Thank you, Connecticut Swimming!

Kaitlin Sandeno and I were blown away by the great swimmers we met this past Sunday, February 25 at our BREAKout! Clinic in New London, CT!

We hosted a 1-day camp at Connecticut College which is about an hour outside of Hartford. The rec center where they hosted us was a tremendous facility.

The extended “camp” session Kaitlin and I led for this group of about 40 swimmers allowed us to focus even more on proper technique & tranining, but of course it also gave us the chance to have even more fun and to really get to know all of the participants.

Kaitin gave a tremendous motivational message that really hit home with the kids! A member of Mutual’s Gold Medal Team, Kaitlin earned three medals at the 2004 Olympics including a gold medal in the 800 free relay. She is currently training for her third Olympic team.

I must recognize a few swimmers who really stood out for their hard work and positive attiude during our 1-day camp:

- Clare’s smile and attitude were a great example to the other swimmers. Thank you!

- Savitri paid close attention throughout the entire day…more than you know, that helps us have a great clinic!

- I have to also compliment Olivia for making immediate improvements to her strokes. Keep up the good work, Olivia!

Thank you, Jo Ann, for coordinating another great clinic!

Howdy from Odessa, Texas!

I’m in West Texas today for the next BREAKout! Clinic, but I am still smiling after two awesome clinics this past weekend with some of Team USA’s best swimmers and ambassadors.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, World Championship Team Member Kim Vandenberg joined me for a BREAKout! Clinic in California with the extraordinary swimmers of Long Beach Poly! About 50 swimmers from this prestigious magnet school, as well as swimmers from other local schools and clubs, participated in the 4-hr. clinic.

This was the first clinic I did with Kim and she did an awesome job! She was so down-to-earth and gave such great feeback to the kids. I was very impressed with her abilities as a communicator and teacher.

By the way, be sure to cheer on Kim when she swims her specialty, the 200 fly at World Champs later this month! She is currently the top-ranked U.S. female swimmer in this event.

We had a blast with these great group of swimmers! Kim jumped right in and coached fly (obviously!) and free and I worked with the swimmers on breast and back, and like we do at the end of every BREAKout! Clinic, we gave each swimmer the opportunity to race an Olympic or National Team Swimmer! This is always a highlight of every clinic!

Thanks to Kalani Caldwell and the Long Beach swimmers for a SUPER event!!! Kim and I hope to come back next year.