Friday, May 12, 2023
Inland Empire and Snake River Host Combined Swimposium for Members
USA Swimming’s Swimposium program provides Local Swimming Committees (LSC) with educational opportunities crucial to the development of its members through topical programing. Courses are available for athletes, coaches, club leadership, parents and volunteers, and include topics such as long-term athlete development for parents and conducting athlete progression assessments.
Inland Empire (IE) and Snake River (SR) have combined to co-host a Swimposium in recent years, visiting Boise, Idaho in 2022 and Spokane, Washington in 2023.
“Both IE and SR LSCs did an outstanding job throughout the planning process over the past two years as well as the execution of the event last year in Boise and this year in Spokane,” USA Swimming Team Services Senior Advisor Jane Grosser said. “There were nearly 300 participants last year in Boise and over 300 participants for the day in Spokane.”
USA Swimming allocates resources annually to fund Swimposiums. LSCs are eligible for funding every three years. Once selected to host, USA Swimming supports the host LSC with speaker selection, curriculum and logistics.
USA Swimming’s Team Services Advisors work closely with the LSCs to design an event that addresses the needs of their membership, incorporating information about USA Swimming programs, services and goals. Some of the topics addressed during this year’s Swimposium included crafting a positive team culture, nutrition and how athletes can improve their confidence.
Each Swimposium also includes a social event for families. This year, everyone was invited to attend a minor league baseball game in Spokane. To close out a successful Swimposium, a swim meet was held on the final day to foster the growth of the new friendships made at the game. The athletes and coaches from both LSCs were randomly assigned teams for a fun opportunity to compete.
Part of this combined Swimposium included a section called “Teach a Friend Topics”, developed by USA Swimming Team Services Advisor Dana Skelton during her time as a coach.
“The goal is to pick a topic, provide a definition and explanation of what it means, how it feels and how it shows up for the athletes,” Skelton said. “Letting the athletes know confidence issues exist and how others deal with it as well shows them they are not alone. They understand it is something they can work on and improve to help them in swimming and life.”
The facilitation focused on improving athletes' confidence. First, athletes helped build the topic of discussion through brainstorming. Later, they broke into groups to share ways to practice improving that particular skill. Lastly, participants took the time to create confidence posters they could share with their peers.
Through open communication, this universal age group activity can be adjusted for coaches to learn how to help their athletes and themselves improve their confidence, in and out of the pool.
“We are always encouraging LSCs to consider offering their members a shared service event,” Grosser said. “This Swimposium exemplifies how effective a shared service event can be. The result is an outstanding opportunity for the members of both LSCs.”
Want to learn how to bring a combined Swimposium to your LSC? IE and SR leadership have agreed to provide any mentoring needed to other LSCs that wish to bring this type of event to their membership. Your USA Swimming Team Services Advisor can help make connections.
Inland Empire (IE) and Snake River (SR) have combined to co-host a Swimposium in recent years, visiting Boise, Idaho in 2022 and Spokane, Washington in 2023.
“Both IE and SR LSCs did an outstanding job throughout the planning process over the past two years as well as the execution of the event last year in Boise and this year in Spokane,” USA Swimming Team Services Senior Advisor Jane Grosser said. “There were nearly 300 participants last year in Boise and over 300 participants for the day in Spokane.”
USA Swimming allocates resources annually to fund Swimposiums. LSCs are eligible for funding every three years. Once selected to host, USA Swimming supports the host LSC with speaker selection, curriculum and logistics.
USA Swimming’s Team Services Advisors work closely with the LSCs to design an event that addresses the needs of their membership, incorporating information about USA Swimming programs, services and goals. Some of the topics addressed during this year’s Swimposium included crafting a positive team culture, nutrition and how athletes can improve their confidence.
Each Swimposium also includes a social event for families. This year, everyone was invited to attend a minor league baseball game in Spokane. To close out a successful Swimposium, a swim meet was held on the final day to foster the growth of the new friendships made at the game. The athletes and coaches from both LSCs were randomly assigned teams for a fun opportunity to compete.
Part of this combined Swimposium included a section called “Teach a Friend Topics”, developed by USA Swimming Team Services Advisor Dana Skelton during her time as a coach.
“The goal is to pick a topic, provide a definition and explanation of what it means, how it feels and how it shows up for the athletes,” Skelton said. “Letting the athletes know confidence issues exist and how others deal with it as well shows them they are not alone. They understand it is something they can work on and improve to help them in swimming and life.”
The facilitation focused on improving athletes' confidence. First, athletes helped build the topic of discussion through brainstorming. Later, they broke into groups to share ways to practice improving that particular skill. Lastly, participants took the time to create confidence posters they could share with their peers.
Through open communication, this universal age group activity can be adjusted for coaches to learn how to help their athletes and themselves improve their confidence, in and out of the pool.
“We are always encouraging LSCs to consider offering their members a shared service event,” Grosser said. “This Swimposium exemplifies how effective a shared service event can be. The result is an outstanding opportunity for the members of both LSCs.”
Want to learn how to bring a combined Swimposium to your LSC? IE and SR leadership have agreed to provide any mentoring needed to other LSCs that wish to bring this type of event to their membership. Your USA Swimming Team Services Advisor can help make connections.