Testimonials

"Thank you for a fantastic swim camp! Krystine loved it and wants to be an overnight camper next year! She is so excited about swimming, she will swim her next swim meet this Friday! I can't wait!!!  Her strokes look AMAZING!!!!!"

- Michelle Poore

"I want to thank you for your hard work during the breast/fly clinic this year.  Catherine has fought hard to get back to where she was a year ago with breast stroke. This weekend at the Canyons meet she dropped a second to get within .1 of her best time. Her coach was amazed with her pullout (which when she popped up she was a head and shoulders in front of the pack). She is still working on having a strong pull/shoot, but she's focused on keeping a dry back as you and Coach Matt had told the kids.

Please let me know if you have any fall or winter clinics. It's nice to brush up on skills throughout the year."

- Carrie Fitzsimmons
Mom of Catherine Fitzsimmons

"Thank you for teaching me all the things that I have learned at the UCSD Clinic. I had a wonderful time at the clinic; the food, high dive and hot tub were awesome. But there was something else that made it a great camp, the fun coaches. I am very happy that I was able to meet you all. I will make sure to apply what I learned to swimming and hopefully get faster. When I do backstroke, I’ll push the water to my feet. On my freestyle, I will breathe with one goggle in and one goggle out of the water. With my breaststroke, I will glide more. And finally with my butterfly, I will breathe at the right time and keep my head down. Thank you to Natasha, Corrie, Matt, Jeremy and Andy. I’m pretty sure I forgot someone, it might have been David… sorry. I hope to see you all again."

- Natalie Bautista

"I wanted to thank you and your staff for offering such a great swim camp experience again to our swimmers. This year our team sent 13 swimmers to camp. The whole experience was a success. Every swimmer who attended camp dropped time in the next meet. At Junior Olympics last weekend our small team took 10 swimmers. Nearly every swimmer qualified for finals. Gracie finished in the top 8 in nine events with a first place in the 100 back and a third in the 100 fly. After camp many of her AA times transformed into AAA times! She is actually very close to some AAAA times.  Greg dropped a lot of time also in backstroke. At Junior Olympics last weekend he earned third place in the 100 back (1:09) and 200 back (2:30).  He dropped six seconds in the 200 back and 2 ½ in the 100 back. Since camp he has dropped nearly 8 seconds in his 200 back and 6 in his 100 back. Our small team took 12th place out of 28 teams. Rachael and Sophie had an awesome JOs too. Sophie dropped 3 seconds in her fly and 5 in her backstroke. Mackenzie made two JO cuts after only swimming one year! Emily is on fire for swimming after camp. She swam in her first long course meet in mid July and she did awesome. When I was talking to Sam about where he wants to go to college, he said,  “You know I really liked UCSD. I am thinking about going there.” This was his first university experience and obviously it was a positive one.

I just wanted to say thanks because again our swimmers got a lot out of the whole experience. You and your staff offer great instruction and feedback to each swimmer. Your explanations are clear and concise. The swimmer coach ratio is fantastic! You and your staff also did a great job building an excellent rapport with our swimmers. The camp counselors/coaches were great role models. The workouts were challenging for the swimmers, but not frustrating!

Have a great year and the best of luck to you and your swimmers. You are providing the swimmers with an amazing program!"

- Jennifer Williams
Indian Wells Valley Swim Coach

"I would like to thank you again, (and all the coaches) for such an excellent experience.

During our return home, I asked Nolan to give the clinic a rating from 1-10 and he gave it a emphatic "10."  When asked what he liked best about the clinic he thought about it and replied, "the coaches."

I was totally impressed with the coaches ability to communicate at the level that a 9-year-old could grasp. From showing and breaking down video, to live in water expert instruction, to performing drills and finally underwater filming for analysis, the technique instruction was phenomenal.

Nolan showed dramatic improvement in the butterfly. Prior to the clinic he was having difficulty with the rhythm and timing between the pull and kick.  Also, while he has not yet improved the head position during breathing in freestyle he is now aware of the problem.

There are two other aspects of the clinic which go beyond technique instruction and in general go beyond what I expected from the course. First, the discussions regarding motivation, attitude and goal setting. Totally important. Nolan's goal is to set the IM record in our summer competitive recreational swim league this year.

Secondly, I think it is invaluable to have access to the coaches/athletes that have achieved such high levels in the sport and academics. These are not people out there somewhere which we are reading about in books but are real people right there that the children may interact with.

I wish we were going to make it for this summer's clinic, however it is too late for me to take vacation this summer, so you will definitely see us next summer.  I think our second guy will be old enough to attend as well."

- Jay, Cathy, Nolan and Gary

"Erica really loved to camp and applied what she learned last week to her swim meet yesterday. She dropped time in all events (5.44 in the 200 IM and 4.68 seconds in the 100 IM). Erica can't wait for next years camp!"

- Mike Mitchell

"Just wanted to say it was a pleasure meeting you.  This was the first time Joseph (PENY Porpoises - the taller one) has done a  stroke clinic at UCSD. As I told you, his IM is terrific but his Fly slows him down.  It was like a light bulb went on in his head, he said, "I finally get what I've been doing wrong with my arms"!  We hope to do some more clinics in the future:) Thank you!"

- Ellen McCannon

"My daughter, Payson Puckett attended session 2 swim camp, last summer.  It was her first swim camp experience.  Payson, joined club swimming in January of '08 at the age of 12.  It was, at that time that she learned the breaststroke and the butterfly stroke.  She had a lot to learn, including starts and turns, in a short time.  As you know, most swimmers, have been swimming since an early age.

Payson went to your swim camp, a novice, with a time of 1:24.72 in the 100 Free.  This January 16th, Payson posted a time of 1:09.77 in the 100 Free at a meet. 

Payson swims club and high school.  She is in a small division 3 school.  State, North Regionals, were Jan. 22nd, where she swam the 200 Free in 2:34.59, much improved from her time of 3:11.13 from 5-29-09.  She also swam the 500 Free at regionals with a time of 7:02.10.

Now it even gets better.  Payson did qualify for State in both the 200 Free and the 500 Free, as well as on the 200 Free Relay team from her school. State was in Conroe, TX, on Feb. 5th & 6th.  Her times improved at state:  She swam the 500 Free in 6:51.53 in the prelims.  Her 200 Free time  was a 2:32.54.  She did advance to the finals in both and swam faster with times of 2:31.31 in 200 Free, and 6:47.03 in 500 Free.  In the 200 Free relay, her split was a 31.12.  The only swim camp she has ever attended at this time, is UC San Diego Swim Camp!  Thank you for a great camp.  Payson is thrilled with what she learned there.  She continues to work hard and looks forward to attending another camp and/or clinic at UC San Diego."

- Vana Puckett

"Thanks Corrie and Matt.  You ran a very nice camp.  The ratio of campers to coaches + the quality of coaches and their interaction with the swimmers was exactly what we were looking for.  We will recommend you to every one we know."

"The clinic was absolutely great.  What an asset to have this available to us!  They all got tweaked with some things that they were doing incorrectly, found out new techniques to improve their strokes, and also found ways to correct things that they have been trying to work out for a long time...like the timing of the breath in the butterfly with Ariel.  Also, whatever the coaches worked on with the breaststroke for Ariel has made a world of difference.  When I came back in the afternoon, I couldn't believe I was looking at the same kid.  The water was parting like the Red Sea in front of her!  LOL!  Sarah went back to regular practice with her high school today and found that kicking up and down with her stream line was faster and less tiring.  She had a shoulder injury last summer which kept her out of the pool and in rehab for nearly 4 months, so she has really had to work hard to reach her goals this year.  She is on the precipice of a CIF time in her 50 free and this clinic may be just what it takes to get her there.  Rachel, whose best stroke is her freestyle, seemed to have much longer, more controlled and efficient strokes.  She just missed a JO time for her Short Course 50 Free, but now I absolutely think she'll get it in the first Long Course meet she does.  Working on technique is hard for her because she is above the level of the 9-10 girls at her swim team, yet doesn't quite have the strength and endurance of the 11-12 year-old girls/boys with whom she mostly swims.  So many times, stroke teaching and correction is somewhat rushed in regular practice.  At the end of the clinic yesterday I could tell she was extremely fatigued, however, she was able to recite back to me a lot of what she learned, so the measure of that will be once she rests up and gets back in the pool for practice.  If we can manage it, I'd love to have the girls attend the camp in the summer.  I am kicking myself for not doing this last year!!! Thank you so much for everything."

- Meeghan

"I just want to give you and your staff my appreciation for all the hard work you did. My daughter truly came back a different person mentally and physically. I don't know what you guys did, but keep it up! She learned SO much. She attended a meet this past weekend and dropped buckets of time! Not only that, but her confidence is so high! Thank you so much! We will see you again at another camp in the future I am sure!

- Jessica Lingenfelter

"Coach, again I wanted to personally thank you and your coaches for all the work you did with the kids.  My son, Joshua Biggs, loves this camp and each time he goes he loves it even more. You guys do a great job with all the kids and make it fun for them! : )

You asked me to let you know how Joshua did this weekend at the NCA swim meet....Well after all the work you did with him last week, I am happy to report that it was very successful and he finally got the Far Western cuts he was working so hard to get. Thank you again..."

- R Rodney

"Good morning Daniel, I hope this message finds you doing well. On behalf of my family, I want to thank you, along with your staff, for the incredible clinic this past weekend. I observed improvements in my daughters technique shortly after receiving instruction and then reinforced by the drills that accompanied it. I look forward to seeing an increase in their performance in both practice and competition. The twins really enjoyed their time as well as the quality of professional instruction. They are already looking forward to the "Starts and Turns" clinic a month from now." 

- Camper's father