Download the full team practice schedule (updated 10/19/2011)
Download the practice schedule for the week of Feb 13-19 (updated 2/5/2012)
Download the practice schedule for the week of Feb 20-26 (updated 2/5/2012)
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This practice schedule is in effect until March 30th. There will be NO practice on Saturday 3/17 — — — — — — — Practice on 2/18 and 3/3 is LCM — — — — — — — practice on 2/24 and 2/25 will be in the shallow end |
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What is Master's swimming all about? Thanks to ICE Master's swimmer Brad Gilchrist and ICE Head Coach Donald Spellman now you'll know!
By joining the local ICE Masters swim club, you will improve your cardiovascular conditioning, increase flexibility, bum calories, tone muscles, and make whole new set of friends (who only want to talk about swimming to anyone who will listen). Masters swimming is for anyone who wants to improve their swimming and workout in a supportive, encouraging and motivating group atmosphere..... and can drag themselves out of bed and be at the pool by 6 a.m.
Some people have the misperception that Masters Swimming is only for accomplished swimmers. This is far from the truth. Our Masters team is comprised of a wide variety of ability levels as well as a wide variety of ages. There are people on the team that swam competitively in college as well as people who just took up swimming in recent years. The ages of team members ranges from early 20s to 60, with every decade in between well represented. At many of the Masters swim meets there are people competing in their 70s, 80s and 90s! The Masters Swimming program is for persons 18 years of age and older who have Red Cross Level 5 skills. You can only be too young to join a Masters swim team.
There are opportunities to compete in Masters swim meets but participation is a personal choice and is not required. Several of our members do regularly compete in swim meets at the state and national level. People enjoy competing in the meets as it gives them an added training goal. Many triathletes have also found the Masters swimming program beneficial to their training program. By and large, however, the main goal of all the participants is simply a desire to improve and maintain health and well being through swimming.
There are many advantages to swimming with a Master's team. The key advantage is the synergy that comes from working out in a "team" atmosphere. Every one of the Masters swimmers would agree that they don't work nearly as hard or get nearly as a good a workout if they try and do it alone. The toughest part of the workout is getting to the pool in the morning but even that becomes routine after awhile.
As part of the part of the Iowa City Eels, from time to time, members of the Masters team also volunteer their time and efforts to help run the age group swim meets held at Mercer Park. By organizing and hosting these meets, the club raises funds to pay the coaching staff, maintain equipment, and pay for pool time. Hosting these events is vital to keeping overall club dues to a minimum and participation of the Masters swim group is greatly appreciated and needed.
The Masters swimming group meets four mornings per week for most the year at Mercer Park Aquatic Center (all year) and in the summer we also use City Park pool. All workouts are supervised and organized by a qualified and certified USA-S swim coach. For insurance purposes, all Masters must join the U.S. Masters Swimming Organization (forms available from coach and on the Iowa Masters webpage). Yearly dues for the US Masters are $50. All those new to ICE get a free trial week to try some workouts. Monthy rates for the ICE masters group can also be found on this site.
So set that alarm and resist the urge to hit snooze. Take a chance and act on that impulse to "start swimming someday." You won't be sorry. But be forewarned, it may become an addiction for life!