This Week's Spotlight: Claire Neville

Schools Attended: Clarkstown South 2006, RCC Honors Program 2008, SUNY Geneseo 2010

Current Title: Head Swim Coach and Head Lifeguard at Germonds Pool 

Claire Neville has been involved with the Clarkstown Parks and recreation Summer Swim program since she was in second grade. Swimming has been a part of her life since she was born. She was born near the beach in Brooklyn, living her first seven years in Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn, near Sheepshead Bay. 

"Where we lived was surrounded by water and I remember going to the beach every summer.  The goal was to be able to swim out to a dock at Kiddie Beach.  My mom was a swimmer when she was younger so we all learned how to swim young.  My dad on the other hand is from Ireland so his level of swimming is going under and then coming right back up, which I tease him about all the time.  Whenever we went anywhere, either on vacation or for the day, we always needed a pool," said Claire Neville. 

Upon moving to Rockland her family bought a house with an in-ground pool. It was a neighbor who introduced her to Germonds pool bringing her along to a party.  Claire was mesmerized by the size of the pool and especially the diving pool. The same neighbor had participated in the summer swim program and that was exactly what Claire set her mind on doing the next summer. 

As the saying goes, 'that's all she wrote'. Claire was hooked and about 15 years later she is still involved in the Clarkstown Parks & Recreation swim program and is now in charge of the swim team and is the head lifeguard. 

In addition to swimming for the Green Machines she also swam for Clarkstown South High School team for three years where she was coached by John Joyce who helped her become a long distance swimmer. 

When Claire turned 16, she was hired as a lifeguard and swim instructor at Lake Nanuet and was there for five years. During the winter she taught at the Condors swim program. Two years ago, she was offered the position of head guard and head coach of the team at Germonds and made the switch. 

"I loved the Lake so much but I have honestly grown to love Germonds too. This past year I worked for the Condors Swim Team coaching the Pre-Team and Stroke Development group.  I worked alongside Coach Don Wagner and Coach Jim Wargo, who helped me so much with learning proper techniques and effective team management.  I plan on going back to my job with them in the fall."

The coaches for the Green Machines are:

• Schyler Turrin coaches 6 & under and 8 & under
• Claire Neville coaches the 9-10's and some 11-12's 
• Patrick Neville coaches 11-12's and 13-14's 
• Rory Visser coaches 11-12's, 13-14's and 15-18's
• Johann Schmidt is the Diving Coach 

Of the coaches, Claire, Schyler and Johann work at Germonds, Patrick is the Head Lifeguard at Congers Pool, and Rory is a lifeguard at Lake Nanuet.

The Clarkstown Swim Team is divided into two groups: A & B.

• A is the competitive team
• B is the non-competitive team

Both groups compete in meets throughout the course of the program. Participating in the Rockland County Summer Swim League, which consists of eight teams; Condors Swim Team, Suffern Sea Lions, Team Rockland/Sharks, Pearl River Swim Club, West Nyack Swim Club, Nyack Field Club and Palisades.

In addition to being a good swimmer Claire assumes responsibility for about 70 kids who are signed up for the team. Of that 70, about 25 swim for the A Team, however, some B Team swimmers get bumped up to swim in the A meets.

Managing the coaches and the kids is an intense job especially at the crack of dawn. The team practices the month of July for two hours four days a week.  The other day is when they compete.  It can only be dedication that has the coaches, kids and parents showing up at 6:30 a.m. for the meets. 

The meets are a great introduction into competitive swimming. The kids are split into age group, and only race against the same gender. They compete in individual events such as Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Individual Medley (all four strokes).

The morning of the meets there is a sea of people who show up at the Germonds facility. On average there is about 250 people, which includes the swimmers, coaches, lifeguards, and spectators from all the teams. At first it is somewhat of organized chaos, but amazingly Claire, along with the coaches, manage to control this event with ease. It is very exciting for the young swimmers.  

After the swimmers are finished with either their practice or the meets, Claire continues to work as one of the head lifeguards at Germonds. She shares this responsibility with Michelle Green, Anthony Bioano, and Frank Marchionni.

"My ultimate goal in working for the Town was to become a coach for the Green Machines.  The coaches and lifeguards that worked over the years for the town had such a positive impact on me.  The amount of fun I had was priceless.  I have always wanted to give back to the team and give any child who swims for me the same positive experience.  Swimming is such an involved sport.  Yes, you can be on a team but it is up to the swimmer to swim to the best of the their ability and it requires you to work every muscle in your body.  We have discovered such raw talent over the years and kids that have swam during the summer have returned over and over, even if they swim for another team in the winter, because they just want to swim for Green Machine and have fun."

The Clarkstown community if fortunate to have people like Claire, Schyler, Rory, Patrick and Johan coach for the swimmers on the Green Machines! Great job!