To:  New and old swim team families (not for Mini parents)

Re:  URGENT request

BY TOMORROW AT 10:30AM - We need parents to mark whether or not their child is available to swim in the A meet this Saturday on our Swimtopia website.  Are you in town?  Mark "available".  If not mark "unavailable".  But please, don't leave us wondering.

LINK to mark availability.

New parents:  You may think "Nah, my child just started swimming this year.  There is no way my child is fast enough to swim in an A meet."  But that isn't true.  Some of our age groups are small, and even the newest swimmer will have an opportunity to swim in an A meet.  Other age groups have many kids, BUT many go on vacations or are unable to attend the swim meet.  

Seasoned swim parents:  Do NOT assume your kids are telling the coaches their availability.  We need YOU to enter their information online, in advance of the swim meets!

REMEMBER:  A meets are the NVSL competitive meets that we score (Yes.  A team *wins*).  On Wednesdays the coaches get together to work on the meet sheet.  It is a lengthy process!  They look at all of the swimmers who are available to swim, what strokes they can swim legally, their times, and put together the most robust team they can.  Times do matter, but so does filling AS MANY LANES as possible with our swimmers.  We don't want to swim with empty lanes when we have eligible swimmers.  We want as many of our swimmers at as many meets as possible this summer!  For example:  We don't have many 13-14 girls or boys.  Many times we take younger kids and move them up for that swim meet to fill the lanes.  This gives the kids a great opportunity to swim with the Neptunes team in a meet and improve their times.  And sometimes they surprise themselves and score points for our team!  

It may seem scary to you initially, but many swimmers have told me that "swimming up" took all of the pressure off.  "No one expects me to win or place.  I am swimming against older kids (and in reality, just swimming against myself."  So PLEASE - if you are in town, mark that your child is available by END OF PRACTICE on Wednesday morning (tomorrow).  By 10:30am the coaches will begin working on it.  Their process is thoughtful as well as strategic - for the good of the team and to develop our swimmers.  I can't speak for how other teams make meet sheets, but Coach Jamie takes the job very seriously, and cares about each swimmer!

By Thursday evening (before a Saturday A meet), we formally exchange our meet sheets (list of swimmers in each event) with the opposing team.  NO ADDITIONS can be made after that time.  (But if your child is sick and can't attend at the last minute, let us know IMMEDIATELY as we can make substitutions in some cases.)

P.S.  Our first B meet (home - at our pool) is on Monday, June 25th.  It starts at 6:30pm, and it is developmental.  EVERYONE swims!!  Kids who swam on Saturdays cannot swim the same stroke at a B meet (they need to work on/develop their other strokes).  Kids who did not swim in the A meet prior, can choose 2 strokes they want to swim.  Marking availability is critical for this event as well.  Not because there is strategy involved in planning a meet sheet, but because advanced planning is KEY to a smoothly running B meet.  It is HARD to have last minute additions at a B meet, when there is such a high volume of swimmers.  So help your fellow parent volunteers, and go through the swim season and mark when your child is in town to swim.  Coaches will figure out the rest!

And lastly - VOLUNTEER!!  We need you at swim meets.  We can't run them without you.  If you have questions about jobs, check out the website or ask me (or other parents).  We need positions filled for Saturday and Monday.  THANK YOU!!

Questions?  Please email me or ask me at the pool.

Tyler Wyllie (Team Rep)