U.S. Masters Swimming Club of the Year Award
| Recipient: | Noblesville Adult Swim Team |
| Year: | 2009 |
| LMSC: | Indiana |
Noblesville Adult Swim Team (NASTI) had 140 swimmers of all ages and abilities. The team competed together at meets, held swimming clinics, actively volunteered, helped their local community, and enjoyed social events.
NASTI hosted the 2008 USMS Check-off Challenge and the 2008 USMS 25K National Championship Open Water Swim. The Open Water Championship, held in Noblesville, had over 130 participants. Volunteers helped ensure the event was successful for the team and for USMS. NASTI received TV coverage and an article was featured in Swimmer magazine following the event. One of the NASTI swimmers, Dan Welklin, created a poster-sized photo collage of the 25K Open Water event. As a fundraiser, the collage, and a CD with 177 photos were available for purchase. All proceeds were donated to the USMS Foundation.
Even though NASTI was not the largest team in the state, they won the 2006 and 2007 State Championships and took 2nd place in 2008 and 2009. Team members maxed out their personal events to achieve more points. The club also formed “The Butternut Club,” a group of swimmers who had completed 500+ yards of continuous, legal butterfly.
NASTI held swim clinics for their members including an invitational clinic featuring local college and high school coaches. They also offered a clinic with an underwater video camera. In 2008, NASTI was awarded a Nike swim clinic and grant and had about 40 participants. The club also held an Open Water clinic.
NASTI formed a non-profit organization and took control of the operation of their summer community outdoor aquatic center. They raised money for scholarships and for improvements for the local high school pool, where they swam the rest of the year. They hosted an annual “Puppy Poolooza” at the end of each summer to raise money for the Humane Society and the Forest Park Aquatic Center. Team members raised money to support sending the parents of David Boudia, the Olympic diver who learned to dive at their pool, to Beijing in August 2008.
NASTI organized social events, many of which were held annually. The events included casual and formal dinners, fundraising auctions, kayak trips, luaus, campfire party, holiday parties, and a “Polar Bear Plunge”. The latter received substantial local news coverage, as well as national mention. There were many reasons why swimmers loved being a member of the NASTI team!