Welcome to the OLY Swimming

Mission

OLY is a competitive age group swim team.  Our Mission is to provide a “world class” swim team which will allow every athlete to their highest level of swimming and personal achievement

The History of OLY

Since its beginning in 1962, the Oakland Live Y’ers Swim Team has had a history marked by continuous achievement and growth. Consisting of all boys, the first Rochester swim team was coached by volunteer John Burns. Shortly thereafter, a girl’s team, the Aqua Debs, was established and coached by Gloria Lusk. Both of these teams were YMCA teams and combined into a single team in the 70’s. By 1976, the team had grown to 70 swimmers and sent 5 swimmers to YMCA Nationals.

Also, in the 70’s, a USS swim team was emerging in the area. Under the leadership of Oakland University’s Athletic Director Corey Van Fleet, a team of 30 young swimmers trained under OU coach Rich Pine. To maximize resources and coaching staff, the YMCA and USS teams merged in 1977. A contest was held to select a name for the new team, and swimmer Sherie Fedak submitted the winning entry—The Oakland Live Y’ers.

In 1980, OLY won its first YMCA State Championship, followed by it first YMCA Zone Championship in 1981. OLY won Long Course YMCA Nationals as well as its first USS Michigan State Championship in 1990. In 1998 OLY won the USA Junior Nationals Men's Team title in Buffalo, New York. Since 2000, OLY has won 5 Combined Team Speedo Sectional Titles and six Men's Team titles and two Women's Team titles. At the local level since 2000, OLY has won seven State Championship combined Team Titles and been Team Combined runner-up 14 times.  (long course & short course) In 2003, OLY received Silver Medal Designation from USA Swimming, which put OLY in the top 35 swim clubs in the United States. In 2004, Peter Vanderkaay became OLY’s first graduate to receive a Gold Medal at the Olympics.

In the Spring of 2018, OLY combined with FLY swimming and brought the two Cooper Brothers (Adam & Jeff) together in one program. The two clubs operate under the OLY Swimming logo and name.

OLY Swimming is made up of over 400 swimmers now and will continue to excel and grow. OLY Swimming has the finest coaching staff in the state of Michigan with Head Coaches Adam & Jeff Cooper and an impressive group of assistant coaches. OLY Swimming excels to high levels because of a dedicated group of parents who devote untold hours to the OLY program.

GROUPS

Swim School (Ages 6-9) - Swimmers learn all the basic stroking (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly).  Emphasis is on basic skills necesarry to learn the four competitive strokes and advance to Technique group.

Technique (Ages 10 & Under)  - This group is the entry level to the competitive part of OLY Swimming. Focus in this group is on the skill development of the four competitive strokes and starts and turns. Some introduction of aerobic swimming ins introduced and also a basic understanding of a workout environment and reading the pace clock is also introduced.

Junior 1 (Ages 13 & Under) -  This group is for our developing age group swimmers who are ready for a more workout environment and are ready to be introduced to the basics of aerobic training and the foundation of aerobic training for long term development. There is still great emphasis on technical skill development and an introduction to goal setting.

Junior 2 (Ages 13 & Under) - This group is for the more advanced age group swimmer and one that is ready for a high level aerobic workout. Swimmers in this group have a good background already in technical developmetn and are expected to be ready to advance their aerobic traininng to a much higher level than a beginning age group swimmer. Goal setting and dryland are also introduced at this level to each athlete.

High School 1 (Ages 14-18) - This group is for the swimmer that wants to swim soley high school during their high school season and also wants to return to a structured senior team environment when high school season ends. 

High School 2 (Ages 14-18) - This group is for the swimmer that wants to continue to train with the program during their respective high school season. The swimmer is expected to train on weekends with OLY while still competing for their high school prgram. This allows the swimmer a continued process in the OLY program while still experiencing the high school environment.

Senior Team (Ages 13-18) -   Senior Team addreses a wide range of ability and committment levels. Within the Senior Team structure there is an advanced group and a developmental group. The advanced group trains 9 training sessions a week and the structure is designed to develop swimmers to a high national level of competition. The developmental group is offered 6 training sessions a week and is for the senior level swimmers who are beginning to become more committed to their training regiment and level of achievement. Senior Team train together on most days but does have some separation in their practice schedule on the weekends.

Senior Conditioning (Ages 13-18)/Flint-Fenton area only -    Senior Conditioning addresses a wide range of ability and committment levels. Senior Conditioning is for the competitive swimmer who is new to OLY Swimming and wishes to stay in shape in the off season. There are NO MEETS for swimmers in the Senior Conditioning Group. Practices are offered 4 times per week for 90 minutes and begin in early June and run through late July. Practices are at the Fenton High School facility.

Fees for Short Course

Tentative Practice Schedule

​Oakland University Site:

Technique:         

• Mon-Thurs      6-7 pm at Oakland University

• Mon-Thurs      7-8:30 pm at Avondale High School
• Sat                 2-3:30 pm at Oakland University

• Mon-Thurs      5:30-7 pm at Avondale High School
• Sat                 2-3:30 pm at Oakland University

Senior Team:    

• M, T, Th          7-9 pm at Oakland University
• Fri                   6-8 pm at Oakland University
• Th (am)**        5-6:30 am at Avondale High School
• Sa**                9-10:30 am at Oakland University
• Sa                   4-6 pm at Oakland University
• Su**                7:30-9 am at Oakland University
• Su                   2-4 pm at Oakland University

Parental Participation/Volunteer

OLY is a nonprofit organization and we rely on parent participation to host our meets.  Volunteer sessions are assigned according to the oldest child group level.  They are specified below.   The fees you pay are only a portion of the team expenses.   Families may choose to volunteer to meet their requirements or pay 50.00 per session not worked.  Conflicts or extraordinary circumstances should be discussed with the OLY Swimming CFO.

Family Point Requirement (April 1st through March 31st)

OLY’s Mandatory Fundraising Program

The best way to keep fees down as pool costs rise is to do fundraising.  OLY has one of the easiest programs for this and it keeps getting easier.  The team offers both SCRIP and grocery fundraising options.  You can choose to participate in either one of them or both.

Each family is expected to earn at least $75 for OLY from April 1st – March 31st using some combination of grocery and/or SCRIP fundraising (this amount is prorated for new families joining mid-season).  If you earn more than $75, you will begin earning refunds.  OLY will keep half and you will receive half.  These refunds will be issued once per year at the end of the short course season.

If you feel that our team is a good fit for your child please contact us at [email protected]

OLY 2020 - 2021 Short Course season will begin in September. 

OLY 2021 - Long Course season will begin in April  

 
Please email the OLY Membership Coordinator ([email protected]) if you are new to the area or are interested in joining the team.  Tryouts are usually held at Oakland University or Clarkston High School or Fenton High School  throughout the season as openings permit.  When you come for your try-out, make sure your swimmer is ready to swim and brings goggles, towel, etc.. If your swimmer has competitive team experience please bring a print out of top times. 

Thanks so much for your interest in joining our Team!