A few weeks ago we signed my daughter up for the Mutual of Omaha Breakout Swim Clinic that was being held at the pool she trains at. She was so excited to get to swim with Olympians Kate Ziegler and Matt Grevers that all she talked about in the weeks leading up the clinic was the clinic. The clinic was yesterday afternoon and let me tell you, it lived up to every last expectation in her mind!

Not only was the clinic super organized, but I don’t think we could have had two better athletes – Olympic Gold Medalist Matt Grevers and World Record holder Kate Ziegler were so personable, patient, inspirational and really connected with the swimmers! Actually I think my daughter must have made Kate’s day during Q & A when she asked Kate about her last meet – which was at the Ohio State Grand Prix meet. When Kate said, yes that was her most recent meet, my daughter mentioned the comment made by the announcers that they had not seen Kate in a while. Kate laughed and said that was a bit embarrassing hearing that over the loud speaker, but loved that this information was noted by an 8 year old (who by the way, tivo-ed that meet and has watched at least 5 times).

The clinic was comprised of getting to know the athletes and their swim careers, stroke work in the pool, question and answer time with the athletes, more stroke work, races with the Olympians (how cool is that?) as well as autograph and photo sessions. Each swimmer got a t-shirt – love the back – “I raced a gold medalist today – what did YOU do?”, a bag, 2 DVDs of swim meets the Olympians and other were swimming in, and athlete bio cards. Great value for the $65 clinic fee!!

Clinics like the Mutual of Omaha Breakout Swim Clinic can be such a great way to really connect athletes with their heroes, boost their confidence and help reinforce the positives in their individual sports.

Has your athlete done a clinic like this? Did you think it was beneficial? Personally, I know the memories from yesterday’s clinic will not be forgotten any time soon!