BLOOMINGTON JEFFERSON JAGUARS

BOYS SWIM AND DIVE

Welcome to the Bloomington Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive website. 

Please stop here to find out information and links regarding practice and meet times and locations, team events, and anything regarding swimming and diving. 

3/12/24 Summer Options


Jefferson Jaguar Summer Swim Interest Survey (read below to find out more)


Hello Jaguar boys swimmers, I hope that you have begun to enjoy your time away from the pool over the past week or two - and gotten over the post-season blues that sometimes come with the end of a season. I’m writing to give you my thoughts on what you can do in the off-season to help you progress in your swimming.


This season saw a lot of improvement with you, but as you could see from some of our meets, we will have to try to keep that going in order to create better match ups with our opponents (ops as you might say) in the future. I really feel like you have the willingness and desire to get better and be competitive. So the question becomes - how do you do that? In order to become a better swimmer there are really three things you need to get better: correct technique, training, and a reason why you’re doing it. 


Technique: I’ve said this a million times, but you can be the most impressive physical human ever, but if you’re not catching water or if your timing and rhythm are off, you are like a race car in mud. There’s a lot of power and desire, but you’re spinning your wheels. Some people are born with the ability to just ‘get it’, but others need to work on it - even some of the best swimmers.


Training: You can have the best technique in the world, but if you are not in shape, you won’t be able to go very far very fast. When we train, both in and out of the pool, we (the coaches and you) are trying to change the physiology of your body so that it can use your technique at the pace it needs to go for the amount of time you need to do it. Sometimes training isn’t the most exciting thing to do, and sometimes it’s the hardest thing to do, but unless you get outside what you think is comfortable, and unless you are pushing yourself beyond your current limits, you will only get better because you’re growing and your improvement will be limited.


Motivation: This is the most important piece. If you have no idea why you’re doing any of this, you’ll let yourself slide when it comes to technique or training. Motivation comes from a lot of different places. Maybe you are just naturally competitive, maybe you enjoy setting and achieving goals, maybe you enjoy solving puzzles and problems and want to see what you can figure out. You need a reason why to keep going when it’s easier to stop.


There are a lot of options on what you can do, and here are what they are. There are obviously different levels of commitment, and you and your family have to decide what you’re willing to do.


Here are the options in order of commitment, and I believe better outcomes.


Swim club.  In a perfect world, this is the option that everyone would pick.Club swimming provides structure, coaching, AND competition. You can go swim on your own or just practice, but nothing helps you get better like competing. I know USA club meets are marathons and they take your weekends, but that is the price you pay. If you happen to go to the state meet or even our section meet - there are very few if any competitors who are reaching that level without swimming club. This can also be a very daunting commitment if you’ve never done it before, but if a big group of you do this together it makes for a better experience.


Barracuda Swim Club - this is the local Bloomington Club. There are other clubs around as well if that is not the right fit for you. 


Swim camps. There are several one week camps around the state during the summer. I work at St. Olaf in June, Gustavaus runs sessions throughout the summer, Macalester has started one, and the U of M also has camps. These vary in focus from technique to training, see the links below if that is something you’re interested in. Since they are only one week, I would focus on technique camps unless you are already training with a group.


St. Olaf Swim Camp

Gustavus Swim Camp

Macalester Swim Camp

U of M Swim Camp


Jefferson Summer Swim. We are going to run a seven week program this summer for those who are not able to make the above commitments. This will be from 4-6 during June and July except for the week of July 4th and will focus both on helping technique and training. There are no meets. The cost will be $250 for the summer session. We need to pay the district for pool use and pay the coaches. This is also dependent on numbers, if we don’t have a minimum number of guys interested, then we will not be able to cover costs. Please indicate if this is something you would be interested in by filling out the form below.


Jefferson Jaguar Summer Swim Interest Survey


Lift weights - high school guys for sure, but there are age appropriate dryland programs out there in order to help you become generally more athletic. I can talk to you about this if you’d like.


Play other sports/be active. There are no other sports that are similar to swimming, but playing other sports can help you develop physically and mentally and reduce the chance of overuse of particular muscle groups. The mentality of being competitive and some physical changes that occur can be brought to the pool when you come back.


Eat right and get your sleep. This should be done all the time anyway, but there is the temptation sometimes to just stay up really late and snack on whatever - that is obviously not a recipe for success. 


There are probably more options, but this is what I’ve got for now. I can’t make you do any of this and will not penalize anyone for any choices they make. Ultimately this has to come from you. You are able to achieve at a high level if you decide that is what you want to do. We live in a major metro area and are not at a disadvantage in Bloomington in any way so you have the opportunity if you just take it.


The other part of this is that this is really a family commitment - talk to your families to see what you are able to do. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll see you at the banquet.






3/6/24


End of Season Banquet is almost here!


The banquet will take place on Tuesday, March 12th at 6pm at the Minnesota Valley Country Club (6300 Auto Club Rd, Bloomington).  All athletes will attend for free (their banquet ticket was covered in their booster fees).  Additional guests will be $35 each.  


If you have yet to register, we ask you do so BY TODAY so we can get an accurate headcount over to the club.  If you would prefer to pay closer to the event, it is fine to register now and pay later.  Payments can be made in person (cash or check) at the banquet OR preferably through our Venmo account (@JHSBoysSwimDiveBoosterClub).


2/23/24

Congratulations to the boys on their 7th place finish at the section 2AA swimming and diving championships this week. We had lot of great swims and I look forward to sharing more about the season at our banquet in  a couple weeks. Thank you parents and volunteers for your hours of support of this team and the boys. See the times and analysis at Meet Results and Stats.

2/10/24

It was JV Champs today - it was a great way for these guys to end their season. Thanks also to the parents on running their last meet of the season at home - we couldn't do it without you. See the results at  Meet Results and Stats.

2/08/24

Last dual meet of the season - see the results vs. BMS at Meet Results and Stats.

2/03/24

Boys swam at the 100th Hibbing Invite today.  Check out how they did at Meet Results and Stats.

2/01/24

Last home meet of the year tonight - again had some guys taking some big steps forward. On to Hibbing  - see our results vs. New Prague at Meet Results and Stats.

1/25/24

Another night of improvements. Great way to honor the seniors.  See how they did at Meet Results and Stats.

1/24/24  

IT'S TIME TO PACK THE POOL!

Please join us at tomorrow's home meet against Waconia where we will be celebrate the 

Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive Class of 2024


There will be a recognition ceremony immediately following the meet

1/18/24

Guys again took another step forward in the season. You can see them at Meet Results and Stats.

1/13/24

Guys had a great meet at the true team section meet on Saturday - lots of season best times. You can see them at Meet Results and Stats.

1/7/23

Happy New Year! We hope everyone was able to take some time to celebrate with friends and family over the holiday season and are feeling refreshed and renewed as we enter 2024.  

We have a busy week ahead of us and a lot of important information to share. As a reminder, our main communication tools are our weekly parent email, this website and specifically for the boys a team GroupMe. If you are not getting our weekly parent email, please reach out to communications@jeffersonboysswimdive.org to get added. Additionally, if your son is not in the GroupMe, have him discuss this with one of the captains.


Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind:

12/27/23

Big shout out to the over 30! alumni who came to the annual alumni meet. Fanstastic and amazing swims by Jaguars old and new. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats. 

12/17/23

We hosted the Jaguar Invite yesterday, and I want to start by thanking all of you parents for helping to make the meet itself a success. We ran a new scoreboard and thanks to the effort and time put in by parents over the course of the last three days it worked great. The boys continued to find out about what they can do in the world of swimming. We definitely saw some improvements and look forward to seeing that continue as the weeks go on. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats. 

12/12/23

Congratulations to the boys on completing their first meet of the season tonight. It was good being able to actually race against someone other than their own teammates and get a real handle on where they are. The goal is to go from here and improve from one meet to the next. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats. Next meet Saturday.

12/8/23

And just like that we are officially 2 weeks into our season! Hopefully the boys are getting into the routine of practices and are excited for their first meet next week.  

There is a lot of important information to share as the season gets into full swing. Our main communication tools are our weekly parent email, this website and specifically for the boys a team GroupMe. If you are not getting our weekly parent email, please reach out to communications@jeffersonboysswimdive.org to get added. Additionally, if your son is not in the GroupMe, have him discuss this with one of the captains during practice.


Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind:

11/24/23

The boys were busy the last two weeks with Captains' Practices and their first Pizza Party of the season! Thanks to all that helped provide a fun and encouraging kick off to the season. We are looking forward to meeting all our new swimmers, divers and parents at the pool. It's going to be a great season!


Official swim and dive practices start Monday, November 27th! Please remember that your swimmer/diver must be registered with the school in order to get in the pool. You can register using the following link.  We also need the boy's swim suit sizes so we can place orders next week or we risk not having suits in time for their first meet.  Please complete the Booster Club registration using this link.


Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind:

10/25/23

Thank you to all new and existing swimmers and divers that were able to join us last night for the 2023 - 2024 Season Kick Off Informational Meeting . We were so excited to see all of you and cannot wait to kick the season off.  If you were unable to attend, here are Kick Off Meeting Materials we covered. If you have any questions please check out our FAQs  page or reach out to  communications@jeffersonboysswimdive.org.


Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind:


10/4/23

All new and existing Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive swimmers and families please join us for the 2023 - 2024 Season Kick Off Informational Meeting at the Olson Middle School Auditorium from 7:00PM-8:00PM CST on Tuesday, October 24th.


8/13/23

All new and existing 9th - 12th grade Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive swimmers and families please stop by the Boys Swim and Dive activity table at Jefferson's Jumpstart from 11:00AM-7:00PM CST on Wednesday, August 16th to get more details on the upcoming season . We hope to see you there!

3/6/23  Congratulations to our 2022 - 2023 MN State Class AA Championships Swimmers


50 Freestyle - Aiden Shermak (Senior)

100 Freestyle - Aiden Shermak (Senior)

200 Freestyle Relay - Colin Hester (Senior), Lucas Backes (Senior), Brenden Lucas (Sophomore) and Aiden Shermak (Senior)

2/21/23 Section 2AA Boys' Swim & Dive Championships have been changed

With the impending weather forecast, the Section 2AA Boys' Swim & Dive Championships have been changed to the following schedule:

Friday, February 24th

Saturday, February 25th

Tickets already purchased will still work for that specific session, even though the date has changed. Tickets: Can be purchased online for each day here.  $5/students and $10/adults each day.  Spectator seating will open each night at 5pm.  

2/11/23 BSM and JV Champs

This was another great week. We had our dual meet vs. a very good BSM team, and we came out the victors!  Then today the junior varsity swimmers finished there season with some very good performances vs. the other kids in the conference.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.

2/5/23 New Prague and Hibbing

We had a very successful week this week. The boys got their first win of the season by defeating New Prague.  It was very close and we had to overcome a 13 point deficit to start to the meet due to us not having any divers. Then we narrowly missed 2nd place at the Hibbing Invite (1 point away) - this time starting out 39 points behind due to no divers. We're in the championship phase of the season and the boys have improved a ton since the beginning of the season and we look forward to a strong finish.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.

1/30/23 New Prague Meet will now be hosted by Jefferson

The meet on Thursday, February 2nd will now be hosted by Jefferson. Swimmers should arrive at the pool at 4:00pm with warm ups starting at 4:30pm. The swim meet start time will be 6:00pm at Olson Middle School.

1/26/23 Jefferson vs. Waconia

The boys swam some things they don't get to do very often and we saw some good swims.You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

1/19/23 Jefferson vs. Orono

The boys continued to move in the right direction - lots of good  swims and improved performances. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

1/14/23 True Team Sections

We had a great meet at True Team Sections yesterday. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

1/12/23 St. Louis Park

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the team in our first meet since last year - 12/17/22.  It was great getting to see the guys race again.  Our next meet is Saturday at True Team Sections in Chaska. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

12/27/22 Alumni Meet

Alumni Meet results.  We had a great time welcoming back 23 alumni last night.  They showed that they still got it.  I posted only the results (no separate docs for splits or top times) because I'm not sure the relay orders were as shown.  Please review so I can make the necessary corrections.  See at Meet Results and Stats.

12/17/22 Jag Invite

We had a great meet today.  The guys kept progressing forward with their swims, and we had a lot of really great competition. Thank you parents for putting on a great meet. You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

12/08/22 Delano

Hi everyone - we had our first meet last night, and we got to see some new guys get to swim in a meet for the first time, some guys knock some rust off, and others go surprisingly fast considering how early in the season we are.  You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

11/29/22

Early Release practice - Due to today's early release, we will only have an abbreviated swim practice for those older guys who have their own transportation for one hour.  Students who rely on the bus should take the bus home.

11/21/22

Join the boys for Splash Night!

Reminder

The last captains practice will be Tuesday, November 22nd. Official team practices begin on Monday, November 28th.

It's not too late to register!  If you are having issues with registering please reach out to  jagswimteamcommunications@gmail.com, and we would be happy to help you. 


11/9/22

Reminder

To ensure you get your team swim suit and personalized swim cap by our first meet on 12/8, your Booster Club registration must be completed by Wednesday, November 16th.  


If you are having issues with registering please reach out to  jagswimteamcommunications@gmail.com, and we would be happy to help you. 


10/24/22

All new and existing Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive swimmers and families please join us for the 2022 - 2023 Season Kick Off Meeting at the Olson Middle School Auditorium from 7:00PM-8:00PM CST on Tuesday, October 25th.


Kick Off Meeting Materials


3/05/22

Congratulations to Aiden Shermak on his 12th place finish in the 100 free at the state meet.  He went in seeded 21st and moved up to 11th in prelims after dropping another .74 seconds from the week prior.  In finals he had almost an identical swim (a mere .06 slower) and ended up 12th.  Great job Aiden and thanks to those who came out to support him.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


2/26/22

Congratulations to the Section swimmers on some great swims over the past two days.  Last night in finals we had all three relays compete as well as Aiden Shermak in the 50/100 Freestyle (qualifed for state in the 100), Colin Hester in the 100 Fly, Jayden Sieling in the 50 free, and Preston Le in the 200 IM and 100 Back. We have one more week left with Aiden swimming at state prelims at the U of M on Friday 3/4 at 6:00pm and hopefully finals on Saturday 3/5 at 6:00 as well. Tickets will be available for purchase electronically.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


2/12/22

Congratulations to the JV swimmers on a great season and a fun meet today where there were some great swims.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


2/03/22

The boys swam some great times last night in a tough meet vs. the best team in the conference.   See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


1/27/2022

Congrats to the boys on their victory over Kennedy this evening.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


1/22/2022

A little late, but the results of the Waconia meet are posted.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


1/15/2022

Thank you everyone for putting on a great meet today.  It was fun to see the other teams and the boys competed very well.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


1/13/2022

Good swims tonight vs. Orono.  We were short on bodies, but the boys we had really competed and performed well.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.


1/06/2022

Congrats to the boys on winning our dual meet vs. Cooper tonight - you can see the results at Meet Results and Stats. 


3/12/2021

CONGRATULATIONS SWIMMERS!

I want to congratulate all the boys who competed this evening at the section meet.  The guys continued to improve, and compete even harder - there is something to be said for swimming against other teams bringing out a person's best performances.  I once again want to thank everyone for giving of your time and talents to this organization and helping the boys be the best they could be.  You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.


3/10/2021

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!!

Tonight we did something that we've never been able to do before and maybe will never do again - had all our guys shave and taper for a meet together.  There were lots of great swims and for some guys it was a great end to their season.  For the others it was a great first day swim going into section finals on Friday.  This wouldn't have been possible without a lot of volunteer work on short notice and I really appreciate all of your support.  You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.


2/18/2021

Chaska/Chan Senior Night Recap

We had a nice last dual meet of the season this evening against a strong Chaska/Chanhassen team.  Most of the swims were season best or near season best times again and we look forward to seeing what they can do now at the end of the season.  See tonight's results at Meet Results and Stats.


2/09/2021

Kennedy Meet Recap

Hey - the boys had a great meet tonight.  There were lots of season best times and fun , competitive races.  It's fun to see the guys beginning to get a glimpse of what we as coaches are able to see in regards to what they can do. See the results at Meet Results and Stats.



2/04/2021

Cooper Meet Recap

Hello - the boys took another step in the right direction tonight in our win vs. Cooper.  Once again we had over 80% season best times for those who had swum those events at least once already this year.  The other 20% were right near their season best.  I really can't say enough about how hard these guys are working this year and just what a pleasure it is to get to work with them each day.  See the results and Meet Results and Stats.



1/28/2021

St. Louis Park Meet Recap

Hi everyone - great meet tonight!  We had lots of fantastic swims today - almost everyone had time drops - big ones - in events they had swum earlier this season. It's great to see their hard work paying off.  Our next meet is next Thursday vs. Cooper.  



1/19/2021

Waconia Meet Recap

Hi everyone - the boys made another step in the right direction tonight.  See the JeffSplits link to see time drops for the guys who had swum events for the second time this year.  We also had a lot of guys swimming some new events.  You can see the results at the Meet Results and Stats link.

Our next meet will be next Thursday 1/28 again at home vs. St. Louis Park.



1/14/2021

Benilde-St. Margaret's Meet Recap

Hi everyone - I thought we had a pretty good meet vs. BSM on Thursday night.  Though the score didn't reflect it, we did very well.  This is by far the youngest team I have ever had, and the second smallest in 21 years of being here.  But the guys we do have for the most part picked up where they left off last year - even after the long layoff - and I'm excited to see how they all improve as we go forward.  You can see the results at the Meet Results and Stats link.

On Tuesday we have our next meet and that is vs. Waconia.  The protocols will still be the same as Thursday night - Waconia's team is about the same size as BSM was.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Have a great weekend.



11/16/2020 

Captains Practice will be starting on November 16th! 

. Any questions reach out to jagswimteamcommunications@gmail.com.

11/7/2020 

Make sure to complete both registrations no later than November 13th. Any questions reach out to jagswimteamcommunications@gmail.com.

10/13/20 

Jefferson Boys Swim and Dive Kick Off Meeting at 6:30 PM CST.  

If you would like to attend, please email jagswimteamcommunications@gmail.com .

2/21/20

Congratulations to all the boys who participated in the Section 2AA swim meet this past weekend.  We had some great performances, and I'm thankful for all the boys' hard work and dedication over the past season.  I am also thankful for the parents' help and support of the boys to help them have the best season they could.  

Individually I want to specifically congratulate Sam Wallace on qualifying for the state meet at the University of Minnesota.  He not only qualified for state, but he also set the pool record at Chaska/Chanhassen, and he won the event.  He begins his competition on Thursday 2/27 at 6:00pm.  Tickets can be bought at the box office at the U pool for $7 prior to the meet.  The divers will compete their first eight dives, and then the top sixteen will move on to dive in the swimming and diving finals on Saturday night at 6:00 pm.  Tickets for that night can be purchased for $10 at the box office.  They will go on sale at 4:30.  

2/09/20

Congratulations to all the boys who participated in the Metro West JV Championships yesterday.  It was a great way to end their season, and I and the other coaches are grateful for their presence on our team this year and look forward to seeing them in the future.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.

2/01/20

We're on our way home from another successful trip to Hibbing.  We went into today seeded 6th and finished third (narrowly missing second) following a fantastic team effort from our swimmers and diver.  A big thank-you to all the fans who came and those who helped make this trip possible.  See the results at Meet Results and Stats.

1/30/20

Check out meet results from our St. Louis Park meet tonight at Meet Results and Stats.  

1/23/20

Check out meet results from our Richfield meet tonight at Meet Results and Stats.  It was a great way send off our seniors with their last home meet.  Nate

1/20/20

Check out meet results from our True Team meet on Saturday at Meet Results and Stats.  The boys finished 5th out of seven teams and we had some really good swims/dives.  Nate

1/16/20

We had a thrilling meet and came out with a close victory last night against BSM - final score 87-83.  We had a LOT of great swims and guys stepping up individually to make for a great team result.  See what happened at Meet Results and Stats.

1/09/20

Boys were back in action tonight after a long layoff.  They did a great job in defeating our crosstown rivals Kennedy.  See what happened at Meet Results and Stats.

12/21/19

Today the boys swam at the Jag Invite for our second meet of the year.  We had a lot of great swims and dives and you can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.

Also, I'd like to give big thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help and put on a great meet today - it makes for a great day.   

2/23/19  Section Meet Results

Congratulations to all the boys who competed these past three days in our section meet.  We had a lot of really great swims and dives on our way to our 6th place finish.  We are moving on to the state meet where our 200 Medley Relay of Preston Le, Alex Johnson, Carlos Andert, and Jon Halaska swam a qualifying time of 1:38.86.  Our diver Sam Wallace also qualified and won the diving event.  Also of note were swimmers breaking into our all-time top ten.  Alex Johnson's and Preston Le's 200 IM times are now 8th and 9th respectively.  Carlos Andert's 100 fly was good for 5th all-time, and Preston Le's and Alex Johnson's 100 Backstrokes were good for 4th and 8th respectively.  (Side note:  Sam Wallace's Hibbing diving score put him at 3rd all time) .  Again way to go everyone who participated this past weekend.  You can see the complete results at Meet Results and Stats.


The schedule for the state meet at the U of M competition will be as follows.  

Preliminary Diving Thursday night at 6:00pm

Preliminary Swimming Friday night at 6:00pm

Finals for Swimming and Diving Saturday night at 6:00pm.


2/9/19  JV Champs Meet Results

Congratulations to all of the boys who swam and dove today at the JV Championships.  In spite of some challenges like not being able to practice for four days last week and one day this week, the guys did great today, and it was a nice finish to their season.   Check out the rest of the results at Meet Results and Stats.  

2/2/19  Hibbing Meet Results

I'm on the bus home from Hibbing right now and the boys had a great day.  It started out with Sam Wallace winning the diving and then our 'A' 200 Medley Relay winning that event.  We ended up third but swam up 40 points from where we were seeded with great swims down the lineup.  Check out the rest of the results at Meet Results and Stats.  

2/1/19  Benilde Meet Results and Upcoming Events

Hi everyone, last night we had a very good meet against Benilde-St. Margaret's coming away with 97-73 victory to move us to 4-1 in the conference.  I would again like to thank everyone for their flexibility and help getting the meet to happen as it was pretty hastily thrown together - none of this happens without your support.  You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.  

Going forward, the varsity goes up to Hibbing today to swim tomorrow in the annual Hibbing Invite.  Next week we have our last dual meet and senior night vs. St. Louis Park.  It should be an exciting meet.  

Saturday is the JV Championship meet hosted by Kennedy at Oak Grove.  This marks the end of the season for our Junior Varsity swimmers.  These guys have made a lot of progress this year, and we really are looking forward to them having their best meet ever and ending their season on a high note.

1/19/19

Hi everyone, we had a couple of good meets this week.  You can see the results of our Richfield dual meet and True Team sections at Meet Results and Stats.


1/10/19

Hi everyone, check out the results from the Cooper meet tonight at Meet Results and Stats.


12/20/18  Chaska/Chanhassen

Hi everyone, check out the results from the Chaska/Chanhassen meet tonight at Meet Results and Stats.


12/15/18  Jaguar Invite

We had the Jaguar Invite today and it was our first "real" swim meet of the year.  I want to thank all the parents for the hard work put in on setting up the pool, running the table at the swimming and diving meets, running concessions, taking tickets, and all the other things that went in to running a successful meet.  You can see the results at Meet Results and Stats.  

Nov 26, 2018 New Season, New Website

Welcome to the 2018/2019 season and the new website! It's way more mobile and user-friendly. We'll be rolling out some more updates in the upcoming days and weeks ahead. Enjoy, kick the tires and look around. 

GO JAGS!!