Hey, guys! We're so excited to get the season officially started tomorrow! Or at least we are hoping to start tomorrow. We're keeping a close watch on the weather this week! Our rule of thumb is that we swim in the rain as long as there's no lightning and it's 70 degrees or above. We'll be sure to send out an alert and post it on the front page of the website if we need to cancel or delay practice. (Be sure to grab the SwimTopia app to get push notifications!) 

Sometimes we may be in a grey area where some kids would be absolutely miserable but we haven't called off practice - if that's the case, don't feel bad about not bringing them. We don't want them to hate swim team! Other swimmers will be so excited that they would miserable if we did call it off. 

Don't forget to bring a towel and goggles to practice. Swim caps are recommended, especially if your swimmer has long hair, but if you don't have one, we'll be getting team caps for everyone pretty quickly. 

We are not limiting spectators during practice this year, but please make sure to sit either in the pavilion or on the upper deck if you would like to watch. Swim is one of those sports where everyone loves to encourage their kids to do their best, but please remember that one of the most important things they'll be doing these first couple of weeks is to bond with their coaches. Let's make sure they all get the chance to have an uninterrupted practice with each other. We've got plenty of time to turn them all into superstars! Or more importantly, to instill a life-long love of swimming. 

One more look at the after school practice schedule: 

• 3:45 - 4:15 5/6 beginners
• 4:10 - 4:50 5/6 advanced, 7/8 age group
• 4:45 - 5:30 9/10 age group
• 5:25 - 6:10 11/12 age group
• 6:10 - 7:00 13/18 age groups

Summer practice (*kudos to Courtney Williams for catching my typo about 9/10 year olds in the previous email!)

• Monday/Thursday
  8:00 – 9:00 am 13/18 age group
  8:55 – 9:45 am 11/12 age group
  9:40 – 10:25 am 9/10 age group
  10:20 – 11:00 am 7/8 age group
  10:55 – 11:30 am 5/6 age group
• Wednesday/Friday
  8:00 – 8:45 am 9/10 age group
  8:40 – 9:30 am 11/12 age group
  9:25 – 10:25 am 13/18 age group
  10:20 – 11:00 am 7/8 age group
  10:55 – 11:30 am 5/6 age group

Remember that you can subscribe to the calendar for your age group(s) on the schedule page of the website to make life easier!

One more note - apparently there was some confusion about evaluations last week for the little guys. It was not a tryout to get into a few select spots with the team. With so many in those younger age groups, we wanted to pre-assess them and split them into similar groups for easier coaching. A few rookies were also assessed so that if any openings occur, we'll know where to put them. If you were already assigned to the 5/6 or 7/8 age group, you still are!

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Go Seahorses!