COACH PETER
 I started swimming lessons when I was very young and have memories of being in a pool in Michigan with my brother and cousins, floating on my back when I was probably 3 years old. My competitive career began in Connecticut at the age of 7. I actually did not make the team in one town, so my mom took me to a different team in a neighboring town and we ended up buying a house within walking distance of the pool, so I had no excuses for practice. I continued to swim through high school, competing at state and national levels mainly in 100 and 200 butterfly. When I got to college, I developed shoulder tendonitis that prevented swimming for many years. Now, I have found a new love of distance swimming especially in open water. Swimming is a great sport because sometimes you are competing against others, but always you are competing against yourself. So you can lose a race, but still win.
COACH VERONIKA
 COACH TED
 COACH IAN
 COACH GWEN  My full name is Gwendolyn but please call me Gwen. I am a mother/wife, teacher, friend, who enjoys eating, so I have to enjoy exercising. I started swimming at 18 months in Stanstead pool. Peter Channel hosted a parent/child swim that the Polaroid pictures say I enjoyed. When I was five years old I began taking summer swimming lessons at Lake Salem Beach, guess who the director was? That's right, Peter Channel. We followed the Canadian Badge system, and I remember Peter holding me back in "Red" because I couldn't get my breathing right on the front crawl. Once I nailed that stroke I was a quick study, finishing all in the American and Canadian Badges by age twelve. My most vivid memory of swimming lessons is watching our swimming instructors shave their legs, while we swam back and forth between the public beach and the 4-H rafts. We would swim for two hours in every kind of weather except lightening storms. I remember miserably choking on waves as I turned my head to get a breath, trying my best to stay on course. I was little, but I was strong. When I was twelve, I surprised the entire Three Villages Swim project by beating 15 and 16 year old boys at the front crawl and back crawl raft race. I remember the instructors saying, "do your best Gwen," when I headed to the raft, and saying squeezing me in a towel hug when I returned. That day back in 1986 was the peak of my competitive swimming career. I went on to teach swimming lessons for four years and lifeguard, but I never had the chance to be formally coached in a pool. IROC has been a great opportunity for me to learn those skills that I was ready for at age 12. Veronika spent two mornings a week with me last year coaching me on flip turns and the rules of competition. She encouraged me to coach this year, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I am deeply thankful to the coaches for making this program a reality. It is something I never had growing up; something that would have allowed me to shine. My hope for the IROCKET swimmers is that they understand that swimming is a fantastic sport that not everybody has the dedication, or the courage to master. They should be proud of themselves for simply completing a practice, and extra proud of themselves for putting themselves out there and competing. | COACH HEATHER
 I started swimming in Florida when I was about 3yrs old, I always swam with wings until one day I forgot to put them on and jumped in the pool. There I was swimming away when my Mom and Grandma approached the pool with worried faces, I could see them whispering, "I don't think she knows she forgot to put her wings on", just then I looked at my arms and started panicking until, I realized I really was swimming!
Growing up, I took lessons at YWCA in Ridgewood, NJ. I joined my High School Swim Team in Hackensack, NJ. I became a Red Cross Lifeguard and got my WSI Certification and started working at the Health Spa 2 in Paramus, NJ as a group and private swim instructor for 10 yrs as well as a Physical Therapy assistant for 2yrs. I then moved to Orlando, FL and worked as a Lifeguard, Swim Instructor, and Coach at the YMCA Aquatic Center for 2 1/2yrs and had the oppurtunity to work with a world class coach, Mel Nash, and learned improved stroke techniques to help a swimmer learn to swim faster and use energy more efficiently. I also learned alot about running and hosting swim meets while being involved with the USA Open Syncronized Swim Meet, Junior Nationals, and Junior Olympics, as well as the Junior Special Oylmpics swim meets.
I have worked here at IROC for about 2 1/2 years. I enjoy coaching and private swim instruction and hope to enlighten parents and kids about all the oppurtunities available to them through swimming scholarships as well as Diving, Water Polo, and Syncronized Swimming. My hope is that people will take the sport of swimming as seriously as they do other popular sports in this area like Hockey and Basketball.
I love swimming because of the feeling of freedom it gives you, no strings attached, until we learn to fly, we can always swim. My favorite strokes are Breast Stroke, Butterfly, and Free Style of course.
COACH VAL
 My credentials include American Red Cross/USA Swimming Swim Coach Safety (2009) Training, American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, American Canoe Association Sea Kayaking Instructor with specialty in Traditional Paddling, Secondary Teacher (certified 1979-2005). I have also been an IROC Volunteer since 2006. I swam competitively as youth for the Burlington Seadogs, Air Force Barracudas, and eventually helped as an assistant coach for the men’s swim team at Bridgewater State College. Initially I swam backstroke – mostly because no one else did and became good but I discovered my real talent was the 200m breaststroke. Ultimately my favorite event became the IM – with a powerful backstroke, strong turns and a speedy breast often gave me an advantage. I always seemed to be doing something in the water but my first formal swim lessons came at age 11. That summer I progressed from a novice who could only maneuver underwater to the last place swimmer of the girls 11 & 12. By the time I was 14 I was an Olympic hopeful (though never realized). My coach at the Barracuda’s was really a drill sergeant! I started as a Girl Scout swim aide and have continued to help folks enjoy the water. Along the way performed and coached water ballet (better known now as synchronized swimming), played water polo, explored via SCUBA/snorkel, and enjoy paddle sports. My water interest also extends to my education. I trained to be an oceanographer but my path took me to environmental education, earth scientist, computer programmer and disaster recovery specialist. I continued to study and serve as a teacher and coach in a variety of settings – guiding students of all ages and backgrounds in a variety of learning experiences. My goal for the IROCKETS – to foster good technique to be a safe, strong and efficient swimmer. |