For more information visit
www.quacquac.org/ski-n-swim
..
Thanks to everyone who made Ski & Swim 2007 such a great success.
I'd like to meet:
Utah's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight swimming team invites you to join our team. All swimmers of any skill level, even individuals who would like to learn, are welcome.QUAC is a member of International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA). IGLA's purpose is to promote participation in aquatic sports by lesbian women, gay men and friends of our community. QUAC members practice three times a week and are also welcome to practice daily with the area Masters swim team.For more info visit www.quacquac.orgView All Friends | View Blog | Add Comment
Music:
For the most up-to-date subscribe to The Duck Digest, our bi-monthly newsletter. Visit www.quacquac.org and follow the links to join the QUAC mailing list.
Movies:
QUAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of adult, amateur swimming regardless of age, ability, gender or sexual orientation.QUAC Board Members
Raul Peragallo
Sean Hammon
Paul Reynolds
Troy Blanchard
Scott Weaver
Jim Viney
Trina Pendelton
Mike Patton
Charlie Ward
Jon Jepsen
Television:
Too busy swimming for much TV Watch for us in Paris!
Books:
Queer Utah Aquatic Club, Inc. (QUAC)
QUAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of adult, amateur swimming regardless of age, ability,
gender or sexual orientation. QUAC is a member of International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA). IGLA's purpose is to
promote participation in aquatic sports by lesbian women, gay men and friends of our community. QUAC members practice three times a week and are also welcome to practice daily with the area Masters Swim team. For more information, visit www.quacquac.org
Visit our Friends!
Heroes:
OUR COACHES ARE OUR HEROSCoach Profiles
Brian Harper, Head Coach
Growing up in Florida, I was in pools, lakes, rivers, and the ocean quite frequently. I don’t really remember learning to swim; I only know that swimming was part of my life at a very young age. I started swimming competitively as a young kid, and over the years, swimming has been an excellent form of exercise for me and has provided me the opportunity to get to know lot of wonderful people. I started swimming with QUAC when I moved to Salt Lake City in the fall of 2003. The motivation of the swimmers to practice and plan many activities and team functions is impressive, and it is amazing to see how much QUAC has grown since I started. It is a pleasure for me to help coach and be part of this team."Patrick Hayes
Head Polo Coach
"If you’ve never seen Pat swim a 50 free in competition, you’re missing out. It’s like poetry in motion. Every stroke deliberate. And He’s fast.
I grew up in Southern California and started swimming competitively at age 5 and water polo at age 12. All American Swimming in High School and College and participated in the 1984 Olympic Trials where I got my butt kicked by a lot of fast boys.
But start up a conversation with him about polo and you’ll see where his true passion for aquatics is. He started a Masters Water Polo Team in Salt Lake in 1988 that is still active today.
I have also coached several local High School Swim and Water Polo teams and was a water polo referee for about 8 years.
Pat is an all around great guy not to mention super Dad. His son Christian has followed Pat into water polo and is excelling in his own right as starting goalie for the Kerns team and has been invited to the Olympic training camp in Colorado. Pat can be seen coaching the QUAC Water Polo team and swimming with the Steiner Masters swim team."Jim Viney
Jim is a passionate volunteer for the sport of swimming. He coaches weekly for our team; has been a member of our Board of Directors; coordinates many swim meets including Ski & Swim and Utah Master’s meets; and donates time and money generously. You can count on a good lesson if you jump in one of his lanes. He likes to instruct stroke technique focusing on good body mechanics, and if you listen you’re sure to learn something each every practice. Although he prefers just "Jim", you can call him "Coach" or Doctor Viney; professionally he works as an Anesthesiologist at Primary Children’s Medical Center. So how’d he get into swimming? He says: "My father threw me in the water sometime around age 4, I think because we went to the beach a lot and he didn’t want me drowning. I started swimming competitively from 8 to 14 and then took a ‘brief’ hiatus from 1963 to 2001. In between I ran, biked, skied, telemark and skate-skied competitively. I started coaching swimming for QUAC in 2004 because it was fun. The IGLA meets I have gone to are the most fun athletic competitions I have done in any sport and QUAC has been the most fun group I have worked out with and coached. It’s great to see the improvement our swimmers make by working out with us.Jeff Breglio
Jeff is an all around great guy. To know him is to love him. He also spends a great deal of his time volunteering for QUAC. He’s chaired the Ski & Swim committee, Coached, sat on the Board of Directors, and has made friends all along the way. Jeff says: I began swimming [with QUAC] over six years ago as I transitioned from marathon racing to competitive triathlons. I began with strictly distance freestyle but quickly moved into swimming the other strokes as well, which I find I love just as much. While I began coaching for QUAC just a few years ago, I’ve been coaching for over ten years. I coached high school track and cross country as well as triathlon swimmers and clubs. At QUAC, I intentionally modify running workouts into swimming—especially for the distance events. This brings a strong cardio aspect to swimming and provides a fun variation in workouts.Mike Patton
Mike Patton is a longtime member of QUAC. He is a prolific team volunteer, working as a swim coach and board member. Mike says: "I remember taking swimming lessons at about 4 years old and loving them... until our 'graduation' day when we had to walk down to the deep end of the pool and jump off of the diving board (which I will swear to this day was about 400 feet above the icy-cold depths of the pool) and then swim to the side. I screamed and cried and refused to do it and insisted that my teacher be waiting in the deep end to catch me when I finally jumped off. If she hadn't been there, I probably would have never gone back in the water. Looking back, I realized that having a coach or teacher that you can trust is one of the most important aspects of learning to be a competitive swimmer, diver, or water polo player. I've been swimming with QUAC and also playing water polo now for a while now, and it has been one of the best things I've done with my life. It's a place where everyone is encouraged to work toward their own personal best, whatever that may be, in an environment where you can be yourself. I don't think of QUAC as a gay swim team. It's my family and my friends.Chris Barnes
I started competitive swimming when I was 13 years old. I grew up in New Jersey and swam on several teams year round. I started teaching/coaching swimming when I was 14. I taught countless swimming lessons and coached a few age group teams since then. I moved to Utah in 2002 and began coaching with Quac in 2003. Coaching Quac members has been the most enjoyable coaching experience I've had simply because the team is so awesome and the atmosphere is very laid back and a lot of fun. I LOVE seeing newer swimmers master the sport and become addicted to the lifestyle of swimming. Quac is more than just learning how to swim, you become apart of a great family and a SLC tradition. As long as I am in Utah, I plan on coaching/swimming with Quac forever!Suzanne Topp
Suzanne began sharing her passion for swimming in 1993 for the Mountain View Masters Swim and Social Club in Mountain View California. As a swimmer-coach, Suzanne was able to motivate many swimmers to the fitness levels they desired. When she relocated to Corvallis, Oregon, she picked up her coaching passion by coaching the evening program for the Corvallis Aquatic Team Masters. One more move brought Suzanne to Salt Lake where she coaches Utah Masters' Wednesday morning swim at Fairmont Pool. Why is she coaching QUAC? Well, because she was asked! On those occasional mornings when Suzanne cannot drag herself out of bed, she enjoys the friendly welcoming nature of the QUAC swimmers in the evening. Suzanne says,
QUAC reminds me of my first master’s team, MVM. Everyone is interested in fitness and being social. It makes swimming fun!
When Suzanne is not swimming or coaching, she is teaching math at Salt Lake Community College, walking her beautiful greyhound, Iko, or just enjoying life with her boyfriend Dan who promises to try to swim a workout... someday! We look forward to that Suzanne. From all of us Suzanne, a great big THANK YOU for volunteering your time in coaching.Paul Renyolds
Paul was born and raised in good old Happy Valley, Utah. He has 5 siblings and 19 nieces and nephews. As a young child he was introduced to dance and gymnastics and performed in many dance recitals and gymnastics exhibitions, "with my mom in the audience at each and everyone" he says. His involvement in aquatics didn’t happen until late in his teens, he explains:
As at Provo High School, I was convinced by one of my good friends to join the diving team. After many days of non stop harassing, I reluctantly went and fell in love with the sport of diving. It was a way that I could use my grace from dance and tumbling abilities from gymnastics in a sport that did not take a lot of strength or money (not to mention the boys in speedo's). I went to the state championships and placed 15th as a freshman, 8th sophomore and 2nd place both junior/senior year.
I joined U.S.A. Junior diving some time in my sophomore year and qualified for the Regional and Zone Championships every year up until I aged up to the Senior Diving level. I continued diving and tried to qualify for that elusive National Championships, but was unsuccessful.
Paul helped coach an age group team at the University of Utah for 4 years until he decided to take a break from swimming and diving completely until one day a good friend dragged him kicking and screaming to a swimming practice called QUAC. Paul explains: "Yes I know its hard to believe that it took my ADD, OCD, Ritalin deprived good friend Aaron Butler (bless his heart) months of persuading (not to mention fondling) to get me to my first QUAC practice. When I arrived I was welcomed by a warm and energetic (and good looking) person, Doug Fadel, who [at the time] also happened to be the Head Coach. "I soon after became completely submerged in QUAC. I volunteered for anything and everything; Aqua Aid, Pride parade, men's health summit, pink flamingo, basically anything that Doug needed I was more then happy to participate in. QUAC is like my oxygen, every time I go it is like it fills my lunges with fresh air. Over years of being a member of QUAC, I feel like have gained much more in my life that I could ever repay to QUAC or anyone associate with this wonderful organization. My goal, along with the other board members and fellow QUACers, is to continue this great tradition which is QUAC, and that QUAC will do for others as it has done for me. Provide a fun and safe place where they can feel comfortable being themselves while enjoying a great exercise and meeting wonderful people. Paul can be seen in the pool or on the deck at most practices including diving practices held twice a week at the University of Utah.Trina Pendelton
Trina truly is THE bright spot in every room she’s in. She walks up and suddenly all eyes and every conversation seem to focus on her. Get close enough and you too may see the world revolving around her. All joking aside, we can honestly say that once you get to know her you will just adore the woman. That in large part is due to her no-holes-barred, high-octane-fun, kick-ass-now-and-kiss-and-make-up-later attitude. To put it succinctly, the girl is a riot to be around. As she says, she "might be pretty but not dainty." She "loves keepin’ up with the boys, playing water polo, trail running, skiing and snowshoe" and she "LOVES getting’ dirty!" She’s a big advocate of QUAC and especially female development for the team. She’d "love to see a [QUAC] girls water polo team kickin’ ass" someday. And she’s almost there, with 11 active women, she’s one away from her goal! Trina’s also an activist and volunteer for causes she believes in. She currently is the Vice-president of QUAC and on the board of directors for sWerve but before that she has been involved in many GLBT and political action committees too numerous to list here. If there is someone not getting their fair shake in the world, Trina wants you to WANT to help out. Her definition of a hero?
Anyone who stands up for justice! From kids on playgrounds to politicians. I think if you can stand up and be counted for something you believe in you’re a hero.
