Gator Bytes 7/16/23
July 16th
Hello Gator Families!
Sorry, this email is long, but it has a lot of important end of season information! This is the last week of practice for all of our swimmers who have not earned a State Meet qualifying time after the League Championship meet this weekend.
We had a great meet yesterday at Platte Canyon! We did win our final regular season meet GVR:784/PC:730, which means we were undefeated this season! It has been so incredible to see how much all of our swimmers have grown this summer as athletes, teammates and individuals. We are so proud of all of them!
Movie Night Make-up: We are going to try again for our movie night this Wednesday the 19th at 7pm at Ladybug Park. Please bring your movie snacks and we'll start as soon as it's dark enough. It looks like the weather should cooperate, we hope you can make it!
League Meet Details: This coming weekend is our League Championship meet at home. League Meet entries are due earlier than regular meets. Please enter or sign-out of the meet by this Tuesday the 19th at 10:30 am. If you are wondering which events would be best to enter please feel free to reach out to the coaches. There will be no practice on Friday.
We thought it would be fun to do an 80's theme at League this year in honor of our 40+ year Reunion. Please feel free to break out your scrunchies and neon and represent! There is a spirit award for the team that shows up with the most spirit!
This is a huge meet against every team in our league. All swimmers, of all ages, 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, 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 100 freestyle will be swum on Friday morning at Bear Creek. Warm-ups will be held at 9 am and the meet will begin at 10 am. Holding these events on Friday 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 website. You are able to enter all events through the League Championship meet entries on July 22nd, even those events that will actually be swum on Friday the 21st.
Coaches and Junior Coaches: One of the things that makes our team so special is our coaching staff and our junior coaches. They are incredibly committed to every swimmer, and put in countless hours preparing for meets, working on practices and there is a huge amount of behind the scenes work they put in. Our junior coaches get up and swim at their practice, and then stay for another 2 hours to coach all of our younger kids. They are incredible role models and coaches, and truly show what it means to be a focused athlete and a strong person!
One of our families would like to collect money to get them a little something extra as a thank you this year, if you would like to contribute please venmo Andy Hellman at @Andrew-hellman-2, last 4 digits of the phone number are: 5727. Please put Gator coaches as the reason.
Swim Across America: We had an incredible turnout for our Swim Across America Endurance Challenge! The donations have now closed and our team raised over $3,000 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 18 swimmers who have qualified for the State Meet! This year, the State Meet will be held at the Ken Caryl pool July 28-30th. For full meet details, please see our website. If swimmers are within a second of qualifying, 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.
End of Season Banquet: Our end of season celebration will be held on August 20th at 8:00 am at our pool. We will give out awards, congratulate our graduating seniors, and celebrate our season! We are hoping to have some fun swimmer vs parent relays and games, if you would be interested in participating please put your name on the sign up genius so we can get an idea of how many teams we might have: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0549ACAE2CA5FE3-parent
Lost and found: We have a great collection of lost goggles, clothes and towels! Come claim your items at practice on the picnic tables!
Coaches Corner
Relationships
The 40th anniversary reunion of the swim team was a reminder to me that one of the greatest gifts that we receive from being a part of this team is the relationships that are built. There were swimmers, parents, and coaches there that were part of the team 10, 20, and 30 years ago. We saw faces of friends whom we had not seen in many years, and others that we see everyday. Time and distance didn't matter as we reminisced over old photos, caught up on each other's lives, and told stories. We are connected by a shared experience and a love of the sport of swimming. The people are why we love this team. The friendships built during our short summer seasons last a lifetime. Races won and times achieved fade away, but the bonds we form with one another live on.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
All swimmers and parents are welcome to join us at 6:45 Monday through Thursday this week and next for a time of fellowship, discussion, and prayer. If you have questions please contact Coach Meagan.