Long Beach Grunions Swim Team

Once again, the Grunions Annual Banquet's organizers have outdone themselves. The banquet was a lot of fun, and even a little emotional at times. Highlights included the awards for high pointers, team MVP, Grunion Spirit, Most Improved Swimmer, Founders award, and Coaches award.

New board members, including the new team captain, Mike "Daisy" Miranda, and co-captain, Bart Parnes, were also introduced at the banquet.

Other high points of the night included the 'just-for-fun' awards, and the incomparable Grunion Widows, Don Derbyshire and Steve Ingram, who served as MC's for the event. We should sign these guys into an exclusive contract before the Academy Awards people steal them away!

Welcome to all new (and continuing) Grunion Board members! We have asked the board members to introduce themselves, and talk about their plans for 2009. Here goes a sample of what we've learned:

Mike "Daisy" Miranda, Captain:

I am excited about continuing the leadership of the team as your new captain.  The Grunions have been a big part of my life the past 4 years, I felt compelled to return the favor and get more involved with the team.

I was introduced to the team by our former captain, Eric Grubb.  He encouraged me to join after visiting IGLA in San Francisco as a spectator.  Luckily, my first practice was in a 25 yard pool that was shallow enough to stand in the middle.  Needless to say, getting to the other side of the pool was a challenge since I had never swam competitively or on a team.  Luckily, the coaches didn't make me "try out".

Today, I'm happy to say that I can get to the other side of pool and have learned to tolerate the workouts.  I just completed my second Ultimate Check-Off Challenge and now can swim every event on the swim schedule.  We are truly blessed with a coaching staff that is encouraging and patient.  Make sure to thank them after the workouts.

I'm looking forward to this next year as we work to become a better team for each of you.  See you in the pool.  Daisy.

 Bart Parnes, Co-Captain:

My name is Bart Parnes and I will be serving as co-captain for 2008-2009.  I am one of the original members of the Grunions and served as team secretary from 2002-2006 and swim meet coordinator from 2006-2008.  The Grunions are the finest sports organization that I have ever had the privilege to be associated with.  My hope is that we can continue to make our team a welcoming and safe outlet for people of all orientations.  The spirit and love expressed by our family of swimmers never fails to make me proud to be a Grunion.

On a more personal level, I am a native of Los Angeles and have worked for Los Angeles Unified School District for 30 years as a high school teacher and administrator.

Karen Roberts, Swim Meet Coordinator:

My parents entered me in my first swim meet when I was 6 years old.  None of us, including me, knew that I was terrified of the "deep end" where the race was held, and as my parents watched, mortified, on the side of the pool, the lifeguard was forced to rescue me  - well, first he had to pry my little hands off the lane line.
 
Fortunately, I got over that fear and carry only a few emotional scars from that incident.
 
I continued to swim - age group, high school, masters, and open water.  The Grunions swim team is the third masters team I've swam on - and by far the most organized and fun.  What makes this team unique is the genuine effort of the coaches to coach the many different levels of swimmers that show up at any given workout.   I've been pleasantly surprised at my own improvement and level of fitness.  We are incredibly lucky to have such talented coaches who are willing to volunteer their time for this team - that also keeps our dues much lower than any other masters swim team.
 
Serving on the board is an opportunity to "give back" to the team because this is in part how the team has gained its great reputation among SPMA teams.  I look forward to a fun year serving as swim meet coordinator.

John "JC" Werner, Membership Development Coordinator:

The Grunions have proven to be a very successful Masters team, not just in scoring points, but in all areas including team member participation, our volunteer coaching model, and serving as the hosts of the best SPMA championship meet.  We have been identified as a desirable model for building a successful Masters team.  I believe one of the main underlying themes in our organization is "inclusion".

We are an all-inclusive team.  We are accepting and most importantly, encouraging to all interested swimmers, including LGBT, Heterosexual, Men, Women, Under 30, Senior, etc., and swimmers of all skill levels.

Our varied team member demographics add richness and depth to our team, and create a feeling of "family", to which other teams aspire.  You always know when the Grunions are at a swim meet or function.  We are diverse.  We are visible.  We are loud.  We are fun.  And we are family.

We have established a great Membership Development foundation already: Anita and Jacquie with the "Grunion S'Women", Ken with "Grunions Under 30", and Pat & Ruth with "New Member Orientation", to name a few involved team members and membership initiatives.

I plan to coordinate and actively pursue Membership Development in all areas for new team members.   I plan to continue to expand our diverse membership, continuing on our tradition of attracting great people to our great team, and increasing retention of our new members.

John Lulay, Member-at-Large:

I want to express my appreciation for allowing me to take on the role of Member at Large.  My hope is to be there for my fellow grunions as well as bring a fresh perspective to the board.  As the Member at Large one of my primary rolls is to act as the ears of the team.  If you have questions, concerns, or grumbles about something let me know, if not in person then by e-mail.  I'm here to serve the team, and am excited to do so.

Raul Reis, Communications Coordinator:

I'm honored to serve as the Grunions' communications coordinator for 2009. As a former journalist and current journalism professor, I'm delighted to be able to use my professional and academic expertise for the benefit of the team.

My main goal for the year is to strengthen and improve the communication channels among the whole membership, including the web site and Grunion Report. David Andersen, and Matt Dillon before him, have done a wonderful job with the Report, so I have big shoes to fill. Joe Iacoponi and the board have done a lot with the web site, so I'm also grateful I won't be starting from scratch.

One of the first things I want to do is survey the membership and the board to find out what the team's main communication needs are. I want to hear your opinions on how we can improve the communication outlets we have now, and if there are any other tools we should be using. Most of all, I want to make sure that the Report, the web site and any other channels we develop are serving their purpose of connecting the membership, and offering a friendly, energetic face to the outside world that reflects who we are and what we stand for!

Once again, the Grunions hosted a successful, well-planned and well-run SPMA regional championship at the Belmont Pool. After three exciting days of swimming, more than 30 world records and a similar number of national records had been broken at the Long Beach meet.

"This event helps to solidify our position within SPMA. It provides us with an avenue to be an influential member of [the organization]", said Mike 'Daisy' Miranda, the Grunions' recently elected captain. According to Miranda, running such a successful regional meet has allowed the team to increase its visibility, while building competitiveness and experience.

For meet director Kenny Brisbin, the eight months of work that go into planning and putting together the event are more than justified by the results achieved.

Besides the hard work, "the friendliness, warmth, enthusiasm and sense of camaraderie among swimmers and volunteers is what makes this meet so successful", Brisbin said. For him, the organization and smooth running of the event, allied with the positive environment created by the Grunions, is what makes the Belmont Meet so unique and successful.

"I hear it from swimmers and coaches from all teams: they love it, and that's what has made the meet grow about 10 percent every year, in terms of participants", Brisbin said.

Despite concerns that the recession would have kept some swimmers away, this past weekend's meet saw a record number of participants: 555 registered swimmers from 70 different teams, not counting relay-only athletes.

Swimmers came to Long Beach from all over the U.S., from places as far as Nebraska, Colorado, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and North Carolina, not to mention Calgary, Canada.

"Two swimmers from Alberta came last year, and they liked the meet so much, this year they came back bringing an additional seven teammates", Brisbin said.

The Belmont Meet is also becoming well known as a "fast meet", attracting many top swimmers from the Western region and beyond. "Last year, we had more world records broken at this meet than at the national USMS meet", Brisbin said.

For meet announcer and Grunion coach Tom Boyd, the fact that the Grunions are primarily a fitness and social team makes it even more unusual that the group is running a championship of this caliber. According to him, most regional and national Masters championships are organized by more competitive teams.

"We can be considered a great model for other social and fitness teams, as well as other gay teams. It proves that we can be a top-notch team without having the world record setting swimmers," Boyd said.

 What should we anticipate for the next few years? For team captain Miranda, the sky is the limit: "The only thing holding us back right now is the size of this facility. We're limited in how much we can grow".

The fact that we had Rob Butcher, the executive-director of USMS, pay us a courtesy visit to meet and greet the swimmers is a reflection of how well we're doing", Miranda said.

And as a sign of more exciting things to come for the Grunions and the regional SPMA championships, meet director Kenny Brisbin has already booked the Belmont Pool for December 2009.