Four-day camp introduces elite distance swimmers to open water discipline

Gulliver Swimming State Champion, Alicia Mancilla '18, has been selected as one of 24 up-and-coming distance athletes for the USA Swimming's National Open Water Select Camp, to be held June 6-10 at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida.

"We're thrilled to have one of our own selected for Open Water Camp," said Chris George, Gulliver Swim Club Head Coach. "We're excited for Alicia to broaden her knowledge of open water swimming and to have the chance to learn new techniques from leading open water coaches."

The camp identifies the best distance swimmers in the U.S., offering them a unique motivational and educational experience. The National Open Water Camp is viewed as an integral step for athletes to move from the pool to Open Water, then to the international scene.

"National Open Water Select Camp plays a key role in strengthening Team USA's open water team at the international level," said USA Swimming Club Development Managing Director, Pat Hogan. "Elite distance swimmers already have the swimming ability, but this camp encourages athletes to explore open water swimming as an additional option to their current pool training to potentially represent the U.S. in international competition."

Athletes will experience workouts in the pool, lake and ocean, in addition to educational sessions throughout the four-day camp. Athletes will learn open water strategies, technique, nutrition, recovery and more from elite open water coaches.

The swimmers were selected based on times from the 2016 season; eight men and eight women were chosen using the top 1500 times of the year, while four men and four women were selected based on the results of the 2016 5-kilometer National Open Water Championships.

The entire list of camp participants may be found here. Twenty-one clubs from 16 states will be in represented.

The camp staff is comprised of accomplished open water coaches and managers from across the

nation and include a head coach, four assistant coaches and two managers.

The 2017 National Open Water Select Camp Staff members will include:

• Head Coach: Grant Holicky (Boulder, Colo./RallySport Aquatics)
• Assistant Coach:
  • John Payne (Cary, N.C. /TAC Titans)
  • Nick Graves (Atlanta, Ga./Dynamo Swim Club)
  • Michele Lowry (Salt Lake City, Utah/Swim Utah)
  • Julie Wessler (Lemont, Ill. /Lemont Park District Dolphins)
• Head Manager: Aaron Mahaney (Buffalo, N.Y.)
• Assistant Manager: Kaitlin Pawlowicz (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club)

*For more information on National Open Water Select Camp please visit usaswimming.org.

About USA Swimming

As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit: www.usaswimming.org.

About Gulliver Schools

Gulliver Schools is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit, independent, coeducational, nonsectarian day school with the mission to create an academic community devoted to educational excellence, with a personal touch, that fulfills each student's potential. For more information about Gulliver, please visit www.gulliverschools.org.