Las Vegas Swim Club: A Splash In the Right Direction

Getting the team to such a high point after its low proves the hard work and dedication the coaches, directors and parents put into the Las Vegas Swim Club. By teaching their athletes character qualities such as respect, dedication and discipline – along with encouraging close friendships and a family-like feel – the Las Vegas Swim Club has indeed succeeded in creating a team its athletes are proud to be a part of.

Photo Courtesy: Carmine DiFulvio

Assistant Head Coach Amber Stewart incorporates life skills into her workouts, aiming to prepare young athletes for their lives outside of the water. “For me, it is important that swimmers recognize swimming goes beyond the pool. The discipline required to be successful will serve swimmers well all of their lives,” says Stewart.

Building a Strong Family

The Las Vegas Swim Club also gave athletes a lecture on empathy over the past summer. The athletes were able to incorporate the skill into their everyday lives and relate it to their bonds with their teammates and the sport.

The coaches, parents and board members work hard to keep the team feeling tight knit and close despite the rising number of athletes. Through group outings, team-wide events, participation in relays and ample fundraising opportunities, athletes are able to bond with their teammates and coaches. Stewart says, “Being a smaller team definitely aids in the family-like atmosphere, but we also always strive to have an ‘open-door’ policy where swimmers know they can always approach us as coaches to discuss any concerns they might have.”

Photo Courtesy: Carmine DiFulvio

Mavro credits the team’s parent board for the family-feel:

I have to credit the board again for being so proactive in staying focused on the environment of the team. The board, coaches and I talk regularly about things we can do to continue to foster the small family environment that we all appreciate, even as the team has grown to over 200 swimmers. Each group has a group parent in charge of putting together a social activity for their group about every other month. We frequently organize team-wide activities (team picnic, bowling night, restaurant nights).

Despite the team’s skyrocketing success, Mavro plans to keep the team’s numbers around 200, allowing him and the coaching staff to know all of the athletes and their families personally. He says, “We want LVSC to remain around 200 members. I find beyond that, it is really tricky to maintain the family feel that is so important to us.”

Keeping the Las Vegas Swim Club’s numbers stable is not a weakness. In fact, it is one of the team’s many strengths. It allows for young swimmers to progress through the program at their own pace, growing and developing skills they will use both in and out of the swimming community.

Photo Courtesy: Carmine DiFulvio

Coach Mavro explains the perks of having a cap on the number of their current team structure:

For the last two years, we have reached a point of stability in our structure, which is exciting in a completely different way because you get to watch swimmers progress and thrive through the program. The Silver Group has been our top group for younger swimmers since 2014, and the first former Silver Group swimmers are starting out with our National Group this year. We are very excited to see swimmers who have come through the current structure of the program achieve great things on the local, regional and national level. I want to prove that you can have swimmers swim incredibly fast times in a program that focuses on the process and the enjoyment of the sport while building great people.

The Future of the Team

So far, the program has proved faithful. Over the past few years, the team has moved from around 1,400th place to about 350th on USA Swimming’s Virtual Club Championships, a program designed to view the nation’s club team rankings. Mavro aims to continue the trend: “My vision is to continue with the current structure but work hard to improve the quality within each group. Each level will continue to push forward, which means the quality required to make the team at tryouts will move forward a little bit every season.”

Photo Courtesy: Carmine DiFulvio

With the once-small team now making finals appearances in larger meets on the local and regional scale, there is no doubt that the Las Vegas Swim Club only has good things to come in their future. As Mavro says, “Never be satisfied that you have done good things. Be happy, and then push for more.”

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.