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Lamorinda Weekly Article, April 2,
2008
By Jennifer
Wake
The
Swimming Path to
College
With an
historic 3.2 million graduating high school seniors flooding
college admissions offices this year, getting into college requires
more than good grades or high SAT scores. For some, entrance
comes from academic diligence with the support of a collegiate
coach.
Ninety percent of Orinda Aquatics swimmers
go on to compete in college at many different levels and at some of
the finest institutions in the country. But it is not
easy. It only comes after long hours, tireless dedication,
and being part of an organization respected by college swim
coaches.
Twin brothers Don and Ron Heidary started
Orinda Aquatics more than 15 years ago to allow swimmers to develop
to the national level and go on to college
swimming.
“In a time when it’s so
competitive, if they do reasonably well in the sport and get good
grades, they can get into highly regarded colleges,” said
Ron, who is also the head swimming coach at
Campolindo
High
School
. “I literally had kids tell me
that counselors said they wouldn’t get into any of the
UC’s or other list of schools based on grades, but they would
get into many of them because of swimming.”
“We had one kid who was a senior and
brilliant, and applied to all the Ivy League schools, but he got
wait-listed,” said Don, who is also the head coach
at
Miramonte
High
School
. “It was devastating. The
interesting part of the story is that he did not go through a
coach. Having the support of a coach can tip it in your
favor.”
Since its beginning, Orinda Aquatics quickly
made a name for itself. The team currently has eight
swimmers advancing to the 2008 Olympic trials, four 2007 USA
Swimming National qualifiers, three 2007 SC National Qualifiers,
five 2007 Junior National Qualifiers, and eight 2007 USA Swimming
Scholastic All-Americans.
“We had national success early
on,” Don said. “We are college focused, and tell
our kids that attitude is your option. You choose – but
if you choose negative, you go somewhere
else.”
Orinda Aquatic swimmers regularly are
accepted to premier colleges and universities including Princeton,
UCLA, Stanford, NYU, Notre Dame, Tufts, and
Duke
University
.
Campolindo senior Haley Strausser was
recruited to
Brown
University
and
Campo senior Nate Erickson had offers from all three military
academies, and will start at the United States Air Force Academy
this fall.
Orinda Aquatics alumni Scott Lathrope was
recruited by Stanford two years ago and is a 2008 Olympic Trial
Qualifier in the 400 meter IM and 200 meter Butterfly.
“Swimming year round made me focus on academics, as well as
disciplining myself,” he said. “I had to decide
not to hang out as much with my friends because I knew I had to get
the work done. People come [to Orinda Aquatics] because they
love swimming. The coaches just beat it into your head the
balance of academics and swimming.”
Miramonte senior Kendall Weikert, who was
recruited into
Dartmouth
’s swimming program (and was one of
the eight 2007 OA team Scholastic All-Americans), says that her
involvement in Orinda Aquatics helped her find a balance between
athletics and academics.
“You have to prioritize in a shorter
period of time,” she said. “You’re part of
a group of teens who are making the right choices. It’s
a really positive environment. Our team is known nationwide
and other coaches have seen swimmers from our
team.”
Ron describes OA as a “safe
comfortable place where they don’t have to worry about peer
pressure and they can be who they are.”
“They support each other,” he
said. “They’re academically oriented and are
proud of it and respect each other for that. It’s
required that they have to make certain social sacrifices. If
they can’t make the sacrifices, they shouldn’t be
here.”
Although Orinda Aquatics swimmers have done
well nationally, Don says they value somebody becoming a team
captain as much as going to the Olympic trials. And the
training begins early.
Matt Ehrenberger has coached Orinda Aquatics
swimmers between the ages of 10 and 12 for the past 20
years.
“A lot of these kids come from rec
programs, so I try to bring aspects of training and hard work
together, and bring in the fun of rec swimming,” he
said. “These kids are motivated. They get here
and realize they love working hard and they say, ‘Hey!
I can do this!’”
“The coaching staff and people we work
with have been with us since the program started,” Don
said. “They’re like family. There’s
no way we can have such a strong program without strong,
like-minded coaches. And the kids in our program are the
best. I can’t imagine any other team doing this with no
discipline problems.”
“We’re big picture kind of
guys,” he added. “Character first is just a very
loud emphatic message: out of that comes discipline,
responsibility, respect. It makes you a better athlete; it
makes you a better person.”
Ron wishes there were more organizations
like Orinda Aquatics.
“Teens want to be better
people,” he said. “If you do the right thing and
be the best person you can be, it’s a life issue versus a
swimming issue. You’re a human being a lot longer than
a swimmer.”
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