Times like these require solutions…
LSC leaders in Texas, Minnesota, and Illinois, have been working to find solutions to the obstacles of COVID-19.
As pools open in Texas, Gulf Swimming and Swimmingly are gearing up for a FUN and SAFE season of virtual swim meets.
“Running SAFE competitions in the landscape of physical distancing is a daunting task. Returning to practice safely and efficiently is the number one priority…but getting back to FUN is a close second,” said Julie Bachman, Executive Director of Gulf Swimming. “We owe it to our athletes and parents to offer some FUN this season.
Pools in the Midwest are not open yet, but that isn’t stopping Illinois Swimming’s Pam Lowenthal from looking towards the future.
“Right now our focus is on getting our athletes back in the pool. As we move forward, a virtual environment is going to be extremely important in getting back to competition.” said Lowenthal.
Why Swimmingly and Virtual Swim Meets?
The Gulf Swimming Board of Directors created a task force in late April to find competition solutions and ultimately chose to work with Swimmingly.
“The product checks all the boxes. Our teams can hold unsanctioned competitions at their facilities without touch pads, consoles, officials, paper, and parent volunteers…it just takes a little imagination,” said Bachman.
Gulf Swimming Technical Planning Chair and Houston Cougars Head Age Group Coach Clay Pruitt added,
“The Swimmingly platform provides unlimited opportunities when it comes to fostering a competitive atmosphere at your club’s facility. Clubs can have quick, easy, and ‘during practice’ events and challenges within their own club or with other clubs around the country; events that produce tangible results! Results are paramount to getting our sport back to competition while increasing safety by reducing the number of people needed on deck; such as utilizing cell phones to replace ‘shared equipment’ like stopwatches and clipboards…”
GULF SUMMER MADNESS
Gulf Swimming and Swimmingly are finalizing the details of the “Texas Shootout Summer Madness Bracket Challenge.” It’s time to bring March Madness to Swimming!
“This format will be an amazing way to bring back the excitement of racing and competition for our athletes…this is just the beginning,” said Bachman. “Our coaches and teams are already brainstorming creative formats…”
“I cannot wait to provide this much needed resource to our clubs and am very excited to host our first ‘Bust the Record Board Fun Friday’ at our own facility during practice. Most importantly, the athletes get to race & get results just like they are at a meet!” said COOGS coach Pruitt.
Swimmingly allows clubs to compete within their LSC and provides an opportunity to race against any team across the country, any time, anywhere. This is an exciting time for teams to come up with creative “pick-up style” meet formats. Additionally, clubs who have not been able to host meets will now be able to do so with ease.
Minnesota’s Sport Development Director, John Bradley said, “It’s an all in one solution that creates access for every team at a fraction of the price of conventional hardware and software solutions. It makes everything that’s hard about running swim meets simple, allowing athletes, coaches and parents to concentrate on the one thing that really matters…having fun!”
Imagination is the only limitation- what will the swim community come up with once they have their hands on this platform?
- Run unsanctioned events for FLEX members
- Events for pre-competitive groups
- Individual event bracket formats (ie: 12 and under 100 yd free competition)
- Series of virtual meets- revenue opportunity
ABOUT SWIMMINGLY: An easy-to-use app and software that help you run faster swim meets with less paper and fewer volunteers. Whether your team is year-round, summer, high school, pre-comp development, Swimmingly is perfect for you.
Run virtual swim meets with Swimmingly:
- Setup swim meets with ease whenever you want
- Utilize all lanes available at your venue for you side of the meet
- Whether 2 teams or 20 teams, each team can have their own heatsheet using ALL lanes
- Use lanes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc at both (all) venues
- Results automatically compile at conclusion of the meet
- Track each side of the meet with SwimminglyFan in real-time
- Eliminate transmission touchpoints on the pool deck
- Ability to host your swim meets
- Create a date window for your competition
- Revenue opportunities
- HAVE FUN!
ABOUT GULF SWIMMING: USA Swimming’s local governing body in the Houston area- supporting 60 teams, 11,000 athletes, 400 coaches, and hundreds of volunteer officials.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866.377.7946
Swimming news is courtesy of Swimmingly, a SwimSwam partner.
