Monday, February 1, 2021
2021 Club Excellence Spotlight - DART Swimming
Each year, USA Swimming’s Club Excellence program recognizes the highest-achieving age group swim clubs in the country, and in 2021 DART Swimming in Davis, Calif. was among the 26 clubs to reach gold medal status.
Head age group coach Carolee Gregg, head coach Billy Doughty and the rest of the team’s coaches have found creative ways to allow as many swimmers as possible to take part in their program during a year complicated by pool closures, capacity restrictions, quarantines and other hurdles. Gregg details how the team has managed these changing restrictions and what they’re aiming towards in 2021 in this month’s Club Excellence spotlight.
In what ways has COVID-19 affected your team? What is your team doing now as far as training and competing?
We can’t compete in our county; no meets are allowed in this part of the state right now. We did a couple of meets in the fall, where we had to leave and go to another county to swim. The rules were very strict but the kids really enjoyed being able to race!
We were out of the water until June, and when we came back it was only one per lane. During the summer we normally have about 900 kids throughout all of our programs, and this summer we were around 300-400. We’re up to two per lane now and being very creative in how we fit everyone in. We have a huge waiting list but all of our year round kids are in the water starting at 5am, and we have practices all day at three different pools. School is not in session right now in our county, so we’re able to start earlier with the younger age groups which helps a lot.
The coaches are on deck so many hours, but everyone is so appreciative just to have swimming. We feel safe and follow all the protocols. We’re being careful and so far none of our swimmers have had any incidents of COVID.
What are two team goals you have for 2021?
Our number one goal is to fit in as many kids as possible, because so many kids want this sport. Our goal is to offer the sport to as many kids as we can without compromising the goals of our competitive track. We’ve even taken in a lot of swimmers who just need the exercise and to not be sitting in front of a computer the whole day.
The other goal is to offer our kids some semblance of normalcy. Not just with swimming but with life. When other things in their life are not really normal, we hope that swimming can be. We haven’t had any meets, but have been focused on other things like technique; we did a lot of skills and drills when we first came back, and goal setting. We’re trying to offer fun and a break in the kids’ day; and since we’re not competing, we do a lot of racing at practice.
What are two factors that you think have led to your team’s success?
Our head coach Billy and our leadership. He’s elevated our program to a new level and works really hard. He’s assembled a really good staff so we can grow in lots of directions in all of the things that we offer – lessons, camps, competitive all the way up to Olympic level.
I’ve been coaching with this team for forever, and it really is a family team. We are a large group of families, but Davis feels like a small town. We feel like a small-town team and are really connected and I think that’s been a huge part of our culture and our success.
Head age group coach Carolee Gregg, head coach Billy Doughty and the rest of the team’s coaches have found creative ways to allow as many swimmers as possible to take part in their program during a year complicated by pool closures, capacity restrictions, quarantines and other hurdles. Gregg details how the team has managed these changing restrictions and what they’re aiming towards in 2021 in this month’s Club Excellence spotlight.
In what ways has COVID-19 affected your team? What is your team doing now as far as training and competing?
We can’t compete in our county; no meets are allowed in this part of the state right now. We did a couple of meets in the fall, where we had to leave and go to another county to swim. The rules were very strict but the kids really enjoyed being able to race!
We were out of the water until June, and when we came back it was only one per lane. During the summer we normally have about 900 kids throughout all of our programs, and this summer we were around 300-400. We’re up to two per lane now and being very creative in how we fit everyone in. We have a huge waiting list but all of our year round kids are in the water starting at 5am, and we have practices all day at three different pools. School is not in session right now in our county, so we’re able to start earlier with the younger age groups which helps a lot.
The coaches are on deck so many hours, but everyone is so appreciative just to have swimming. We feel safe and follow all the protocols. We’re being careful and so far none of our swimmers have had any incidents of COVID.
What are two team goals you have for 2021?
Our number one goal is to fit in as many kids as possible, because so many kids want this sport. Our goal is to offer the sport to as many kids as we can without compromising the goals of our competitive track. We’ve even taken in a lot of swimmers who just need the exercise and to not be sitting in front of a computer the whole day.
The other goal is to offer our kids some semblance of normalcy. Not just with swimming but with life. When other things in their life are not really normal, we hope that swimming can be. We haven’t had any meets, but have been focused on other things like technique; we did a lot of skills and drills when we first came back, and goal setting. We’re trying to offer fun and a break in the kids’ day; and since we’re not competing, we do a lot of racing at practice.
What are two factors that you think have led to your team’s success?
Our head coach Billy and our leadership. He’s elevated our program to a new level and works really hard. He’s assembled a really good staff so we can grow in lots of directions in all of the things that we offer – lessons, camps, competitive all the way up to Olympic level.
I’ve been coaching with this team for forever, and it really is a family team. We are a large group of families, but Davis feels like a small town. We feel like a small-town team and are really connected and I think that’s been a huge part of our culture and our success.