Hi, I’m Erika – the head swim mom here at SwimMom! I have sixteen years of experience as a parent of five children who swim competitively! I have watched them grow from first learning to swim to confident, competitive swimmers and champions in the pool. Along the way, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks I wish I’d known when my kids were first starting their swimming careers.
I’m a member of USA Swimming and a licensed USA Swimming Official as well as an Indiana Swimming LSC referee. I am the one in the white shirt standing by the side of the pool at the meets, checking stroke and turn, making sure the swimmers’ starts are good – and hopefully not disqualifying any swimmers (but it does happen – no big deal!)
Having a child on a swim team is a ton of work and a huge commitment! We parents need to stick together. I’ve created this blog as a community where we can share our experiences as swim team parents in a safe, positive, trustworthy environment.
In addition to working as a swim official, I also am an educator and an attorney. I graduated from law school at UC-Berkeley School of Law (J.D.), and I also graduated from University of Southern California (M.F.A) and Indiana University-Bloomington (B.A.). But as you know, as a swim parent, I am constantly at the pool – both during the week at practice and every weekend when I’m attending swim meets. Sometimes it feels like being a swim parent and swimming official/referee is my full-time job!
I hope you enjoy this corner of the internet where we talk about all things related to being a swim team parent! Welcome and thanks for reading.
