Good Afternoon,

Thank you all for your patience and flexibility as we tackled a rocky beginning of the season. Thanks to all who all showed up to our early and chilly practices, and for those who jumped right back into the pool yesterday without missing a beat. We were blown away by what we saw, and are all very excited to see our swimmers grow this summer!  Now that we are on a regular schedule you should expect to get weekly email updates on Sunday evenings.

*IMPORTANT/TIME SENSITIVE for REGULAR MEET swimmers only:

Please declare your swimmers for the first meet! The declaration window for swimmers will close tonight. Please make sure your swimmer has been declared for the meet (attending or not attending). If you need help with this, I'll be at the pool tonight to help. Any swimmer who has NOT been declared as “attending” will NOT be entered in the meet. If there are changes to your swimmer’s availability AFTER the declarations window has closed, please contact the coaches AS SOON AS POSSIBLE by emailing to [email protected].

This week's focus in the pool:

• Speedy Meet Swimmers: This week coaches will continue to introduce and reinforce skills for freestyle and backstroke. For swimmers who show a good working understanding of both free and back, we will begin introducing breaststroke.
• 10 & Under: With only 2 days of practice before our first meet, we will use Wednesday and Thursday to get “meet ready.” We will be working on legal starts, legal and fast finishes, and learn how to have fast and legal relay exchanges.
• 11 & Up: With only 2 days of practice before our first meet, we will use Wednesday and Thursday to get “meet ready.” We will have an extra focus on starts, turns, and finishes, all while continuing to try to build a bit of endurance!

***REQUEST: Please make sure your swimmers are prepared for practice. We expect all swimmers to wear a cap and goggles at each practice. Please consider the following:

• Caps are important because it prevents swimmers from picking up their heads and shaking their heads while swimming. Good technique in swimming involves the whole body–head to toe. When swimmers do not wear caps, they are reinforcing bad habits with head and body positioning when they have to shake their head to get their hair out of their eyes!
• Goggles are important because they maximize visibility. This is important to be able to swim straight, and especially for timing of finishes and turns. Swimmers use visual cues (backstroke flags and the “T” on the bottom of the pool) to judge distance to adjust stroke lengths for proper turns and finishes. If your swimmer struggles with goggles, it might be useful to try different styles. As coaches, we recommend the Speedo Vanquisher goggles. These goggles come with 3 different nose pieces that can be removed/adjusted to allow for the perfect fit on your swimmer’s face.
• Swim Suit: Please encourage your swimmer to wear a swimsuit meant for competitive swimming. In particular, we discourage boys from wearing swim trunks. Many times these are loose and swimmers break their streamline when pushing off the wall or diving in to pull up their swim trunks and tighten the waist. A jammer will stay in place and allow your swimmer to focus on swimming and technique.

This week’s schedule:

• Wednesday, 5/29: Practice 6:00-8:00
• Thursday, 5/30: Practice 6:00-8:00
• FRIDAY, 5/30: NO PRACTICE--FIRST SWIM MEET AT WYNFIELD (details below)

Upcoming Meets:

• Friday, 5/30: HOME MEET vs. Hamptons. I will send out more meet specific details later this week, but please plan for a long, fun-filled evening. Swimmers will arrive no later than by 4:45. Warm-ups will begin at 5:00pm. The meet will begin at 6:00 pm, and will end no later than 10:00pm. *I will send out detailed meet information Thursday afternoon.

A few other items:

• Useful Apps (we highly recommend downloading both of these)
  
  
  • Remind: We will use this to push out information regarding weather and other important updates.
  • SwimTopia: This app will allow you to easily declare your swimmers for meets, see their events (including heat and lane assignments) for meets, and view their meet results. The process is very similar if declaring your swimmer on the website. Your username and password for this app should be the same one that you used or created during registration. Here is a quick video on how to declare your swimmer on the SwimTopia App
• Weather: We understand that families have many moving parts and would like to know about changes to practices or meets with as much advance notice as possible. However, unless we are absolutely certain of weather conditions at the specific times we will be in the pool, we cannot make the call ahead of time. We do not “hold” information–as soon as we make a final decision we immediately share on Remind, Facebook, and via email. We will always do our best to make a call 30 minutes prior to the start of the practice session (for the 6:00 practice, we will make the call by 5:30; for the 6:30 practice, we will make the call by 6:00; for the 7:00 practice, we will make the call by 6:30). Please keep in mind the additional weather considerations:
  
  
  • Rain: We can practice in a light drizzle. However, if it is raining hard enough that the lifeguards cannot see the bottom of the pool or safely watch the pool, we must clear the pool.
  • Thunder: In the event of thunder, we must clear the pool until we are thunder free for 30 minutes. If there is thunder at 6:00, we must be out of the pool until 6:30. If there is thunder again at 6:15, the clock resets to “0” and we are out of the pool until 6:45, etc.
  • Lighting: If lighting is seen, we must clear the pool AND the deck. If a practice or meet has lighting and is POSTPONED, we will ask families to exit the pool area and wait in their cars. The same 30 minute delay used for thunder is also used for lighting.
  • STORMS DURING MEETS: Storms during meets can be confusing. If a meet is interrupted by weather, PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE THE AREA unless we have confirmed that we are cancelling the meet. For swim meets, the league reps and officials will make the final decision on whether to postpone a meet or cancel a meet based on current and future radar and forecasts. Once a decision is made, they will announce the decision and we will share with our families via the REMIND app.

Private Lessons: If you would like to reach out to a coach for private lessons, please feel free to contact them directly. Lesson rates are set at $25 for each 30 minute private lesson.

• Lily Miller: 704-449-8687
• Jack Schuermann: 704-998-7763
• Cooper Dixon: 704-907-7994
• Mitchell Evans: 980-320-7677
• Nora Degner: 704-728-4851
• Wilson Felder: 704-280-2656
• Adriana Saborido: 980-255-1518
• Grant Degner: 704-728-7282
• Elise Degner: 704-728-7308

As always, if you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

Thanks,

Coach Tiffany