First - our number of athletes went up "again"...to 291,149.
Second - we had 1,800 athletes at Senior Nationals this summer.
Third - that's one national level athlete for every 161 Athletes.
My club has 160 athletes. And we don't have a Senior National Athlete.
That means we are below the national standard. Sub-standard. Not up to even par. Bad, in other words (since we aspire to provide top level swimming).
Leonard went on to point out that his club has a better than average coach to swimmer ratio.
A "sub-standard" club - as Leonard labeled his - that expects to compete at the national level should expect tough questions from parents and athletes. What are we not doing that successful clubs are doing? Do our kids need more water time? More long course training? A better dry-land program? Better coaching?
Programs getting the job done are recognized annually in USA Swimming's Club Excellence Program. Gold, Silver, and Bronze level clubs are listed here.
Texas clubs making the grade in 2011:
First Colony Swim Team (Gold)
Alamo Area Aquatics Association (Silver)
Nitro Swimming (Silver)
North Texas Nadadores (Silver)
West Austin Aquatics (Silver)
Premier Aquatics Club of Klein (Bronze)
City of Plano Swimmers (Bronze)
Blue Tide Aquatics (Bronze)
Fort Worth Area Swim Team (Bronze)
Magnolia Aquatic Club (Bronze)
Katy Aquatics Team for Youth (Bronze)
City of Richardson Swim Team (Bronze)
Power for Life (Bronze)
Texas clubs already designated at Gold Medal Clubs for this quadrennium:
Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club
Dallas Mustangs
Longhorn Aquatics
The Woodlands Swim Team
The November/December issue of Splash has an article on Aggie assistant (and former Longhorn swimmer) Tanica Jamison. Read it here.
The Town of Flower Mound needs an aquatics coordinator. Job info is here.
The YMCA of Greater Houston needs an aquatics team leader. Job info is here.
Big congratulations to FCST. That is a big accomplishment!
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