Good afternoon Wynfield families,

Welcome to the 2026 summer swim season! We are excited that you have decided to join us this summer at the pool! Although we had originally planned to begin practice this week for our 11 & Up age group, we need to push back our start date to next Monday, May 18th, for ALL swimmers. The good news is that the delay is due to finalizing details from some much needed renovations this past winter! To clarify, our season will officially begin for ALL swimmers next Monday, 5/18. Although our season is slightly longer this year, our first meet is quickly approaching (less than 3 weeks away!), so we will be jumping right into in-pool practices on day one! This email is super long, but PLEASE take the time to read through to the end. As you plan for this week, and for the season, here is some important information and a few important reminders:

1) First Day procedures: This coming weekend (most likely on Sunday) we will send out an email that will include all lane assignments for the first few days of practice. Please let your child know what lane they will be in and who their coach will be. We know that our lane placements will change as we assess the skill levels of swimmers. However, we do need a starting point! We have a large team, and we want to make sure to have an organized system that allows us to get all swimmers into the water as quickly and safely as possible this week. If it helps, you can even write the lane number and coaches name on the back of your swimmer’s hand with a Sharpie!

2) Practice times

6:00-6:30 pm: Speedy Meet Swimmers

6:30- 7:15 pm | 10 and Under Regular meet swimmers

7:00- 8:00 pm | 11 and Up (Swimmers will have a dryland practice from 7:00-7:15 to work on strength and flexibility. We will be in the water from 7:15-8:00)

3) FIRST TWO WEEK’S AT A GLANCE:

Week 1 Focus:

• 10 & Under: This week we will focus primarily on the fundamentals of freestyle and backstroke. Instruction will vary based on past experience and ability. In general, coaches will focus on proper kicking technique, head and body positioning, and arms.
• 11 & UP: For our first week back in the pool, we will be reviewing and reinforcing the fundamentals of all four strokes while working on building back our endurance!

Monday, 5/18: Practice 6-8

Tuesday, 5/19: Practice 6-8

Wednesday, 5/20: Practice 6-8

Thursday, 5/21: Practice 6-8

Friday: 5/22: NO PRACTICE

...........

Monday, 5/25: NO PRACTICE–HOLIDAY

Tuesday, 5/26: TIME TRIALS!

• NO Speedy Meet practice.
• 6:00-7:00: 10 & Under Time Trials
• 7:00-8:00: 11 & Up Time Trials

Wednesday, 5/27: Practice 6-8

Thursday, 5/28: Practice 6-8

Friday, 5/29: FIRST SWIM MEET!!! This meet is for REGULAR SWIMMERS ONLY (Speedy meet swimmers get tonight off!)

4) Please make sure your swimmer has the following for each swim practice:

-swim suit (for our boys we do recommend a jammer or speedo, as swim trunks tend to interfere with proper body positioning)

-googles (Please no scuba goggles or anything that covers the nose. If you are looking for new goggles, coaches recommend the Speedo Vanquisher or something similar. They have both “junior" and adult sizes)

-cap (All swimmers will get a free latex cap with registration. You can also choose to order a silicone cap. If your child has a sensitive head, doesn’t like their hair being pulled, or has complained of a cap giving them a headache in the past, we highly recommend ordering the silicone cap. They are worth it!)

-Dry towel (or 2--the water is going to be chilly!)

-Water Bottle

5) Reminder of Pool Rules and Expectations: Please help us by reminding your swimmers of the following expectations.

1. NO RUNNING OR HORSEPLAY ON DECK! This is a safety issue and is non-negotiable.
2. NO HORSEPLAY/SPLASHING during practice. With 30+ little swimmers in the water at once, this is again a safety issue.
3. Treat teammates (and coaches) with kindness and respect. We are a team. We support each other, encourage each other, and respect each other’s space.
4. Listen and follow directions. There are numerous people on deck that are responsible for making sure we have a fun and safe summer: coaches, junior coaches, board members, parent volunteers, lifeguards, etc. It is our expectation that our swimmers listen to any and all reasonable requests from those adults (and young adults).
5. If a swimmer is behaving in a way that compromises their safety or the safety of other swimmers, we will have to remove that swimmer from practice.

6) SIGN IN/OUT FOR MEETS. THIS IS ONLY FOR REGULAR MEET SWIMMERS–NOT FOR SPEEDY MEET SWIMMERS. Please look ahead at your summer calendars. Please log in to SwimTopia (our team website) and click on the link at the top that says “Schedule.” Then choose “Swim meets and job sign up.” You should then see a list of this season’s meets. You will need to click the green “MEET ENTRY-open” box for EACH meet. Simply click “attending” or “not attending” for each of your swimmers. Even though we’re just beginning the season, you can fill out this form for all meets now. If your swimmer’s status changes as the season progresses, you can always change it!

Declaring your swimmer is VERY important as it helps us build meets and relays. This is also VERY IMPORTANT for time trials. With over 120 athletes on our Regular season roster, we want to run time trials as efficiently as possible. In order for us to assign heats and lanes, we need to know which swimmers will/will not be attending. Please make sure you have signed your swimmer in/out of Time Trials BY MAY 20th.

7) Remind App: If you have not already done so, please download the Remind app and join @wynfie . This will be very important as the season progresses to get time sensitive information about changes in schedule due to weather, etc. Joining the Wynfield Waves facebook page is also a great way to keep up with team information and share information (lost and found items, etc.) with other families.

8) SwimTopia App: REGULAR MEET SWIMMERS will be able to see meet entries and times on the Swimtopia App. The best time to download it is now!

9) Communication and Questions: If you have any questions or concerns about your child or the team, please feel free to email Coach Tiffany and/or Coach Kristina at [email protected]. If you need to speak with a specific coach, please talk to them at least 10 minutes before our daily practices begin or at the end of all practice sessions. It is important that while coaches are on deck and/in the pool they are able to focus 100% on your swimmers!

We are very excited about this upcoming season, and we look forward to seeing you this week!

~Coach Tiffany and Coach Wilson