Masters Swim Team - BAM | Park & Recreation District

Bainbridge Aquatic Masters (BAM) is a nonprofit club administered under the Bainbridge Island Park & Recreation District and supported by the BAM Booster Club. The swim team is a year-round workout group within the Pacific Northwest Association of United States Masters Swimming (USMS), a program for adults that exists to benefit all interested adult swimmers. This program is for swimmers ages 18+ and of any abilities who want conditioning and stroke technique enhancement. It's great fun for lap swimmers who wish to add a new dimension to their routine. Swim meets, triathlons, and open water competitions are available for those who want to compete.

The overriding philosophy of Masters Swimming is that participation in sports can and should be a life-enhancing experience. Our program emphasizes structure and continuous instruction. We are a proper community program and serve over 130 team members.

We look forward to seeing you at the pool!

BAM Registration

BAM Coaches

April Cheadle

Head Swim Coach
april@biparks.org

April Cheadle April grew up in the Apple Capital of the World in Central Washington, where she graduated from Eastmont High School. She started competing in swimming at age 14 and competed through college at the University of Washington. Her specialty strokes were long-distance free style and the Individual Medley. She swam the 800 Free Relay at the NCAA Division I level in college. She is certified as a coach with the American Swim Coaches Association in both USA and United States Masters Swimming Levels 1, 2, and 3, and was selected as an assistant coach for the Puget Sound Masters National Team in 2011 and co-head coach of the team in 2012 and head coach in 2014. In October 2014, April was awarded the Kerry O'Brian Inspirational coaching award from the United States Masters Swimming Association. Cheadle was selected for this award for exceeding the criteria in two areas: Re-energizing and Creating Opportunities for swimmers.

Lisa Claesson-Gordon

Assistant Coach

Lisa grew up on Bainbridge and remembers taking freezing swim lessons in Ray when it was still an outdoor pool. After a long detour in the world of running, Lisa took her Headshot of Lisa broken body back to the pool and discovered Masters swimming in 2007. This inauspicious beginning eventually led to her becoming a water safety swim instructor and lifeguard at the aquatic center. Lisa was offered additional training and earned advanced Red Cross certifications as a water safety instructor trainer, lifeguard instructor, and lifeguard instructor trainer. In a past life, Lisa was an 8th-grade science teacher, which led to teaching a swim instructor/lifeguard PE class for the high school. Lisa eventually ran the swim lesson program as an aquatic program coordinator for the park district. Lisa retired in 2021 and has been working in her garden like a mad woman and as an assistant swim coach for the masters team.

Kate Meyers

Assistant Coach

Kate first learned to swim in the Snake River but confessed that fear of swift currents staff_photo_kate_meyers_1-9-23 and rumors of the fearsome “Under Toad” kept her from enjoying open water swimming. Once her small town built an outdoor pool, she was wet all of the time — swim team, lifeguarding, and, best of all, teaching others to swim during college summer vacations. Kate first joined BAM in 1998 when she decided to take up triathlon racing (and overcome my childhood fear of the Under Toad). Swimming quickly became my favorite leg. After six years, all my racing was in the Ray Williamson Pool and at Masters Meets, including National Meets in Greensboro, Santa Clara, San Antonio, and Federal Way. She was very honored when April asked her in 2017 to become an Assistant Coach for BAM, allowing me to learn on-deck skills from a world-class coach and mentor and encouraging me to spend even more time following that mesmerizing black line. When she's not coaching, she is a lawyer and judge by day and a local theatre director at night. She spends her free time at the theater with her grandkids, hiking in the woods, or trying to learn what it's all about from Alfie, my Labradoodle. Her favorite set is anything April writes on the board, and the words she would use for BAM are camaraderie and mastery. Kate swims because it's the most challenging, meditative, and fun activity she can enjoy with friends! After swimming, her favorite post-workout food is scrambled eggs with sauteed veggies and a tall latte with extra foam.

Tamara Tulou

Assistant Coach

I grew up in Northern Virginia, where every neighborhood had its own outdoor, Headshot of Tamara Tulou unheated, summer-only pool—each one home to summer swim and dive teams. My neighborhood’s pool was right across the street from my house, and from the age of 5 to 18, I was a dedicated summer swimmer and diver. I even spent a year as an NCAA athlete… at a school where the only requirement for joining the team was passing the swim test. Eventually, swimming faded from my routine—until I moved to Bainbridge in 2006. That’s when I found BAM (Bainbridge Aquatic Masters) and got back into swimming. A few years ago, not long after I started teaching swim and dive lessons, I added a new role as an assistant coach for BAM.

Workout Schedules

Wet Workout Time

Practice sign-ups are required for team members through SignUp Genius.

Day	Times
Sunday
Monday	6:00a-7:00a 8:00a-9:00a 9:00a-10:00a 10:00a-11:00a
Tuesday	5:00a-6:15a 8:00a-9:00a 9:00a-10:00a 10:45a-11:30a 11:45a-1:00p
Wednesday	6:00a-7:00a 8:00a-9:00a 9:00a-10:00a 10:00a-11:00a
Thursday	5:00a-6:15a 8:00a-9:00a 9:00-a10:00a 10:45a-11:30a 11:45a-1:00p
Friday	6:00a-7:15a 8:00a-9:00a 9:00a-10:00a 10:00a-11:00a
Saturday	5:00a-6:15a 6:15a-7:45a

Specialized workout groups change weekly.
Contact Coach April for group assignments.

Dry Land Workout Time

Fees and Policies

2025 BAM Dues

Age Range	1x Week	2x Week	Unlimited
Senior 60+	$75.60	$113.40	$141.75
Adult	$84.00	$126.00	$157.00

10-visit BAM punch pass — $210.00
Add-on lap swim (monthly) — $25.00 (monthly)
- Must be a monthly dues BAM participant

Payment Policy

Installment billing is processed on or after the 5th day of each month for the current month. If you choose not to have your credit card billed automatically for the monthly BAM dues, a statement for the balance due will be sent via e-mail. All payments are due by the 25th of each month.

Each swimmer’s bill will be generated during the first week of each month for the upcoming month, and email notification of the balance due or payments made will be sent by email each month. All payments are due by the end of the second Friday of the month (electronic installment billing assures this will happen). If you do not sign up for the auto installment billing, you must make payment on time.

Late Payment

If payment is not received by the last day of the month, the swimmer(s) may be removed from practice until the account is settled. In addition, for any invoices that are not paid in full by the 25th of the month, your account will be charged a late fee of $20.

While this may sound strict, the only way we can run BAM on a balanced budget is to enforce the payment of fees rigorously. Remember that BAM has coaches’ salaries, benefits, and facility maintenance to pay each month, so these policies are designed to keep our costs down and hold our team fiscally responsible.

Guidelines for Use of BAM Leave of Absence/Change of Billing Form

BAM members who enroll in the installment billing plan have the following options that can be requested on the LOA form to modify their automated billing status or inform finance staff of changes:

Temporary Break: Fill out BAM LOA to stop billing for a single month or several months. Requests must be for full month increments only.
Change in Training Level: Fill out BAM LOA to indicate you are moving to a new training billing level. Month of change must be indicated on form.
Leaving Team: Fill out BAM LOA stating you are leaving the team and indicate the effective date.
Medical Leave: Fill out BAM LOA stating you have a medical emergency/constraint and attach a doctor's notice. Billing exceptions for partial month billing will be considered in these instances with a doctor's notice.

All requests for a leave of absence or change to billing must be received by the 25th day of the previous month.

Example: If you are requesting a leave of absence from the team for the month of June, your LOA request must be submitted by May 25 to provide the proper notice.

BAM LOA Form