Summer Swim Opportunities

"Today I will do what others wont, 
so tomorrow I can do what others can't."
- Jerry Rice

As the weather warms and we look ahead to summer, it's a good time to think about opportunities to get back into the water and back on the boards. Holland Christian does not have a specific out of season training program, but there are lots of different options for summer training in the area. HC Athletes participate in all of these programs so you will find familiar faces no matter what club you decide to participate in. We do encourage participation in one of these clubs, especially for those heading into Varsity, but it is not a requirement.

 DIVING
Hamilton - Coach Diane will be in Hamilton Monday, Tuesday & Friday Mornings. Use the link below and click 'Diving' (located in the side bar) for more information. Coach VandeWege (Hamilton's Varsity Diving Coach) will be there in the evenings if mornings do not work in your schedule.
http://www.hamiltonswimming.org/age-group-swim-team

MLA Diving - Coach Jean Luc is at the Aquatic Center for diving.  Use the link to go to the MLA page and click on diving for information.

 https://www.teamunify.com/Home.jsp?team=mimla

SWIMMING

Zeeland Age Group Swimming

WMS - West Michigan Swimmers

West Ottawa Swim Club 

Hamilton Age Group Swimming

MLA - Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics

Happy Training! We look forward to seeing some of you on the pool deck starting already on August 14th (the start of our varsity season) and the rest of you in October.  If you have questions, PLEASE connect with us. We are always happy to help answer questions or provide more information. 

Your HC Aquatics Family

 Coach Diane - driemersma@hollandchristian.org

 Coach Lisa - lisadawn17@gmail.com

*8th Grade families moving up to varsity here is the Varisty blog address. It can also be found on the side bar of this blog.

http://hcaquatics.blogspot.com/

That's a Wrap

"It's not how you start the race or where you are during the race it is how you cross the finish line that matters." - Robert D. Hales

They say time flies when you're having fun and this season sure was a lot of fun. It is hard to believe it's done but what a way to finish. The girls had a fantastic weekend (although slightly long). They dove strong and swam fast. There are so many highlights it would be hard to share them all. But here are a few.

• 41 girls who had their lifetime best time/score over the weekend. 
• Breanna Lamer & Megan Talsma both dropped more than 2 seconds in their 50 freestyle
• Samantha Grotenhuis dropped more than 2 seconds in her 50 fly
• Miah Hutt & Lauren Catton dropped more than 4 seconds in their 100 backstroke w/ Lauren Grotenhuis dropping 3.92 seconds.
• Emma Housekamp and Lily Terpstra both droppd over 10 seconds in their 100 freestyle both also dropped over 2 seconds in their 50 freestyle. 
• Mackenna Hoek Sydney Koning both placed in the top 16 in diving
• Erica Mulder & Kierea Smits dropped 3.9 & 4.44 seconds in the 100 breast
• Claire Dekievit set a new school record in the 100 Breaststroke with the time of 1:12.74. Congratulation to Claire!

There are so many more I could go on and on.

We are SO proud of all these girls and what they have accomplished this season. We hope they continue to swim and dive in the future. 

Conference Details

"Great things never came from comfort zones."

Neil Strauss

"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things. "

Joe Namath

 

Conference week is upon us. There are lots and lots of details regarding the diving and swimming portions of this meet. Please read carefully. If you have any questions regarding this please connect with Coach Lisa (swimming) or Coach Diane (diving). We are happy to answer any question or address any concern.

What is Conference? For those of you who are new to the swim world our conference meet is the finale of our season. Unlike the rest of our season this meet includes 8 different teams, is scored by top 16 and has awards given to top 8 finishers. (details on all this below) It is a fun way to finish our season and is a great opportunity to give the girls some great races with kids that swim around the same time as they do as each event is ‘seeded’ (aka organized) by time.

Who Participates? All swimmers will be participating in our conference meet and divers who have 8 dives in their dive list will compete Friday evening. Please plan accordingly.

CONFERENCE MEET DETAILS:

TEAMS COMPETING: Byron Center, Hamilton, Holland, Holland Christian, Jenison, Northview, Spring Lake, Wayland

DIVING:

• Day/Time: Friday, December 14 @ 5:30 pm
• Warm ups start at 3:30 pm 
•  Stands open at 5:00 pm 

• Host:  Hamilton Swimming and Diving

Hamilton Middle School  

4845 136 th Ave.  

Hamilton, MI 49419

• Transportation: Athletes will need to be brought to the pool by parents. They should be on deck and ready to go at 3:20. 
• Please Remember: 
• Snacks & Water (no glass is permitted on deck)
• Plenty of towels
• Something quiet to do between dives (music w/ headphones, coloring books, doodle stuff, etc.

• Rules for the Diving Conference: The meet will be run as an eight dive meet. A preliminary round where the divers complete five dives will be performed. At this time a cut will be made down to the top 16 divers who have a legal dive list. The top 16 divers will advance to the final round where they will complete their final 3 dives for final place. Any diver with a ‘legal’ eight dive list will be allowed to complete their final 3 dives.

• Scoring and Awards: 
• The Conference Championship meet will be scored to sixteen (16) places for diving. 
• Awards will be presented to the top 8 divers.

•  One Last note: Previously in the season we mentioned we would like our divers to attend our swim portion of the conference meet. However, due to very limited space at Spring Lake this will not be required this season. 

SWIMMING:

• Day/Time: Saturday, December 15 @ 10:30 am  
• Host: Spring Lake Middle School

 Spring Lake High School Aquatic Center

 16140 148^th Ave

Spring Lake, MI

• Transportation:  All athletes will be bussed to Spring Lake 
• HCMS/PR – 7:30 am bus LEAVES Middle School
• ZCS/RP – 7:40/7:45am Pick up at the Outlet Mall parking lot by Carters
• We will have a 12 passenger van to bring athletes back to Holland after the meet if need be. Please email Coach Lisa if your daughter will need a ride home. First come first serve! 

• Please Remember:

• Suits/Caps/Goggles. Please wear your team suit and team cap. As of late there have been lots of girl who have not had their team cap. Please be sure this gets packed!  With lots of teams and no assigned lanes (Heats are seeded by time not lanes like duel meets) it is very helpful for coaches and parents if all our athletes are wearing the same cap. Also bring shirt/sweatshirt, pants/shorts, shoes/flip-flops/crocs to wear on deck. With a long meet like this it is important to stay warm between swims.

• Tech Suits: If your daughter has a tech suit she would like to wear she may do so. Please do not go and purchase a tech suit if she does not have one already. This is more of a fun meet than anything else and not worth spending the money for.
•  Snacks/Water: It will be a long day so please send a lots of snacks to eat throughout the day. Also bring a water bottle or other sports beverages to stay hydrated. 
• We are still waiting to hear if bag chairs will be allowed on deck. We will send out an email once we know. 

• Scoring: The Conference Championship meet will be scored to sixteen (16) places for individual events and only “A” relays will score.  
•  Individual Points: 1^st = 20pts, 2^nd = 17pts, 3^rd = 16pts, 4^th = 15pts, 5^th = 14pts, 6^th = 13pts, 7^th = 12pts, 8^th = 11pts, 9^th = 9pts, 10^th = 7pts, 11^th = 6pts, 12^th = 5pts, 13^th = 4pts, 14^th = 3pts, 15^th = 2pts, 16^th = 1pt * Only top 3 swimmers from each team will score per event 
• Relay Points: 1^st = 40pts, 2^nd = 34 pts, 3^rd = 32 pts, 4^th = 30pts, 5^th = 28 pts, 6^th = 26 pts, 7^th = 24 pts  *Only A Relays will score points.

• Awards: The top eight (8) over all individual finishers and the top three (3) over all relay teams will receive medals. Awards will be presented after the last heat of the following event (ie. Event #1 will be awarded after the final heat of event #2).* More information on awards will be given to the girls at the meet.

• Important Parent Information: Space is TIGHT. There will be approximately 320 athletes with just as many and probably more spectators. If you want to get good seating it is important to arrive early. Stands will open at 9:00 am but knowing swim parents there will already be a line well before then. :)  (You’re a special breed and we could not love you more) 
• Entrance Fee:  Adults $3, K-12 $2, passes accepted. At this time I do not see any information regarding concessions for spectators. I will connect with Spring Lake about this and keep you all posted. 

• Entries: Because of the way conference is set up we are only able to swim two relays (8 girls) for both the medley and 200 free relay (total of 16 girls). This means that there will be athletes who only swim one event. Normally it would be required for all athletes to stay for the entire meet regardless of how many events they were swimming. However, because of the space issues we are facing at Spring Lake we will allow swimmers who swim only events BEFORE the 15 minute break to leave with parents during this break. Athletes who have events after the 15 minute break are required to stay until the meet is finished. Please note this is not the president we want to set for the future but feel it is best due to the location and space issues. Order of events are listed below:
  
• 200 Medley Relay
• 200 Freestyle 
• 100 IM
• 50 Freestyle
• 15 Minute Break
• 50 Butterfly
• 100 Freestlye
• 100 Backstroke
• 100 Breaststroke
• 200 Free Relay 
  

The Week Ahead 12/3 - 12/7 & Conference Information!

"A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot."

Joe Vitale

"If you want something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done." 

Thomas Jefferson 

We are heading into our second to last week of the season...can you believe it?!  Two weeks from today is our conference meet which marks the end of our season.

This coming week is a busy one with two duel meets so check out the info below. I also received details about the conference meet. I will post more about this meet in our next blog post but for now the times and general information are listed below. 

Monday: Practice 3:30-5pm

Tuesday: Meet @ Spring Lake

• Where: Their pool is located at 16140 148th Ave, Spring Lake, MI 49456
• Start Time: 4pm
• Transportation:  
• HCMS - Bus will leave the middle school at 2:40. Athletes will be dismissed in time for this departure
• ZCS - Parents will carpool the girls to Spring Lake. Please have athletes at the pool no later than 3:30 *If there is an issue please let us know and we can get a school van to help transport athletes.
• Pine Ridge - Athletes will need to be car pooled to the middle school for the 2:40 bus departure.*If there is an issue for parents Coach Lis can pick the girls up and run them to the middle school
• Rose Park - Athletes will carpool to Spring Lake. Please have athletes at the pool no later than 3:30 *If this is an issue for parents please connect with Coach Lisa and Coaches will grab the girls before heading to Spring Lake.

•  Please Remember: 
• Suits/Caps/Goggles. Please wear your team suit and team cap. Also bring shirt/sweatshirt, pants/shorts, shoes/flip-flops/crocs to wear on deck. It can be chilly and it's important to stay warm. 
•  Snacks/Water: It is important to fuel up before a meet so please send a substantial snack along with your daughter to eat for a pre-meet snack. 

• Entries:  Entries will be sent out to the girls via email on Tuesdaw. They will also be posted at each school building.  Please remind your daughter to take a look at these and know her events before arriving at the pool. This will help things run smoother and allow us coaches to watch races and give feedback. If a couple of parents are willing to help out on deck getting girls where they need to be and when that would be extremely helpful.
  • HCMS - Mr. Smeenge
  • ZCS - Mr. Nagelkirk 
  • RP - Mrs. VanderZwaag 
  • PR - Mrs. Riemersma. 
   
  

 Wednesday: Practice 3:30 - 5pm

 

Thursday: Home Meet v Zeeland

• Where: Holland Aquatic Center
• Start Time: 4 pm
• Transportation: Normal Practice Transportation. ZCS please be ready to jump in the water soon after arriving at the pool to start warm-up.
• Please remember all the items above.
• Entries: Entries will be sent out to the girls via email on Thursday. They will also be posted at each school building.  Please remind your daughter to take a look at these and know her events before arriving at the pool. This will help things run smoother and allow us coaches to watch races and give feedback. If a couple of parents are willing to help out on deck getting girls where they need to be and when that would be extremely helpful.
  • HCMS - Mr. Smeenge
  • ZCS - Mr. Nagelkirk 
  • RP - Mrs. VanderZwaag 
  • PR - Mrs. Riemersma.

Conference Information
Here is some general Conference information.

    Diving:  

• When: Friday, December 14th
• Location: Hamilton Middle School (4845 136th Ave, Hamilton, MI 49419)   ** PLEASE note this location change!!!
• Start Time:  TBD  - due to the last minute location change Hamilton is still figuring out timing. Please have patience. We will get this information out to you as soon as it is available to us. 
• Transportation: TBD - without a time we are not able to coordinate transportation at this time. 

   Swimming:   

• When: Saturday, December 15th 
• Start Time: 10:00 am - plan on it running for 2 to 2.5 hours
• Location: Spring Lake (16140 148th Ave, Spring Lake, MI 49456) 
• Transportation: There will be bus transportation for this meet leaving around 8/8:30 am from HCMS. (This is much earlier than a normal duel meet because pool space for warm-up and deck space will be limited due to the number of teams participating in this meet) ** Please let me know if ZCS & Rose Park parents would like to take advantage of this transportation. We can then determine exact time of departure. We are able to stop at Chemical Bank if this is preferred. I PROMISE this stop will happen if desired!

The Week Ahead 11/26 - 11/30

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_382774?src=t_inspirational

"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today."

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoyed time off from school and work. It was nice to have a short week but we are back at it tomorrow with a full week with some competition again.
Here's a look at the week ahead.

Monday: Practice 3:30-5:00

Tuesday: Practice 3:30-5:00

Wednesday: Practice 3:30- 5:00

Thursday: Meet v Byron Center

• Where: Holland Aquatic Center
• Start Time: 4 pm. 
• Transportation: Normal practice transportation. We will again warm up in two separate groups so ZCS girls please plan to start warm up close to 3:15.
• Suits/Caps: Please wear your team suit and team cap.
  * There are a few families who have not paid for suits. If you have not paid the $36 please do so as soon as possible. Checks can be made out to Holland Christian. 
• What to Bring: Suit, Cap, Goggles. Also bring shirt/sweatshirt, pants/shorts, shoes/flip-flops/crocs to wear on deck. It can be chilly and it's important to stay warm.
• Entries: Entries will be sent out to the girls via email on Thursday. They will also be posted at each school building.  Please remind your daughter to take a look at these and know her events before arriving at the pool. This will help things run smoother and allow us coaches to watch races and give feedback. If a couple of parents are willing to help out on deck getting girls where they need to be and when that would be extremely helpful.
• HCMS - Mr. Smeenge
• ZCS - Mr. Nagelkirk 
• RP - Mrs. VanderZwaag 
• PR - Mrs. Riemersma. 
• Snacks: It is important to fuel up before a meet so please send a substantial snack along with your daughter to eat for a pre-meet snack. Water is also a good idea.   

 

Friday: Practice 3:30-5:00 

 

Looking Ahead:

12/4 - Duel Meet @ Spring Lake 

      *ZCS families I would love your input on transportation. We haven't had much luck with our busing for away meets and I'm curious if we should just plan on parent transportation for this meet. 

12/6 - Duel Meet v Zeeland @ home

12/14-12/15: Conference Meet

      * I am still waiting for details regarding this. As soon as I hear I will let you all know.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_382774?src=t_inspirational

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_382774?src=t_inspirational

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_382774?src=t_inspirational

The Week Ahead 11/12 - 11/16

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard."
Tim Notke

We had a great week last week with a fun meet in Hamilton. Thank you for your continued support for you daughters and our program.
Our week ahead is posted below. Please take note of the information on the Wayland meet.

Monday: Practice 3:30 -5 pm 

Tuesday: Home Meet against Holland

• Where: Holland Aquatic Center
• Start Time: 4 pm. 
• Transportation: Normal practice transportation. It worked well on Thursday to warm up in two separate groups so ZCS girls please plan to start warm up close to 3:15.
• Suits/Caps: Please wear your team suit and team cap.
  * There are a few families who have not paid for suits. If you have not paid the $36 please do so as soon as possible. Checks can be made out to Holland Christian. 
• What to Bring: Suit, Cap, Goggles. Also bring shirt/sweatshirt, pants/shorts, shoes/flip-flops/crocs to wear on deck. It can be chilly and it's important to stay warm.
• Entries: Entries will be sent out to the girls via email on Tuesday. They will also be posted at each school building.  Please remind your daughter to take a look at these and know her events before arriving at the pool. This will help things run smoother and allow us coaches to watch races and give feedback. If a couple of parents are willing to help out on deck getting girls where they need to be and when that would be extremely helpful.
• HCMS - Mr. Smeenge
• ZCS - Mr. Nagelkirk 
• RP - Mrs. VanderZwaag 
• PR - Mrs. Riemersma. 
• Snacks: It is important to fuel up before a meet so please send a substantial snack along with your daughter to eat for a pre-meet snack. Water is also a good idea.  

 Wednesday: Practice 3:30 -5 pm 

Thursday: Away Meet @ Wayland

• Where: Wayland High School 
• 850 E. Superior Street Wayland, MI 49348
• Note About Wayland's pool: Wayland does not have starting blocks. Yes, you read that correctly...no starting blocks. Their pool depth does not meet standards to have block so all starts for this meet will be IN WATER. Just a small flash back to Coach Lisa's middle school days at the Holland Community Pool. :) Although this is not an ideal situation it is a great opportunity to stress the importance of streamlines and fast under-waters.   

• Start Time: 4 pm. With this start time the girls will be dismissed early. 
• Transportation: The bus will leave the Middle School at 2:35pm. Rose Park and Pine Ridge parents please have your daughters to the MS before 2:35 for departure. ZCS we will have pick up at Ridge Point Church at approximately 2:45/2:50. 
• Transportation BACK from Wayland. A few families have expressed interest in having transportation back from the meet. This is currently being looked into. At this point it seems we may only need a van to get athletes back to Holland. If you have not responded to the previous email regarding this please do so so we can get the appropriate vehicle for the ride home. 
• Deck Help: Coach Alex will be taking this meet as the solo swim coach due to Coach Lisa have pre state meet activities with our varsity team and Coach Lauren having class on Thursday evenings. If you are willing and able to help on deck that would be greatly appreciated. We could use two or three people to help make sure girls are where they need to be and when so Alex can watch races.

Friday: No practice due to MHSAA Division III State Prelims. Finals of this meet take place on Saturday November 17th. Our Varsity girls will be competing in this meet and would love your support. It's a fun meet to watch and will give you a glimpse into what the next level of competition looks like.

Looking Ahead: 
  
               November 22 & 23: No practice due to Thanksgiving & Thanksgiving break
November 21: Practice at NORMAL time 3:30-5

The Week Ahead 11/5-11/9

"There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do." 

– Derek Jeter

  We are heading into week four of our season. Crazy how fast time is going. We now have a few meets under our belt and are hopefully getting the hang of how meets run. It is so much fun to see the girls compete. The coming week isn't quite as hectic with only one meet on Thursday. 

Here is a look at our week ahead. 

Monday: Practice 3:30 -5 pm 

Tuesday: Practice 3:30 -5 pm

Wednesday: Practice 3:30 -5 pm 

Thursday: Away Meet @ Hamilton

• Where: Hamilton Middle School.     

                             4845 136th Ave. Hamilton, MI 49419        

• Snacks: It is important to fuel up before a meet so please send a substantial snack along with your daughter to eat for a pre-meet snack. Water is also a good idea.  

• Start Time: 4pm The meet should last approximately 1-1.5 hours.    

• Transportation: HCMS and Pine Ridge students will be bused to Hamilton. The bus will leave at 3pm. PR will have early dismissal. Rose Park and ZCS will carpool to Hamilton. Please connect with your carpools to arrange travel.

• Suits/Caps: Please wear your team suit and team cap.
  * There are a few families who have not paid for suits. If you have not paid the $36 please do so as soon as possible. Checks can be made out to Holland Christian. 

• What to Bring: Suit, Cap, Goggles. Also bring shirt/sweatshirt, pants/shorts, shoes/flip-flops/crocs to wear on deck. It can be chilly.

• Entries: Entries will be sent out to the girls via email on Thursday. They will also be posted at each school building.  HCMS - Mr. Smeenge's room ZCS - Mr. Nagelkirk RP - Mrs. VanderZwaag PR - Mrs. Riemersma. Please remind your daughter to take a look at these and know her events before arriving in Hamilton. This will help things run smoother and allow us coaches to watch races and give feedback.

If a couple of parents are willing to help out on deck getting girls where they need to be and when that would be extremely helpful. 
 
Friday: Practice 3:30- 5 pm

Meet Results: Meet results will be posted on the blog at some point. I am figuring out the best way to do that so hang tight on that one. 

Looking Ahead: 
               November 16: No practice. The Aquatic Center is hosting the MHSAA Division 3 State meet that weekend and there is no practice space available. Our Varsity team will be completing at this meet so if you have interest in watching some great races and seeing what that next level of swimming and diving is like stop on by. They'd love to have you cheering for them. 
               November 22 & 23: No practice due to Thanksgiving & Thanksgiving break