Club One Swim Coach Has A Passion for the Pool

Pam Leonard’s passion in life is swimming. She loves staying abreast of the latest swim techniques and teaching kids and adults how to swim. 

Leonard is the aquatics director at Club One and coaches the Tsunami Swim Club of Scotts Valley.   

She spent most of her childhood and teenage years swimming competitively and was a Junior Olympic swimmer at the age of 12 with the fastest time in California.   

The kids benefit from her perspective as she brings to them a competitive swimmers point of view.   

“I know what it’s like to get in the pool and swim lap after lap and see the black line during race day,” Leonard said.

The Tsunami Club is the only U.S. competitive swim team in Scotts Valley and Leonard has been the driving force to the development of the team.

With 46 local swimmers in four different age divisions, practices are flexible to allow kids to do other things in the community, while at the same time swim competitively.

“I noticed we have a handful of strong swimmers and wanted to make it work for kids and parents," Leonard said.

Tsunami Swim Club team members Linnea Byrd and Aria Leonard have qualified in their age groups for the elite Junior Olympics on July 8, 9 and 10. 

Team members Lauren Wood and Ethan Emanuelson are currently training for the last chance qualifying meet on June 26. Both Wood and Emanuelson have "aged up," a term used when a swimmer moves into the next higher age group. In this case both Wood and Emanuelson have turned 13 and are working back up the ranks in their new age division.

Wood, entering high school in the fall, has previously competed at the Junior Olympics in the 11/12 division and moved on to a larger division known as Far Western.

Emanuelson has been passionately been involved in swimming and qualified for the 11/12 division for the Junior Olympics in 2010.

To keep the kids motivated, a swimmer of the month is announced in each division. 

“Sometimes swimming is not about how good you are but how much you have learned and improved," Leonard said. The Tsunami’s swimmers of the month for May were:

Meredith Barton – Jr/Sr

Julia Gonzales – Intermediate

Advanced – Kara Ledwig

Novice – Mira Wichelman

Besides the year-round competition teams, swim classes are held all summer long for kids and adults of all ages. Masters swim is offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. for those over 18. Aqua aerobics, private lessons and family swim are also available

Click here to see the Club One schedule.