Announcements
Our Swim Team Experience: The Augustine Family
April 1, 2025
Parent: Adriana Augustine
Years Involved in Swim Team: 1 year
Benefits for Children:
My daughter became a much stronger swimmer last summer. The competition with other kids in the team and at the meets pushed her abilities. Swim is a fun way to stay active and strong in the summer sunshine!
Team & Community:
The summer team is the right balance of competition and fun. It’s serious, but not as serious as the year round programs. There is room for new swimmers and swimmers of all abilities at all ages.
Overall Experience:
The meets are fun! We are not from Harlan school district so it’s been fun for my daughter to make new friends.
Value:
Swimming every day plus meets for $60 is a steal.
Our Swim Team Experience: The Wohlhutter Family
March 31, 2025
Parent: Danielle Wohlhutter
Years Involved in Swim Team: 7 years
Benefits for Children:
McKenna has grown in many areas but mostly in her leadership skills. She encourages all teammates knows how to ask for help when needed and improves on her form each year.
Team & Community:
Swim team is a great sport for parents to be involved in with their kids through volunteering and meeting new families in the community. It really is like a family.
Communication and Organization:
We are really well informed through our social media page, online and through text.
Overall Experience:
My favorite part of swim is being a part of the swimming community and interacting with other teams. We signed up for swim because being active in the summer was important to us as a family. For new swimmers I would say being a part of swim is about improving yourself, not anyone else!
Value:
Swim team is special because of the support not only the swimmers give to each other but the parents give to not only their swimmer but all swimmers from the bigs to the littles!
Our Swim Team Experience: The Petersen Family
March 28, 2025
Parent: Ashley Petersen
Years Involved in Swim Team: 2 years
Benefits for Children:
My son especially was lacking confidence immensely when he first started. Crowds terrified him and he never wanted anyone to look at him. Swim team has helped ease those fears and when he is swimming, you can see his confidence beaming through! It’s amazing to see. He was a decent swimmer to begin with but has improved so much in just two years. Socially he would struggle at times to make friends. Swim team has given him a community of people to have fun with but to also work harder with. My daughter is nervous in the water, and she too has improved so much. Amber is the most patient coach ever but also has a way of pushing the kids to their true potentials. I couldn’t be more appreciative of what being a part of swim team has brought out in my kids!
Team & Community:
Their patience. They don’t scream and yell at the kids. They have a way of getting kids to push themselves, improve their technique and try harder without screaming at them. The swim team community is very welcoming and always cheering on everyone’s kids. I would 10/10 recommend Harlan Swim Team to all families to not only improve the potentially life saving skill of swimming but also to help teach their kids life long skills of socialization, confidence, hard work, and being part of a team.
Communication and Organization:
If in doubt, try it out! Kids can be timid about it at first, but usually love it! Amber is a great person and coach, we are very lucky.
Overall Experience:
Not only does swim team teach you how to improve swimming, but many other life skills as mentioned before. Of course they value hard work and winning but their top priority is always helping the kids to be the best they can be individually as well as together as a team.
Our swim team Experience: The taylor family
March 27, 2025
Parent: Allison Taylor
Years Involved in Swim Team: 3 years
Benefits for Children:
Swim team is a great way for my kids to stay in shape during the summer. They love being and to see their friends. They were always strong swimmers but have so much more confidence in the water now.
Team & Community:
You can see how much the coaches truly care and want to be there to help the kids get better. It is such a great team atmosphere with everyone cheering each other on.
If you are looking for your kids to be part of a positive community and team atmosphere, swim team is the sport for your kids!
Communication and Organization:
I have always been impressed with the communication from coaches. I love that we get the schedule well in advance.
Overall Experience:
I love the team atmosphere and the friendships our whole family has built. My advice would be to just join!!! Give it a try!
Meet the Coach: Amber Schmitz
March 26, 2025
🤝 Meet the coach! 🔴⚫️⚪️
Head coach: Amber Schmitz
Years Involved in Swim Team: Several!
Amber's Philosophy:
Benefits for Children:
Once your child does swim team, you'll feel so much better about having them around water. It is also a great workout and a way for kids to get some of that excess energy out! Swim team really teaches students to get the feel for the water and swim efficiently.
Team & Community:
Swim team is a really unique in that students from kindergarten to seniors in high school are on the same team and competing at the same meets. This creates a fun dynamic and opportunity for older students to support and mentor other swimmers. Harlan Summer Swim Team is just fun, competitive, and supportive!
Communication and Organization:
The team is well-organized, and it takes many volunteers to make a meet run. Thankfully, parents have been willing to help out to make the meets run smoothly.
Overall Experience:
My favorite part about swim team is getting to know the swimmers and watching them improve in their technique, strength, and swimming endurance.
Value:
For a sport that is a skill you'll use for the rest of your life, I believe swim team is a bargain and every kid should do it for a minimum of a season or two!
I'm looking forward to the upcoming season and having fun developing the swimmers we have in the Harlan area!
Amber Schmitz to Coach Harlan Swim Team in 2025
March, 15, 2025
We are happy to announce that Amber Schmitz will be our head coach for the 2025 Summer Swim Team season!
Amber has many years of swimming experience. She was a former Harlan Summer Swim Team swimmer as a child, swam in high school for the Harlan Community and Lewis Central swim teams, coached the Harlan Summer Swim Team for 2 years in high school and college, and has served on the Harlan Swim Team board for seven years.
Amber has been the head coach of the Harlan Swim Club winter team since its formation in 2017.
We are looking for a few assistant coaches to help with our team and join Amber on our coaching staff. We are accepting applications for assistant coaches through March 31st. Apply here.
6/7 Meet Canceled
June 7, 2023
NO MEET TONIGHT: Due to a mechanical problem at our pool, the pool is closed today we have to cancel our meet tonight. Coach will follow up with reschedule details and an update on practice plans for the rest of the week!
First meet is June 7th! Sign your swimmer up!
June 2, 2023
Hello!
Great job today at time trials! Results are posted here. Keep in mind time trials are solely a starting point for coaches to know where swimmers are at and a baseline for swimmers to compare to at the end of the season. We look forward to everyone working hard and improving over the season.
The first meet is at home on Wednesday, June 7th vs. Missouri Valley. Coaches will need to know if your swimmer is attending or not. You will need to let coaches know by the end of the day on Monday! Here's how you do that:
Go to www.harlanswimteam.com
Click on Swim Portal
Login with the same information you registered your child with
Click View Meets
Mark if attending or not. Make sure you save your selection. (if you need help, email the coaches at harlaniaswimteam@gmail.com or text coach Aurora at 712-579-6835)
If you don't mark that you are attending, we will assume that you are not going to be there!
This is the same process for EVERY MEET. It seems like a lot of work at first, but it is a very efficient way to make sure we know who is coming or not, which makes the meets run more efficiently and gets everyone home earlier on meet nights!
We will also need volunteers since this is a home meet! Please sign up using this link:
https://vmodcui.active.com/volunteer/jobs?eventGroupId=2590732
Reminder that all swimmer families must volunteer 3 times to fulfill your volunteer requirement!
As a reminder, if you have information to communicate, please email coaches at harlaniaswimteam@gmail.com or text to 712-579-6835. Social media is not always monitored.
Thanks!
Harlan Swim Team
Time TRIALS AND PICTURES!
June 1, 2023
Hello everyone!
Yesterday and today, kids were given picture forms for tomorrow, Friday June 2nd. At 10:30am we will have pictures taken for the team and following pictures will be time trials. No one is required to get pictures, however, we would like to have all of the team present for the team photo. Of course, not everyone will be able to make it, but we need to get pictures and time trials done ASAP.
Time trials is our mini meet against ourselves. It is a way for the swimmers to have a starting time in the season. We will have each swimmer swim each stroke against their age group. The times and standings will be beneficial for the future meets to come.
It has been a fun couple of days of practice! We are excited to see how they will start the season and compare it to the end of the season!
Reach out if you have any questions!
Thank you!
Coach Aurora
Harlan Summer Swim Team Coaches Letter; Practice starts May 30th!
May 22, 2023
Hello everyone!
Thank you for registering for the Harlan Summer Swim Team! We are excited to have returning families and new faces! Our season kicks off on Tuesday, May 30th. We will begin practice at 10:30 am for swimmers 11 and older, however, I would love for everyone to be there at 10:10am. I would like to show everyone how to help set up for practice and introduce our coaching staff! Swimmers 10 an Under will start at 11:45 (please arrive by 11:35).
Here are a few items I'd like to address as we get ready to start our season:
Volunteering
Parents are encouraged to help at swim meets because meets won’t run as smoothly without them. Volunteering includes: timing, watching camp, bringing waters, etc. Volunteering at least 3 times will allow you to receive your deposit back. More information will be sent out soon!
Swimsuits
Girls will have competitive one-piece swimsuits. Boys will have competitive swim trunks (jammers). We do not have team suits, nor a special place to order from. If you have questions, please ask and I can help direct you to the right place. Swimoutlet.com and Amazon carry good suits. Sporti, TYR, Speedo are good brands to consider, among others. Goggles are great to have and if you have longer hair, you may want to consider a swim cap. The team has goggles and caps that can be purchased the first week of practice. Essentially, swimmers need a suit, but these other items will help them be more comfortable and competitive in the water!
Attendance
Summer is time for fun and games! I completely understand that we all have a lot going on in the summer. Communication is key!! Please text me if your child will be missing from practice. The only way to get better is to show up and try hard!
Meets
Meets are not required, however, they are a great way to show off your children’s skills and to have fun! The meet schedule can be found on the website at www.harlanswimteam.com. We currently will have 8 meets this year. We will have families declare if their children are able to make it to the meet two days before the meet. Then the coaches will decide what your children will swim for that meet. The conference meet at the end of the year on July 8th is our "big" meet. To be eligible for the conference meet, swimmers must attend a minimum of TWO regular season meets and be chosen by coaches for conference. We have relay teams to fill and events for all age groups, so work hard to earn a spot at the conference meet and mark July 8th on your calendar! Harlan is the conference meet host this year!
Apparel
We have extended our order cut-off! The deadline is now Sunday, May 28th. There is a customizable option for those who want it! No apparel is required, but it’s fun to have gear! Here is the link to the store: https://cishirts.com/shop/stores/harlan-swim-2023
Thank you again for joining the team this year! We can’t wait for the season to start! If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to text or email me!
If you have any friends looking to join the swim team, encourage them to sign up! It's not too late - we will be accepting registrations until the first week of practice.
Thank you!
Aurora Miller
(712) 579-6835
rory32m@gmail.com or harlaniaswimteam@gmail.com