Good morning, Sharks Families!

This is a long one... but SUPER important!  Please be sure and read EVERYTHING!

Week 2 is in the books and this season is truly underway!  The Mock Meets ran REALLY smoothly and it is thanks, in large part, to your assistance.  A great big thank you to everyone who pitched in before, during and after the meets.  We could not have done it without you all.  Of course, there were some "new swimmer jitters" and a few cases of lane confusion but that is absolutely to be expected.  We couldn't be more pleased with the results.  You all should be VERY proud of your swimmers.  You can find the pdf version of the results attached to this email.  If you'd like to see your individual swimmer's results, they can be found in your Swimtopia Account on the website (and I believe in the app... although you can only see live results with the paid version.  It is only $2.99/month and may be worth the money as you will only really need it for 1 month) PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE YOUR SWIMMER BASED ON THE PLACE IN WHICH THEY FINISHED!!  The absolute best thing about swimming is that you are swimming against yourself.  watch for time drops in the results of our first dual meet.  THAT is the true measure of how well your swimmer is doing :-)  Here are some step by step instruction on how to view your swimmer's time from the website:

Next week, we have 2 big events...  our Pasta Party and our 1st Dual Meet.

WE NEED PASTA!!  If you have not yet signed up to volunteer, we do not have enough volunteers bringing food to this event!  Please consider SIGNING UP to bring a tray of pasta (whichever kind your family likes), salad, a dessert (fruit is GREAT) or drinks.  We are also in need of volunteers for just about everything else! This is our traditional pre-first meet meal.  Please signup to bring something and keep this tradition the amazing event it has been for the past 2 decades+!

Don't forget to declare your swimmer for the upcoming Dual Meet.  Declaring for the dual meets is even more important than declaring for the mock meets.  We have a hard deadline for this one!  YOU MUST DECLARE BY TUESDAY AT NOON for this Wednesday's meet against Marlboro.  Here are the steps for declaring your swimmer on both the app and the website:

WEBSITE:

APP:

A FEW IMPORTANT HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

1.  Parents MAY NOT BE ON THE POOL DECK (the concrete area) during practice and ESPECIALLY not during meets.  There is absolutely no filming or photography from the pool deck.  Unless you are volunteering, you MUST remain in the spectator designated areas.  This is a YMCA safety and Safe Sport violation.  Please pass this along to all family members who may accompany your swimmer to practices and/or meets :-)

2.  The ChildCare areas are for YMCA CHILD CARE USE ONLY!!  Please do not allow your swimmers or their siblings to go inside of any of the fenced off areas.  Additionally, items may not be removed from those areas.  Please speak with your swimmers about this.

2.  Please be mindful of the ChildCare drop off zones.  Those zones are reserved for ChildCare drop off and pick up only.  Yes... they extend all the way back to the pool club doors.

3.  Please check your swimmer's cap.  We have had a few caps go missing.  Your swimmer should have his/her name written on the cap.  If it is another name, please return it to the coaches ASAP

4.  If your family are not members of the YMCA, your swimmer (and ONLY your swimmer... no siblings) may use the practice pool during practice times only.  There used to be an option to purchase a 2 month summer family membership for the pool club.  I am looking into this option and will get back to you with the answer :-)

If you have any questions or concerns please let us know and we will address them right away!