SWIMMING: Striving to be the best

Team Rebel hopes to have Olympians

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Team Rebel Aquatics head coach Lorena Diaconescu believes in quality over quantity.

As a reflection of that belief, only two of her swimmers occupy each lane at the Buchanan Natatorium at UNLV.

"Here, kids receive more attention because there are fewer kids," Diaconescu said.

Team Rebel Aquatics was started in 1998 after breaking off from another organization founded in 1968. The swim team serves to train swimmers age 5 and up to compete in local, national and international competitions.

Lessons range from basic to intermediate. Currently, there are 52 swimmers, and the only requirement to join is to be able to swim 25 yards freestyle with side breathing.

The year-round USS swim program is looking for a few more boys and girls to join the team. Fees vary from $65 to $110 per month depending on class level.

"Kids benefit on a small team. They receive more personal attention," said Cheryl Pearson, Team Rebel Aquatics board president. "The kids have a tendency to progress faster."

Thirty-three of the 52 Team Rebel swimmers will compete in the 2007 Nevada State Swimming Championships this weekend in Carson City.

"We want quality, not numbers," Diaconescu said.

In the AA Winter Championships, held at Desert Breeze in December, girls relay team members Rylie Martin, 12, Sierra Moskowitz, 11, Lindsey Englestead, 11, and Stephanie Jablon, 12, took first and second place in the girls 11-12 age group relays.

Fifteen-year-old Sam Pearson will swim in the junior nationals in March, joining the ranks of the 11 other Team Rebel swimmers who have held the distinction since the team's inception. The team also has had three senior national qualifiers and one Olympic trial qualifier.

Sam said she has been swimming with Team Rebel for six years.

"I wanted to join the team. It looked like fun," she said.

Diaconescu said her goal is to help Sam go as far as she can.

"She has really big potential. I think she could be an Olympian," Diaconescu said.

Diaconescu said the entire group works well together and supports one another when someone succeeds.

"They are good teammates. We have a great group of kids," she said.

Diaconescu, a two-time Olympian from Romania, won the 100 freestyle and was second in the 200 freestyle at the World University Games in 1999, and placed third in the 1999 European Championships. She swam with UNLV and earned the Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Year award for three straight years.

Diaconescu has been coaching Team Rebel with fellow former Romanian Madalina Vosloo since 2004, after starting with the team in 2000.

Vosloo also attended UNLV and will graduate with her master's degree in May. She has had success competing in the Mountain West Conference and was UNLV's third highest scorer in the 2001 MWC Championships with 73 points.

Pearson said it's the coaches who make the team great.

"They have the Eastern European work ethic and the lovey-dovey attitude with the kids," she said.

Vosloo described her coaching style as "tough when it needs to be and fun when it needs to be."

She said coaching was a natural progression after swimming.

"I still feel I have a lot to give. I want to use the abilities I learned in my swimming career," she said. "(Coaching) is really rewarding at the end of the day."

Kylie Little, 18, is trying to decide which university she will attend after swimming with Team Rebel for five years. She said her current top choice is Northeastern University in Boston.

"I think club swimming is amazing. It gives me something to do," she said.

For more information on Team Rebel Aquatics, visit www.teamrebelaquatics-lv.com.