Dear Marlin families,

Welcome to the newest version of the Michiana Marlins! Our season will start in one week from this Tuesday, on September 3. We look forward to meeting all of you and creating something special for our community. We plan to build on the foundation started last year by the Marlins of Knollwood while bringing back some of the traditions of the original Marlins.

For those of you I have not yet met, I am John VanDriessche and I am the head coach. Each week you will receive an email from me with the weekly practice schedule and other timely information. My primary role within our organization is to coach your children. The second role I fill, and almost as important, is to provide constant communication and education for all of our families. If you ever have a question, feel free to email ([email protected]) or text/call (574-276-6057).

Practice Schedule for Week of 9/1

Penn High School

Splash 1 & 2: Wednesday 6:00-7:00

Splash 3: Wednesday 6:00-7:00, Thursday 5:30-7:00, and Friday 5:00-6:30

Fins Flex: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 5:30-7:00, and Friday 5:00-6:30

Fins Compete: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 5:30-7:30 and Friday 5:00-6:30

Elite: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 3:45-5:15

Knollwood CC

Splash 1 and 2:

Wednesday 4:30-5:30 or 5:30-6:30

Tuesday and Thursday 3:30-4:30 or 4:30-5:30

New Prairie High School

Splash: Wednesday 5:00-6:00 CST

Fins: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:30 CST

Elite: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:30 CST

Practice Notes:

This section will be used as clarification/explanation of time changes, direct families to what door to enter each building, and any other not readily understood nuances of the schedule.

Parent Meetings

We schedule these towards the end of September. My presentation typically takes around 30 minutes followed by a question and answer session.

Social Media Sites

Make sure to like, follow, or subscribe to our social media platforms. You can click here to our Facebook page, X, and Instagram. We will use these sites to enhance our communication. These sites will be filled with pictures from meets and practices. We will also be posting any last minute announcements here as well. These will include practice cancellations, weather or otherwise, time changes to meet warmups, and anything else that needs to get out quickly.

Swim–A-Thon/Penn High School/Oct. 12

Our 1st annual Swim-A-Thon is planned for Saturday October 12th at Penn High School from 8:00-10:00 AM. We will be sending out more information in the upcoming weeks.

Spirit Wear

Thanks to some very talented artists we will have an array of design options for our different offerings this season. We are aware how important team gear is for establishing our culture and we are diligently working behind the scenes to get these out to you.

Each training group will have their own cap design and as athletes progress through the championship meets they will earn different colored caps with varying designs.

We hope to have our team shop open sometime this coming week. Make sure to check our social media sites in the upcoming days for the link.

Team Cheer

As you may or may not know I was the head coach of the Marlins from 1998-2001. We are going to do our best to build a bridge to our past. One way I think we can start is to introduce one of my favorite team cheers from that time. I took the liberty to update a few words.

Hail to the Marlins!!

Hail to the Marlins!!

A zuma zuma zee

A zuma zuma za

A zuma zuma zee

A zuma zuma za

Hail to the Marlins

Hail to the Fins, Fins, Fins

I know it doesn’t look like much. But trust me, it is very cool when done well!

Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit

This is our tentative meet schedule for the fall and winter. We may add meets if we find ones that fit our club’s needs. There will be two different dates listed with each meet The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit.

Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines will be based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets, if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend.

Some meets will be marked with an * and those will require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. Soon you will be able to see all pool locations on our website under the "Pools" tab.

DUNE Sweater Weather Swim Spectacular/Hobart High School/Oct. 5&6/Sept. 15

CON Skypoint Transit Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov. 1-3/Oct. 12

GSI Goshen Rays Veterans Day Meet/Goshen Aquatic Center/Nov. 9/Oct. 13

IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 3-5/Nov. 5

CON IMXtreme Invite/Concord High School/Jan. 24-26/Dec.15

IA Jr. Superstar Invitational/Rolfs Aquatic Center/Feb. 15&16/Jan.12

CON Leisure Pools Last Chance Showdown/Feb. 28-Mar. 2/Jan.19

*IN Swimming Divisional Championships/TBD/Mar. 7-9/Feb.23

*IN Swimming Senior State/TBD/Mar. 13-16/Feb.23

*IN Swimming Age Group State/TBD/Mar. 21-23/Feb. 23

*USA Swimming Speedo Sectionals/IU Natatorium Indy/Mar. 27-30/Feb.23

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

--

John VanDriessche

Head Coach

Michiana Marlins

Penn High School

(574)276-6057

MichianaMarlins.com

#letsgoMARLINS