Come out on Wednesday, February 8th for a fun and informative swim clinic with three-time Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines! This clinic will consist of a 30-minute in-water session with the swimmers, followed by a 30-minute on-deck session with swimmers AND parents. As both a swimmer AND a swim parent (daughter Isabelle swims on JV2), Rowdy will address topics for both parents and swimmers. Don’t miss this fun and unique event!

There were about 300 people who came and 800 total have signed up for the program. Having two daughters in the school system made it especially nice to be part of this great program. Obesity is a major problem with our youth; it’s so nice to see our schools take action with the adults they look up to on a daily basis.

LIMU had a display table and product testing at the event. I was really proud of my company’s participation, too, as they have always been leaders in promoting a healthy lifestyle, not only through our amazing products, but also through physical fitness. Let’s hear it for Team BLU FROG!

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about this superstar event, head here: http://www.mutualofomaha.com/usa-swimming/duel-in-the-pool/.

Now comes the fun part. Rowdy will be slyly mentioning three LIMU catchphrases during the course of the event, certain phrases or words everyone in LIMU NATION should readily be familiar with. The first person who correctly identifies what they are and posts them to our Facebook page will be getting rewarded. How about that?

Want to be the one who wins? Watch and post this weekend … because you could walk away LIMU’s big winner!

With Jerri Finley as our host, we started our morning on Friday with a tour of the tornado zone. It reminded me of our tour through the tsunami zone in Japan this past summer: total devastation. I didn’t realize the damage was as extensive as it was; a Category 5 that was a mile wide pretty much destroyed their whole community.
We went to a high school to speak to some students that had been displaced by the tornado. Joplin High School was destroyed and the 9th and 10th grade children are now at an old middle school, while the 11th and 12th grade kids attend their classes in a mall; that’s right, an old mall store that had gone out of business is now home to about 300 students. Older kids are always a tough audience, but these kids were so incredibly respectful and, based on the Q & A that followed, they were very interested in my story of surviving the peaks and valleys of life.
We had dinner with about 30 of our LIMU Members (and a few guests, along with top income earners Rusty and Angela Barton) and, again, I spoke briefly about my story and what LIMU has done for me in my life.

Saturday was a business briefing and training session led by Shannon Pardue. There were many leaders there. Shannon asked me to speak about dedication and passion and I happily obliged him. There were 85 Members and 15 guests in attendance.

I was very honored and humbled to, once again, represent LIMU in what have now been two of the most devastating forces of nature on earth this year, in two locations where our company has an important presence. LIMU GIVES is as strong now as it ever has been!

I was very proud of our team! Everywhere we went for the four days we were there, the guys were promoting both our team and all of the LIMU products! There were so many questions and it was fun talking about both.

Our team was 10th overall out of 189, a jump from 27th last year and 79th the year before that (when I was the only member). We did it with far less members than most others ahead of us, as you can see below. Also, the teams in front are traditional powerhouses that have been around for a long, long time. Their time is over. Our goal is to be National Champs by 2013 after cracking the top 5 next year.

Name of club – # of members

1. The Olympic Club — 24
2. San Diego — 20
3. West Hollywood — 26
4. Phoenix — 45
5. Longhorn — 9
6. Ventura County — 13
7. Walnut Creek — 14
8. Rose Bowl — 17
9. Irvine Nova — 17
10. TEAM BLU FROG — 8
11. Woodlands —13
12. Nitro — 11
13. Virginia — 7

Every TEAM BLU FROG member scored points for us, meaning they had to be in the Top 10 in their event (so it wasn’t just me scoring all the points).

We also made an appearance at the local Ronald McDonald House in Phoenix. They were very appreciative of our being there and signing some autographs for the families staying at the house. This is going to be a great tradition that Justo Nunez (LIMU’s Vice President of Community Relations) has created with me, trying to visit the local Ronald McDonald Houses during my travels. It is an incredible organization we partner with.

Also, I broke the Masters National Record in the 50 free! It was the fastest time in history in my age group (50-54) and my personal best since turning 50. The time was 21.36, which bests my previous best of 21.38.

There are tons of videos on the website (www.usms.org) and we will follow up with pictures soon. Thank you for all of your support! I really appreciate it!

Rowdy

This was the first time I had seen the Top Gun team in action and I was duly impressed! In fact, it was the best presentation I have ever seen of the LIMU brand and opportunity. Tracy kicked off the meeting with introductions and turned it over to Jerry, who was just spectacular. The slide presentation was awesome and Jerry was as animated as he was informative.

I spoke at the end and everyone was very appreciative that I was there. Jerry later told me it was opening day for the Tigers and a lot of his people were at the game. Either way, these guys are rolling and are full steam ahead on meetings, calls and everything else. Jerry and Tracy had planned to come to the meet on Saturday and sit in the TV booth with me (and six of their guests) but, at the last minute, decided to have another briefing at their home. They’re all in!

They introduced me to a director of the Detroit school system who is very excited about the prospect of setting up some Rowdy’s Kidz programs in the future. It looks like Detroit is firmly in place and the LIMU Nation is rocking in the Motor City!

Friday night, I attended an opportunity meeting in Detroit, hosted by Jerry and Tracy Montgomery. There were about 30 people in attendance, with most of those as guests.

This was the first time I had seen the Top Gun team in action and I was duly impressed! In fact, it was the best presentation I have ever seen of the LIMU brand and opportunity. Tracy kicked off the meeting with introductions and turned it over to Jerry, who was just spectacular. The slide presentation was awesome and Jerry was as animated as he was informative.

I spoke at the end and everyone was very appreciative that I was there. Jerry later told me it was opening day for the Tigers and a lot of his people were at the game. Either way, these guys are rolling and are full steam ahead on meetings, calls and everything else. Jerry and Tracy had planned to come to the meet on Saturday and sit in the TV booth with me (and six of their guests) but, at the last minute, decided to have another briefing at their home. They’re all in!

They introduced me to a director of the Detroit school system who is very excited about the prospect of setting up some Rowdy’s Kidz programs in the future. It looks like Detroit is firmly in place and the LIMU Nation is rocking in the Motor City!

There was a great home briefing and lunch the next day at the home of one of our most loyal and successful Members, Jerri Finley. Along with some great testimonials and good fellowship, we had a spectacular lunch! Thanks again, Jerri!

These clinics and briefings are wonderful parts of our great company and I look forward to doing a lot more in the future.

By the way, did I say War Eagle?! Just checking.

■Saturday 12/11 NBC 3:00-4:00pm ET