Hello Gator Families,
We will be sending out a weekly email during the season to communicate team information and upcoming events. There is a lot of information this week as our season gets going full swing, so please be sure to read all the way through. Our team website, www.gvrgators.swimtopia.com, is also a great source of information, including the team calendar, meet information, race results, and volunteer information. As always, please feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions.
Morning Practice Morning practice begins Tuesday, June 1st. The practice schedule is: 6:45 - 8:15 am: 13 years and older 7:00 - 8:15 am: 11 - 12 years old 8:30 - 9:30 am: 9 & 10 years old 8:15 - 9:00 am: 8 years old & younger A-J by last name 9:00 - 9:45 am: 8 years old & younger K-Z by last name Unless you have spoken with Coach Meagan about a specific situation, please plan to attend your assigned practice time. This helps ensure that there is adequate lane space and coaching for all athletes.
Swim Meet June 5th The first swim meet of the season will be Saturday, June 5th at Woodbourne. The pool is located at 11082 Rowland Drive, Littleton. Meet entries will open on the team website at 5 am on Saturday, May 29th. All entries are due by Thursday, June 3rd at 8 am. Additional information about swim meets, including what to bring and order of events, can be found on the team website under the “Meets” tab. Please note: If your swimmer is unable to swim the length of the pool (25 meters) independently please do not enter him/her in the swim meet.If you are unsure, please ask the coach who is instructing your child’s lane at practice. The coaching staff is happy to help you determine if your child is ready to compete. Meet warm-ups: - 6:00-6:20 am:11 and older
- 6:20 -6:30 am: 9-10 year olds
- 6:30-6:40am: 8 & unders with last names A-J
- 6:40-6:50am: 8 & unders with last names K-Z.
These warm-up times are short and warm-up is important for athletes, so please be sure to be at the pool ready to get in BEFORE your warm-up time. The team meeting will be held at 6:50 am sharp under the team tent. All team members who are participating in the meet are expected to be at the team meeting. To sign up for the swim meet via SwimTopia: - Click the "Sign-up" tab
- Scroll down to the correct meet for which you wish to choose events and click on the green meet entry button
- For each of your athletes, click on the green edit button and select an option from the drop-down list next to their names.
- Choose up to three individual events (Please note that the IM and long freestyle events are closed events and limited in the number of entries. If the team exceeds the number of entries the coaches may remove your swimmer from the event and place him/her in another event.)
- Specify your swimmer's availability for relays from the drop-down options (if offered).
- Click Save to record your choices.
SwimTopia Mobile App SwimTopia has a free mobile app that allows you to receive notifications from the team, as well as many other features, right from your phone. We highly encourage you to download it to your phone. See the attached document for additional information.
Swim Buddies The swim buddies list is attached to this email. It is also available on the team website. If you were unable to meet your buddies at the picnic, be sure to look for them at practice this week. If you are unsure of who your buddies are, any of the coaches can help you connect! We encourage the buddies to find each other at the swim meets, cheer during each other’s races, and encourage one another to reach their goals. The big buddies can be a good resource for the younger swimmers as they learn how swim meets work. Sometimes buddies like to give each other a note or a small item before meets, such as a Gatorade or candy bar. However, we do not intend the swim buddies to be gift-giving system, but rather a chance to create connections between age-groups and an opportunity to strengthen our team’s bond. Attached you will find a “get to know your buddies” sheet. Please fill out one sheet about yourself for each of your buddies (everyone has at least two, some have three). Please bring these to Coach Meagan no later than Wednesday, June 2nd.
Team Meeting Due to our practice schedule we are unable to have a whole team meeting on Mondays as we have in the past. However, we will continue to have our team meetings each Monday. For those who are 11 & older the team meeting will be at 7 am. For those 10 & under the team meeting will be at 9 am. Team meetings give us time to go over the events for the upcoming week, discuss the previous meet, recognize teammates, and discuss our idea of the week. I will include our idea of the week in the weekly emails so that parents know what we have discussed. Athletes are also given the opportunity to recognize their teammates for anything excellent that they have observed.
Idea of the Week – Team What is a team? What qualities make a good team? A team has a common vision of who they are together and a common purpose of what they want to achieve. What is our common vision and purpose on the Gators team? - We are FOR each other. This means we support one another in our goals, look out for one another, and believe in one another.
- We are always striving for growth. We can all grow in our swimming skills and our character.
- We work toward excellence, not perfection. We wish to be excellent in all we undertake and we work hard, but we also know we will sometimes fall short.
- We are positive and supportive with one another. We celebrate each other’s accomplishments and lift each other up in disappointments. We win and lose together.
- We look for opportunities to put others before ourselves on our team, in our families, and in our community.
Whew! That is a lot of information. Thank you for reading all of it. Again, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions. We wish you a wonderful long weekend as we observe Memorial Day and remember those who have served our country. See you at the pool! Coach Meagan and Coach Avery [email protected] | 