Beware of the Crocs
Colony Swim Club builds amazing
streak
The last
time the Colony Swim Club Crocs lost a Summer Independent Swim
League dual meet, some of their swimmers could barely crawl, let alone
do the backstroke.
Colony has stroked its way to three consecutive league titles
and hasn't lost a dual meet since the summer of 2005.
The team, whose home pool is located on Beck Rd. just west of
Plymouth High School, consists of Plymouth and Canton swimmers between
the ages of 4 and 18.
While all 190 Crocs may not be superstars yet, they're all
contributors, said coach Renee Nowaske.
"We always have some kids who are very strong swimmers, kids
whose main sport is swimming," said Nowaske, who also coaches swimming
at East Middle School, where she also teaches. "But for a lot of our
kids, swimming is not their main sport, but they contribute greatly
because it takes a lot of depth to win in this league."
The Summer Independent Swim League consists of the Crocs and
teams from Livonia and Northville. Swimmers compete in against kids in
their own age group: 5- to 8-years-old; 9-10; 11-12; 13-15; and the
open age group, which goes up to 18.
UNSINKABLE
The Crocs have gone 8-0 in dual meets the past four seasons --
an incredible streak that Nowaske attributes to the area's passion for
the sport.
"The Plymouth and Canton communities have always been very
supportive of youth swimming," she said. "We have a lot of parents who
get their kids to the practices because they want their kids to have
the summer experience.
"There are no cuts. As long as you can swim a length of the
pool, you can swim on the team. We have some young kids who work all
the way to the end of the season to make that one length so that they
can compete in a dual meet."
Joining Nowaske on the Crocs' coaching staff are Ed Weber, the
head coach of the Canton High School girls swimming and diving team;
and Joe Le, who serves as Weber's assistant coach at Canton.
"Kathy Sonnanstine, who helps coach at Plymouth High School now,
did a great job of helping build this program during her 15 years at
Colony," Nowaske added.
Ed Wright can be reached at
[email protected] or (734) 453-1980.
