A8 • Friday, September 3, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
SPORTS
Top-level trainer joins Seaside
swimming team coaching staff
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
who helped the 200-yard
freestyle relay team win a
state championship. Over-
all, the boys team — which
included several former Sea-
side swim team members
— took third at state in the
spring.
Throughout the corona-
virus pandemic, the Seaside
swim team has continued
going strong.
At the semiannual swim
meet hosted by the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation
District in late July, more
than a dozen team members
between the ages of 6 and 18
competed.
And the coaches are look-
ing forward to taking the
program to the next level.
In August, Carolyn Hey-
mann was brought on to
coach alongside head coach
Mike Kadi, who has run the
program for about six years.
“This a game-changer,”
Kadi said.
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A positive outlet
USA Swimming
program
Heymann, who relocated
from Lake Oswego and
started in mid-August, has
a wealth of knowledge and
experience. In the past, she’s
trained Olympic qualifi ers.
“She’s amazing and I’m
learning so much from her,”
Kadi added.
The program is year-
round, with a short break
around the start of the school
year. Children can join at
any time, as the team always
has capacity for newcomers,
Kadi said.
The program is broken
into three levels: bronze, for
novice; silver, for intermedi-
ate and advanced students;
and the gold level for high
schoolers when their offi cial
season isn’t in session and
other highly advance swim-
mers. The park district’s
swim lesson programs are
structured to prepare swim-
mers for the swim team as
early as age 6, or with coach
approval.
Like Kadi, Heymann is a
USA Swimming-American
Swimming Coaches Asso-
ciation swimming-certifi ed
coach, which sets the team
up to achieve USA Swim-
ming membership status
in the near future. This has
been a longtime goal for
the park district, and one
they were aiming to achieve
before the pandemic hit and
stalled the process.
“You can only go so far
without trying to compete or
at least visiting other facil-
Business Directory
Ella Crater of the Seaside swim team.
Seaside swimmer Isla Manship at a July meet.
ities, even in a noncom-
petitive capacity,” the park
district’s aquatics and recre-
ation manager Justin Smith
said. “We’ve tried to go up
one notch.”
That provided the impe-
tus for bringing on another
coach — particularly one
with the credentials to meet
USA Swimming criteria.
“We have potential
Olympic swimmers out
there, I feel that,” Kadi said.
Although becoming a
USA Swimming member
will create new opportuni-
ties for children who want
to compete at swim meets
outside the area and take
their sport to the next level,
the Seaside swim team will
continue to be accessible to
beginners as well.
“We’ll always keep that
novice side,” Smith said.
In Kadi’s experience, as
long as a child can make it
across the pool, then he can
work with them. As a result,
he’s coached more than 200
young people during his ten-
ure and observed several
going on to succeed in the
high school program.
He referenced Henry
Garvin, a recent graduate
from Seaside High School
The pandemic has caused
some logistical challenges
for the swim team, primarily
by shortening the length of
time team members can be
in the facility for training and
the number of kids who can
be onsite simultaneously.
During the early stages of
the pandemic, they only had
two athletes training at once
— using either side of the
pool — and they’ve had to
occasionally close down for
two- or three-week periods.
However, the pandemic
hasn’t stifl ed enthusiasm.
If anything, it’s kept chil-
dren engaged in a positive
environment.
“Because of COVID, kids
needed an outlet, and swim-
ming was one they could do,
and they could do safely,”
Kadi said, adding “the num-
bers are growing quickly.”
Despite the volume
and training time limita-
tions, Kadi has maintained
the same coaching philos-
ophy, with an emphasis on
fundamentals.
The 45 minutes kids can
be in the facility is enough
time to focus on refi ning
strokes, starts, turns and fi n-
ishes and improving balance
in the water.
“We can slow it all down
and put it together when the
training hours increase,”
Kadi said.
He is also used to children
fl owing in and out of the
program when they want to
try other sports or activities.
Swimming remains a con-
sistent opportunity that also
carries lifelong potential.
“It teaches you to really
start something and fi nish
something,” he said. Addi-
tionally, “it’s good for you,
it’s therapeutic, it’s mindful.
This is something you can
do when you’re 50, 60, 70.”
Passing on his love of
swimming to young people
in the community has been
rewarding for Kadi as well.
“You want to do right by
these kids and put them on
the proper path for a good
life,” he said.
Portland State football has a Camp Rilea connection
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FLOORING
Every (normal) summer,
the North Coast brings in
visitors of all types — beach
volleyball players, Hood to
Coast runners, surfers, boat-
ers, campers, etc.
Over the last few years
— 2020 notwithstanding —
you can add football teams
to the list.
While the local high
schools
teams
already
host their summer seven-
on-seven drills and youth
camps, a few outsiders
have recently made off -sea-
son trips to the coast a part
of their regular training
regimen.
The West Linn Lions
— one of the top 6A high
school football programs
in the state — have, for the
last three years, made a trek
to Seaside for an annual
team-building camp.
Coached by former Uni-
versity of Oregon Duck
and NFL quarterback Chris
Miller, the Lions spend
three days in Seaside, enjoy-
ing the town, the food, the
games and the beach. And,
while they’re at it, working
on their football.
How it all started, Miller
said, was he and his wife
at the time “were driving
through Seaside during the
Ducks at the Astoria golf
event, and noticed the tall
fi eld lights off Highway 101.
“We went and looked at
Broadway Field, and I said,
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Portland State University
Portland State University football players go through drills at Camp Rilea in 2019. The Vikings
were scheduled to practice at the coast, but canceled the trip due to coronavirus concerns.
‘this would be a great spot
for a team camp.’”
Three years later, the
West Linn football team just
made its third summer trip
to Seaside, where the Lions
worked and played for three
days in late July.
“The kids love it, my
coaches love it,” Miller said.
“We stay at Rivertide Suites,
so we do it up right.”
He added, “There’s a lot
of fun things for the kids
to do in Seaside, and beach
access is great. It’s all within
walking distance, so it’s con-
venient. Our Thursday night
goal-setting, player call-
out team bonfi re is a great
team-building event. It’s a
great 48-hour getaway.”
And “Broadway Field is
a nice surface, nice fi eld, as
well,” he said.
Local businesses bene-
fi t, too.
“Each year we have a
team dinner at Fultano’s
Pizza, and a coaches din-
ner at Seaside Brewery,” he
said.
In addition to West
Linn’s annual visit, the Port-
land State University foot-
ball program schedules
a yearly workout session
at Camp Rilea, where the
Vikings practice, scrimmage
and spend a few days at the
coast in preparation for their
upcoming season.
Portland State held work-
outs at Camp Rilea before
the 2019 season, or as the
Vikings called it, “72 hours
of team bonding.”
Their 2020 visit — like
the entire fall season — was
canceled by the coronavirus
pandemic.
Unfortunately, with the
virus still hanging around a
year later, Portland State had
to cancel its 2021 trip.
With Clatsop County’s
coronavirus numbers spik-
ing again, the Vikings said
“thanks, but no thanks” to
the North Coast, and can-
celed their scheduled prac-
tices at Camp Rilea in
August.
In a statement on the
Portland State website, it
was announced that “Port-
land State had planned to
travel to Camp Rilea on the
Oregon Coast again this pre-
season for a handful of prac-
tices. However, this week-
end’s trip was canceled
in the interest of keeping
everyone healthy in the cur-
rent environment.”
Hopefully Portland State
football can return to the
coast in 2022, and make it
a repeat of their last visit
in 2019, when the Vikings
brought 46 letterwinners,
along with 16 redshirt play-
ers, 27 signees and a number
of walk-ons to Camp Rilea.
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