus' of various spring sporting adventures. We hope we can connect with our Rose Park roots during these summer months—service projects, clinics, mentoring and just becoming a larger component to the communities west of I-15 in Salt Lake City.
More to come! Stay tuned. Smile!
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