CARMEN CARRION comes to us from Ga Tech where she received her BS and MS. While in college, Carmen played for the Ga Tech women’s soccer team and participated in triathlons. During her years at Tech, Carmen became the primary swim instructor and has led the lesson program there for the last 4 years. Many of the students she trains and coaches go on to club teams such as Swim Atlanta, Dynamo, and the Stingrays. Carmen has also had the pleasure of coaching for a company known as Playball and recreation soccer leagues in Fayette County and has experience as a camp counselor with children ages 3 to 10. Over the last school year, she has interned at Ivy Prep Academy as an educational researcher. Carmen will pursue her doctorate at Ga State in Education Psychology and hopes to inspire and help children succeed in the world of academia. In her spare time, Carmen loves to read, take her dog to the dog park, and shops till she drops!

KRISTEN DORNSTAUDER hails from Wilmington, DE, and lived there her entire life until going to Georgia Tech in 2008. She graduated this May from Tech with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. She has been swimming competitively since she was 8 years old and was a distance swimmer at Georgia Tech and team captain her senior season. She loves sharing the sport of swimming and has been teaching lessons and coaching for five years. In her free time she enjoys playing volleyball, baking (aka eating) cupcakes, reading, and going to the beach.

OLIVIA RADO is a student at Georgia State working toward her BFA in Drawing and Painting, with an emphasis on Printmaking. She also has a specialization in Art History and Geology. Olivia was a basketball coach at The Howard School last fall and an Arts and Craft Director at The Tyler Place Family Resort last summer. Olivia believes in living an active and creative lifestyle. For her, the arts and athletics have the capability of bringing out the thriving and self-motivating nature in everyone, and she believes it’s important to keep the focus on individuals to use this momentum to its best potential. As an instructor, she will encourage and instruct your child in her/his strengths and be an active sounding board on ways to improve. She hopes to motivate and build confidence in young swimmers as they work to reach their potential. Olivia is a collegiate swimmer, specializing in butterfly, backstroke and IM.
Although she has been swimming for 15+ years, she still remembers the terrifying days of learning her backstroke flip-turn (water in her nose) and her first successful 25 yards of butterfly. She will instruct butterfly and backstroke basics, flip-turns, diving starts from the blocks, and more advanced butterfly and backstroke turns.

The future looks great for the Wahoo as enthusiasm for the Junior Wahoo program is rivaling that of the big team. We have a fantastic number of youngsters signed up for the Junior program and are delighted because the Juniors are the farm system for Wahoo swimming. We’ve created a fourth practice session to accommodate as many as swimmers as possible. In addition, our coaches are available for private lessons.

The Junior Wahoo program begins Thursday, May 24th and will continue through Thursday, June 28th. Here is what we’re looking at (all sessions will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday):

8:00 to 8:30

8:30 to 9:00

9:00 to 9:30

9:30 to 10:00

We’re now offering early registration for the Junior Wahoo program. Registration will be first come-first served. Please visit the Events page on our Team Unify site, Lake Claire Wahoo Swim Team, and sign up for one of the four sessions.

Please plan carefully. Your selected time will be your time. If you need to switch, please contact one of the other parents to swap a time. A 4 to 1 swimmer to instructor ratio is as high as we can safely go. We want everyone to see the dramatic improvement the Junior program is famous for, and managing class size is crucial to achieving that goal. Your coaches and team parents appreciate everyone’s patience and support. It’s going to be a splashtacular summer.

To sign up for private or semi-private lessons with one of our coaches, click here. Choose the type of lesson you want, the instructor you want, and a time slot. Send an email to lakeclaireswimteam@gmail.com with questions.

Dual Meets:

Tuesday, May 29th, vs Briarmoor, 5-9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 5th, vs Twin Lakes, 5-9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 12th, at Winding Vista, 5-9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 19th, at Pangborn, 5-9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 26th, vs Avondale, 5-9 p.m.

County Championships

Saturday, June 30th and Sunday, July 1st.

State Meet (must qualify)

July 27-28, Carrolton, GA

2012 Practice Schedule:

5:15 for 8&U/6&U, 6-7pm for 9 & up through May 22.

Saturdays, starting the 19th, 8-8:45 for 8&U/6&U and 8:45-9:45 for 9 & up.

On May 23rd, practices will begin at 8am for 8&U/6&U and 8:45 for remaining swimmers.

Jr. Wahoo starts Thursday, May 24th and continue through June 28th. If you are registered you should have received an email to sign up for one of the four morning sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. If you haven’t done so already, and are registered on the Team Unify site, go to Events and find the Junior Practice dates and select an appropriate session. Click Attend This Event button and place your child in chosen session for those mornings.

The Wahoo age range is 5-18 years old. Our coaches are good at meeting individual needs and desires of all swimmers, while promoting the positive benefits of a team sport. Swim team is about neighborhood friendships, celebration, great coaching, the many parent enthusiasts, and even the workouts. If you haven’t yet been a part of this great sport, please see what it’s all about on the 7th of May at our pool.

A parent from Avondale Swim Team couldn’t have said it any better. I’ve provided  her “Swim Team Survival Guide” under the Swim Team FAQs link to the left. Feel free to ask the coaches to expand on any points if you have questions.