By Nicole Leffer<\/p>\n
ATLANTA, Georgia. September 12. CALL it the world\u2019s coolest stroke clinic. Call it amazing motivation for America\u2019s young swimmers. Call it Disney\u2019s Swim with the Stars. <\/p>\n
The ultimate swimming experience has arrived for every young athlete who did not have the opportunity to witness either the Olympic Trials or the Olympics live and in person. Swimming superstars Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg headline the Disney-sponsored national tour that kicked off in Atlanta at the Mountain View Aquatic Center on September 5th. <\/p>\n
Swim with the Stars is an experience unto itself. In addition to getting to see Phelps, Crocker and Krayzelburg up-close while viewing highlights from their careers on a huge screen, the crowd gets to see each Olympian get in the pool right there and demonstrate drills in his specialty. Each star explains exactly what he is doing, what he specifically focuses on in the drill, and how the drills ultimately help him in his full stroke. Something every spectator is sure to notice \u2014 how few strokes it takes these guys to get across the pool. Every kid (and even the parents who know nothing about swimming technique) watching will understand the value of distance per stroke after these demonstrations. <\/p>\n
\u201cI came because I wanted to see their strategies, how they swim and how I can improve my strokes,\u201d said 11-year-old Samantha Bosma of Stingrays Swimming. \u201cI really like when they are doing drills because I can pick up new skills. I learned a lot about my strokes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Following the demonstrations, pre-selected co-ed kids from the host club\u2019s team get to dive in on a relay team with their heroes. Three relays worth of kids (each anchored by a star) get both the experience of having an Olympic gold medalist on their team, and having an entire crowd of spectators screaming for them. <\/p>\n
After the relays, the guys dry off and sit down for a question and answer session with the crowd. Questions asked in Atlanta ranged from training schedule (Phelps swims 7 days a week, 365 days a year), to how long they\u2019ve been swimming (Crocker failed out of swim lessons at six-years-old, and Krayzelburg has \u201cbeen swimming longer than Michael is\u201d), to their favorite female swimmer (Crocker said someone most of the crowd was too young to remember \u2014 Jill Sterkel \u2014 and Phelps noted that he can\u2019t narrow it down to one because the US has an amazing women\u2019s team), to nervousness before races (Krayzelburg summed it up when he said that \u201cwe all get nervous,\u201d and \u201cif you don\u2019t get nervous you\u2019re not ready\u2019), to water sports besides swimming (Phelps wishes his coach would let them play water polo sometimes, and can you picture Krayzelburg doing synchro?). <\/p>\n
Twelve-year-old Mary Rose Palerno of Swim Atlanta said she came \u201cbecause Michael Phelps is hot,\u201d but that \u201cthis definitely ended up a lot higher than expectations. I learned a lot \u2014 especially in backstroke.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another 12-year-old, Kameron Ansley, made a trek from Savannah, Georgia, to come up and watch the show. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of them are really cool. I was excited to see them after seeing the Olympics,\u201d said Ansley. \u201cThe awe makes it really cool. You can\u2019t believe it's really them after seeing them on T.V. so much.\u201d <\/p>\n
The kids who are watching aren\u2019t the only ones who are psyched for the Swim with the Stars tour. For Phelps, being able to be on tour, help swimming, and give back to the fans is huge. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorite part is the interaction with the kids,\u201d said Phelps. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to see the reaction on their faces and really get a smile from them.\u201d <\/p>\n
The remaining dates on the tour are: <\/p>\n
Chicago- 9\/14\/04
\nDallas- 9\/17\/04
\nFt. Collins- 9\/19\/04
\nSalt Lake City- 9\/24\/04
\nSeattle- 9\/27\/04
\nSan Francisco- 9\/30\/04
\nAnaheim- 10\/5\/04
\n*More dates may be added<\/p>\n
For tickets and information visit their website at www.swimwiththestars.com .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Nicole Leffer ATLANTA, Georgia. September 12. CALL it the world\u2019s coolest stroke clinic. Call it amazing motivation for America\u2019s young swimmers. Call it Disney\u2019s Swim with the Stars. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n