The Austin, Texas swimming scene is loaded with top-quality clubs. Longhorn Aquatics, Circle C, and Nitro are the big players, and all have gone through their ups and downs, with the most recent excitement coming from the ‘Nitro revolution” a few years ago that really started to put the pressure on in the area to improve coaching and facilities.
Now, two more changes may spark things up again in the Central Texas swimming scene.
Olympic Champion Brendan Hansen coaching at Lost Creek Aquatics (Courtesy of Lost Creek Aquatics)
One is the hiring of three-time Olympic gold medalist Brendan Hansen to coach at the Lakeway Location of Lost Creek Aquatics. (Editor’s Note: Per the official press release, Brendan Hansen will be coaching at all three Lost Creek Aquatics locations.)
Hansen may not have a ton of traditional coaching experience, but he’s given a ton of clinics throughout his career, which is about as good of preparation to coach as you can have (you’re forced to adapt somewhat to the circumstances you’re given, and have to make your impact in a very short period of time).
Lost Creek has had quite a bit of recent success at the high school level, working largely with athletes from Austin’s southwest side, where many of their strongest high school program’s lie. That includes names like Missouri junior Andrew Phillips and Denison freshman Lauren Malachowski.
Regardless of how Hansen turns out as a coach, his presence at Lost Creek brings excitement simply because of who he is. He has long been one of the United States’ most popular swimmers, both within the elite swimming ranks and among the general swimming community, and that alone should be a huge draw.
The other big news in Austin is the formation of the Austin Swim club, on the southwest side of Austin. The club is up and running now, headed and managed by Todd Foley, who spent two years with Nitro. See Austin Swim Club here.
Foley has a long history in the sport of swimming. He was an assistant at Miami from 2001-2006, an assistant at Hawaii from 2006-2009, and then spent a year as an assistant with SwimMAC Carolina’s Team Elite squad, and coached with David Marsh.
Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. and with now more than 800,000 in the city (and 1.8 million in the metro area), its swimming culture is growing with it.
This is good news for the sport, as every time there has been good things happening in Austin swimming, there have been good things happening in American swimming. Austin has a fitness-oriented culture, and so there’s plenty of pools and participants to go around.
Below is the official press release courtesy of Lost Creek Aquatics
Olympic Champion Brendan Hansen coaching at Lost Creek Aquatics (Courtesy of Lost Creek Aquatics)
Brendan Hansen, three-time Olympian and six-time Olympic medalist is bringing his team building and Olympic team leadership talents to Lost Creek Aquatics, as a partner, swim coach and mentor, announces Lost Creek Aquatics founder Steve Jones. Hansen, who has been winning medals on the international stage for more than a decade, is now settled back in Austin with wife Martha and a new baby girl. Lost Creek Aquatics is a competitive swim program in Austin, Texas for ages 5 to 18, with a mission to nurture and develop swimmers for success both in competition and in life.
“Now is the time for me to teach the younger generations everything that I’ve learned in the sport,” said Hansen. “Even though while I was swimming it was very important for me to give back, now more than ever I have the ability and time to make it my main focus,” he continued.
“Steve and I go way back. We realize what kind of atmosphere and community is needed to produce great swimmers.” Hansen continued. “We have an energetic and spirited coaching staff whose main goal is to allow a child the opportunity to reach their potential and have fun doing it.” Hansen will be spreading his coaching time equally between all three locations of Lost Creek Aquatics.
Founded in 2000, Lost Creek Aquatics has recently experienced tremendous growth, tripling in size this year to more than 300 swimmers and expanding to three locations at the Lost Creek Country Club, Lakeway and Steiner Ranch. “Needless to say, we are ecstatic Brendan is here,” says Steve Jones, Lost Creek Aquatics founder. “Brendan started as a summer swim team member and became hooked on the sport. We want kids to enjoy the sport, develop the discipline and stick with it throughout their lives,” Jones continued.
“Many kids fall through the cracks,” said Hansen. “Swimming is hard, and at times heartbreaking. When your success or perceived failure is measured in tenths or even hundredths of a second, it can be so hard to find the motivation within to show up the next day to practice. Learning to push through the walls that life throws at you, the successes and the failures, is one of the most important lessons I have learned from the sport. We plan to pass these lessons on at Lost Creek Aquatics, because the lessons that swimming teaches a child is applicable to the rest of their life,” said Hansen.
Brendan Hansen Bio
About Lost Creek Aquatics:
Lost Creek Aquatics (LCA) is a competitive year-round swim program in Austin, Texas with the mission to nurture and develop swimmers for success in competition and in life. With equal focus on technique, training, and personal attention, they are one of the fastest growing swim programs in town.
LCA was founded in 2000 at Lost Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas by Coach Steve Jones. In 2013, LCA expanded to include programs at Lakeway Swim Center and Steiner Ranch. LCA also offers developmental programs, private lessons, SwimAmerica Group Lessons, summer league swimming, masters programs and additional instruction to swimmers of all ages and ability levels. LCA swimmers range in age from 5 to18 and compete at the local, state, and national levels.
At the core of Lost Creek Aquatics is its highly competitive swim team and strong community atmosphere. Stop by the pool early in the morning or after the sun goes down and see these dedicated athletes working to become stronger and improve their strokes.
Lost Creek Aquatics has three locations:
Lost Creek Aquatics Lost Creek:
Head Coach LCA Lost Creek: Steve Jones
2612 Lost Creek Blvd.
Lost Creek Aquatics Lakeway Swim Center
Head Coach for LCA Lakeway location: Janet Risser
3103 Lakeway Blvd.
Lost Creek Aquatics Bella Mar at Steiner Ranch
Head Coach for LCA Steiner location: Kay Gerken
12401 Calistoga Way
Visit www.lostcreekaquatics.com to register your swimmer or to learn more.
This press release was provided to SwimSwam.
For a long time Coach Mike benefited from the fact that everybody was drinking the “Nitro Kool Aid.” A lot of folks aren’t drinking it anymore, and have realized that Nitro is not the only game in town. Maybe familiarity breeds contempt, maybe change is good. Nitro definitely is not the best option for every kid. No team is. Bottom line, competition is good. It keeps everyone on their toes and makes everyone better. Without competition, a club becomes complacent. And when a club becomes complacent they lost focus. Nitro has lost some focus.
Where is Sean Grieshop swimming, still at Nitro?
Yes, maybe it’s not a job but it is a real business with commensurate responsibilities to the customers, staff and community.
Nitro’s come a long way since this: http://www.athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=1568&zoneid=0
Anyone else want to try and start a real business? Anyone else know how to manage a program with over 1K kids? And their parents? Keep coaches happy? Keep dozens of employees happy? Yes, it’s a real business. But then all of you experts know how to run a real business, don’t you?
From the article you mention:
“To do what we need to do, the number of swimmers we have to run through here is just massive, and you can’t just run them all through from 4 to 7 p.m.,” Koleber says.
“I’m making $98 an hour on each group of four swimmers, and I’ve got room for lots of groups of four,” he says. “So, where should my emphasis be?”
For these four-hour clinics, USA Swimming brings in an Olympian to swim, offer teaching tips, pose for photos and sign various giveaways, charging $50 a person and keeping the ticket revenue from the first 70 sold. “Can we get 150 kids to come? Absolutely,” Koleber says. “If I can get 200… Read more »
The last I counted Nitro has over 20 some coaches on staff who handle 1500 kids of all types. The team started in 2006. I know because my kids joined soon after that. They are now 8 years into it, that many coaches, that many kids, certainly you’ll have some coaches who come and go. That’s part of any program, but magnified considerably for a program as large as they are. The coaches on deck care about the kids. It is evident anytime I am there. Mike spends most of his time with the little kids and often is in the water with them. The coaches I come in contact with all are smiling and have solid swim and coaching… Read more »
Mike is a good businessman. If he weren’t, there is no way Nitro would still be operating without the subsidy of a pool paid for by public money (university, school district, etc.) or someone else (country club). Mike has proven it is possible.
If TXLA had not been propped up for years by UT and riding on past laurels it would have died. Dismal coaching going back to Randy’s last few years chased swimmers all over Austin.
And maybe it is swinging back. As everyone here knows coaching matters more than anything. For a while facilities and commutes matter. But as a kid develops it will come back to coaches. There is no reason to believe Mike doesn’t… Read more »
Anyone watch the online clinic on USA Swimming?
I found the Bolles School presentation to be well-reasoned and organized. If you’re looking for a great example of how modern professional coaches approach swimming technique and development, watch the Bolles clinic.
This list is lot longer than you mention. My kids swam there a while back, but have since graduated. The staff turned over a bunch even in the early days. I’m sure there are still some good folks at Nitro who care about what they do and some amazing swimmers.
Not really sure there is much debate about the kind of place Nitro is for Coaches. From the first ever employee of Nitro, Greg Davis to Doug Russel, Manny Naguchi, Lindsey Rock, and Todd Foley. Not a single professional coach has made it there with the exception of Tim O’Brian. The two top age group coaches have never coached at any other team. Several other coaches have no background in swimming. Real coaches won’t come to a dead end job and now that they have proven to be a place that runs off talent, the word is spreading quickly among coaches. Mike was telling parents he was hiring Hanson prior to Hanson starting up with LCA, little doubt that Hansen… Read more »
Wow, what a joke your “facts” are. Mike never told anyone he was hiring Hanson. Are you privy to the real reasons any of the coaches left Nitro or do you just enjoy spinning things to suit your needs?
Counted around 100 unattached swimmers at the TXLA meet!
Interesting.
I thought there were more than usual.