HEAD COACH AJ BLOCK

Coach AJ has been coaching the Lincolnshire Swim Club for the past 13 years, has coached HS teams for over 15 years, and is currently the Head Coach of the Vernon Hills HS Girls Swim Team.  AJ started swimming at age 8 at a club just like LSC. She swam at UMich and served as Captain of the women’s swim team. After a 15 year hiatus and raising 3 wonderful kids (Sam, Molly & Nate), she went back to the pool, training and competing on the United States Masters (USMS) circuit and is both a national and world ranked Master’s swimmer.

AGE GROUP SWIM COACHES

Our age group coaches have two things in common.

1. They love swimming

2. They love the Lincolnshire Swim Club.

Our age group coaches are local high school and college athletes who share their love of swimming with their students. Swimmers are grouped by age (6U = “6 and under” year olds, 8U = 7-8 year olds, etc) for practices and meets. Each age group coach will focus on proper swim technique for the four swim strokes (freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke), learn how to swim relays, start races from the blocks, flip turns and more.

NORTH SHORE LEAGUE

The LSC Windjammers belong to the 6-club North Shore League. Water polo meets are held on Monday evenings, while swim & dive meets are typically on Thursdays. The season ends with 2 championship meets. Swimmers & divers are selected to compete in either Age Group or Club Championships. The Water Polo season ends with a fun, all-league scrimmage.

The summer season as a Windjammer is fun and rewarding. Swim meets allow the athletes the opportunity to be set goals and see visual progress of those goals. Athletes work with their age group coach to pick swim events to try at each meet. Our season begins with a fun meet at LSC called Time Trials. This year, time trials will be held on June 14th. At this event, each athlete swims every event they are able to, in order to set their first official race “time”. A swimmers best time is used as their “seed time” for subsequent meets. The seed time determines which lane the swimmer will race in.

The regular season consists of 5 dual meets. Each meet begins with a 30 minute warm up session per team and the meet is typically 2-3 hours long. A dual meet is a swim meet against one team of swimmers. At these meets, swimmer work with their coach to select 3-4 events to swim in. The swimmer can race in up to 3 individual races and 1 relay (or 2 individual & 2 relays), not to exceed 4 races. Swimmers race in their age group. All swimmers receive a ribbon for their place at the meet in each event. Over the course of the season, swimmers work to improve their “best time”.

It takes a village to host a swim meet!

At each home meet, we need approximately 40 volunteers to help ensure we run effectively and efficiently.

Here is a low down of the volunteer positions at our swim meets:

CAN’T MAKE A MEET?

Can’t make a Meet?  Notify your Coach!  We ask that you notify their coach  in advance in writing if your child cannot make a meet.  Please be aware that the coaches take a great deal of time putting together swim event line ups so if your swimmer is unable to attend, please notify the coaches as soon as possible.

WHAT TO TAKE TO MEETS

1. Swim suit, team cap and goggles. It is a good idea to take an extra of each of these.
2. Towels – your swimmer will be there for several hours, so pack at least two.
3. Sweat suits or extra clothing to keep warm. Bring at least one outfit.
4. Games, coloring books, books, anything to pass the time.
5. Healthy snacks
6. Highlighter for heat sheet, Sharpie for writing on swimmer’s arm or leg.

HOW TO READ A HEAT SHEET

A heat sheet is your guide to know when and where to watch for your child in the pool.  Whether you are a swimmer or parent of a swimmer, you need to know how to read a heat sheet. Heat sheets contain a listing of all swimmers by event number, heat, and lane assignment. This will allow the swimmer to keep up with where they need to be and when.

BEFORE THE MEET STARTS

• Arrive at the pool at least 15 minutes before the scheduled warm-up time begins.
• Upon arrival, find a place to put your blankets, swim bags, etc. The team usually sits in one place together, so look for some familiar faces.
• Find the Heat Sheets. Heat sheets are printed just before practice.  It lists all swimmers in each event in order of seed time.  Parents should note their child’s events, lane and heats.
• Mark your swimmer – write each event, lane and heat number on their arm or leg with Sharpie. This helps the swimmer remember what events they are swimming and what event number to listen for.
• Swimmers now get their cap and goggles and report to the coach for warm-up instructions. It is very important for all swimmers to warm-up with the team.
• Immediately after warm-up, gather with Coach as a team for opening cheer. After warm-up, the swimmer will go back to the area where their towels are and sit there until their next event is called. This is a good time to use the bathroom, get a drink or have a snack.
• The meet will usually start about 10 – 15 minutes after warm-ups are over.
• All questions concerning meet results, an officiating call, or the conduct of a meet, should be referred to the coaching staff.
• When a swimmer has completed all of their events, they and their parents may go home. However, you should check in with the coach before leaving to make sure your swimmer is not included on a relay.