Natick Neptunes Swim Team

Welcome!

Intro  

Welcome to the 44th season of the Natick Swim Team! The Natick Swim Team is proud to be one of the oldest and most respected teams in the Winter Suburban Swim League.  The Team provides the opportunity for children ages 5 to 18 to improve swimming skills and physical fitness in a relaxed atmosphere but with vigorous competitiveness. We stress self-improvement as a desirable goal in concert with the value of participating in intra-team and inter-team competitions. For safety reasons, participants must be able to swim the length of the pool.

League and Schedule

The Natick Neptunes will begin its season in October 16, 2011.  The Coaching Staff and the Directors look forward to a great season filled with a variety of instructional techniques and training to be implemented by the coaching staff to enhance each swimmer's competitive swimming experience. The Natick Neptunes will once again swim in the Winter Suburban Swim League. Towns included with Natick in this league are, Acton-Boxboro, Belmont, Brookline, Concord, Dedham, Framingham, Milford, Newton, Sudbury, Wellesley, Westborough, Weston and Westwood. The season will begin in October and go through mid-March wrapping up with two league-wide championship meets (each swimmer will compete in only one of the two meets).

Practices are held at Keefe Tech High School in Framingham (also where our home meets are held) as well as at another pool ( in the final stages of confirming ).  Swimmers are encouraged to attend all practice sessions.  There will be a mandatory parent meeting on October 16th (please see the HOME page for times), where you will receive more information about the Team and have an opportunity to meet the directors and coaches and ask questions.

Cost and Registration  

To participate you must complete the registration form and send a check made payable to the Natick Swim Team in the amount of $35.00 per swimmer.  This is a non-refundable registration fee.  The cost of the entire swim season will be $280.00 per swimmer.  Please see the directors if you have more than one swimmer on the team or if your child swims on the Natick High School team.  This year you will have a choice of 2 payment options. You will find more information about these options on the Registration link. Regardless of which option you select, the total due must be paid in full by March 1st or a late fee will be applied and your swimmer will not be able to participate in the Championship Meets. 

Team Suits  

Team Suits are considered to be our uniform and will be an additional charge (usually $30 for female suits and $20 for male suits with team funding a portion of each suit's total cost). The Team Suits will be new for ONLY NEW SWIMMERS THIS YEAR, NOT RETURNING SWIMMERS.  

See you at the pool!

Who We Are

Head Coaches:

 Jessica Henderson

This is Jess' 3rd season with the team.

Jess swam on the Natick Swim Team since the age of 8 and has been invoved with the team all the way through high school which was followed by one year of an assistant coach position.  Her past coaching positions have been the assistant coach for both the Natick High School Boys' Swim Team and the Longfellow Stingrays Swim Team.

Jess' specialty events were the 100 and 200 breaststroke.  She was a member of Shawmut Aquatic Club for 8 years, competing at many different levels across New England where she placed in the top 5 in New Englands and top 10 at Senior Championships in both of the breaststroke events.  Jess swam for the Natick High School Girls' team all 4 years in which she was the 1994 captain when Natick won the Bay State Conference and South Sectionals.  She also received many awards such as MVP and Coaches Award and was named a Middlesex News All Star. 

Jess lives in Natick with her three children and husband.  She is a speech and language pathologist at a Framingham middle school.

Chantel Merlino

Chantel is starting her 7th year with the Natick swim Team. She has been coaching swimming for 13 years. Her coaching experience includes five years for Bernal’s Gator Swim Club, four years for Shawmut Aquatics Club and four years for the Natick soccer team.

 During her high school career Chantel was MVP for all 4 years, State Champion in the 100 Breast her junior and senior year, captain her senior year and earned the Boston Herald and Globe All Star award from 1989-1992. Chantel earned a scholarship and swam collegiate for University Pittsburgh. She qualified for Canadian Olympic Trials and Senior Nationals in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke.

Chantel lives in Natick.

Assistant Coach:

Kristin Hesse

This is Kristin’s 1st season in the assistant coaching position with the Natick Swim Team.  Kristin swam for the Natick Swim Team from the age of 7 all the way through high school.  She also volunteered and assisted in coaching for 3 of her 4 years in high school. 

Kristin swam for the Natick High Girls Swim Team for all 4 years of high school.  She swam most events but her specialties were 200 IM and 100 breastroke.  Kristin is a sophomore at Framingham State University where she is studying to get her bachelors in Sociology, and a minor in Psychology.  She hopes to be a school counselor or social worker.