SAVE THE DATE
August 10 - Labor Day week (Sept 10) - break between Long Course and Short Course Season
Nov 20 - Annual Silent Auction Event (Travel Meet Fundraiser)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Hello from the Coaches
Volunteer Info
Swimmer of the Month
November Birthday’s
Thank you to our official team sponsor Arena
Shop online at SwimOutlet to support the team! Select "David Douglas Aquatics Club" as your team and every purchase gives back to DDAC with a 10% kickback! https://www.swimoutlet.com/collections/ddac
RESOURCES:
Volunteer Hours / Event Sign Up / OSI Time Standards / USA Swimming / DDAC Facebook
Translated versions: RUSSIAN SPANISH VIETNAMESE
FROM THE COACHES
COACH JIM
Hi DDAC families,
Congratulations to all DDAC swimmers and coaches for a great spring/summer season! Practice attendance was excellent all summer long, and we had fantastic participation in swim meets. Great job to coaches Bobby, Brayden, Matt, Jamie and Rudi, for their hard work with our athletes.
I hope all of you have a restful August and take some time to enjoy some non-swimming-related activities.
As we look ahead to next year, we have several challenges to address.
First of all, we have several board members leaving their positions. Andrea G. (Volunteer Coordinator and Fundraising), Jennifer L. (Secretary), and Crystal M. (Vice President) are all stepping aside at the beginning of the short course season. I want to thank all three of these individuals for the countless volunteer hours they have contributed to make this a great experience for our swimmers. They will be greatly missed.
We will need current parents to help fill these roles.
Extra strain on the budget:
Beginning next season, the club will be paying for a lifeguard to monitor the pool during all afternoon practices. This is to ensure we are following Oregon Health Authority rules and regulations. The board will be looking for the best way to manage these costs without significantly changing the dues structure.
We have seen continued success in the pool at all levels. While we are improving as a team, we still have age groups with room to develop. Continuing to refine our groups and our training habits will be a major emphasis moving forward.
With the strength of our community, coaches, and families, I am sure we will find the right people and solutions for all the challenges the next year brings.
Have a great summer and see you at the pool in the fall!
Coach Jim
COACH BOBBY
Building Your Competitive Edge: How to Become a Stronger Racer
Every swimmer knows the excitement of looking at the scoreboard and seeing a new best time. Those moments are rewarding because they reflect the work that came before them: the practices, the corrections, the challenging sets, and the decision to keep going when improvement felt slow.
Becoming more competitive takes more than wanting to win. It takes learning how to prepare, how to practice with purpose, and how to race with confidence. Whether you are getting ready for your first meet or working toward a qualifying time, you can build habits that help you make the most of your ability.
Give Your Goals a Plan
“I want to get faster” is a starting point, but it does not tell you what to do when you get in the pool. A useful goal connects the result you want with something you can practice.
If you want to improve your 100 freestyle, talk with your coach about where you have the most room to grow. Do you lose speed through your turns? Does your technique change during the second half? Are you finishing with energy you could have used earlier?
Once you identify an area to improve, make it part of your daily work. You might focus on carrying speed into the wall, keeping a consistent kick, or holding your technique through the final repeat of a set. A specific goal gives each practice a purpose and helps you recognize progress before it appears on the scoreboard.
Become a Student of Your Technique
Working hard matters, and paying attention to how you swim makes that effort more useful. Competitive swimmers learn to notice what their bodies are doing in the water and make adjustments based on their coach’s feedback.
When your coach offers a correction, try to apply it right away. Ask questions if you do not understand what the movement should look or feel like. Then return to that correction throughout practice. One good repetition is a start; making the skill reliable takes continued attention.
Drill sets are an opportunity to develop that awareness. Think about the purpose of the drill and how it connects to your full stroke. As you move back into regular swimming, carry that same focus with you.
Learn to Compete During Challenging Sets
Some of the most valuable moments in training happen when you are tired and your attention begins to drift. Those are opportunities to practice staying engaged.
Listen closely to the purpose of the set. A pacing set, a technique set, and a sprint set call for different approaches. Competing well in practice means carrying out the assignment with care, even when it becomes uncomfortable or repetitive.
You can also give yourself small challenges: maintain your target pace, make the next turn your best one, or apply a correction through the last repeat. These choices help you build confidence in your ability to stay focused when a race gets difficult.
Encourage your lane mates along the way. A team that trains with energy and purpose gives everyone more opportunities to improve.
Review Each Race with Curiosity
After a race, give yourself time to catch your breath, then talk with your coach. Your time and place are useful information, but they are only part of the story.
Consider what went well and what needs work. Did you follow your pacing plan? Were your turns consistent? Did you stay focused through the finish? Choose one success to carry forward and one adjustment to practice.
A disappointing result can still teach you something valuable. A best time can reveal areas to improve, too. Learning to review both kinds of races honestly helps you keep moving forward.
Take Care of the Swimmer Outside the Pool
Your preparation continues between practices. Adequate sleep, regular meals, hydration, and recovery help support the work you do in the water. Plan ahead when possible so you arrive with what you need and enough time to get ready.
Pay attention to how you are feeling, and communicate with your coach about pain, unusual fatigue, or concerns that affect your training. Learning to care for yourself is part of becoming a dependable athlete.
Measure Progress in More Than Seconds
Best times are exciting, but they do not happen at every meet. Look for other signs that your work is taking hold: a stronger final length, a more consistent turn, better pacing, or greater confidence before a race.
Those improvements give you something concrete to build on. Keep showing up, stay open to feedback, and choose a purpose for each practice. Your next step toward becoming more competitive begins with what you do the next time you enter the pool.
COACH BRAYDEN
DDAC Family,
What an incredible Long Course season! I couldn't be more proud of everything this team accomplished. Whether you achieved a personal best, qualified for a championship meet, learned a new skill, or simply stayed committed all season long, every swimmer should be proud of the work they put in.
A special congratulations goes out to our Top 10 Percentage Time Droppers this season! These swimmers demonstrated outstanding dedication, consistency, and determination throughout the summer. Improvement like this doesn't happen overnight; it comes from showing up to practice, trusting your coaches, supporting your teammates, and giving your best effort every single day.
Congratulations to each of these swimmers! Your hard work has paid off, and it has been exciting watching your growth throughout the season. Keep building on this momentum. We can't wait to see what you'll accomplish next!
Enjoy Your Break!
As we head into our break, I encourage everyone to enjoy it!
Swimming is a huge part of our lives, but it's also important to experience everything else life has to offer. Spend time with family and friends, ride your bike, go hiking, go camping, play outside, learn a new skill, pick up an instrument, practice your cursive, or simply relax. Taking a mental break from swimming is healthy and will help you come back refreshed, motivated, and excited for the upcoming Short Course season.
Want to Stay Ready? Here Are My Three Biggest Tips
1. Stay Active
Even if you're not swimming every day, keep your body moving! Try to stay active for at least the amount of time you would normally spend at practice. Go on walks, hikes, bike rides, play pickleball, basketball, soccer, or simply get outside and move. Staying active now will make getting back into the water much easier.
2. Build Strength
For our older swimmers, this is a fantastic opportunity to begin building strength. Whether you have access to a gym, resistance bands, dumbbells, or even homemade weights using milk jugs filled with water or sand, building strength now will pay dividends once we're back in the pool.
Remember: proper form and consistency are far more important than lifting heavy weights.
3. Try Another Sport
One of the best things you can do as an athlete is play another sport. Different sports improve coordination, balance, agility, strength, and overall athleticism while keeping competition fun.
Personally, I'll be spending A LOT of my break playing pickleball, and I can't wait! Find something you enjoy and have fun with it!
One Final Thought...
Not every practice, workout, or day is going to be perfect and that's okay.
Progress isn't measured by perfection. It's measured by consistency.
If you can strive to become just 0.01% better every single day, you're moving in the right direction. Those tiny improvements may not seem like much today, but over weeks, months, and years they become something extraordinary.
Believe in yourself.
Trust the process.
Support your teammates.
Keep showing up.
You all have the potential to accomplish amazing things, and I truly believe the best is still ahead for this team.
Thank you for making this Long Course season one to remember. Have a safe, fun, and relaxing break, and we'll see you all back on deck ready for another amazing season!
VOLUNTEER INFO
Volunteer Updates
Log Your Volunteer Hours
Any unfulfilled service hours for the Long Course Season are billed to accounts on August 1st. Any volunteer hours accrued in the month of August can still count and will be credited to your account. Log hours using this form. Email andrea.guillet@ddacswim.org with any questions.
Volunteer Opportunities
Front Desk Point Person
We are seeking a knowledgeable volunteer to step into a leadership role as our Front Desk Point Person. Key responsibilities include: managing volunteer sign-ups and schedules, communicating monthly updates to volunteers and conducting one training session per month for new volunteers. This is a great ongoing way to fulfill your own service hours every season. If you are familiar with our front desk operations and interested in this role, please email andrea.guillet@ddacswim.org
Silent Auction Helpers - Save the Date - November 21th!
After last year's success, we are gearing up for another Silent Auction event this fall and we need your help to make it a success! We are looking for energetic volunteers to solicit donations before the event. Jennifer Robinson, our silent auction mastermind, is already mapping out an outreach list, so you will have plenty of direction. If outreach isn't your jam, we have plenty of other critical tasks where your skills can shine. Every bit of support makes a difference for our team. Please email Jennifer.robinsonddac@gmail.com today to get involved! Donations due November 13, 2026.
NEW Parents
Are you and your swimmer going to be attending your first swim meet this season? Check out the Swim Meet Guide page on our website, including the short video that gives a great overview and how to best prepare.
Star Parents
We still need parent volunteers from Bronze, Bronze+, Gold+, Senior, and Senior+ squads to help celebrate our athletes' hard work! We need help tracking swimmer achievements on the squad posters located in the back hallway near the locker rooms. The task is to check results after each swim meet, place star stickers next to names for qualifying times (State, Regionals, etc.) and keep the visual board updated to motivate swimmers to reach the next level. This is a good task for ongoing volunteer hours each season. If you can help represent your child's squad, please reach out to brayden.franzke@ddacswim.org
Become an Official
We are still in need of more swim officials to represent DDAC. We are required to provide officials at every meet we host and attend. The more officials we have, the more opportunities it creates for our swimmers.
Becoming an official is not only a key way to support our swimmers, but it also provides an excellent opportunity to earn volunteer hours and comes with many perks. Please review this info document for detailed information on the roles, benefits, and steps required to become an official.
Ongoing Fundraisers
Fred Meyer’s Community Rewards
Link your Fred Meyer community rewards to support DDAC! Every dollar you spend at Fred Meyer helps support the DDAC swim team. Sign into your Fred Meyer account and choose to support the David Douglas Aquatics Club. Don’t have an account? No worries! It is quick and easy to set one up. It’s a win win! You earn points and give back to the club at the same time! It’s effortless fundraising! Share with friends and family!
Bottle Drop
You can help raise money for David Douglas Aquatics Club by recycling your bottles and cans. It's easy! Fill up a BLUE bag with empty Oregon deposit containers. When full, cinch the bag securely and drop off at any Bottle Drop Center. There is a square white sticker already on the bag that labels it as part of the DDAC fundraiser and can also be used to open the drop box door when you scan it. Pick up bags at the front desk. Friends and neighbors can do it too so spread the word and take them a blue bag!
SWIMMER’S OF THE MONTH - OCTOBER
Senior+ = Nathan Vuong
Senior = Leihi Wilson
Gold+ = Andrew Nguyen
Gold = Zander Haney
Silver+ = Charlie Nelson
Silver = Grace Peterson
Bronze+ = Flora Provenzola
Bronze = Valeria Ralios
NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY’S
Lena Nguyen Pre-Comp
Valeria Ralios Bronze
Ruiyang Su Bronze +
James Thompson Gold
Helena Vuong Pre-Comp
Eva Aschoff Senior +
Sailor Bray Bronze
Andrew Do-Ngo Senior +
Emmett Hadsell Silver
Althea Megallon Silver +
BOARD MEMBERS
Jamie King – Member Representative
jamie.king@ddacswim.org
Coaches:
bobby.deroest@ddacswim.org
brayden.franzke@ddacswim.org
James Bowe – President
jim.bowe@ddacswim.org
Brynn Bonssdorf – Secretary
brynn.bonssdorf@ddacswim.org
Heather Franklin – Treasurer
heather.franklin@ddacswim.org
Jamie Michaud – Volunteer Coordinator
jamie.michaud@ddacswim.org