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Week 3 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Happy Monday, Sharks Families!!

This is another 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 a few dollars 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:

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

Friday is our annual team Pasta Party! There will be a slight schedule change for some practices on Friday:

8 and Unders- 4:45-5:15

9/10s- 5:15-5:45

11/12s 5:45-6:30

13 and Overs- 6:30-7:15

Swimmers eat AFTER their practice!

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 paper products (napkins, plates, plasticware)! 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 THURSDAY AT NOON for this Saturday's meet against Hazlet.  If you do not declare, your swimmer WILL NOT be entered into the meet.  Here are the steps for declaring your swimmer on both the app and the website:

WEBSITE:

APP:

SATURDAY IS MEET DAY!!! We will have our first official dual meet against the Hazlet Hammerheads on Saturday. This is a HOME meet... which means it will take place in OUR POOL. Arrival time for this meet is 7:30. Please be sure to arrive on time to give yourself and your swimmer enough time to checkin and get settled before warmups begin! What to do when you arrive:
1st- CHECK IN WITH YOUR COACH!!! Make sure Coach Tommy or one of our amazing coaches knows that you have arrived and has marked you off on the swimmer checkin list. IF YOU ARE VOLUNTEERING CHECK IN WITH NICOLE OR SHERRILL. No worries if you're a first time volunteer. We will give you all the information needed!
2nd- Get yourself settled and send your swimmer (with a Sharpie... see below) to find the HEAT SHEETS. These are papers that have the EVENTS, HEATS AND LANES in which your swimmer will be competing. Events and lanes can also be found in the Swimtopia app!
3rd- Keep an ear out for the call to warm up (also for the timers meeting if you are timing).
BE AWARE!!! 10 and unders will be marshalled (this means a coach will gather them together before their events, put them in their correct order and physically walk them over to their lanes). 11 and overs will be expected to pay attention to the meet and get themselves to their appropriate lane in plenty of time to compete. When we swim at home, we will have a whiteboard on which the event and heat will be updated.
What to bring:
** A SHARPIE!! Your swimmer will use it to write his or her events on him/her self:-)
** chairs, blankets... somewhere comfortable to sit for a couple of hours
**WATER!!!
** Snacks: the best snacks during meets are protein based... nuts and cheese, and fruit. Have your swimmer snack soon after swimming in a race to give the food a chance to settle before the next race.
** sunblock
** sweats for afterwards. Even in the summer, it can get cool pretty quickly.
** extra cap and goggles JUST IN CASE!!


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.

4. If you have not turned in your workbond, please do so ASAP. We have about 30 families still needing to provide cash or check (made payable to cash) in the amount of $50 as a workbond. As soon as you fulfill your 2 (3 if you have multiple swimmers) volunteer spots, this workbond will be returned to you! Any family not provided a workbond may have their swimmers blocked from entering meets :-(

5. The 1st batch of team suits have arrived! We will have them at tonight's practices. Come and see Sherrill or Nicole for pickup :-)

6. The 2nd batch of TEAM SHIRTS has arrived! If you have not picked up your swimmer's team shirt, please see either Nicole or Sherrill at practices tonight!

7. If you have not picked up your SILICONE CAP (this is the additional cap, thicker material) and paid your $15 please see Sherrill or Nicole at practices!

8. 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. I know this can be frustrating but it is an insurance matter. 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!

If you have any questions at all do not hesitate to ask!
--
Nicole Midura and Sherrill Ballesteros
2025 Sharks Parent Reps 
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