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Craig McNeal founded the Council Grove Swim Club as head coach in 1959. Now this summer the club is celebrating it's 50th Anniversary. To celebrate CGSC is sending close to 50 past and present members to compete in the Sunflower State Games. Make this a blog to congratulate Council Grove Swim Club on 50 years and to share any past memories. While spending the afternoon in CG on Tuesday, I certainly saw how many lives Craig McNeal has touched through out the years. Good Luck to all in the Sunflower State Games! |
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Posted by: Becky Johnson Evans Location: Council Grove
Since 1962 swim club has been part of my life (4 out of 5 siblings swan (and later helped coached), as have several of our children) and our Moma was always there. Through the magical world of swim club we traveled with family and friends, establishing life long friendships, learned to compete against not only others but also ourselves, and be a part of something so wonderful, all thanks to you Craig McNeal. I still have contact with swimmers from teams we competed against over 45 years ago and they said they were always jealous because we only swam 3 months and could compete with them who swam all year, we had the parachute and most of all we had you, Craig. Who would have guessed when I swam my first 25 at age 5 that I would end up working for you at the Republican for the past 32 years. I am blessed. I still have my Winfield "Beat Becky" sweatshirt you gave me for my 10th birthday, cringe when I hear "sprint", try harder at "come on" and would love to hear you say "hup" again! Posted by: Perry Penzler Location: Lawrence Kansas Where is Diane Volland Posted by: Jed Location: Olathe, KS Hello to all CGSC Alumni friends and Craig. Not much to say that hasn't already been said about Craig's influence on my life. Hard work, commitment, the list goes on...I agree in that it doesn't seem enough to say "thanks", Craig, for the time you spent help to shape my childhood into such a positive experience. The time you spent sharing your compassion for swimming will always be appreciated with fond memmories of my youth. Craig, as a tribute to you I'll be swimming in the Sunflower Games.... knowing that I may swim against my brother, Rod...He's already playing the age card on me that I should swim better...LOL..The bad news for me, I think my brother will be tough to beat. I'm so proud of him.. Craig, that's what it's all about, huh?, always strive to make yourself better....I look forward to seeing you and all my friends from my past.... The "Games" will be fun... Jed Posted by: Brent Location: Lindsborg,Ks Wow, where do I start? Craig and CGSC, as I have found since I have gotten older, were such huge influences in my life. The times we had are the best memories of my childhood; the Gold Meet trips, the 6 hour drives to the Colby swim meets, and, oh yeah, the things Joany would torture me with during AM practices! Craig taught me early how to set goals and challenge myself to achieve them. Because of these experiences swimming remains an important part of my life thru triathlons and now Masters Swimming. I realize now how much Craig sacrificed for all of us. Craig, you really don't know how much I really appreciate all you did for me. Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. Posted by: Tammy Sarratt Schweiberger Location: Tampa, FL (with part of my heart always in CG) The memories and lessons are far too many to mention. Thanks to Craig, Swim Club was where we made life long friends, learned dedication and commitment and how to have fun even when we were working harder than we thought we could. It was the workouts (HUP), the meets ("Come On" with every single breath!), the Gold Meet Trips (don't use the bus bathroom-now there's some good stories!), the lake swim in Nebraska (more good stories), fund-raising for the Gold Meet trips (pounding cans or picking corn?), picking up trash after the meets and the end of the year awards ("no, the Johnson & Johnson Award isn't named after Becky & Joany") just to mention a few. The older I get with a family of my own, I still don't know how Craig put in so much time and made all of us feel special and successful. Craig, you mean so much to so many people, including me. Thank you doesn't seem to be enough because you deserve so much more. Wish I could be there for the celebration. Posted by: Jay Location: Australia I never fully appreciated the amount of time, personal sacrifice, and dedication it took on Craig's part to make CGSC a success until much later in life . .. but rest assure I appreciate it now. Thank you Craig for sharing your passion for swimming with all of us, you're a CG legend! Posted by: Rod Location: Lawrence,KS Where do I start and how do I end...Now that I'm knocking on the door of 60, it's time for reflection. Who would think that someone in the '60's could field a swim team from a town of 2800 ( now less) that could be competitive? Craig McNeal did. His selfless commitment was not appreciated by me until I was much older with kids of my own. I was a small town young teenage boy without a father figure. Craig was one of the men that took the challenge to nudge me along. I learned about hard work, responsibility, teamwork, and success. I was a lifeguard at age 15. He must have had confidence in me. In addition, there are many stories that still make me laugh. I am indebted to Craig. He is a integral part of my happiness and success. I'm looking forward to the Games. Posted by: Merry Location: Council Grove, Kansas Craig touched so many lives in our town. He made us all feel like we could do anything and believed in us all. He taught us valuable lessons that we would carry the rest of our lives. We learned sacrifice, integrity, dedication and commitment. In the early days if you wanted to be in the swim club you were required to commit to that sport and to twice a day workouts. He didn't care if Becky was in the bathroom throwing up (trying to get out of a workout). He would just say "get in the water"!! Craig dedicated his life to the swim team..working a full time job and working with us 6 or 7 days a week. Some years we swam all winter with Craig seeing that we got to Manhattan for the workouts. Then he saw to it that we got to enter meets in our state plus Oklahoma and Nebraska. In recent years I have swam with Craig at the Sunflower Games and the Senior Olympics. We each brought home the gold many times. Thanks Craig for your life's commitment to the team. HUP!! Posted by: Susan (Stoddard) Harsh Location: El Dorado, KS My goodness!! When I talk about my summers and really my youth I talk about being a part of the CG Swim Club!! What should have been hard was nothing but fun under your direction. There are too many memories to share-- but there was always lightening out at Cosgroves (to get out of practice); the incident out in Colby one year when we weren't swimming our hardest and you called a team meeting, spoke to us harshly (which you NEVER did) and threw your clip board on the ground. I was never so glad to not be in the breaststroke.... it was the next event....; and my personal favorite--puking at league finals before the 200 free and you making me swim anyway. I took off 25 seconds and won the Barf Award that summer! Craig-you've been a very fond memory of mine for years and I'm thankful to have been associated with you. See you in July! Susan Harsh Posted by: cgbenchwarmer Location: Council Grove Some great times Craig....The trip home from Wellington with no headlights on the bus, and all our kids "hanging out" at Rusty Eck Ford while the half fast mechanic tried to "fix" our bus....No doubt he had never faced a challange like that. How about Blosser tanking up on "Jolt" so he could swim faster?? The stuff just kept him wired up for the bus ride home. One of your "blue card" swimmers spending so much time in the women's swim wear area of the Manhattan pool?? Wonder what that was about? Doug DeLay trying to pull his Speedos back up after having them go to his ankles at the laegue swim meet in Winfield. The lady starter at Hutch who seemed to really like the CG Swim Club. The late nights sitting around PaPa Don's dining room table doing cards - lots of cards. Many many good times and my appreciation for teaching my kids to save the old man if he ever fell in the water. Thanks Craig - looking forward to being at the reunion. Posted by: randy Location: Council Grove I remember Craig had the coolest car in town, a spyder monza corvair. One time I was coming back from a swim meet in Craig's corvair, and being a passenger with Craig, somehow he wanted to know how long I could hold my breath. Well, maybe I made a minute, but I'm sure Craig was training me, as well as passing the time as we traveled. He was always thinking and always interesting at the same time. This would be one of many stories I could share. Craig has left a mark on my life that no one else has done, and to this day, as I've moved back to Council Grove, he's still digging into me to reach further in myself to be better and continue to strive for excellence in a sport that he's pioneered in the lives of those who have realized a unique opportunity to be the best that they can be. I'll be forever indebted to this man who touched me 5 decades ago, and is still effecting my life in a wonderful, positive fashion. God bless you always, Craig. May His favor always be with you. Posted by: Bruce Location: Salina, Ks Craig taught me at a young age about setting goals and about comiment. I always loved the meets and the compedition but he installed the hard work and the practice to get there. Thanks Craig and I always look forward to seeing you when I get back to CG !!! Posted by: Tammy (Burke) Martin Location: Herington, Kansas My memories of being a member of the swim team are some of the most memorable of my youth. Craig was a awesome coach and mentor. The 6:30 in the morning practices and then back at 5:00 made Council Grove one of the top swim teams around. We would travel to Manhatten to swim in the winter and then when the place we swam at burned down then good ole Craig found another place in Emporia for us to practice in the winter. We just couldn't catch a break! HA! It was worth it though. Craig kept us focused but we also had a good time. I loved the end of the year party when he gave all the silly awards. The Gold Meet trips were so awesome, espically the trip to Canada. Remember when someone thru something at the windshied on the bus and broke the window? All the work Craig did to make those trips happen show the kind of person he was. I would like to know how much money we raised by picking corn! It is truly a honor to have enjoyed those years with Craig. Thank you Craig!! See you in July!!! Posted by: Pat "Annie" Location: Estes Park, Colorado So many memories with Craig as my Coach. He wasnt just a Swim Coach, he taught many of "his kids" very valuable lessons that started with swimming and hopfully continued in their adult lives. He taught me that you sometimes have to sacrifice to make your dreams come true. He was fun, yet when needed he gave us the strength to hit our goals. I swam under the direction of this amazing Coach from age 8 until I was 21 years old. The Life Lessons I have learned from him have helped me throughout the years of my life. Volumes of stories could be written about this Swim Club. When we would go to Winter Meets other teams would be amazed that we only practiced 3 times a week and had to travel to Manhatten, Kansas to swim at KSU since our town only had an outdoor pool...that speaks volumes about how good a Coach he is.Thank you Craig and Good Luck at the Sunflower Games!! I wish I could be there for the 50th celebration. I leave you with these two words...Hup......Hup. Pat"Annie" Downes Boston Posted by: Rachelle Location: Topeka I would have to say that alot of my favorite childhood memories involve the swim team, meets, etc. I will have to say that because of the swim club, my mother had a heck of a time getting me out of my suit, day or night...I was always sleeping in it and ready to rise and shine for the long drives we had at 5am to get to some of those meets, I told mom I didn't want to be late so I had to sleep in the thing. Thanks for starting the program Craig, we were very fortunate to have you. One thing that I think is just so amazing is the trips we did. Not only did you organize a team year after year, the trips across the country for sport and vacation were amazing memories that only this select few individuals from CG can cherish forever. THANK YOU Posted by: Brittani Location: Emporia I always looked forward to summer for swim meets and meeting new people. Even though I was sad we had to swim in the rain at times it always paid off. Swim team kept me in touch with my best friend that moved to Abilene in the third grade and have kept in contact with almost everyone I met from the meets. Thanks Craig for starting the program and keeping some of us out of trouble during the summer. I look forward to Sunflower State Games. Posted by: Shawn Uncle Craig, thanks for the coaching, inspiration and fun. Thanks to you I'm a swimmer for life! I look forward to celebrating the great program you started 50 years ago. I also look forward to kicking Monte's butt. Posted by: Sharmon Richardson Location: Council Grove Even though I was only in Swim Club for one summer, I am sure Craig will agree it was for one reason. I was a teenager and that was what all the cute teenage boys were doing! I had a great summer. Later I worked for Craig and his dad at the Republican early in my married life and once again it was a memorable experience. Posted by: Kerry Location: Sarasota and KC COME OHNN!!! Hupp ... Hupp!!! As Karla said, way to many memories to mention! Let's start with the flat tire on the bus in the middle of the desert on the way to Salt Lake City. Craig wouldn't let us off the bus because of the rattlesnakes in the ditch. Then there are the many, many Friday nights that Craig sacrificed his evening to time my splits when I insisted on swimming the 1500 free. It was an honor and a pleasure to swim for and coach with you, Craig! See you in July! Kerry DeLay McCane Posted by: Karla Location: Wichita Ok, way too many great memories to post at one time,so I'll start with these three: 1. The ever distinctive "Come onnn!" (you all will have to add your own distinctive sound effect!) 2. My first summer helping Craig coach and sitting with him under a sheet of plastic at the Colby Pool during a DOWNPOUR!! Every time we would breath we would have to be careful not to suck in a mouthfull of plastic!! 3. The eventful trip down the Colorado River when our boat was basically capsized--Barb Harkness, the guide and I into the drink while Craig, Lorna, Ardie Sherwood, Mike and the guy training to be a guide managed to stay in the raft as it was hung up on a rock. I'll save the best part of this story for the reunion, but believe me Craig made the samrtest move during that whole fiasco!! :-) Craig, you certainly made an impact on my life and I'm glad that you are finally getting all the recognition you deserve!! Karla Stoddard-Stenzel P.S. Love the Pic!! Posted by: Marci Location: Merriam, KS I will be the first to say what a wonderful man and father Craig McNeal is. I have so many wonderful memories from Swim Club and met lifelong friends through the competition of swimming. The trips we were able to take to other states to compete and win--were something I will never forget. My dad is a very humble person and never wants to take credit or get recognition when it is truly deserved. So I am glad he is getting some "limelight" after all these years. Thanks dad for serving as a wonderful example of a coach, man, friend and human being. You are loved by so many! |
