Are you a swimmer who's not ready to compete in a swim meet, but wants a challenge? Then come out and try the Masters Annual One Hour Postal Swim. The Postal Swim is a United States Masters Swimming (USMS) event in which participants swim for one hour with their local Masters group. Masters groups from around the country will also participate on a given date in the month of January. It's a low-key, no pressure event; your goal is to swim as far you can in one hour.

Those who are registered with USMS are eligible to complete and mail in an entry form to compete against the other swimmers doing this same event. The top 10 finishers among all entries in each age group will receive USMS long course medals. The event will take place at Great Neck Recreation Center on Saturday, January 15 beginning at 1:30 pm. One hour swims will start at 1:35 pm, 2:35 pm and 3:35 pm. Please note: All participants are asked to aid in lap counting either before or after their swim.

It's easy to sign up! Participants should contact the Great Neck Rec Center Aquatic Staff (496-6766) to sign up for a specific swim time, or arrive early to reserve a spot in your preferred time. The cost for participation is $4 or four punches on a Fitness Punch Card; an Unlimited Pass may also be used.

What is the swim test? Why do I have to take it? These are questions that you may have heard, or even thought, while at a rec center pool. The deep water swim test is a water confidence test given to all community participants who wish to swim beyond the shallow swimming area. The swim test demonstrates the minimum level of swimming ability required for safe deepwater swimming.  

In our pools, patrons must be able to swim without assistance or use of floatation devices when using deep water. If a patron's swimming ability is in doubt, then he or she will be asked to perform and satisfactorily complete the following swim test:

1. Jump into deep water from end of the pool; surface tread water for 20 seconds and then level off onto front;

• The swimmer must be able to make an abrupt entry into deep water, submerge and resurface. Treading water will test your ability to keep your head above the water on your own accord without any aids. 

2. Swim on front (non-stop) to the lifeline under control while using a rhythmic breathing pattern.

• The swimmer must be able to level off and cover the distance from the wall to lifeline with a strong, confident stroke. Dog-paddling and underwater swimming is not permitted. Any strong breaststroke or front crawl stroke is acceptable. The rhythmic breathing demonstrates that you are able to put your face back in the water after taking a breath.

Danielle Weier has been a water baby her entire life. Being in the water makes her happy, so at the age of seven she joined the Winter Swim League at Princess Anne. She worked hard during practice to master the competitive strokes, though the butterfly eluded her. She found competing against her friends to be fun, and they all enjoyed seeing each other improve. She swam with the league until high school and then made the team at Kellam.

After high school, Danielle's interest moved from the pool to the ocean where she became an avid surfer. She describes her experiences in the ocean as freeing, a chance to let everything go. The following summer she was awarded an amazing opportunity to teach surfing lessons for Parks and Recreation. She relished the job of sharing the one thing she loves with others, helping them learn and develop an appreciation for surfing.

Danielle's supervisors saw something special in her and recommended she take the Water Safety Instructor course. She says she was very motivated to teach because she truly enjoys helping people overcome their fears of the water. After gaining experience as a swim instructor, she transitioned into the Therapeutic Recreation swim program. Danielle felt a thrill of excitement each time she saw the joy on her swimmer's faces. She particularly appreciated the unique perspective she gained from swimmers learning to swim with physical disabilities.

Today Danielle has made it through another milestone in aquatics: she has become a coach for the Winter Swim League. She loves being a coach. She understands their nervousness and works with them to improve. She has even mastered the butterfly and now loves teaching it to her swimmers.  During meets she is their biggest cheerleader and savors their expressions of accomplishment at the end of a hard swim. Her advice to the next generation of water babies? "Just keep swimming, even if it's tough, keep your head in it and do it!"

All Virginia Beach Recreation Centers, Owl Creek Tennis Center, parks & park facilities will be closed on December 24, 25 & 31 and January 1.

All Virginia Beach Municipal Golf Courses will be closed on December 25.

The pool at Kempsville Recreation Center will be closed through Spring 2011 for renovations.
 
Don't forget that your membership is good at all six Virginia Beach Recreation Centers!  If your usual center is closed for maintenance, take the opportunity to visit another center. Use this locator to help you find one!