SKWIM’s in as new pool sport
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Justin Ingles, 10, of North Strabane attempts to pass the disk while being defended by Ben White, 19, of Upper St. Clair during a recent SKWIM demonstration at Valley Brook Country Club.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Valley Brook Country Club workers and members participated in a friendly game of SKWIM recently. The Blue Team, featuring Jocelyn Vincent, Candice Chalus, Karlie Olson and Alex Wilbert defeated the Red Team consisting of Connor Ingles, Tyler Clark, Ben White and Jack Clark.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Justin Ingles, 10, of North Strabane puts on his fins in preparation to play SKWIM. The Wylandville Elementary School student liked playing the game in the shallow end of the pool but said the game was “too complicated” once action moved to deeper depths. “It was hard to swim in the deep but also I didn’t understand the rules wellbecause they were like grown-up rules,” he said. “It is pretty fun because there is a disc that you have to throw and throwing disc is pretty fun to me,” he added.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Connor Ingles, 14, catches a pass despite the defensive efforts of Joceyln Vincent (back) and Ben White (right) during a SKWIM demonstration at Valley Brook Country Club. The rising Canon-McMillan freshman said he like the swimming part of the game and the fact that he got to play with the older kids. While he also acknowledged that he had fun, he didn’t like the fact the disc had to skim on the water and we could not throw it.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jack Clark, 16, of Upper St. Clair works on proper technique for tossing a SKWIM disk.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Candice Chalus of Bethel Park readies her head band indicating that she will play on the Blue squad that went on to defeat the Red team during a friendly SKWIM match played at the Valley Brook Country Club.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Candice Chalus of Bethel Park skims a disc passed Tyler Clark of Upper St. Clair during a recent SKWIM game played at the Valley Brook Country Club.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Karlie Olson of Bethel Park attempts to make a pass after beating Tyler Clark to the disk during a friendly SKWIM match played at the Valley Brook Country Club.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Karlie Olson of Bethel Park adjusts her head band indicating that she will play on the Blue squad that went on to defeat the Red team during a friendly SKWIM match played at the Valley Brook Country Club.
Karlie Olson of Bethel Park and Ben White from Upper St. Clair attended rival schools, but today they work in harmony saving lives at Valley Brook Country Club.
That is until they engage in a battle of SKWIM, when they fight like Hawks and Panthers swimming for their scholastic squads.
“It was intense,” Olson said. “Very intense,” she stressed.
“It was very challenging,” White added.
They both agreed that it may be a rivalry, but it was still fun.
Many who tried SKWIM for the first time on a hot August night in McMurray arrived at similar conclusions as Valley Brook hosted an introduction to the sport. Employees and club members participated in the demonstration and played several competitive games under the watchful eye of Mark Rauterkus.
His friend, Kevin McCarthy, invented the sport and developed the equipment 10 years ago in the state of Washington. A swim coach since 1976 and a published author of books and magazine articles, Rauterkus is now the executive director of SKWIM USA, a nonprofit organization that promotes the game, which is centered on water safety and team play in the pool.
“It’s a team game,” Rauterkus emphasized. “It’s a lot like water polo but easier with a soft, flexible disc and it’s a lot more safer.”
The game
SKWIM is a non-contact, fast-paced surface sport played with a foam disk that skims across the water. Because the disk is soft, Rauterkus said it’s often welcomed at a public pool whereas water polo balls are not because they are more rough and invasive.
“This is something you can sling around the pool and feel comfortable. You are not going to hurt anybody. Even if a kid gets hit in the head, he may be startled but it doesn’t even leave a mark. The disk is soft, safe and sails smoothly on the water.”
While just passing and catching the disc is “fun and empowering”, SKWIM is usually played eight-on-eight in a six-lane, 25-yard pool, dubbed a lagoon. However, the game can be modified depending upon sites, numbers, equipment and water depth. Rauterkus has introduced the game in camp settings where upwards of 65 kids have played at one time with multiple discs. Plus, he has started a league for more advanced players in Pittsburgh.
“It’s a flexible game that can be adapted to a lot of different pools,” he said, noting he has demonstrated SKWIM at similar country clubs, city pools and open waters such as Lake Moraine as well as other campsites.
How to play
There are a variety of ways to play the game. There is slot-style where players shoot the disc into the gutter like hockey. If playing in a pool, the game may imitate ultimate Frisbee where the objective is to get the disk past the backstroke flags into the red zone. You could shoot the disk into an end zone or have your teammate grab the SKWIM off the water. In regulation SKWIM, players shoot into floating premier goals and the game replicates lacrosse where behind the pipes is fair territory.
“Intensity-wise, SKWIM definitely compares to lacrosse,” said Jack Clark, 16, of Upper St. Clair. “Lacrosse is the fastest sport on land. Going back and forth as fast as possible, but SKWIM is basically water polo with Frisbees and score on the gutter ball. So it’s a lot like gutter ball, water polo, Frisbee all combined.”
Hence, all ages can play SKWIM, any ability, too. Guys and girls can match up against one another as well as older people versus the younger generation. The result is better swimmers.
“We have taken kids that can’t swim at all and we can play in variable depths, shallow as well as deep water,” Rauterkus said. “It gives us purpose. We are working on teamwork and sportsmanship. Plus, we are working on swim skills.”
While water polo relies more on strength and power, SKWIM relies on speed and finesse.
Defenders cover their opponent closely but are not allowed to touch or dunk them. Players with the SKWIM disc must relinquish it within three seconds after receiving a pass. Goals generally count for one point.
“It’s a lot like ultimate Frisbee in the water,” Rauterkus explained. “The team that scores keeps the disc and the other team goes down to their end zone and there’s a kickoff.”
Though optional, rounded fins prove a critical piece of equipment. In addition to enabling swimmers to employ a breaststroke or eggbeater kick in their play, their use can also extend the length and pace of a game.
“Fins can be an equalizer,” Rauterkus said. “They can make a game last 30 to 40 minutes as opposed to 10 to 20 minutes Fins also make the game faster and the swimming a lot easier.”
Clark agreed. The Upper St. Clair junior participated in the SKWIM clinic held at Valley Brook Country Club, where he works as a waiter.
“I’m not a very good swimmer,” Clark admitted, “so it was a little bit harder to actually get started but the fins helped a little bit.”
Intense workout
Fins or no fins, those who participated in the SKWIM demonstration discovered play to be both intense and invigorating.
“It was pretty hardcore,” Clark said. “It got my heart going. I could feel a little sweat even though I was in the water.”
“It was definitely hard,” said Candice Chalus of Bethel Park. “Swimming back and forth and trying to tread and stay above water for as long as the play lasts.”
All agreed SKWIM is a good workout and easy to learn. White added he was surprised by the game’s intensity.
“I didn’t realize how aggressive it would be,” White said. “It was very physically aggressive. It was real demanding because the games were aggressive.”
As co-workers, fellow guards made it a great competition.
“It was a rivalry,” Olson said coyly, “but it was fun and definitely a good workout.”
Life-saving skill
While SKWIM is a good workout, it’s even better training for children, teams and lifeguards.
“You learn strategies and tactics,” said Rauterkus. “The game keeps kids coding and strategizing and working as a team at a higher level. Plus, “it’s a good lifeguard game because you are scanning and looking as you would be when you are sighting and looking for victims. You are also working on communication skills as well as your endurance and stamina.”
Olson, White and Chalus all are lifeguards and noted the style of play promoted quick-decision making and sharpened their rescue abilities.
“You are dealing with active situations. Cases that I’ve always learned that if you have an active person drowning, they are flailing around like this,” White said. “The person is not drowning but they are still flailing around. So I guess it’s like getting comfortable in situations like that where it’s just aggressive.”
“No, we weren’t saving somebody,” Olson said, adding she noticed that she and White were attacking each other like a person would if they were drowning in a pool. “So it definitely helps us.
“(SKWIM) is good training for being a lifeguard,” Chalus said. “It’s a lot of swimming back and forth. It’s good endurance especially. It’s a lot of teamwork all put together, too.”
All three plan to introduce or incorporate the game in their future endeavors in college. White, 19, attends the University of Dayton and is studying chemical engineering. He swims recreationally as part of his workout routine. Olson, 18, is an incoming freshman at Penn State, pursuing a career in hospitality management. A rising freshman, Chalus will swim at Clarion University.
“I feel like it would be a really good team-bonding exercise,” Chalus said.
For Rauterkus, that’s an endorsement he embraces.
“If you are going to the pool and you have a SKWIM disc, then you are going to have a good time. It’s a lot of fun in a way that is something other than racing.”
For more information on SKWIM, contact Mark@Rauterkus.com or call 412-298-3432.