Summer league of their own
JEFFERSON TWP — While experience is appreciated by SEBCO Pool coach Ian Lindsey, he knows at the same time that experience is something he will have to build in his new swimmers.
The pool at Laura Doerr Park is one of four outdoor pools in Butler County that is a member of the nine-team AK Valley Swim League.
The other county pools in the league are Alameda Waterpark, Penn Valley and Zelienople.
Pools in Kittanning, Springdale, Natrona Heights, Ellwood City and Vandegrift fill out the league.
Swimmers range from 4 to 18 years old and are there for a variety of reasons, ranging from social to competitive.
“We are one of the teams that have a 50-50 mix of kids that are really experienced and kids that have no idea,” Lindsey said. “We try to take the kids that don't have any idea and give them a baseline idea and build off that.”
Freeport rising senior Tyler Ben didn't have much more than a baseline when he joined the team six years ago.
He said he was nearly obese, but had taken basic swim lessons and thought he might enjoy swimming.
When Ben swam a 100 during his first practice, it wasn't as smooth as he had hoped.
“I was out of breath and didn't feel like I could do the rest of practice,” said Ben, who is 5-foot-8 and weights 135 pounds. “I at least had some swim background. I wasn't just flopping my arms around. I remember trying to do flip turns and the other strokes and failing miserably.”
But Ben stuck with swimming, dropped the weight and joined a club team at the Allegheny Valley YMCA in Natrona Heights in addition to the Yellowjackets' varsity team.
He has qualified for the Western Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic League championships in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.Overall, Ben feels like he has become mentally tougher.He had tried soccer and baseball, but quit both after one or two seasons.“I don't get in the pool just to swim,” Ben said. “I want to do something. I want to work hard and reach that time and I use that as a motivator.”It's the kind of progression Lindsey, who is in his second year as head coach, likes to see from his swimmers.Lindsey, who swims for Division II Clarion University, swam for SEBCO and was a WPIAL runner-up in the 100 breaststroke for Knoch High School in 2013.“It's really laid back, which is great,” Lindsey said. “It's not overbearing. ... All through the league, you have some kids that are in it to be social. Then there were kids like my friends and I who would swim for a club team and swim here for racing experience.”Katie Jones, a 2013 Knoch graduate who swam for Penn Valley, believed summer swimming brought the passion back after a grueling season of YMCA and high school swimming.“It makes kids remember why they love swimming,” said Jones, who runs cross country and swims at Westminster College. “I wouldn't say you get burnt out from the winter season. (But) at WPIAL and YMCA meets, there is more at stake. There are college recruiters there, they aren't there for summer swim.”Katie Jones' involvement with the AK Valley Swim League is a family tradition.Her mother, Corrie, has coached the Penn Valley team off-and-on for 20 years. Katie's sister, Abby, swims with the team and her father is a race official.Katie has been an assistant coach for three years now.“It's been really cool,” Katie said. “I've seen kids who weren't able to swim on their first day make the older age group and do amazing. From a coaching standpoint, it's cool to see a kid grow.”Corrie, who is the head coach, had the same experience when she started swimming.The 1987 Butler graduate joined the Golden Tornado's first team as a sophomore after never swimming before.Corrie made the team but only because they didn't cut anybody. She worked at it becoming team captain by her senior season and ended up swimming at Westminster.That progression has helped her work with youths of all experience levels, including two 12-year-olds this summer who had no experience.“I started swimming when I was 15 and don't forget what it was like to go through that,” Corrie said. “I understand where they are coming from with the anxiety of watching an 8-year old swimming right by you.“I try to coach everyone at their level. If you are competitive, we want to meet your needs. If you're beginning, we want to help you succeed through the season by teaching you the four competitive strokes.”Corrie said she has about 100 youths in the program at Penn Valley's six-lane pool.What she likes about summer swimming is that it gives young swimmers an opportunity to be competitive. For some of them, swimming the length of the pool for the first time is a cause for celebration.“Some teams are competitive and others are smaller,” Corrie said. “We try to have everybody swim for points. Swimming for points isn't the most important thing, we want to see their times and technique improve.”Lindsey said there are about 63 participants for the SEBCO team.Teaching the age and experience range requires thought.“I think I try to think of things that when I was learning how to swim and when I was first here, things I knew I was missing at practice,” Lindsey said.“Things that coaches weren't telling me that they should have been telling me. ... Everybody is built differently, not everybody is built the same. You have to be situational with all the kids you talk to.”Ben got into the pool looking to find his niche. He found that and a sport he wouldn't quit.“Here I made quite a few friends, and I'm close with a lot of them and we're practically best friends,” Ben said. “The sport in general I just loved it and wanted to come back. I like coming to practice and choose not to miss it.”
