Swimming capes

This is one of my favorite pictures from the swim team: 4 swimmers confidently striding to their relay full of Montclair Swim Team branding. You might even recognize the picture from the header of this blog.

Getting the parka is a rite of passage for swimmers; I'm pretty sure every swimmer on the team has one. And since the team swims all year round, these parkas are needed to keep warm. They are, quite possibly, as important as caps and goggles to the young competitive swimmer.

But that's not the point of the story. As part of the team's upcoming 50th Anniversary reunion picnic, we've been talking to a lot of alumni. One of the things we found out is that the parkas were called "capes" in the 80s. Capes! That is fantastic.

Of course, this might bring up another image -- Gary Hall Jr. And that isn't a bad thing. So I think the team needs to take its branding to another level. We need gigantic Montclair Swim Team foam fingers, a battle flag to fly atop the team canopy, a team bus and maybe some team shoes designed by Ryan Lochte. At the very least go back to calling them capes.

High points and big smiles

At a recent meet, we were waiting for results and picking up ribbons long after the meet had ended. We just happened to be listening to the high points announcements and heard Gabe's name called. Luckily we heard that because he had already left.

So we had the good fortune of being able to bring home his trophy and present it to him. I have never seen such a genuine joyous reaction as when Gabe first got his trophy. He raised it in the air triumphantly with the biggest smile I've ever seen. I wish I had a camera at that moment. Luckily, the smile never went away for the 2 minutes it took me to take this picture of him.


Congratulations Gabe on great swimming and an even better reaction to the trophy.

Thank you to the aging off Sharks

Three times a year, the Montclair Swim Team says good bye to its older swimmers, sending them off to bigger and better things both in swimming and in life. It's one downside to being a 12& under team but it gives the swimmers chances to make new choices and build on the solid foundation of swimming and teamwork that MST provides. This past Friday, the team had a small picnic to wish the five swimmers aging off well in their future endeavors.

Three of the swimmers are the youngest sibling and last to leave the team from their family while two have younger siblings. Many thanks to Chelsea, Erin, Sarah B, Sarah M, and Savannah for all the great times and great swims!











Though the team can never *replace* these young swimmers, there is always the pre-guppy clinic to introduce new swimmers to the team and keep the tradition alive.

The future of the Montclair Swim Team

This little guy is working hard to join the team. He's only four so he has a few years left to perfect the stroke but if effort counts, he might just make the team now.



Who has designed this perfect whirlwind of a stroke? None other than Montclair alumni Camille F. and Maddie P., teaching this summer at Haufler Swim School (hey, there's another Montclair connection!). I think Coach Bill is going to be pretty happy with their handiwork when Noah starts up in a few years!

Swim Team picture day

Picture day is probably the most difficult day a swim team faces.  You are presented with a number of challenges:

1. Getting every kid on the team to practice on the same day
2. Placing slippery kids in correct height order
3. Placing them in rows according to height
4. Getting all 50+ of them to smile and/or not make a goofy face

I think we came close.  I just counted 45 swimmers so there were definitely some missing.  Every single swimmers' eyes are open and no goofy faces...probably the closest is a few overly exuberant smiles.  One swimmer jumped his height-dictated place in line but I remember about 15 parents working on getting him to sit up straighter to match the row.  So, overall, a success.

Swimming: individual or team sport?

I've noticed something weird at the 50 or so swim meets I've been to...team cheering increases exponentially the closer the team canopy is to the pool.  I could probably graph it with the highest cheering ratio being at meets like this past weekend, where Montclair's canopy was sitting at the 50 yard line over by lane 8.  If kids just have to stand up to cheer, they will gladly put down their cup o' noodles and do it every single race.

But there is one meet where the canopy could be in Timbuktu and they'd still cheer like crazy.  The relays.  Montclair used to host the relay meet but switched to the Pentathlon two years ago.  Now, our only obligation at the meet is to swim fast and cheer.  There might not be a louder meet.  Swimmers line the side of the pool, hang out at the turning end, and the three non-swimming relayers get in the timers way over on the blocks.  It makes you realize that in the hundreds of individual swims these kids do, they still become a team.

The Montclair Swim Team might have the grossest relay tradition of all time.  The four swimmers traditionally each bite a corner of the relay card before turning it in to the timers.  This started at least as early as the late
80s based on the Facebook alumni group.  And it continues to this day.  If chewing on the corner of a relay card doesn't build camaraderie and teamsmanship, I don't know what will.

The swimsuit as a fashion statement

Many credit the jammer with bringing boys back into competitive swimming.  I credit crazy jammers for bringing boys back to fast swimming .  Before jammers, boys had the option of the speedo or the speedo.  Both of which are undoubtedly well suited to swimming in the water but not the most comfortable for roaming around a swim deck.  Especially in those awkward pre and early teen years (full disclosure: my awkward period lasted from about 10 until I luckily met my future wife 18 years later).

Once jammers made the scene, the number of boy swimmers started climbing back up.  But something was still missing, that quirky goofy I'm-different attitude that young boys need and black jammers with a colored stripe just don't convey.

Then came Splish and Dolfin and boys could be boys.  Prints that are technicolor conflagrations of pure energy were being put into nylon/spandex blends.  Parents were blinded, stroke/turn officials were confused, and boys were in their element.  Times dropped, Michael Phelps happened and Montclair's own started getting bolder and bolder.

Jolen swam a JO time in the 50 back last summer and just got a new one in the 50 free.  We could credit his hard work, great coaching and natural skill.  Or we could face facts and realize that the jammers that looked like they were cut from the Barnum & Bailey Big Top caused the time drop.  Either way, he got the time and we can look forward to more blinding displays of speed and fashion as he swims his way to more.

Check out Montclair's new affiliate link with SwimOutlet, buy some technicolor jammers and support your team with an 8% rebate to Montclair Swim Team.