A Big Saturday Ahead: Celebrating Our Swimming Ecosystem
From first races to collegiate dreams — a full spectrum of swimming, right here at home.
Coach Nick has been doing a great job keeping everyone updated by email, but there’s so much happening this weekend that I wanted to take a moment and give you the bird’s-eye view. It’s a lot — so grab your beverage of choice, settle in, and let’s go!
🏅 Florida Gold Coast Swimposium
This weekend kicks off with the Florida Gold Coast Swimposium Awards Celebration, where over a dozen FAA swimmers will be recognized.
Honorees include:
- FGC Record Breakers
- National Top 10 Swimmers
- Zone Team Members
- Top 5 FGC Swimmers in individual age groups (9–16) for the 2024–2025 season.
Attendance is optional, but it’s a special moment to acknowledge the hard work and excellence of our athletes. Congratulations to all who earned this recognition!
📅 Time, date, location, and full details are listed on the pic above.
🏊♂️ FAU Collegiate Swim Meet — 10:00 AM
Right here at FAU, the Owls will host Keiser University for a collegiate dual meet. You may have seen the new awnings go up — they’re expecting a strong spectator turnout.
For anyone not attending the Swimposium, this is a fantastic opportunity to see college swimming up close. Many age group swimmers go their entire careers without witnessing a true collegiate meet. When kids see real athletes — people just like them — racing, having fun, and swimming fast, something clicks. It becomes real.
They begin to set bigger goals, and they start to understand that those college swimmers started exactly where they are now — on a club team. The impact of that realization can be powerful for athletes and parents alike. I hope to see many of you there.
🏊 Saturday Practice — Nat Dev+ (1:00–2:00 PM)
Once the college meet wraps up, our Nat Dev+ and higher groups will have a short but meaningful one-hour practice.
It may be “just” an hour, but we can get in quality work, especially if swimmers are inspired by what they just witnessed. We’re also intentionally using this session to transition into the next big event of the day…
🚀 “Proof of Concept” AAU Mini Meet — 2:00 PM
In the afternoon, we’ll host a dry run of our new mini meet format for younger and newer swimmers — a pilot event that reflects how we want to reshape competition for developing athletes.
Traditional USA Swimming meets often stretch over entire days, making them less family-friendly. We want to offer something different: fast-paced, fun, developmentally appropriate racing that helps young swimmers fall in love with competition.
- Warm-ups: 1:00 PM
- Meet Start: Just after 2:00 PM
- Duration: About 1.5 hours
These will not be official times, and we may experience a few minor glitches — that’s part of the testing process. We’re asking our older and more experienced swimmers to step in as demonstrators, timers, and mentors for their younger teammates. This is a chance to model leadership and give back.
Coach Nick will send more specific details soon.
🌐 Putting It All Into Perspective
Take a step back and look at what’s happening — all in one day, right here in our own backyard:
- New swimmers stepping onto the blocks for their first mini meet.
- Experienced age groupers being recognized or training hard.
- Collegiate athletes racing at a high level, inspiring the next generation.
From a head coach’s perspective, it doesn’t get more holistic than this. We’re witnessing the entire lifecycle of swimming in a single day — from beginners to high-performance athletes. This is what makes our community so special.
We are truly fortunate to have this ecosystem surrounding us. It’s a built-in advantage for our kids and families — and I hope you’ll take part in it.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and for the privilege of working with your children and families.
See you at the pool,
Rich
