The parking lot at Cactus Pool in Scottsdale fills up early on Memorial Day weekends for the Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) annual signature event: the Cactus Classic.
The event attracts some big names: six-time Olympic medalist and Tucson resident Matt Grevers and Giles Smith, the University of Arizona graduate who became a multiple All-American and was named the Pac-12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year. Smith now swims for the U.S. National Team and trains with Phoenix Swim Club.
But it’s not just famous swimmers whose hopes hinge on these races. The roster includes athletes from as young as 6 to teen Olympic hopefuls. All are serious about their sport—and so are their followers.
A CULTURE OF FUN
Few outside the swim community seem to know much about the world of competitive swimming. A recent study found that nearly 80 percent of parents have not considered swimming when choosing a sport for their children despite the fact that 95 percent have taken their children to the pool for fun, according to SwimToday, a national campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of swimming as a sport for kids.
Parents who opt for swim clubs for their kids are enthusiastic about their choice. D.A. Franklin, of Centennial, Colorado, who came to Mesa last spring to participate in a SwimToday panel discussion with other “swim moms,” says her daughter, four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, was drawn to swimming when she was 4 years old because she saw the kids on the team “having a blast.” Missy had to wait until she was 5 to join, “but to this day, she has not stopped having fun,” says her mom, who adds that it was “the atmosphere of swim team” that made Missy stick with it.
Scottsdale “swim mom” Alice Cunningham, whose 11-year-old daughter Ava swims on the SAC team, says swim club has been a positive experience: “There’s a ‘you-can-do-it’ mindset that’s got to be contagious to the kids. It’s a culture all its own.”
THE THRILL OF COMPETITION
To understand the culture of swimming, you must understand swim meets, which have been compared to the “big game” in other sports. It’s where the highlight-reel moments—and the big letdowns—happen.
A typical meet lasts three to four days. Racers are divided by age and skill level for various types of races—freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke, butterfly, relay and medley—over a range of distances, from 50 meters (for sprinters) to one mile (for distance racers).
With all of these variations taking place in an eight- to 10-lane pool, a swim meet is a drawn-out affair. An individual swimmer might compete a total of just seven minutes over the course of a four-day event, so athletes and their families spend most of their time waiting. It also means everyone gets to know each other very well.
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
When swimmers discuss their favorite aspect of the sport, the “sense of community” is often mentioned—and it’s not just the kids who bond.
Swim meets are coordinated outings where one family brings the tent, one brings food, one brings blankets, and so on. The atmosphere is close knit. Even two-time Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones said in a recent interview that, as an only child, it was the family atmosphere of swimming, not the competition, that drew him in.
This closeness may seem like one of the side benefits of swim team, but it is truly a necessary component. Parent involvement is key to the continued success of the sport. Every meet requires at least 30 volunteers who serve as timekeepers, announcers, officials, hosts and concession-stand attendants. Many clubs like SAC require parents to volunteer 30 hours per kid, per year, or they are charged $33 per hour. Beyond the requisite service hours, there are also fundraising requirements.
For the athletes, the emotional reinforcement they receive from a closely woven support group of families and peers is also vital to the sport’s longevity. Swimmers’ friends are often their motivators, because participation in swim club is a shared commitment.
“It’s a lot harder than people think,” says Erin Spielman, 18, a senior at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix and a sprinter on Scottsdale’s SAC team. “Unlike other sports, you have to work out every day, without fail. If you skip a week, you could be out for two months.”
EXTREME TRAINING
Talk to any competitive swimmers and you will learn that, between training and swim meets, they have little free time. Being on a club team means spending most of their waking hours in and around the pool. Even the youngest swimmers, who usually start around age 5, begin with one- to two-hour practices at least three days per week that eventually increase to six days per week. Advanced swimmers typically spend 20 hours every week, year-round, at the pool—the equivalent of a part-time job. They do this on top of schoolwork and other commitments.
Julie Gibson, 19, who graduated from Pinnacle High School in Scottsdale and was awarded swim and academic scholarships to the University of Houston, says it made her laugh when she heard her classmates complain about getting up for school. She would think: “I’ve already been up since 5 a.m. for practice and will go back again [in the afternoon].”
There are few breaks: usually one week at Christmas, another in the spring and two weeks in the summer. Competitive swimmers swim throughout the year, in all kinds of weather, including freezing temperatures. In fact, most swimmers prefer cold water—they liken it to exercising in an air-conditioned gym versus a hot sauna.
Practices are excruciatingly difficult. In swimmer’s lingo, a “5×100” means traveling 100 yards—the length of a football field—five times, with little rest in between.
Swimmers literally gasp for breath between strokes. Some describe it as a constant feeling of drowning; many have vomited or passed out from the exertion.
Water resistance is another obstacle. The telltale “swimmer’s body”—the muscular V-shaped physique of broad shoulders and a narrow waist—is the result of workouts where even the tiniest muscles are engaged by the water resistance.
Lactic acid, which builds up during anaerobic (occurring without oxygen) levels of performance, can cause severe cramping and charley horses. Swimmers’ muscles will actually constrict to the point where they bulge and throb. They must “warm down” for approximately 30 minutes to release the lactic acid after going full throttle, which also helps prevent post-training soreness.
MINDSET FOR SUCCESS
When an outsider hears about the physical demands, the mental dedication and the time requirements of this sport, it’s only natural to ask: Why do it?
Erin Spielman says she asks herself this question on a weekly basis. One of the main things that keeps her going? “I know my swim team friends are going to be there.” She says they are special to her because “they have my best interest at heart.”
“I couldn’t imagine my life without swim. It’s who I am,” says one of her best friends, Kira Thomas, 18, a senior at McClintock High School in Tempe.
Despite how much time swimmers devote to training, it doesn’t seem to lower their performance at school. Swimmers’ goal-oriented mindsets can set them up for success in all areas of their lives.
Samantha Fazio, 18, who graduated from Pinnacle High School in Scottsdale with a 4.0 GPA and academic and swim scholarships to the National Championship Swim Team at the University of Georgia, offers this perspective: “Swimmers are that kind of people. They try to achieve in everything they do, including academics.”
Scholarships are a top priority for most swimmers. “They all have intentions of swimming in college,” says SAC Head Coach Kevin Zacher, of Scottsdale. He estimates that 80 percent of his team receives some type of scholarship; even if they don’t, he says swimming can open doors. “It helps them get into a school that they otherwise wouldn’t get into.”
In the short term, swimmers’ goals are to beat their “personal bests.” Though they are on a team, swimming is very much an individual sport, and except for the coaches, no one seems to pay much attention to the team points accrued. Unlike other sports, swimming is not judged. It’s just you against the clock, so individual times matter.
Another goal of most competitive swimmers is to make their “cuts” as they strive to progress through levels of meets—from Sectionals to Jr. Nationals (or Nationals for those over 18) to Olympic Trials to the highest achievement: Olympic Team Trials.
2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS LOOM
With the 2016 Summer Olympic Games coming up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, many of the swimmers have Olympic aspirations on their minds. Ryan Hoffer, 17, a sophomore at Chaparral High School in Paradise Valley, already made the Olympic Trials at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb. in June 2015. Samantha plans to be there, too.
The chances of all swimmers representing their country in the Olympic Games are slim—and winning a medal is even rarer. But they all insist that it doesn’t matter, because the effort is worth it.
Maia Brundage, 19, who graduated from BASIS Scottsdale in 2014 and now swims for the University of British Columbia Swim Team in Canada, says she has never had regrets: “The hard work you put in translates to everything. Besides, the endorphin rush you get when you reach your ‘personal best’ is the best feeling in the world.”