Please read through this entire message carefully.  There is a lot to know.  General information for both sessions is at the end of the message.  I will send heat sheets when we have them.  It will probably not be today.

10U Morning Session Info

1.  The warm-up time for the 9AM (10U) portion of the meet starts promptly at 8AM.  We will have lanes 6-8 to use.  Our coaches will collect the kids from the gym between 7:50 and 7:55 to walk them to the gym.  They will then walk them back as well.  You will have 30 minutes to set up the gym area as you would like it to be.  Our area should be clearly marked.

2.  If you are late but arrive by 8:15, please bring your child to the pool deck for warm-up.  After that, we will work your child into another team's warm-up if we are able.  We may not have the ability to do so.

3.  We must enter the building through the main doors, not through the pool area. 

3.  We will return the swimmers to the gym.  They are welcome to eat, play, etc until the gym coach calls them to line-up.

4.  We will need all the kids in medley relays and freestyle to be ready.  I plan to run through the overall plan with you right after warm-ups before I have to head back into the pool area.

5.  Please remind them that this is supposed to be fun.  They just need to do their best.  

18U Afternoon Session Info

1.  Warm-ups for the 1PM (18U) session begin at 12 sharp in lanes 6-8 (we also have 9 - open area if we need it).  The coaches will likely be trying to finish their lunches.  If you do not see one of us at 11:50, go ahead and bring your children to the pool deck.  We plan to be there to escort them but the day will bring what it will.

2.  If you are late but arrive before 12:15, please bring your child to the pool deck for warm-up.  If you are later than that, we will see about working you in with another team if we can.  The open shallow area otherwise known as lane 9 can be used for warm-ups once all teams are done as well for special circumstances.

3.  We must enter the building through the main doors into the lobby and not through the pool doors. 

4.  After warm-ups, the coaches will bring or release the swimmers back to the gym where they are to stay unless they are swimming or using the bathroom.  We understand that they may want to watch an older sibling.  At this age, we are more flexible with the kids but they are not to be anywhere other than the gym, pool bathroom, swimmer walkway, or pool bleachers.  The lobby (and its restroom) is meant to be for dry people so that we do not have accidental slipping and falling.

5.  We will not have a gym coach for this session as all but one of our assistant coaches will be swimming.  We are hoping there will be a TV or whiteboard where someone is keeping up with the events.  We will still have walkie talkies in the pool area but no one scheduled for the gym.

6.  All medley relay swimmers need to be in the gym 5 minutes before the meet begins.  Freestyle swimmers should be getting into line up as well.

General Information

1.  We must enter the building through the main lobby doors.  We cannot use the Tiger Sharks pool entrance or other pool door.

2.  We cannot set up chairs in the pool area for the most part.  It got out of control last year (and at the SRAC meet this year) and made it harder to flow and find the kids.  There are two sets of bleachers available.  No chairs can be set up in front of any of the bleachers.  No chairs can be set up at the finishing end of the pool.  Essentially, if you are not a volunteer poolside, a flow manager escorting kids, a judge, or a coach, you are not to be poolside (We understand some swimmers need a parent and that is fine).  We ask that the Flow Managers escort the kids, find a bleacher seat, watch, and then meet us at the ending side of the pool to escort the kids back.  I encourage our families (not escorting kids) to just utilize the bleachers on the lobby side of the pool.  If we all flow in and out, there should always be room.  My family has also sat on the floor under the safety rail at times to watch.  You can access the other bleachers either by escorting swimmers or by going outside and walking around to the Tiger Sharks door between events once the meet has begun.  

We really need the entire area immediately around the pool to be clear.  Last year, we needed to occasionally run around the pool, or to the gym and we could not get through the mass of people.  We had a few kids miss events because of this.

If you choose to set up chairs in the one area that I can think of that might not be off limits, please know that people will be walking back and forth in front of you nearly continuously....and probably standing in front of you too.  Just a head's up.

3.  We cannot be in the upstairs viewing area unless you are a member of SRAC.  That entire area is off limits to us.  

4.  It has always been intended that parents stay with their swimmers in the gym until that swimmer swims.  If you have more than one kid in an age group, we get it!  There will be more walking for you and more keeping track of events.  There are usually lots of heats of everything and more than enough time to get back and forth.  

5.  Championships shirts will be in the gym.  Do not forget to pay and pick yours up if you ordered.  There should be some extra ones for sale as well.

6.  Your children will be cold in the gym.  They will need towels as well as fleece blankets when they are done swimming and between events.  

7.  Please clean up any water or drink spills that you see so that no one falls in the gym.

8.  Please keep the kids from running and shouting.  Bring quiet games that they can share.  Remind them about using the bathroom and eating when they have time.

9.  Make sure that the kids use the pool-side restroom and not the lobby restroom especially once they are wet.  There are rug pathways to keep wet folks and the rest of us safe.

10.  There are not any real concessions so pack what you need for your family.

11.  We have agreed to only have 3 heats at the end of the pool so the door manager (Rachael for the first half and maybe some of second) will send you accordingly.  Remind the older kids that they can cheer their friends but they cannot clump up at the starting end of the pool for the entire session if it is crowded.

12.  By the time we get to the second session, all of us still there from the morning session will be quite well used so please be patient with us.  The second session is usually incredibly easier than the first.

I have probably forgotten things.  We just got the build submitted this AM and are working through things as quickly as we can.

Right now it looks like we and HR have the same number of swimmers but theirs are spread across more age groups.  EDG has about 18 more than us with more ages covered.  SRAC will likely have 3 times as many swimmers as any of us but I want you to know that our team is wonderful.  I plan to give you a better numeric evaluation of our team at the end of the season.  We do really well!!!!

Have fun!  This is fun!  It starts and it ends and what it is in between is up to us!

Irene Hunt