State (Short Course) Swimming - Vinton Aquatic Club (VAC)

For those that don’t know: the only tangible difference between short and long course swimming is the pool length. Hence less turns on some courses, but a faster feel on the short courses. The distance of every event is still the same. But in Vinton, we get that short course feel year around.  

So most people in our community do-know that we have a summer aquatic club in Vinton, Iowa.  But far less people know how “successful” our club really is within the state of Iowa. So as we all know, this time of year always brings a new group of champions in their chosen sports.  Wrestling, Volleyball, Basketball, Football and even Swimming has its state (short course championships) at the end of February.  This year (VAC) took 10 youth swimmers to the Iowa State Swim competitions from the Vinton Aquatic Club and competed in Des Moines, Iowa.   

The weekend prior, we attended and placed second as a team at the regional youth Iowa state swim qualifiers in Mason City, Iowa.  There were coaches and referees that asked me during that session: “How has your club become so successful for a small town without a regulation 25 yard pool?”  It’s always great to get that feedback and it really helps to motivate our team as a whole.  To be honest, the biggest secret to our success is 67 years of coaching experience and the fact that we have diverse swimmers from the surrounding communities of Vinton, Garrison, Dysart, Laporte City, Center Point, Urbana, and even as far as Robins, Iowa.   As a club we total in over 60 youth swimmers in the winter, plus we have qualified support staff that are USA swimming certified including 4 coaches, and 4 referees, and many other devoted club volunteers.  

It’s really a team effort all around that makes us strong here in Vinton.  

Kudos to all the VAC State (Championship Team) Swimmers in 2025!  

VAC Championship Team: Olivia Bowen, Hannah Gingrich, Raelynn Harrison, Juni Kelly, Callum Ohde, Laiken Ohde, Brynn Stambaugh, Maci Torres, Eli Trudell, & Luke Wilden.

Iowa State Regional Youth Swim Championships 2025- Mason City, Iowa