Hello Gator Families! 

We had a great home meet yesterday! Thank you to all of our volunteers, and everyone who took an extra volunteer shift to help keep things running smoothly, it was such a huge help and we finished the meet in incredible time! With all three teams there were over 300 swimmers who competed! It's hard to believe that this coming weekend is our last regular season meet against Woodbourne! Make sure to sign up by Wednesday at 5 pm!  

Water World: Tuesday is our team day at Water World! Senior, Junior and Silver groups will practice in the morning, but there will be no practice for Green or Purple groups. You can purchase your tickets through the website, under resources. Feel free to bring siblings, friends or family members! The park opens at 10am and we will try to have a team meeting spot in the upper pavilion by the wave pool.

League Meet: All swimmers who are able to independently swim the length of the pool are eligible to compete in the League Championship Meet, unless they are concurrently competing with a year-round team. Swimmers may choose up to three individual events. Swimmers may not enter an event without a time (ie: you must have swum the event during the season). The coaches will set the relays. These will be based primarily on times. Relays are limited to two per team per event so not everyone will be able to participate in relays at the Championships.  

The 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, and 8 & Under freestyle will be swum on Friday night at Bear Creek. Warm-ups will be held at 4 pm and the meet will begin at 5pm. Holding these events on Friday night will ensure that we can complete the remainder of the meet on Saturday in a timely manner. It also allows those swimmers who enter these longer events the chance to recover before competing in their other races on Saturday.  

You can sign up for League events under the "Schedule/Sign-up" tab on the SwimTopia website. You are able to enter all events through the League Championship meet entries on July 23rd, even those events that will actually be swum on Friday the 22nd. 

Swim Across America: We had an incredible turnout for our Swim Across America Endurance Challenge! The donations have now closed and our team raised $5,500 for cancer research. What an amazing gift you all are giving to others in our community. Well done team. Prizes for endurance challenge winners and top fundraisers will be announced on Monday. Great Job Gators! Thank you to all of you who brought food to feed our team, it was a wonderful buffet!

State Meet: We currently have 24 swimmers who have qualified for the State Meet! With two meets left we anticipate more. This year, the State Meet will be held at at Applewood Knolls pool on July 29th AM (400 Free's) & Splash Pool in Golden on July 29 (PM), 30 and 31. For full meet details, open attachment. If swimmers are very close to qualifying, typically within a second, we may have time to swim "last chance" events at the end of the league meet. This is a race after all events have been swum, where they get one final chance to earn a qualifying time. 

Coaches Corner

Gratitude

Our thought for this week is gratitude. When we express gratitude, or thankfulness and appreciation, we are recognizing the value of a person or situation in our lives. Gratitude turns what may first feel like not enough into more than enough. It decreases jealousy and helps build joy instead. The practice of gratitude is a habit. The more we look for things to be grateful for, the more we find we have to give thanks for. What are some things or who are some people that you can express gratitude for right now? How would your days be different if you regularly paused to give thanks or told someone what you appreciate about them? Gratitude has a large impact on attitude. Let’s make showing appreciation and thankfulness a part of who we are as a team and watch what impact it has on us and those around us.  

Coach Meagan, Coach Avery, Coach Jackie, and your Junior Coaches

Ongoing reminders:

• If you would like to purchase a swim cap they are $5 for latex and $15 for silicone. Please email Jillian if you want one, and we'll arrange a way to get it to you. 
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA): Every Monday morning from 6:45-7 am athletes from our team meet for a time of devotion, discussion, and prayer. Anyone is welcome to join the FCA group at any time.
• We have a growing collection of goggles and clothing that have been left behind at practices and meets. We put this out on the picnic table every day at practice. Please come check it out, especially if you know you are missing something! 

As always, please reach out if you have any questions!