June/July 2016
Oakdale Swim Team Newsletter
California Gold, Oakdale Masters, Gators, Adult Learn to Swim
Oakdale Club Swim after Gators
The end of Gators is
​
coming within a month. So
what’s next? Club swim! Club
swim through California Gold
(no longer Oakdale Aquatics) is
USA competitive swimming. If
your swimmer is interested in
doing more of a variety of races
and distances, then club swim
is for them. ​
While Gators
focuses on the introduction to
swimming and learning the
four strokes, club swim focuses on training, setting and
accomplishing goals (with some help from goal binders), and
preparing swimmers for competition at USA Swim meets. ​
As our
Head Coach Russ Van Cleave says, “We focus on the process not
the results.” Club swimming is about working on goals over the
long term, not the short term. Swimmers do not need to “qualify”
to be on the club team. Any swimmer who can make it across the
pool without assistance or holding the lane line, can join
California Gold.
“What happened to Oakdale Aquatics?” In January of this
year we merged with Lodi Swim Club and Ellis Aquatics in Tracy
to form California Gold. We did this so we as a team can compete
with other teams at championship meets, build relays, and make
traveling meets easier and more enjoyable for swimmers.
Starting August 1st​
​the price structure and practice for all
Gold swimmers will be:
Age Group
Price Per Month​
​
All Practice Times: TBA
​
8 – Unders:
$45
Three day/week schedule
9 – 10
$60
Monday – Friday
11 – 14
$75
Monday – Friday
15 – Older
(High School Age)
$95
Monday – Friday
There is also a mandatory USA Swimming Registration Fee of
$47.00. This is the seasonal fee that allows swimmers to swim at club
meets from August 1st-January 28th (for club swimmers swimming
through January-December, the annual fee is $77.00). The USA Swim
June/July 2016
Registration is also for safety and insurance reasons. Note that for
first year club swimmers, OST will cover half of the USAS registration
fee, and will cover a quarter of the fee for second year swimmers.
Swim-a-Thon Recap
The Oakdale Swim Team 2016 Swim-a-Thon was
a success, thanks to all the swimmers who swam
many, many, many laps (in addition to raising funds
to continue to run our Oakdale team(!)), and all the
volunteers who helped keep track of the laps during
the event! Those who swam the most laps per age
group for Gators are Chase Lemke, in the 6 and
under group, swimming a total of 75 laps; Levi White
and Olivia Russell tied for most laps in the 7-8 group
swimming 132 laps during the two hour event; Sage
Schmidt took first in the 9-10 age group with 184 laps; most laps swam for the 11-12 group went to
Christopher Cancino, who swam 230 laps; and taking first for most laps in the 13 and older age division,
Matthew Hamilton swam a total of 238 laps!
OST’s California Gold club team also participated in the Swim-a-Thon. Reagan Shatswell took
most laps for the 8 and under division with 50 laps; Abby Heerema swam the most laps for the 9-10 age
group, swimming a total of 238 laps; Marissa Ragio swam 226 laps and took first in the 11-12 age group;
and Bre Campbell took first for most laps swam in the 13 and older age group with 306 laps total!
Thanks to everyone who volunteered and raised funds for the team! Oakdale Swim Team can continue
on throughout the season and gear up for next year due to everyone's efforts.
Past Lodi and Turlock Gator Meet Statistics
In June, the Oakdale Gators swam a total of 107 races at Lodi’s Tokay meet, and 149 races at the
Turlock swim meet. At the Lodi meet, 88% of the 107 races were best times, and 77% of the 149 races at
Turlock became new best times for the majority of Oakdale swimmers in attendance. Across the two
meets, five B-level time standards were achieved. The overall amount of time dropped at the Lodi meet
was 453.32 seconds, and at the Turlock meet the total time
dropped reached a grand total of 782.6 seconds! This means
that while not as many race times (in proportion to the total
amount of races) dropped at Turlock as they did at Lodi,
those that did decrease in time dropped significantly lower
than the races swam at Lodi! This is great news, as it shows
that swimmers have become stronger and more efficient in
the water since the Lodi meet.
From a coach's perspective, swimmers at the meet
showed a tremendous amount of technique improvement,
strength and good sportsmanship, with teammates cheering for each other at the end of lanes, and
participating on relays at the start of the day. It is always refreshing and rewarding to see more and
more swimmers attending meets, becoming stronger swimmers, and continuing to show
encouragement to fellow teammates. As the meets continue, and swimmers drop more and more time,
it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of faster times, but it is equally important (if not more so)
to put as much emphasis on technique improvements during the races as overall time dropped. For
example, a swimmer who has their head up for one race can still drop time, and yet another swimmer
can work very hard to keep their head down and still increased their time, but in the end, the swimmer
June/July 2016
who learns to keep their head down as they swim, will in the long run, drop more time, and be a more
proficient swimmer than the one who keeps their head up, and does not put effort into swimming
properly.
Masters​
Lake Del Valle Open Water Swim
​
In the beginning of June, the Oakdale Aquatic Masters team sent
four swimmers to an Open Water Swim Festival in Livermore at Lake
Del Valle. Open water swimming is a tough, but rewarding
experience. There are no lane lines, no black lines for guidance, and
swimmers are set out in waves for the heats. Swimming the 1.25 Km
race (0.8 miles), were ​
Ray Jackson, Arijaan Bulk, and Dana Macabales
swimming it in ​
32:54.60, 28:44.90, and 21:28.30 respectively. Coach
Ed Mageean swam the 2.5 Km race (1.55 miles) in 45:54.55, and Dana
Macabales also swam the 2.5 Km (1.55 miles) (in addition to the 1.25
Km race) in 44:27.70.
Oakdale’s U.S Masters team has two practice times over the
summer. Morning sessions go from 7:30-8:30am Monday-Friday and are
lap swimming sessions. The evening practice time is at 6:00pm-7:00pm
Monday-Friday, with coached sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and lap swimming Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday. If you would like to learn more about the Oakdale Aquatic Masters team or
Adult Learn to Swim lessons, visit the OakdaleSwimTeam.com and check out the Oakdale U.S Masters
registration and info page.
● There is a fall club swim meeting for continuing Gator swimmers on Thursday, July 14th at
6:30pm in coach Russ’ classroom. Those interested in continuing to swim throughout the
fall are encouraged to meet outside of the pool deck with board members and club coaches
at 6:25pm on the 14th to be directed to coach Russ’ classroom.
● The Oakdale Invitational Swim Meet, to be held on July 23rd, is open for sign ups on the
oakdaleswimteam.com website towards the bottom left of the home page. Meet information
(such as warm-up and meet start times) can be located in the Meet Info link underneath the
listed Gator meet.
● End of the year awards will be held on Thursday, July 28th at 6:00pm at the OHS pool. Only
swimmers who have attended meets will have awards. Attendance at one meet is needed in
order to receive any awards. If swimmers have not attended the Turlock or a Lodi meets,
the Oakdale home meet on July 23rd is a perfect time to attend a meet in order to receive an
award at awards night.
Oakdale Swim Team, June/July 2016