Zeeland Invite and South Haven Invite Info

Zeeland Invite:
Bus Leaves - 10:15 am
Warm-up - 10:30 am
Meet Start - 12:00 pm, diving will start at the start of the 200 Free.

For the Zeeland Invite on Friday, we will be leaving from our pool at 10:15 am. Warm-up starts at 10:30 and swimming starts at 12 pm. The diving will start when the 200 Free starts...after a 10 minute break after the 200 Medley Relay. The diving will run at the same time as the swim meet. We should be done around 3. Swimmers and divers do not have to ride the bus home after this meet. The meet is at the Zeeland West High School Natatorium located on 100th St. north of Riley.

South Haven Invite:
Diving:
Leave Time: ?????
Warm-up: 8:00 am
Diving starts: 9:30 am
Swimming:
Leave Time: 10:15 am
Warm-up: 11:00 am
Meet Start: 12:00 pm

For the South Haven Invite on Saturday, the swimmers will be leaving from our pool at 10:15 am. Warm-up starts at 11 am and the swimming starts at 12 pm. The divers will be leaving early Saturday morning for an 8 am warm-up and 9 am dive start. The meet should be done around 4. Swimmers will need to have their own rides home from the meet. The meet will be held at the South Haven High School pool, 600 Elkenburg St., South Haven, MI, 49090

These meets will be a great opportunity to practice swimming well on Friday, then coming back and doing it again on Saturday...just like the conference and state meets. I am looking forward to seeing you guys go fast this weekend!!!

Our quote that was posted yesterday is...

Don't measure yourself by what you accomplish, but by what you should accomplish with your ability.

We talked a bit yesterday about what that may mean for us. I certainly hope that at the end of this season it is not said of us that we had potential.

We are on the backside of the hill as far as Christmas break is concerned. Enjoy your last few workouts and the meets this weekend. We have a great schedule when we come back from break and before we know it, we'll be at the conference and then state meets.

Enjoy the day,
T

Pics from the Pasta Party

Thank you very much to Dan and Vicki DeJonge for opening up their house and feeding all the boys.

Crazy Winter Weather

The snow just keeps coming.

You and your parents need to make the decision if you can safely make it into practices over break. It sounds like the snow is going to continue off and on through most of the week. I plan on being at the pool for all scheduled practices (except Monday morning) as I live only a mile from the pool but for many of you, it will not be advisable to travel.

The absolute first priority is for you guys to be safe.

If you do come in for practice, please drive very carefully and take your time.
T

WMR Results

Click the above link for results for the WM Relays. Great job today guys. Everyone swam great!!! Winning four relays out of twelve is awesome.

We'll see you all Monday morning ready to roll at 7:30.
T

All Done : (

Well,... I think we finished the season with some great swims! To see the results you can click here and it will take you the results page. Again, I just wanted to say that I am really happy with how everyone swam and I hope all you girls are too! We had a great season and I hope you all got a lot out of it.

Due to the snow day yesterday, we will be having our party on Thursday, January 15th at 3:00. There will be no one in the pool so, bring your suit and we will have some fun in the pool. After that, we will go to the cafeteria for some snacks and awards and such. Again, if parents can come, I would love it!

Remember, if any of you are interested in age group, practice starts on Monday. It will be $30 if you plan on doing volleyball, $50 if you don't do volleyball. I hope you consider it.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this season what it was. Jenny for driving us with great timing and directions, Todd and Billie for doing the system, and everyone else for driving the girls all over and being such a great support for them when they are tired and cranky from the tough practices.
Great job girls~ Coach Kellie~

Results vs Northview

Click the link above for results. Great meet tonight. A lot of best times and some pretty surprising swims.

No morning practice tomorrow. Hopefully we'll see you all at 3:00 or 2:30 depending on the weather.

GRIT!!!!
T

Varsity Food and Drink

The varsity boys are running low on drinks for after practice. We have enough to get us through tomorrow and most for Friday. If we could stock up for break that would be great. If you have any drinks that you would be willing to donate, please drop them off in the pool office or send them with your swimmer or diver. Juice boxes, Capri Sun, chocolate milk, etc. works great. I do have some cups if the drink is not in individual servings.

Thanks to the parents that already donated items. It is much appreciated.
Thanks
T

Varsity Info

Reminder that Thursday is a 6:00 pm meet start. The bus will be leaving at 3:45 pm. The boys are to wear a shirt and tie (no jeans, sweatpants, or warm-up pants).

There is talk of having a pasta party with a movie on Friday night. The captains are working on putting that together.

Saturday the swimmers will be leaving from the pool at 11:30 am. Warm-up starts at 12 and the meet starts at 1:30. The meet should last about 3 hours.

This will be a bit of a recovery week to set us up for a great Christmas Break stretch of practices. We need the recovery because this is when our muscles and engines get a chance to rebuild themselves stronger than they were before.

Remember our new quote that is above the office...

The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.

The team needs your best every day.
Have a great night and rest well,
T

Middle School Girls - Age Group Info

Any middle school girls swimmers that would like to continue swimming with the Hamilton Winter Age Group Team are welcome to start next week Monday. A practice and meet schedule can be found by going to
www.hamilton.k12.mi.us/pool/AgeGroupCalendar.pdf
For those girls that are planning on playing middle school girls volleyball you may swim until your volleyball season starts on January 26. The cost for girls to swim until the volleyball season starts is $30 – made payable to Hamilton Age Group. You will be able to participate in three meets, all held at home on January 3, 17, and 24.

For those girls not playing volleyball, the cost is $50. You will be able to participate in all of the age group swim meets including the season ending conference meet.

Please let Coach Talsma or Coach VanderKooi know by this Friday, December 19, if you plan on swimming with the age group team. If you have any questions, feel free to call or email Coach Talsma at 269-751-2459, 616-886-4303, or etalsma@hamiltonschools.us .

Divers – Check with Coach DeRoos on opportunities to continue diving.

Results vs Allegan

Click on the title for the results. Great job tonight! Not bad for a first meet. We need to continue to work on closing out each race and closing out the meet. Overall I am very impressed. For some of you we now know that you should be going a little faster during practice after the times you put up tonight. We need to continue to look at each day as an opportunity to enjoy ourselves swimming and get faster!!!!

Looking forward to two good practices tomorrow.

Tell me what this means at tomorrow afternoons practice and you'll get a reward...

Res firma mitescere nescit

T

Lots of Important MS Info

OK,... I have a lot of information to give out.
Tomorrow- Our meet tomorrow is at the Aquatic center at the usual time. ( I hope the girls have done this enough times to know what is going on. :)

Conference- Diving (prelims and finals) are being held on next week Wednesday at the Jenison pool. Warm ups will start at 2:30 so the girls will be dismissed from school early (about 2) and they will be taking a van due to the fact that there are only five girls. The actual meet will start at 4:00. I really have no clue about what time they will be done due to the fact that we have never done ALL the diving in one night. I would prepare for a long night.

Swimming will be held on Thursday night at Jenison. The girls will be dismissed from school at about 12:45 warm ups start at 1:30-we have the early time : / We will be taking a bus and the bus will take us home unless parents sign a swimmer out (just like an away meet). The actual meet starts at 3:00 and I am going to take a guess and say we will be done at about 8 or 9. (Again prepare for a long night.)

Poll- I am stuck, so I am going to take a poll about our end of season party. We have two options:

1) We have the party at 3:00 after school on Friday the 19th. We would have goodies and maybe swim for fun a little bit. Then I would pass out awards and a little talk. It would probably go until about 5 or so.

2) We have the party at 5:00 and have pizza and more of dinner type stuff. Probably no swimming unless everyone REALLY wants to. Then we would do awards and talk and stuff. This would probably go until 7 or so.

No matter what time we decide on, I would love and hope for as many parents to come as possible. Parents and MS girls swimmer and divers please feel free to vote. So, ... please leave your choice and any additional comments or opinions in the comment section with your initials so no one votes more than once. Thank you.

Varsity Boys' Monday Info, etc.

We have late practice tomorrow. We will hopefully get in the water at 5:15 and be out at 7:30ish. By now parents that pick their swimmers up probably realize that we usually run a couple of minutes behind in getting out of the pool. Use the time after school before practice wisely. If you have homework to do, work on it then. If you do not have any homework and would like to help run the meet by timing or learning the Colorado or Hytek systems, that is great as well.

Our first meet is coming up this Thursday. I am looking forward to seeing everyone lay it on the line in a meet. We can talk about going fast under any conditions and pushing ourselves for the team but Thursday, the rubber begins to hit the road. Please be on deck by 5:15 with your suits on ready to roll. There are usually things around the pool that need to get finished up before we start our warm-up and we need to have a little talk before those things start.

West Michigan Relays Info - December 20:
The meet is at Jenison High School Pool at 2140 Bauer Rd., Jenison, 49428.
Diving Warm-ups Start: 8:00 am - Coach VW will let you know what time your leaving here.
Diving Starts: 10:00 am
Swimmers leave our pool: 11:30 am
Swimming Warm-up Starts: 12:00 pm
Swimming Starts: 1:30 pmThe meet should last between 3 and 4 hours. It is always tough to tell how long the meet will take. This meet is a great opportunity to swim around a bit and have fun going fast!

We had 15 boys at practice this morning, which is great. Hopefully that group continues to commit to making morning practices work. It takes discipline to wake at 5:00 in the morning and still get the required sleep in. This morning we were able to get a good 3,800 aerobic yards in before most of your classmates were even awake. Mornings are a great opportunity to put in those extra yards and will really pay off. We need to have a good aerobic base to work off from for the rest of the season to go as planned.

THE UNIT
One of our core covenants for the year is The Unit. This means that each one of us is willing to give to the team the best of ourselves for the betterment of the whole. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that this also means that you take care of yourself and make appropriate decisions outside of the pool as well. Dressing appropriately in cold weather (including a hat), getting enough sleep, proper nutrition, wise choices, and time management are all examples of what we can do as individuals to make our team better. With your decisions outside of the pool, I want us to ask ourselves if what we are doing is hurting the team...or better yet is what we are doing making the team better.

I had a great time Saturday in our coaches advancement session thinking about the philosophy and ideals of our program. One thing that was brought up is that if we ignore things that are detrimental for our team, we are encouraging those behaviours to continue to happen. I want us as a team to not ignore teammates not doing what is best for our team. This is easy to say but hard to do. This is not just the job of the coach or the captains. This job is for all of us to keep each other honest.

I am hoping to post new quotes or sayings every Monday throughout the season that we can think about and apply to our own team. I am kind of cheating this time as I had used this one in an earlier post before our season even started but you can look back at what was said then by clicking here. The quote is...

If we are to be champions, we must rehearse daily chamionships within ourselves.

We can easily say these words. However, this is something that we need to practice every day. We can not expect to show up three months from now at our big meet and have everything go perfectly if we have not practiced in this manner every day. This is a challenge for all of us. We are not champions by default. It is hard to be the best at something and it doesn't happen by chance. We must work hard and practice perfectly for it to happen!

LEGACY
GRIT
FEARLESSNESS
UNIT
EVOLUTION
ENJOY

T

Varsity Boys' Saturday Practice

Practice for the varsity team will be 7-8:30 am this Saturday. We may have a special guest to watch our practice...we'll wait and see.
Legacy, Fearless, Unit, Grit, Evolution, Enjoy.
T

FOR A PRIZE...

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam

- Tell me what this means at practice tomorrow and I'll give you a prize!!!!

Meet info

Our meet tomorrow is at Grandville High School. Click here to see a map. Hope this helps.
Coach Kellie

Varsity Boys Info

This was supposed to be up last night but...

Pictures are Tomorrow (which is now today, Tuesday) at 3:00. We will be wearing khaki pants, gold t-shirt and warm-up jackets.

Morning practices start next Monday. They will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 5:45-7:00 am. Parents, is there a breakfast schedule out there? If you have or are willing to put one together, please let me know.

We will have practice this Saturday. I have a meeting 9am-4pm so I am not sure when it will be. More than likely it will be 7-8:45 am.

Our first meet is coming up quickly. If there is an event or two that you would really like to swim, let me know and I will see what I can do.

This Wednesday we will be spending the first part of practices developing our core covenants. I feel that this is very important for us to do as witnessed by the fact that we are giving up practice time to do it. Please take this process and the resulting core covenants seriously.

I will have new copies of the goal sheets for everyone by Tuesday or Wednesday. I would like to have them back to me by next week Friday.

Continue to remember your team mates throughout practices. Your practice can be made much more bearable (maybe even fun) if you encourage your team mates and look after each other.

One thing I forgot to mention in our meeting but we will talk about more later is the National Power Point Dual Meet. Last year we finished 3rd in the nation with a point total of 4,138. As one of our team goals I would like to hear from you all how high a total you think we can put together. I have a number in mind but would like to hear what you guys think.

West Michigan Relays Info - December 20:
The meet is at Jenison High School Pool at 2140 Bauer Rd., Jenison, 49428.
Diving Warm-ups Start: 8:00 am - Coach VW will let you know what time your leaving here.
Diving Starts: 10:00 am
Swimmers leave our pool: 11:30 am
Swimming Warm-up Starts: 12:00 pm
Swimming Starts: 1:30 pm
The meet should last around 4 hours. It is always tough to tell how long the meet will take. This meet is a great opportunity to swim around a bit and have fun going fast!

We have had 4 great practices so far and we are looking forward to many more.

Be tough!!!!!
T

Important Announcements

Middle school girls-
Our meet tomorrow will be held at WO South High School. You can see directions on our school web site on the last page of the directions for West Ottawa. (Riley to 152nd street). Hopefully we won't have any lost parents again : )
I told all the girls, but just to say it again we will be done with practices from now on at 4:30. No more dryland.
We will start tapering next week on Monday. More info about that to come later!
Keep up the great swimming girlys!

slight changes

For the middle school girls,... tomorrows meet is the same as always (be on the deck at 3:00, wear your team shirt to school,..). Come prepared to swim fast!! On Wednesday though, I know that I have 8 AM for practice on the calender but I am changing it to 4:00 PM. It is optional because I know that it can be hard to get a ride, but I would like you to come if you can. It will go until about 5:15 or so. We won't be doing any hard stuff, just little fixes of strokes and turns and starts.
Make sure you rest up this weekend because when we come back it will go by fast and we will be working hard!! : )

Middle school updates

Even though we didn't win last night, I think we had a great meet. Going through the results, there were A LOT of best times. Way to go girls! On top of that, we set another free relay record! Awesome.
-Remember there is no practice tonight due to club TCB. Have a great weekend off : )
-We only have one practice and then we have our next meet so please come to practice on Monday ready to work and be mentally ready.
-Again, great job yesterday. 3-1 is still a great record to be proud of.

State Meet Info

Here is a link to the state info on the MHSAA website... http://www.mhsaa.com/sports/gsw/index.htm . Look at the D3 info for instructions on admittance, parking, etc. for the D3 meet.

I will have directions to Oakland by Wednesday.

Wednesday we will be heading back to the Talsma house for some pasta, etc. We should be done by 6:30 or 7:00.

Thursday, the middle school girls have a home swim meet. The state girls will have a short final workout before the MS meet starts. They will then head over to the west gym locker rooms to shave down. I would like for the girls to eat before we get on the road. If anyone would like to provide food for the girls for Thursday night that would be great. Just let me know if you would be willing. If we get a chance to eat here before we leave we won't be quite as late getting to Rochester. If we need to get a little something when we get there we can do that.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

I am looking forward to some fast swimming and great diving this weekend!!!! The girls are ready to go fast!

It's all in the way we fly!!!!
T

Keep it going,...

Our season has been going great thus far. We have beaten two teams that we usually don't and I think we have a great chance for the next one. I hope that we can keep the steam going and plow through our next couple meets like we did the others. I have been seeing great times and our we have been getting along great as a team. Please remember that as we get further along in our season, there will probably be less and less best times. Don't let that get you down. It's hard to keep dropping your times meet after meet. You will probably reach a plateau. That's OK. Just remember to keep doing your best and it'll be 'aight.'
-Pictures are on Monday. Don't forget your team suit!!!
-Away meet on Tuesday. We will be stopping after for some dinner (McDonalds) after the meet.
-Remember to keep getting your Vitamin C. We gotta try to stay healthy during this time of year!!
Lets keep it goin!

Varsity Girls' Awards Night

End of Season Awards

November 24, 7:00 pm
Hamilton Middle School Cafeteria

We will have a short time for dessert and socializing, followed by the presentation of season awards, participation awards, etc.

All parents of juniors and seniors are asked to bring a dessert.

If you have any questions, please call or email Coach Talsma.

OK Green Finals Results

What a great meet. All of you girls swam great!!!!

I will need to write some more later.

It's all in the way we fly!!!
T

Conference Prelims Results

We definitely flew tonight. Let's keep it rolling and go even faster tomorrow.

It's all in the way we fly.
T

Pre-Conference Team Dinner

Thank you to the Ritter family for opening their home to our team, and thanks to all parents who were involved in providing a delicious team dinner. Although the food was wonderful, the entertainment was unforgettable!

Middle School

Alright girls, a couple quick notes.
-Our meet on Thursday is at Zeeland Cityside pool (downtown). If you need directions let me know and I will print some off. It is a six lane pool and has been all redone so it should be nice.
-As always on an away meet we need to dress up for school and the bus ride. Please be at the the pool as soon as school is done.
-Please remember all our policies for riding home with a parent. All the forms need to be filled out at the office before the meet.
-There will be an optional one hour practice on Friday (3-4). I will have to be out of town and the High school girls have conference so,... Mrs. Rozema will be here to watch over practice for me.

Items for the week

I am excited for the conference meet this week. Our girls that are tapering for the conference meet are swimming great! The conference taper group will be getting out of practice earlier each day this week. However, I don't want them to feel rushed to get through their practices so I am not releasing my projected finish times for their practices. I want them to fully recover between each effort and be prepared to swim each rep the way they need to swim it. I am encouraging them to work on homework if they get done before their ride is available. On Thursday, the conference girls will have a very short practice and then will have the opportunity to shave down at the pool. They should come supplied with the necessary items to shave down. The expectation is to shave down everywhere the suit does not cover (this does not lead to more hair growth when the hair comes back). After shaving down we will head over to the Ritters for our pasta party. The girls can be picked up around 7:00 pm.

The girls that are tapering for the state meet are starting to come around and I look forward to them swimming fast at the conference meet as well. State girls had their last morning practice this morning. They will not have morning on Wednesday. Practice times will be normal probably through next week, depending how they are feeling. Those girls that are close to a state cut will be going to the second shave meet next Tuesday at the Holland Aquatic Center. The warm-up starts at 5:00 and the meet starts at 6:00. This is a pretty laid back meet that offers one last opportunity to get a state cut. Any girls that are close to a state cut have the option of going. I will talk with those girls individually later.

Conference Meet Info(bus leave, warm-up, meet start):
Diving:
Prelims will take place on Thursday. Warm-ups will be 3:30 pm with diving starting at 5:00 pm. The divers will leave immediately following school on Thursday.

Swimming:
Prelims will take place on Friday. Warm-ups will start at 3:00 pm and the swimming starts at 4:30 pm. Swimmers will be leaving immediately following school on Friday.

Swimming and Diving:
Finals will take place on Saturday. Warm-up starts at 11:00 am and competition begins at 12:30 pm. We will be leaving our pool at 10:40 am. Swimmers and divers will need to have rides back after the meet. We will be heading back to the middle school cafeteria after the meet for a fun time with swimmers and divers and their family and friends. Todd Ritter will get more info to you as we get closer.

It will cost $5 per session to enter the stands and programs will be available for $1. Doors to the spectator area will open at 4:00 on Thursday, 3:00 on Friday, and 11:00 on Saturday.

Regional diving and state meet info will be coming shortly.

Again, I am very excited for the next three weeks and all the fast swimming and great diving that will take place. It's a good time to be a Hawkeye!
T

MHSCA Girls' Swimming Coach of the Year: Eric Talsma

Congratulations to Coach Talsma on this great achievement! He was honored in Lansing yesterday at the 50th Michigan High School Coaches Association Awards Ceremony. What an impressive accomplishment --- it is much deserved! WE ARE PROUD TO BE A PART OF HIS HAMILTON SWIM PROGRAM!

For the girls... For the boys...

Pardon me for getting a little philosophical for a moment. I have been thinking a lot lately about what things have been going on around here. With the end of the girls season right around the corner and the boys being able to get in the water right after that, I find myself thinking about how very different the mindset is between the two groups right now. The girls are realizing their potential after a season of hard work and preparation and the boys are just starting their journey and wondering what the season will bring. Below are a couple of quotes that came to mind as I was thinking about these things and a little explanation of what made me think of them:

For the Girls...

The one thing over which you have absolute control is your own thoughts. It is this that puts you in a position to control your own destiny.

... Physically we are ready, or almost ready, to swim lights out. This is the fittest group of girls we have ever had from top to bottom. The conference girls are tapering perfectly and starting to get that spark back. The state girls are swimming faster than ever in practice and are going to nail their taper. We are all working on the little things that will help us go FAST!!!! My belief is that your success in the coming weeks will come down to how you are prepared mentally to attack your races and handle the big meet situations. These meets coming up are an opportunity for you to go fast and showcase your abilities (mainly to yourself). The only thing you can control is what happens in your lane. So relax and let go of what happens outside of your lane lines and have fun racing fast!!! Final places are just icing on the cake to knowing that you did your best on the day and on the season. You need to be excited to swim. Know that you will swim fast. Enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy your team mates, enjoy your competition, and enjoy the opportunity.

For the Boys...

If we are to be champions, we must rehearse daily championships within ourselves.

...We have three whole days of dryland conditioning in and a long season full of opportunities ahead of us. This quote reminds me that a state championship is not won in March. It is won throughout the year by the things that we do every day. We have the talent. We have the desire. Now we need to put those two things together with hard work and a great atmosphere. I fully believe that the team that wins the DIII boys state championship this year will be the team that comes together, pushes each other every day, and does not accept anyone on their team who does not rehearse for the championship daily.

How can we rehearse daily to be champions?
Have fun. Work hard. Enjoy the process. Keep things in perspective. Enjoy each others company. Push each other. Be consistent. Act like a champion. Take the narrow path. Hold ourselves (and each other) to a higher standard in the pool, on deck, during dryland, on the bus, in the hallways, in the classroom. The list could (and will) go on.

If we do these things I think we will have a great chance to be champions (as in hoisting a trophy). However, even if there were no trophies, no newspaper articles, no college scholarships, no all-state honors...would we still do it? I certainly hope so.

I will leave it at that for now. Basically, I am excited to watch our girls perform lights out at the conference and state meet. You are ready to go fast!!! I am also excited to start to work full-on with the boys. It's going to be a fun season of learning what we're all about!!!
T

MS parent meeting

Girls, please do not forget that we have a parent meeting TOMORROW (Thursday) in the East gym at 5:30!!!! I am sorry that I forgot to remind everyone after practice. I would love to meet everyones parents and I have a couple of tid-bits of information that needs to be shared! So I hope to see everyone (parents) there. Again, it starts at 5:30 (you can just stay here at the school after practice) in the East gym and should last about an hour. Thank you : )

Varsity Boys Calendar

The Varsity Boys calendar is up on the sky drive. Click the title above to access it.

We will plan on having the parent meeting on Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 pm.

We are currently doing our dryland conditioning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3:00-3:45ish.

I am looking forward to a fun, fast (swimming that is) season.
T

Zeeland Results

Click the title for the results.

I want to add my thanks to Coach Smith's for the Melvin's hospitality last night. It was greatly appreciated.

Great meet tonight. It seemed as though most girls were having a good time and focusing on the right things at the right times. I hope that everyone learned at least one thing from the meet tonight.

It was also a great time to recognize our parents and all that they do to help us be our best. Girls, please remember to thank your parents one-on-one for all that they do for you.

This was the last home meet for our seniors as well. This is our first group of four year swimmers and divers on the varsity team. I had planned on saying something during the parents night but I totally dropped the ball. I apologize for that. This group of seniors is very special both to me and to the Hamilton Swimming and Diving family.

I hope you are starting to see some glimpses of what is to come. Let's ride the tidal wave to great swimming and diving at the conference and state meets!!!!!

It's all in the way we fly!!!!!!
T

Team Dinner

Thank you to the Melvin family for an amazing dinner. Your generous hospitality is greatly appreciated!

UC Meet Results

Good meet last night. The energy level was up a bit! Let's keep things rolling for the coming weeks.
T

Middle School

Great job with our first practice yesterday ladies! Remember, I know it may have seemed tough but things will get easier and it will be a lot of fun : )
Just a couple of quick reminders; Please don't forget that I need all the order forms no later than tomorrow!!!! The earlier the better! And, we have have a normal practice today and tomorrow but on Thur and Fri we have practice at 8 AM. If you need to make ride arrangements let me know and I will see what I can do.
Again, great job and I cannot wait to see what the season has in store for all 40ish of us : )

Unity Meet and Monday Notes

Our meet tomorrow night with Unity Christian will be at the Hudsonville HS Pool on 32nd Ave. The meet will be starting at 7:00, not 6:30. The bus will be rolling out at 5:35.

Today we welcome the middle school girls team in to the pool as they have their first practice. We all need to work together to make sure that all goes well!

Practices for Thursday and Friday will be 9am-12pm for state qualifiers and 10am-12pm for non-state qualifiers. No early morning practices on these days. Wednesday is the last early morning practice for all non-state qualifiers. The state qualifiers will have morning practices until the Wednesday before the conference meet, November 5.

We will be having a pasta party next Monday in the lead-up to our meet with Zeeland. We will be at the Melvin's. We will get all of the girls to the Melvin's after practice and they will need to be picked up around 7:15 pm. If you would be willing to send some drinks along for the girls let me know. Tammy will be taking care of everything else. I will send a note home this afternoon with directions, etc.

We will be having a pasta party on Thursday, November 6 at the Ritter's. The state girls will have a normal practice. Conference girls will have a very short practice followed by the opportunity to shave down. We will then head over to the Ritter's. The girls should be picked up around 7:15 pm. I will send a note home with directions, etc.

There is something in the works for getting together after the Saturday of the conference meet as well. More info will come on that shortly.

The girls that are tapering for the conference meet will start that practice this week Thursday and Friday. We will be individualizing tapers as much as possible to give each of the girls the largest opportunity for success. Taper is basically a reduction in the workload completed so the body has a chance to completely recover from the stresses of the season. During this time it is very important that the girls get enough sleep, appropriate nutrition, and have the ability to relax some mentally as well as physically. If you are in a PE or weightlifting class you need to participate. I will request from those teachers that exercises be reduced or modified so as not to stress your system during this time frame but you need to fully participate and be an exceptional ambassador of swimming during this time. If you are in a weightlifting or PE class please let me know ASAP.

I am looking forward to our meet tomorrow night with UC. It will be an opportunity to swim fast and tune up before our meet with Zeeland and then Conference and State. It will also be a great opportunity to go fast regardless of how the meet runs, how much warm-up time we get, how the water tastes, etc. You need to be behind the blocks KNOWING you're going to swim fast, not wondering if you're going to swim fast. BRING THE EXCITEMENT.

It's all in the way we fly!
T

Food and Drink

Great practice tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone that has brought in snacks or drinks for the girls for after practice. I just wanted to update you on how we are doing. We should be good with snacks and drinks for the next 7-10 practices (through October 29 for sure). If you already have something feel free to send it in but please don't feel that it is urgent at this time. I will keep you updated on how our supply is holding up.

Thanks again to all that helped out with the snacks and/or drinks.
T

Northview Meet Results

Click on the title to view the results.

A good meet overall. We need to realize that the pool, the lighting, the competition, the _________ (fill in the blank) does not make us swim fast. WE MAKE US SWIM FAST!!!!! We are in control of our attitude. We are in control of how excited we are to swim and how fast we go.

We did have some best times, both seasonal and lifetime bests...so we know that it is possible to get it going. It is amazing to watch an athlete that catches fire and puts together a great meet. One swim influences the next. We need to be able to do that as a team as well. One girls good swim fuels the rest of the teams performances. The Bussis' came to swim last night with best times in the 50 for Emily with a 27.90 split on the medley relay, in the 100 for both Emily and Rachel with a 1:03.54 and 1:05.52 (split) respectively. Kassi Aalderink dropped a great 100 Back and went 1:17.34. There were a lot of other solid swims as well.

Are we tired? Yes, we are tired.

Can we swim fast when we're tired? You bet!

We are going to have a great practice this afternoon.

This will be a nice weekend without a meet. We are going to have a great practice on Saturday from 12:30-2:30. Enjoy your weekend and be safe and smart.

IT'S ALL IN THE WAY WE FLY (regardless of flight conditions)!!!!!!!!!
T

Food and drink and todays notes

We have the need for some more food and drink for after practices. We have had some parents that have donated items already and our supplies are running low. Typically we give them a juice box/Capri Sun/chocolate milk during their cool down and then a snack on the way to the locker rooms. Individual drinks work best but we can manage with gallons of chocolate milk/juice as well (I think the girls like to see me pour out the drinks for them and act as their butler). Snacks that we have had include cereal bars, granola bars, pretzels, animal crackers, etc. Something with a bit of protein in it is best but not mandatory. If you would be willing, please drop off any items in the pool office at any time. We have drinks that will last us through this Friday but we are all out of snacks. I plan to run to the store during the day today to get us some snacks to last through Tuesday or Wednesday. The girls really appreciate it and we have seen it really benefit them in their ability to recover from day to day.

Our meet this Thursday is at Northview HS (click this link for directions). The bus will be rolling out at 4:15 pm. The girls need to dress up for school and to the meet. We have been getting pretty lax about what dressing up means. The girls should not wear jeans (of any color). We want to present ourselves well and look the part.

The end is in sight for all. The number of tough practices left is dwindling. We have only 4 more tough practices left for non-state qualifiers. Taper for non-state qualifiers starts in two weeks! State girls will start their taper in about four weeks. I think that we have done a great job of periodizing our practices this year and we are seeing the benefits. This is the best group of trainers that I have had the pleasure of coaching. What we have been able to do in training has been remarkable. Not necessarily more yards than we did last year but definitely more quality. Everything that we do has a purpose. It has been a lot of fun to watch from my perspective. I hope that it has been a lot of fun (while being a whole lot of hard work) for the swimmers as well.

It is exciting to look over to the diving well during practice to see our divers trying new dives and getting their dd's up as high as they can. Our divers have been making great progress as evidenced by the great scores they have been putting up!

The starting times for the conference meet have changed a bit. Diving prelims will take place on Thursday. Warm-ups will be 3:30 pm with diving starting at 5:00 pm. The divers will leave immediately following school on Thursday. Swimming prelims will take place on Friday. Warm-ups will start at 3:00 pm and the swimming starts at 4:30 pm. Swimmers will be leaving immediately following school on Friday. Swimming and Diving finals will take place on Saturday. Warm-up starts at 11:00 am and competition begins at 12:30 pm. We will be leaving our pool at 10:40 am. It will cost $5 per session to enter the stands and programs will be available for $1. Doors to the spectator area will open at 4:00 on Thursday, 3:00 on Friday, and 11:00 on Saturday.

I have to take a minute to "toot our own horn" a bit. Last spring I was nominated for the Michigan HS Girls Swim Coach of the Year for the Michigan HS Coaches Association. I will receive the award on November 2. I share this because it is our swimmers and divers that make it happen. I can write workouts and meet line-ups but it is the girls that get in the water and make the great things happen. Along with that there are a lot of other people that have a huge impact on the success of our swim teams like our parents, age group coaches, middle school coaches, and Coaches DeRoos and Smith. It is truly a team effort even though not everyone on the team always get recognized.

I am looking forward to the next six weeks and all the fun (and tough) moments that it will present. How we handle the situations (good and bad) is up to us! It's all in the way we fly.
T

The MISCA Meet

Click the title for meet results.

A great meet overall. Congrats to...Brittni Ritter for qualifying for state in the 200 Free with a breakout 2:01.7, Maddy Kempkers for qualifying in the 50 Free with a 26.09, and Maddie Klenk for qualifying as part of the 200 Free Relay. We had some great swims.

Keep up the great work ladies.
T

HC Results

Well...we lost to a team that we should have beat. We came in a little off and they had a great meet. On the night, they were the better team.

Mentally we need to find out what we need to do to get ready to swim fast regardless of our competition. Emotionally we need to rely on each other more and we need to make sure that we are all ready to go. It is tough to come off a meet like we had last Tuesday with BC...however we have done it well before and we can do it well again. The way that we came together last week and the feeling of team on the pool deck was magical. I didn't get that feeling yesterday. I didn't get the feeling that we were having fun. It didn't look like we were having fun once the meet started. We are a team when things are great and when things are going bad. We are a team when things are magical and when we are flat.

I think that it is easy for us to chant our three P's when things are going well and we are swimming fast. However, I think that times like now are when it is most important to remember our PRIDE, our PERSERVERANCE, and the POSSIBILITIES that lie before us. It stinks to lose a meet like that last night. I am not happy about it and I hope you all are dissapointed too. We are better than how we performed last night. What can we do about it? From this point on we learn from mistakes made and we move on seeking to get better.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
T

Saturday Info for the meet, Pizza, and Beach Fire

First- Great practice today. I know that it was very tough but you guys did GREAT!!!!

Saturday Meet Info:
Divers: 7:00 am Warm-up, 8:30 am Diving Starts. Hopefully they will be able to get all 11 dives in before swimming warm-up starts.

Swimmers: Bus leaves at 10:45 am. 11:30 am Warm-up, 12:30 pm Swimming starts. If diving is completed in the morning we should be done by about 4:00.

Pizza and Beach Fire
We will meet at our pool after the meet is done. I am hoping to meet at our pool at 5:00. We will then head out to the Smith cottage on the north side of Holland. Everyone needs to bring $3 to cover the cost of pizza. We will eat and head down to the beach for a fire. We will be done at 9:00 pm. Directions to the Smith cottage will be given out to parents that need them.

Have a great night,
T

BC Meet Results

Great meet tonight!!!!

PRIDE - PERSEVERANCE - POSSIBILITIES

Items for This Week

Please be diligent about good sleep and great nutrition. This needs to continue to be a priority.

Food logs need to be turned in by Wednesday.

We have been swimming very well the last week. Let's keep it going.

The 9/10 meet is this Saturday at Grandville HS. Diving warm-ups are at 7:00 am and diving starts at 8:30 am. Swimmers-Our bus will be leaving at 10:45 am. Warm-ups start at 11:30 and the meet starts at 12:30. The meet should be done around 4:00.

After the meet we are going to head out to Coach Smith's cottage on the north side of Holland for pizza and a fire on the beach. If weather is an issue we will be heading out to Coach Smith's house. We will be done by about 9:00. We will get more info to you later in the week.

We'll post more shortly.
T

Homecoming Parade

IT'S ALL IN THE WAY WE FLY!

Wayland Meet Results

Click on the title for meet results.

Great job tonight ladies. It was great to see some of the times that you guys swam while you were tired. Even better...you had fun at the meet. That is being a great team. Congrats to Jessica Naber for a new pool and school record in diving with a score of 223.20. Also congrats to Maddy Kempkers for qualifying for the state meet in the 500 free and to Julie Blaharski for making the MISCA cut in the back. We can swim fast when we're tired.

We'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.
T

Gville Meet Results

Click on the title above to view the results of our meet with Grandville.

Overall a pretty good meet. We are starting to see some faster times since the beginning of the season. This is just a taste of what is to come. By next week we will be rockin and rollin.

I must say that I am very proud to coach a team of great young ladies. We are now 2 and 3 in dual meets, the first time that we have been under .500 in a long time, but we have a great group of girls that work very hard and are also great people. I am proud to be a Hawkeye.

I am looking forward to a great second half of the season.
IT'S ALL IN THE WAY WE FLY.
T

Monday Notes

Practice for this Friday, Homecoming Day, will be from 5:30-7:00 am. Those involved in NHS will be able to leave practice at 6:30 am for time to eat and get to the NHS meeting by 7.

For the Homecoming parade, we will meet at the staging area (48th St.) by 3:15. The parade starts at 4:15. When the parade is done and our float is cleaned up, we will be done for the day!!! Enjoy the break.

As this is homecoming week...please be very careful and smart. Make good decisions about what is appropriate to do as a Hamilton Swimmer or Diver.

Our meet tomorrow is at Grandville HS on Canal just south of Rivertown Parkway. The bus will be leaving at 4:30.

Our meet Thursday is at home against Wayland. Everyone needs to be on deck ready to roll at 5:15.

Make sure that you continue to fill out your food logs at least through Wednesday. If you would like to continue with the food logs after Wednesday I have more copies available. Are you learning anything from writing down what you have been eating? Does it align with what we talked about being appropriate levels of carbs, proteins, and fats? If anyone would like more info or a consult with Mr. Wandel on nutrition issues, please let me know. He is willing to do this to help our student athletes at Hamilton and we are very grateful for his help.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE: Remember to eat some good carbs and protein within 30 minutes of the end of practice. For most of us that means you need to eat it before you get home. This is the most important thing to help us recover properly. Also it is beneficial to drink a cup of either a fruit juice or chocolate milk within 15 minutes of the end of practice. This is a quick way to start the healing process and get you ready to go for the rest of your day.

I had a great time at the clinic and got to sit down and talk with a lot of great coaches from our state. A highlight for me was being able to talk with the new U of M Men's Head Coach, Mike Bottom, and Assistant Coach, Josh White. A lot of things were learned and new things were talked about to try so we will try implementing some things over the coming weeks. Always fun!!!

I am looking forward to a great couple of meets this week and next. We had a great three week stretch of training and we are ready to go.
T

Aggression Training 101

Would anyone like to claim this guy as their coach? I don't know about you, but I'm PROUD!

For more photos, please click on the title above -- way to show your strength ladies!

Hudsonville Meet Results

Click on the title above for results with our meet against Hudsonville. Congratulations to Manda Schierbeek who qualified for the state meet in the 200 Free last night.

Less than stellar swims last night against Hville. Everyone is a little tired right now and that's OK. We are in the middle of a three week build up that will see us enter a new realm in a couple of weeks. Have faith and keep working hard. Good things are happening!!!

I am really looking forward to our meeting today to discuss our nutrition and how we can use what we eat to optimize our performance.

Keep the faith
T

Monday Notes for 9/15

Our bus will be leaving at 4:30 this Tuesday for Hudsonville HS.

On Wednesday we will be having a guest speaker, Mr. Robert Wandel, who will be speaking on the topic of nutrition for athletes. We will also be starting a food journal Thursday morning. We will be getting done with practice in the pool at 4:50, changing, and heading to Room 53 in the MS for the discussion. We will be done by 5:40.

Morning practices started this morning. We had a good turnout and a great workout. This is an excellent opportunity to get in a few more yards each week.

Our first Saturday practice was a success. We saw a lot of improvement in our starts and turns. We also had a great opportunity to work on our aggression.

We have a series of tough practices coming up over the next three weeks. We will be upping our yardage a bit and also getting plenty of intensity. It is key that we look at these practices as opportunities rather than drudgery we need to get through. Attitude makes a lot of difference!!!

Please keep your goals in mind throughout our tough training times as well. A reminder of what is motivating you can be just the impetus needed to really attack the toughest of sets.

Don't forget our 3 P's - Pride - Perseverance - Possibilities. Each of these three is a vital part of our teams success.

We have four tough meets on the next four Tuesdays. These will be a great way to test our mettle against some good teams. Use every opportunity to learn something new and race faster.

I am proud of our team and I am proud of each swimmer and diver. Keep up the great work ladies.
T

WO Meet Results

Click on the title above to view the meet results from our meet with WO.

Lots of best times for the season and some all-time personal bests were had tonight. Great job ladies!!! Crystal Jager qualified for state in the 200 IM and Maddie Klenk qualified for state in the 100 Breast.

I am looking forward to a great Friday practice!!!!
T

Allegan Meet Results

Click the title above to view the results from the meet.

Great swims tonight. A lot of personal bests. State cuts were achieved by Brittni Ritter in the 100 Free, Manda Schierbeek in the 500 Free, the 200 Free Relay of Ritter, Coon, Kempkers, and Schierbeek, and Crystal Jager in the 100 Breast. We also had a couple of close calls that we'll get in soon enough.

Great job ladies!!!
T

Weekly Monday Meeting Notes

I am trying something new in an effort to get more of our swimmers and divers aware of and using our website. I am not sending home a full note home today but rather only a reminder that the website is here and this weeks info is posted here.

What a fun time we had on Saturday. Not eveyone swam or dove their best but it is always a great experience to go to a large, fast meet like the West Michigan Relays if only for experience sake.

Our meets this week will be against Allegan on Tuesday (South Haven will not be coming up for the meet) and West Ottawa on Thursday. Again, a study in contrast much like last week. This brings up the opportunity to discover that we can swim fast and dive well regardless of our competition.

We will have our first Saturday practice this coming Saturday from 12:30-2:30 pm. This is a great time for us to work on some of the things that get neglected throughout the week, especially when it is a two meet week like this one.

Morning practices start next week Monday. We will be going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:45-7:00 am. These practices are not required but swimmers are encouraged to be there if they are getting enough sleep and are keeping up with all things outside of the pool. If you start coming to mornings you are allowed two misses. On the third miss you will not be welcome back to morning practices barring misses due to sickness.

If you are borrowing a team set of warm-ups I want to remind you that they are for meets and special team functions only and are not to be worn at any other time.

If you haven't already done so, take some time to look around the website, look at the meet results that are posted, and leave a comment or two. The more the site gets used the better.

Hope everyone has a great week,
T

West Michigan Relay Results

Click the link above to access the West Michigan Relays results.

We had a ton of great swims on Saturday. The girls seem to be getting ready to race a little more now. It will be fun to see how the dual meets go the next couple of weeks. We saw some of the competitiveness that we were missing last Wednesday. The 400 Free Relay team of Maddie Klenk, Maddy Kempkers, Manda Schierbeek, and Brittni Ritter qualified for the state meet with a solid 3:54. Last year it took us until the MISCA Meet to put together a solid 400 FR.

Practices will be ramping back up now as well and we look forward to some quality workouts and fixing some things that we are not doing very well.
T

Otsego Meet Results

Click on the title above to see the meet results from our first dual meet of the season with Otsego. One state cut was achieved by the 200 Medley Relay of Julie Blaharski, Crystal Jager, Maddie Klenk, and Maddy Kempkers. Lot's of best times from a lot of different girls. Great job ladies.
T

Black/Gold Meet Results

Click the title above for the results from our Black/Gold Meet. Good swims despite being pretty tired.
T

Tuesday's Practices

Just a reminder that practice for Tuesday will be 2:00-5:00 pm for the swimmers and 3:00-5:00 pm for the divers.

I will be posting results from our Black/Gold Meet on Tuesday. Forgot to do it before I left Friday.

Thanks to Coach Smith for posting the link to the Big Star pictures. They look awesome. If you have other photos from the trip or other team functions, please email them to me at coach_talsma@hotmail.com .

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day.
T

Big Star Lake Retreat

If you are interested in seeing photos from our retreat, please click on the title "Big Star Lake Retreat" to access an online photo album in the Kodak Gallery. Once there, you should be able to order any of the prints. Thank you to Coach Talsma's in-laws for their generous hospitality.

Bouws Pictures

Below are some pics that Coach Smith captured out at Bouws Pool last week.

THE MEETS ARE GETTING CLOSER

Our first meets are right around the corner and I think everyone is getting excited. We have been working tremendously hard the last couple of weeks and we are starting to see some great results. The girls are getting very worn down…which is to be expected. Please continue to get plenty of sleep, take in good calories, and take care of your body. Last week we did just under 50,000 yards. That makes a total of about 70,000 yards for the season thus far. It’s not all about the yardage…we have done a lot of quality work. I know that last week was a very tough week. You guys did a great job and really persevered. Remember our goal is to not just get through the workouts but to excel in the workouts and get faster.

I hope everyone is very excited to get up north and experience some team bonding without all the pain and yards. The weather looks like it will be perfect for the adventure. Come with a great attitude!!!

Our Otsego meet is the first day of school. The girls need to be on deck ready to roll at 5:15. Warm-up starts at 5:30 and the meet starts at 6:30.

Next Saturday is the West Michigan Relays at West Ottawa South High School on 152nd Ave. just north of Riley. Diving warm-ups start at 7:00 am and the diving starts at 9:00 am. Coach DeRoos will let the divers know when and where you will be meeting. Swimmers will meet at our pool at 11:20 am to ride the bus to West Ottawa. We will have transportation to the meet but will not have transportation home from the meet. Swimming warm-ups start at 12:00 pm and the swimming starts at 1:30 pm. The swimming should last about 3 or 4 hours.

The team is really starting to come together. Keep working hard and good things will come. Remember that everyone on the roster is an equal member of the team. Every person works hard and every person is important.

Keep up the great work.

This is a quote provide by Kay Berends that came at an opportune time:

Adversity causes some (wo)men to break;
others to break records.-William A. Ward

Let’s break some records,
Coach Talsma

Big Star Lake Here We Come!!!!

We will be heading up to Big Star Lake on Wednesday after morning practice. We will be leaving our pool at 10:45 am and returning Thursday night to our pool at 9:00 pm. The girls will need to bring; a snack, dessert, cookies, etc. to share, sleeping bag and pillow, swimsuit for playing in, swimsuit/cap/goggles for the lake swim, clothes that can get dirty, and sandals/shoes to wear for rafting/canoeing. We would appreciate it if the girls packed as light as possible as room will be tight.

The girls will need money for lunch in Newaygo (McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell) and for ice cream at Jones’.

We also need $30 from each girl to cover the canoeing/rafting, other food, and gas. Please have the money to Talsma by Tuesday mornings practice. If you are writing a check please make it out to Eric Talsma.

The phone number at the cottage is 231-898-3284 if an emergency should arise.

Girls Season just around the corner

The summer season ended in fine fashion with our Hamilton Age Group Team finishing in 6th place out of 21 teams in the league. Congratulations to all the swimmers on their great times throughout the summer and especially at the conference meets.

The start of the girls season is right around the corner. The first day of practice is August 11. Here is the breakdown of the schedule...
8/11 - 8/15, practice 9-11 am at our pool
8/18 - 8/22, practice 8:30-10:30 am at Bouws Pool in Holland, 3-5 pm at our pool
8/19 is the Parent Night for Fall Sports. The meeting is at 7:00 pm in the High School Library and all parents of swimmers and divers should attend.
8/25 - 8/29, practice 8:30-10:30 am, 3-5 pm at our pool for both practices
8/27,28 we will be going to Big Star Lake for a team retreat. We will leave after practice on Wednesday morning and return Thursday night...more info will be posted later.

I will have the calendar available by the end of the week and will post it with a link on the right.

All swimmers will get a full calendar, team handbook, and swimsuit/sweatshirt order form on the first day of practice.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT ALL ATHLETES HAVE THEIR ATHLETIC PHYSICALS ON FILE (DATED AFTER APRIL 15, 2008) AND INSURANCE MONEY PAID IN THE HIGH SCHOOL OFFICE BEFORE THE FIRST PRACTICE.

Besides that...have a great rest of the summer. We'll see you all on August 11.
ET

Summer AG Conference Meet Info

PLEASE LET YOUR COACH KNOW BY THURSDAY, JULY 17 IF YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT TO YOUR DESIGNATED CONFERENCE MEET. IF WE DON'T HEAR FROM YOU THAT YOU WILL NOT BE THERE, WE ARE PLANNING ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Conference Meet info for all of the meets has finally gotten to us. Below are the specifics:

"B" Meet: Tuesday, July 22
Grandville HS Pool, 4700 Canal, Grandville, MI 49418
Warm-up: 7:45 am, Must be checked in by 8:15 am
Meet Start: 9:00 am

13 & Over Meet: Wednesday, July 23
Byron Center HS Pool, 8500 Burlingame Ave. SW, Byron Center, MI 49315
Warm-up: 4:00 pm, Must be checked in by 4:15 pm
Meet Start: 5:00 pm

"A" Meet: Thursday, July 24
Grand Haven HS Pool, 17001 Ferris St., Grand Haven, MI 49417
Split into two sessions...Session I is 8&Unders and 9-10 Girls. Session II is 9-10 Boys and 11-12's.
Session I
Warm-up: 1:00 pm, Must be checked in by 1:15 pm
Meet Start: 2:00 pm
Session II
Warm-up: 4:30 pm, Must be checked in by 4:45 pm
Meet Start: 5:30 pm

PLEASE LET YOUR COACH KNOW BY THURSDAY, JULY 17 IF YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT TO YOUR DESIGNATED CONFERENCE MEET. IF WE DON'T HEAR FROM YOU THAT YOU WILL NOT BE THERE, WE ARE PLANNING ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jenison Meet

Here are some great pics from our meet today!

Way to go kids!

Volunteer Opportunity

On Saturday, June 21, the Hamilton Varsity Girls and Boys Swimmers and Divers have the opportunity to volunteer at the Tulip City Tiny Tri at Bouws Pool. We will be meeting at Bouws Pool at 7:50 AM to get our assignments and figure out what we will be doing. This will be a great opportunity for us to help in our local community. Please wear something Hamilton Swimming and Diving. Please let me know if you will be joining us for this great opportunity.
ET

Summer Diving

This summer both Coach DeRoos and Coach VandeWege will be running summer diving. This summer diving is for established divers within the program but if you are someone new who would like to start diving, please contact me and we will see what we can work out.

Coach DeRoos will be here 8-10:00 am for 6 weeks on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. These will run on the weeks of June 9, June 16, June 23, July 7, July 14, and July 21. ****Please note, due to home age group meets there will be no diving on Thursdays, June 19 and 26, and July 17. Cost is $10/week.

Coach VandeWege will be here from 6:30-8:00 pm for 6 weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays. These will run June 9-25 and July 7-23. There is also a possibility if there is enough interest to run another set from July 28-August 6. The cost will be $20 for each three week session.

If you would like to come to any or all of these, let me know via email or phone what times and dates (sessions) you plan on attending so our coaches know how many and who to expect.

Thanks
ET

The nitty gritty is done now lets have some fun

Since my initial registering, etc. I took some time to set the site up and get it looking presentable. Hopefully you will agree that it looks pretty good for someone with no skill in the area. Blogger makes it pretty easy to set it up.

I would love to have you guys comment on what you see and offer any suggestions.

Now for a little recap on what we've been able to accomplish and how I feel about our progress in our first 6 years of being a program:
We started out with a bang in our first winter age group season. Lots of kids and lots of learning took place by both the kids and the coaches. We represented Hamilton well and had a lot of fun.

As we progressed over the next couple of age group seasons our swimmers definitely took off. Our kids got a lot faster and we learned how to compete.

Then we had the opportunity to start with middle school girls and middle school boys swimming and diving teams. Coach DeRoos came on as diving coach and I had the opportunity to head up the swim coaching for middle school. We had a great time that year and ended up being pretty competitive for a first year middle school team. The girls showed a lot of talent during their season against very tough competition. We also had several divers who placed well at the end of season invite. The boys team got crazy fast. They went gangbusters and really swam well. I think a lot of people were wondering where our middle schools boys came from.

The second year of middle school swimming continued on the same trend as the first.

Then came our first season of varsity swimming. In spring of 2005 we had approval from the board to start a varsity swimming and diving program. Our girls forged the way in the fall of 2005. We had some rough moments in that first season but we also had a remarkable group of young ladies. We finished for a tie for fourth in our conference with Jade Evink breaking two conference records in the 100 fly and 100 back. We also qualified two swimmers and our medley relay to the state meet. Crystal Jager and Jade Evink were the first individual qualifiers for Hamilton. Jade went on to finish 9th in the 1oo back to score Hamilton's first points at a state meet.

The boys picked up where the girls left off the end of November. They had a stellar season and swam and dove very well. The season ended with a runner-up finish in our conference and having one swimmer and one diver qualify for the state meet. Jordan Moses qualified for state in the 100 back and Shane DeVries qualified for the state competition through regionals. No points were scored but it was a great experience.

Our second season came in the fall of 2006. The girls were on a mission to win the conference. They did not dissapoint. They went undefeated in duals and then won the conference meet by over 100 points. They set conference records in the 200 Medley Relay, the 200 IM, the 100 Fly, and the 100 Back. Qualified to the state meet were the 200 Medley Relay, Crystal Jager in the 200 IM and 100 Breast, and Jade Evink in the 100 Fly and 100 Back. The 200 Medley Relay finished in 14th place and Jade finished 5th in the 100 Back.

Our boys second season was a hammerfest full of timedrops and improvement. Not to be outdone by the girls and their conference victory, the boys finished at 10 and 1 in duals and won the conference meet at their home pool to take home the conference title. We had a lot more state qualifiers this year despite the tightening of the qualifying standards by the MHSAA...needless to say our boys got a lot faster. Mark Mesbergen qualified in the 200 IM, Jordan Moses, Ethan Hagen, and Jack Lepird qualified in the 50 Free, Brandon Helmkamp qualified in diving, Jordan Moses and Ethan Hagen qualified in the 100 Free, David VanOss qualified in the 500 Free, Jordan Moses and Jack Lepird qualified in the 100 Back, and the 200 and 400 Free Relays qualilfied. Unfortunately, fate was against as we failed to qualify any swims to Saturday. However, we had a good experience and learned a lot from this years trip to the state meet.

On to 2007. Our third season. The girls once again had an outstanding year...far exceeding everyone's expectations. The finished 9 and 3 in dual meets, 5 and 0 in the conference, and won an exciting conference meet to win their second straight conference title. The addition of Division 3 at the state level opened a lot of doors for our girls and that they took full advantage of. Following is a list of state qualifiers and finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jade Evink, Crystal Jager, Caitlin Lohr, Emily LaPorta - 2nd Place
200 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 9th, Brittni Ritter - 10th
200 IM - Crystal Jager - dns, Caitlin Lohr - dns
50 Free - Caitlin Lohr - 3rd, Madalynn Kempkers - 12th, Emily LaPorta - 24th
Diving - Jessica Naber - 10th
100 Fly - Jade Evink - 7th, Caitlin Lohr - 18th, Crystal Jager - 20th
100 Free - Brittni Ritter - DQ - 5th place time
500 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 11th, Madalynn Kempkers - dns
200 Free Relay - Caitlin Lohr, Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Emily LaPorta - State Champs
100 Back - Jade Evink - 2nd
100 Breast - Crystal Jager - 3rd
400 Free Relay - Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Jade Evink, Crystal Jager - 6th
The team went on to take home the 4th place trophy missing 3rd by only two points. I was fortunate enough to be selected for DIII Girls Swim Coach of the Year. Jade Evink was selected by the Hamilton HS coaching staff as Senior Athlete. Jade also signed a National Letter of Intent to swim on scholarship at DI Oakland University. We lose a great senior class after this year but we have a bunch of talented freshman coming in so we are excited to see where we can go.

The 2007-2008 season for our boys was just as exciting. The boys finished the season with a 10 and 1 record. Their only loss was to Grandville by 8 points. They finished at 4 and 0 in conference duals and won the conference meet by 140 points to win their second straight conference title. For the boys the addition of the third division at the state level was great. Below are the state meet qualifiers and their finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jordan Moses, Maison DeJonge, Jack Lepird, Daniel Ruffner - 6th
200 Free - David VanOss - 9th, Austin Breuker - 24th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 IM - Mark Mesbergen - 10th, Jordan Moses - dns
50 Free - Jordan Moses - 5th, Jack Lepird - 6th
Diving - Brandon Helmkamp - 29th
100 Fly - Jordan Moses - dns
100 Free - Jack Lepird - 7th, Jordan Moses - dns, David VanOss - dns
500 Free - David VanOss - 6th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 FR - 26th
100 Back - Jordan Moses - 2nd, Jack Lepird - dns
100 Breast - Mark Mesbergen - 7th
400 Free Relay - Jack Lepird, David VanOss, Mark Mesbergen, Jordan Moses - 4th
The boys finished in 6th place, just 1.5 points out of 5th and 8 points out of 4th. Many good things happened at this years state meet and many lessons were learned from things that didn't go great. We are very excited to see what next year will bring.

The summer season is about to get underway and we are fired up and ready to go!!! We are looking forward to getting some more "hammer down" swimming in and seeing how fast we can go.

Great job to all of our athletes and lets continue to strive to see how great we can become.

Check the links on the right hand side of the page to see some cool stuff including a link to my Windows Live space with files including team records, a record progression for both boys and girls, and results from our past conference meets.

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Well...here we are.

I have been meaning to get something up and going for our swimming program for some time now, and finally I took the step and did it. The hope for this is to be able to post practice schedules, news about the teams, and meet results.

Here goes nothin'.