Age-Group Clinics Offer Young Swimmers Chance to Improve, Compete

Kevin Sheridan, 13, has dreams of being an Olympian someday – and each summer day he spends at the / pool he swims a bit closer to that dream.

Sheridan is one of eight young swimmers who train and compete in age-group swimming, led by Clawson swim coach Joe Turner. The program is in its second year and offers youth a chance to swim outside of school swim teams and compete against swimmers across the state. The swimmers compete separately based on age; there is a 12-and-under age group and a 13-and-over age group.

 Swimming "promotes better health and keeps them in shape and works every muscle in their body," Turner said. "I want them to be able to compete with kids who have been doing this for maybe 10 years."

All of the youths participate on the Clawson Middle School and High School swim teams, and many of them started swimming in sixth grade.

Any swimmer who participates in Turner's Swim Stay Fit Competitive Swim Clinics must be a member of USA Swimming— a national organization for competitive swimmers, which also helps train athletes for the Olympic Games.

Kevin said he decided to join age-group swimming this year after seeing how much fun his twin sister, Shannon, had in the program.

"It's something to do instead of just staying home," said  the eighth-grader at Clawson Middle School. "I'm going to keep swimming," Kevin said – through grade school, college and hopefully nationally. His favorite events to compete in are the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle.

Turner said the older swimmers train Monday through Saturday for at least an hour and a half, while the 12-and-under group swims Monday through Thursday. At most swim practices, you can catch Turner standing near the edge of the pool giving instructions and motivating the youngsters as they work on improving their speed and strokes. 

"They get a chance to see that swimming is a bigger sport than just middle school and high school," said Turner, who has coached swimming for the Clawson School District for six years. “It's one of those sports that you can do for the rest of your life.”

The swimmers compete about every other weekend against swimmers across the state who are also members of USA Swimming. Last weekend, they participated in swimming events in Dearborn. Turner said his swimmers competed in 44 total events and won ribbons in half of those. 

Watching the kids compete in meets is one of Turner's favorite parts of coaching age-group swimming. 

"You should see their faces light up when they win their medals," Turner said. 

Swimmer Claire Martin said she also enjoys the meets because she gets a chance to travel and meet swimmers from all over Michigan. Martin, 15, has her sights set on qualifying for the state swimming competitions in late July and getting a college scholarship for swimming.

This program "is another way for me to keep swimming," Martin said.

Turner said his clinics cost $65 a month and there is a $4 fee for each swimmer to participate in the meets. The program is separated into two seasons: short-course swimming is August-March and long-course swimming is April-July. Short-course competitions are in a 25-meter pool and long-course in a 50-meter pool.

The swimmers are competing in meets in Jackson this weekend. On July 6 they will participate in the 12th Annual Motor City Mile at Belle Isle Beach in Detroit. Proceeds from the charity open water swim will go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Different Strokes Scholarship Fund.

For more information contact Turner at 313-629-4814.