Happy First Day of Practice! Some updates and reminders below. Quick note - work is being done on the bathrooms at the pool today, and they may not be available during practice. Please use the facilities at home before coming to the pool!

New Updates:

• A Note about Weather: The weather at the start of the season is always unpredictable and often chilly. We will do our best to make announcements about canceled practices with as much notice as possible, but thunderstorms can unexpectedly pop up.
  • Did you receive a notification on your phone about today being the first practice? That was a test. Make sure your app didn't deinstall during the off-season so you receive cancelation alerts! See note below about the SwimTopia app.
  • If it's just cold and there is no thunder, coaches may also plan a "dry land" practice (think sneakers and conditioning). We'll try to give advance notice about dry land training, but it's always good for your swimmer to have their sneakers with them.
  • If we have to cancel a practice after it has started, please promptly pick up your swimmer at the pool.
  • Please keep in mind that attendance at practices is not required, and you're always welcome to skip practice - especially if your spidey sense about thunderstorms is strong or if your swimmer really hates cold temps.

• Welcome Coach Lily! I'm happy to announce that Lily Becker has been selected as our Second Assistant Coach! She will work with Coach Paul and Coach Maggie this season. We are thrilled to have her supporting our swimmers. I also want to give a shout out to our junior coaches, who also play a huge role in helping our swimmers develop and making the season fun!

• Extra Team Shirts: A mockup of the team t-shirt is attached to this email! Note, the names on the back are from a previous season and are just provided as a sample. Each swimmer will receive a shirt as part of their registration fee. If you'd like to order additional shirts for friends and family and did not do so as part of registration, you can order them now in our Team Store. Orders are due by the end of day on June 6th.

• (Reminder) First Practice is TODAY! Please bring your swimmer(s) to the practice time assigned to their age group below. As the season gets rolling, the coaches may ask your swimmer to join a different practice group that better aligns with their experience. Our goal is to group swimmers of similar ability so that our practices operate as efficiently as possible. We know it's a busy time of year - it's ok if your swimmer misses practices!


Practice Times 5/28 - 6/14 (shift to morning on 6/17)

• 4:00 - 4:45: Silver Group - 13 and up
• 4:45 - 5:30: Blue Group - 9 to 12
• 5:30 - 6:00: Gold Group - 8 and under

• (Reminder) SwimTopia App: If you are new, we recommend downloading the SwimTopia app (App Store or Google Play) to manage meet RSVPs, volunteer sign-ups and receive notifications. The free version of the app works for these purposes. I plan to send notifications through the app more frequently this season to cut down on emails. I will also use notifications when we have to cancel due to weather. If you don't have the app, you'll receive the alert as an email. If your app deinstalled since last season, you might not get any notification or email - so check it!
• (Reminder) Stroke and Turn Clinics: Coach Maggie is able to offer stroke and turn clinics the week of June 10 through June 14 from 6:00-6:30 and 6:30-7:00. This is an opportunity for experienced swimmers to work with Coach Maggie in a small group to refine strokes, turns and dives. Swimmers must be able to swim all 4 strokes. Each group will be limited to 5 swimmers. Please register to let me know your interest/availability. Participants will be selected based on experience and registration order. I will email once the clinic groups are finalized and you will be able to pay online. Cost is $50.

Maura

Don't forget to check out the ASC Spirit Wear Store on Squadlocker