Greenville Splash Masters

Greenville Splash Swimmer of the Year 2025: Charles Michael

From Furman’s halls to the classroom bright,

You guide young minds with wisdom and light.

In Spanish or English, your lessons flow,

A teacher, a mentor, with knowledge to show.

In the pool, your wings take flight,

A butterflier’s rhythm, strong and right.

Though breaststroke may test your grace,

Your spirit ensures you still win the race.

Four Masters meets, your strokes displayed,

Open waters where courage stayed.

Beaufort’s river, five kilometers long,

Florida Keys relay—your team proved strong.

No fins required, yet your kick inspires,

Outpacing practice, fueling fires.

A swimmer of grit, of humor, of heart,

In every lane, you play your part.

And when the waves brought a test one day,

A hat overboard, a price to pay.

Stitches marked the tale you’d craft,

To your students, a brave “shark attack.”

So tonight we honor, with voices clear,

Charles Michael, Swimmer of the Year.

Your story reminds us, both bold and true,

That passion and laughter make champions too.

Greenville Splash Volunteer of the Year 2025: Sean VanVelsor

At the Caine Halter YMCA, his vision shines bright,
Guiding swimmers with patience, with wisdom, with might.
From lifeguard classes to lessons for youth,
He teaches with passion, with courage, with truth.

Once a TG Swim Coach, inspiring the lane,
Now eleven years strong with Upstate Splash’s campaign.
Each ripple of service, each hour he gave,
Built safety, built skill, built lives to save.

Sean’s devotion is more than a role,
It’s a calling, a mission, a generous soul.
And when the lake beckons, with freedom and glee,
He rides with pure joy upon his Jet Ski.

So tonight, we lift our voices clear,
To honor Sean, Volunteer of the Year.
Your legacy flows like the current, profound,
In every swimmer, your impact is found.

Greenville Splash is ready for an epic year! 2026 brings United States Master Swimming Spring Nationals to Greensboro, North Carolina. Since it is so close to our area we are looking forward to our swimmers showing off their skills. Let us know if you are planning to attend. South Carolina is looking to put together a club for swimmers to attend and be able to field more relays.

2025 ended with so many of our fun Greenville Splash traditions. We had over 40 swimmers participate in our 17th annual Thanksgiving workout. Our coaches all got in the spirit of the holidays with special holiday themed workouts including the Grinch workout, Eight Days of Hannukah workout, Winter Solstice workout and many more. We want to give a huge shout out to Bob and Becki McKee for helping to host our annual Christmas party at the Five Forks Plantation Club House. So much fun was held by all. We also want to thank one of our swimmers in the Veterans program for being Santa: Dan Ryan.

We have a big announcement: Barbara Eisele broke the National USMS Record for the 200 IM in the 95-99 age group for both short course yards and now short course meters from the meet in Charleston last month! Barbara inspires people from all walks of life and around the entire country. She is now famous on Facebook with her latest feat of athleticism. We couldn't be more proud of her!

Greenville Splash hosted the Upstate Splash Charity Open Water Swim this past September. It was our 11th event! We had 200 swimmers come from all over the southeast to swim either 1.2 or 2.4 miles at Lake Jocassee. Upstate Splash is an all volunteer charity and the proceeds directly impact groups in our community. We give back to our partners to provide swim lessons for children and adults that are in need. Our mission is to prevent childhood drowning and raise awareness of water safety. We plan to continue to work with Aqua Angels and look forward to providing swim lessons to children with special needs this coming year.

Send Leslie results and pictures of your events for our next newsletter. Feel free to email Coach Leslie at greenvillesplash@gmail.com or give me a call if you need any help with anything: 864-283-1328.

Thank you for participating and being a part of Greenville Splash Masters Swimming! We require annual dues for both Greenville Splash and United States Masters Swimming. Click the links above and below.

Jan 17: Blue Tides Swim Meet SCY in Augusta, Ga. Click here for more information:

Feb. 7-8 Sunbelt Charlotte Meet SCY. This is our big team event! Make plans to join the fun! We need you to help us score team points! Click here to enter and for more info: Entries are due by Monday Feb. 2 by noon. Steve Croucher is recruiting swimmers for this fun meet!

Feb 28 - March 1 Myrtle Beach Meet SCY. Information coming soon, check club assistant.

March 1 USMS Coach Certification Level 2 & 3 in Atlanta, Georgia. Click here for more information:

April Adult Learn to Swim Month: Greenville Splash Volunteers Teach our Community to Swim for Free. Let Coach Leslie know if you are interested in volunteering for a super rewarding experience.

April 30 - May 3 USMS Spring Nationals in Greensboro, NC. Click here for more information:

Since Nationals is close to home this year, many swimmers are planning to go. Let Coach Leslie know if you are going. South Carolina will also register as a club for those that are interested in relays. Register by Feb 18 for lower entry cost.

September 19 Upstate Splash Charity Open Water Swim at Lake Jocassee. Hosted by Greenville Splash

For more swim events in the southeast click here:

We are super excited to have these swimmers complete their certification to become Adult Learn to Swim Instructors: Alec DiBattista, Janine Serell and Alyssa Berry . They completed their training recently in Augusta, Georgia with USMS.

Congratulations to our swimmers that swam at the South Carolina Short Course Meters Meet in December in Charleston: Susan DeMere, Daniel Dietrich, Jeff Dietrich, Barbara Eisele, Charles Michael, Joe Shake, William Tarr and Molly Marrett. Way to go Barbara! Barbara Eisele broke the National USMS Record for the 200 IM in the 95-99 age group for short course meters at this meet. She had previously set this record in yards last fall.

Kudos to Celeste Schultz for competing in the Athens swim meet in December. She improved her times in the 50 fly, 50 breast, 50 free and 100 breast.

Welcome Coach Noah Cignarele as one of our evening coaches at Greenville County Aquatic Complex. Congratulations on becoming a Level 1 Certified USMS Coach! Noah will be coaching on Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:00 pm. Come out and give one of his workouts a try!

We are beyond proud of Steve Leitch! Steve completed the Cook's Straight Open Water Swim in New Zealand in December The Cook Strait swim is a challenging marathon swim across the treacherous, cold, and current-filled channel between New Zealand's North and South Islands, considered one of the world's toughest open-water swims and part of the Oceans Seven. Swimmers face strong tides, unpredictable eddies, marine life like jellyfish and sharks, and chilly water. Steve is on a quest to complete the Ocean's Seven. He has finished 5 of the swims! The Oceans Sevens is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven open water channel swims. It was devised in 2008 as the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. It comprises the North Channel, the Cook Straight, the Moloka'i Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Straight and the Strait of Gibraltar. He does the swims to raise awareness and money for those that are overcoming addiction.

Coach Noah will be coaching Tuesday evenings at Greenville County Aquatic Complex 6:30-8:00 pm. We would love to get some more swimmers in the evenings! If you haven't been in awhile we look forward to seeing you soon!

Greenville County Aquatic Complex:

It's Long Course Season! Coached workouts: TuTh 5:30-7:00 am, TuTh 6:30-8:00 pm, Tu 9:00-10:30 am, Fri 7:00-8:30 am & 9:00-10:30 am, Sat 7:00-8:30 am (informal workout)

Veterans Swim Program Mon & Wed 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Pool closed on these dates:

February 12-15th TG 14 & Under state meet ( Closed Thursday evening – Sunday)

February 27th – March 1st TG 8 & Under State meet ( Closed Friday evening – Sunday)

Kroc Center:

Coached workouts: MWF 6:00-7:00 am.

Please Note: Due to lane space and safety concerns we require swimmers to circle swim at all workouts at both pools.

Make sure to check our website to see our Greenville Splash workouts that we do every week. Coach Carolyn and Coach Leslie are working hard to post them every week!

Click here for workouts:

Aqua Angels is an amazing organization in our community that helps to provide swim lessons for those in need. They have also begun a program for teaching children with disabilities swim lessons and even had an adaptive swim meet in October. Upstate Splash is proud to partner with them to raise funds and awareness to make our community safer in and around the water. Thank you Aqua Angels for volunteering at the Upstate Splash!

Thank you so much to all of our swimmers that volunteer for Greenville Splash! Your efforts help to make our community safer in the water and provide fitness and competition activities for swimmers.

We host several big events every year:
Adult Learn to Swim
The Upstate Splash Charity Open Water Swim
Upstate Veterans Swim

We have taught 520 adults how to swim!
The Upstate Splash has raised money to provide swim lessons for over 3,600 children!

We are proud to be a team that gives back to our community!

Meet the Greenville Splash Advisory Board:

Sara Bopp, Amy Browning, Mark Kothe, Carolyn Moore, and Leslie Scott

Please, reach out to these board members with any suggestions for the future success of your Greenville Splash Masters team. Email: advisoryboard@greenvillesplash.com

Follow us on facebook, twitter, instagram and our website for more information about our USMS club. We also have FB messenger for each of the pools, let us know if you want to be added. We always welcome all swimmers to any of our workouts, events and socials. Join the fun!

Facebook Links:

Greenville Splash

Upstate Splash Charity

"Make a Splash in Life, Swim!"

Email: greenvillesplash@gmail.com
Website: www.greenvillesplash.com
Location: Greenville County Aquatic Complex and Kroc Center
Phone: 864-283-1328 Head Coach Leslie Scott
Facebook: facebook.com/greenvillesplash
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenvillesplash/