IU club team emphasizes 'next phase of swimming'

For one IU club, practice and meets are optional. The coach doesn’t even care if his athletes are terrible. This IU club hopes everyone enjoys themselves and has fun.\nYes, maybe the IU swim club is a bit different from the \naverage team.\n“It’s not unstructured, but you get to choose how involved you would like to be,” IU swim club coach Bill Ramos. In addition to heading the club, Ramos also oversees aquatic program development for the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Students.\nJust eight years ago, Ramos, who swam all his life, found that he was suddenly lacking the motivation to get in the pool. Refusing to give it up, he instead got a group together and approached the Student Recreational Sports Center’s front office to see if it was possible to form an official swim club. Soon enough the club was up and running. What Ramos quickly understood was that whether students swam in high school, college or ever at all, they wanted a new swimming experience.\n“I like to tell students that ‘this is your next phase of swimming,’” he said. “We want it to be worthwhile, but no coach (is) screaming at you.”\nThe club currently has about 100 members, but the club said membership is increasing every year. Most members swam in high school, but a fair amount of club swimmers are now participating in their first meets. \nMary Beth Bray, president of the swim club and vice president of IU Club Sports, didn’t exactly see herself in the position she is now when she first came to college.\n“I actually didn’t swim competitively in high school but I became interested in it when I came to IU,” Bray said.\nLike all IU club sports, the swim team doesn’t cut anyone who wants to join. In fact, swimmers can choose from three different divisions of competition based on which suits them best.\nSecretary and treasurer Trevor Shirley, who oversees finances and maintains communication with the team and the RecSports, said the members of the swim club have quickly become friends with one another. He said the optional practices (6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday) can also serve as an escape from the demanding life of the average IU student.\n“It’s really nice to know when you’re stressed you can go to the pool, relax and be with people you enjoy,” he said.\nAlthough it was formed only eight years ago, the club is already one of the top teams in its sport, Shirley said. \n“I would say that we’re definitely a force to be reckoned with,” Shirley said.\nEarlier this year, IU hosted its second club swim meet and with six teams competing, the team had what Bray said was a “fantastic turnout.” On March 28, many club members will travel to Atlanta for the weekend to compete in the club championship that ends their season. The women won the contest last year, so the club hopes to have a repeat victory. Part of the reason Shirley thinks the swim club performs well on the road is because of the amount of members who travel to away meets.\nHe expects about 30 people to go to Atlanta, which is about 10 more than last year.\nTo join, students have the option of paying $30 a semester or $50 a year. But for those who are interested but unsure, coming to a week’s worth of practices for free is allowed and encouraged. Shirley also stresses there’s no deadline to join the club.\n“We’re always looking for new members,” he said. “It’s never, ever too late to join. We love getting new people.”