Author: jerry wacholz

Dan Jervis on Pride Month and his Wales and GB Pride

by British Swimming

British Swimming

June 4, 2023 | 1 minute, 44 seconds read

Olympic finalist and Commonwealth medallist Dan Jervis discusses acceptance and support in the swimming community, what he has been targeting for a busy summer in the pool - and how he hopes his experience can have even just a small impact on young swimmers and swimming fans of the future.

When reflecting on coming out to a few close members of the tight-knit Swansea University training group at the Swim Wales High-Performance Centre, Dan points to one person whose reaction - or lack of - has typified the positive difference he hoped it would make in and out of the pool.

"Someone who has been phenomenal is my coach Adam Baker. Adam has coached me for nearly 11 years now, and while I know this sounds cheesy, in the swimming world I sort of look at him as a bit of a parental figure, because I see him so much more than I see my own family,” he says.

"When I told him, he was just like, 'and...'. That's exactly the reaction you want. That's the reaction that you would hope everyone to give. From a swimmer-coach relationship, it has definitely made it even better, because he now knows literally everything about me. Sometimes when you are guarding something that is so big to you, and you are afraid to share something, you lash out at different things. Even if it's nothing to do with that, the internalized pressure that you put on yourself can definitely be projected in different ways."

About British Swimming

British Swimming is the national governing body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Learn more about British Swimming >

 

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Test Your Mental Health Knowledge with These Quizzes from USASF

by USASF

USASF

March 8, 2023 | 1 minute, 6 seconds read

Safe space in All Star

The All Star Wellness Committee is working towards the concept of removing the stigma associated with mental health, specifically within the sport. Safe Space is a universal term that refers to a place intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations. The All Star Wellness Committee provides credible resources, awareness tools, and learning opportunities that foster the concept of developing and maintaining a Safe Space in All Star.

Created by the All Star Wellness Committee, this series of quizzes on mental health topics, such as apathy, depression and anxiety, was designed to help coaches recognize and respond effectively to the needs of athletes and dancers. You may have seen some of these scenarios in your own club, so check out each one to view recommended responses.

About USASF

USASF brings together some 150,000 athletes, coaches, event producers, officials and volunteers to create ways to belong and contribute to All Star. We set the highest standards for all members to ensure all athletes feel welcome and safe where they want to be most. 

Learn more about USASF

 

Read the full article on USASF's Website
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TeamUnify Talks with Swimming Leaders in London and Dublin

TeamUnify hosted workshops and social events in London, UK, and Dublin, Ireland, to connect directly with the swimming communities to discuss best practices, build relationships, and grow youth participation in swimming.

The TeamUnify staff was honored to meet with swim club administrators and coaches who traveled from near and far to network with like-minded teams and interact with fellow swim club experts. A special shoutout to all of you who took the time to participate in our sessions.

bryon and admin

One of the hottest topics at the events was automated billing and payment processing available to swim clubs through TeamUnify. There are so many benefits for clubs who choose to use TeamUnify’s payment processing system, including saving time and money, so administrators considered it a no-brainer for their swim clubs to use these tools. Club administrators saw firsthand how automated payment collection and processing through TeamUnify can improve how they run their swim clubs.

Missed the event? Read more about payment processing through TeamUnify

Another popular topic of discussion was TeamUnify’s Coaching Tools. Swim coaches were interested to hear about how easy it is to set up practices, write workouts, and upload videos. As a bonus, our staff showed them that these tools could be used directly from their phones with the free mobile app. Many swim coaches are constantly on-the-go, so the attendees were very interested in learning how they could set up their swim clubs right from their phones.

Learn more about the power of Coaching Tools on TeamUnify

Along with the discussions about TeamUnify’s benefits and how swim clubs worldwide can benefit from industry-leading swim club management software, the attendees were very engaged, sharing tips and tricks to grow their swimming clubs. It was a valuable networking opportunity for our staff, administrators, and coaches to develop relationships in the local swimming community.

Kylie and admin on phone

The TeamUnify staff also wanted thank our attendees for joining the event, so they hosted a raffle at the end of each event. Congratulations to Giuseppe Coratti from the Frosinone Swim Team in Frosinone, Italy, and Ali Al-Khudairy from the Teddington Swimming Club in London, UK. They each took home an Apple iPad courtesy of TeamUnify.

The TeamUnify family looks forward to subsequent events to continue building relationships with swimming communities. Keep an ear out for future events so that you can sign up to participate in the next one.

Swim club and swim school
software—with you from the pool deck to your desk.

Team Unify Logo

About TeamUnify

Made for swimmers by swimmers, TeamUnify is the world leader in swimming club management. Powering swimming clubs around the world, in and out of the pool, with tools that move once manual processes online. Learn more
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Teaching Story: The Secret to Outracing Your Competition

by Dr. Alan Goldberg

USA Swimming

December 1, 2022 | 1 minute, 49 seconds read

In 1988, at the age of 17, Eric Namesnik achieved his lifelong swimming dream and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming in the 400-meter IM in preparation for the Seoul Olympics.

Erik had told me that before this, he had never really thought about a goal to medal at the Games. He just wanted to qualify for Trials. That had always been his “big enough why.” So going into this huge meet, Erik put absolutely no pressure on himself, having already reached his dream!

Leading up to prelims, he was totally oblivious to the other seven swimmers in his heat as well as who was in any of the other heats. Feeling relaxed and confident, he ended up swimming the race of his life and the second fastest time of the morning, qualifying him as the second seed going into finals!    

Of course, between prelims and finals, swimmers always have a lot of time to think — and Namesnik, like many other athletes, made “good” use of this time! First he thought, “All I have to do is swim the same time and at 17 years old, I'm going to be on the Olympic Team!”

Then, when his excitement of that possibility started to fuel his nervousness, he started thinking about the other seven swimmers who had qualified for finals. One of these was a previous bronze medal winner. Several others were NCAA finalists in that event and all seven were older and bigger than he was.

About USA Swimming

USA Swimming is the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States. We promote the culture of swimming by creating safe and healthy opportunities for athletes and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers of every age and ability, all the way up to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches, officials and volunteers. 

Learn more about USA Swimming

 

Read the Full Article at USA Swimming
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Seward Tsunami Swim Club Gets Visit From Olympians as Reward for Swim-a-Thon Grand Prize

by USA Swimming Foundation

USA Swimming

December 1, 2022 | 1 minute, 42 seconds read

For a city of fewer than 3,000 people, Seward, Alaska is getting used to winning a lot. 

Not only is it the hometown of 2020 Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby, but the Seward Tsunami Swim Club was also finally able to redeem their 2021 Swim-a-Thon™ grand prize – a visit from National Team members and Olympians Nic Fink and Melanie Margalis.  

Seward Tsunami has become a perennial powerhouse when it comes to their Swim-a-Thon fundraising efforts, landing among the top fundraising teams in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and then last year. The club also won the grand prize back in 2016 when two-time Olympic medalist Jessica Hardy visited the picturesque town that serves as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Jacoby noted the visit was very inspiring to her as a young swimmer in the club and worked with Fink and Margalis to lead the day’s events. 

At Seward High School, the trio led a younger group of about 25 through a breaststroke workout in the morning while another group of about 50 more experienced swimmers participated in dryland activities. The groups then switched roles in and out of the pool throughout the day. Later they met in the auditorium where the three athletes shared personal stories with the young swimmers. To round out the evening, the club held a potluck on the sound for the athletes and their families. 

About USA Swimming

USA Swimming is the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States. We promote the culture of swimming by creating safe and healthy opportunities for athletes and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers of every age and ability, all the way up to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches, officials and volunteers. 

Learn more about USA Swimming

 

Read the Full Article at USA Swimming
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TeamUnify Made a Splash at the 2022 USSSA National Conference

In September, the United States Swim School Association hosted its annual National Conference in Lahaina, HI and we got to experience all of the fun first-hand.

The USSSA National Conference aims to offer owners and instructors from swim schools around the country the ability to attend scheduled educational classes, chat with vendors in their industry, and of course enjoy entertainment and networking. There were over 300 attendees at this year's event!

The TeamUnify booth was the place to be. It was manned by our experts here at TeamUnify—Dave, Bryon, and Travis. This enthusiastic team spent time meeting with current customers, providing in-depth demos of our software, and teaching new customers how they can manage and grow their swim school with TeamUnify. We also had plenty of free swag and a drawing to win an Apple iPad!

USSSA TU Booth with Dave

One of the best parts about going to these events is the quality time we spend chatting with current customers, especially when we hear about what TeamUnify has done to help their swim school. We heard great things about the updates we've made to our software to manage their swim schools. We also got some great ideas for new features and experiences we can add to continue to innovate our technology and remain the best swim management software out there.

Manage your swim school's classes, signups, finances, members, and website—all in one place. Here's how > 
 

A lot of the excitement around our TeamUnify booth at the USSSA National Conference centered around our big giveaway item. We had an Apple iPad that attendees could enter for a chance to win with no strings attached.

The big winner was Amanda Kozun from K&K Swim School in Saskatchewan, Canada. K&K Swim School has programs that aim to promote a love for the water and they offer aquatic services for individuals of all ages and abilities. Congratulations, Amanda!

Another one of the most fun parts of the event was the awards ceremony, where all attendees came together to celebrate their peers. It was a special event for TeamUnify as well because we had the honor of presenting the evening's entertainment. Since we were all in Hawaii, it was only appropriate that our sales representative, Dave, got up on stage and introduced fire dancers to spice up the ceremony. It was truly a memorable part of the event that captured the unique setting for the event in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Whether we are catching up with our valued customers or showing newcomers what TeamUnify can do for their swim school, we loved the opportunity to participate in another successful event put on by the United States Swim School Association. We can't wait to see everybody again at the event next year.

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TeamUnify Attends 2022 Scottish Swimming Nationals

After almost two full years of being away from the Scottish Nationals due to COVID, the TeamUnify team was excited to be back at the Scottish Summer Meet alongside all of the athletes and spectators. The competition took place at Aberdeen Sports Village in Aberdeen, Scotland, and involved most clubs in Scotland competing against one another for the top spots within their region. 

Our TeamUnify team, including Alex Marks, Kylie Anderson, Travis Smith, and Bryon Lindsey, were invited to attend the event and were presented with the opportunity of interacting with swim clubs across Scotland. Some of these clubs are current TeamUnify customers, with whom we loved catching up. For others, we were eager to demonstrate the power of our swim management software – including some of new swim school class management features.

TeamUnify Booth Scottish Swimming

Our team was at the meet on Friday, 15th July, and Saturday, 16th July, and both days were extremely busy. We spent the weekend with prospective swim clubs who were taking the time to learn how TeamUnify can help their clubs, and current customers eager to learn more about how they can maximise the benefits of their current solution. 

Some topics that clubs were most excited to learn about included electronic processing of payments, coaching tools, organising online meet entries, communication, and much more. Whatever the club's situation, they were keen to learn more about how we could help. It was great to be back out there servicing the clubs in our community.    

Hear what the buzz is about

Scottish Swimming Pool

The TeamUnify team is very grateful for the opportunities that Swim Scotland presented to us, and we look forward to future occasions where we can interact and build relationships with the swimming community. Let us know if you want TeamUnify at your next event to talk to clubs about the benefits of joining TeamUnify.

Swim club and swim school
software—with you from the pool deck to your desk.

Team Unify Logo

About TeamUnify

Made for swimmers by swimmers, TeamUnify is the world leader in swimming club management. Powering swimming clubs around the world, in and out of the pool, with tools that move once manual processes online. Learn more
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