Let the season begin! 

Your swimmers kicked off our end of school practices with plenty of enthusiasm and we are looking forward to what the season holds for the WWS Stingrays. As we move into meet season, here are a few notes to help keep things running smoothly.

PRACTICES

Schedule:

This week we move to morning practices. We will also begin holding the dryland practice on the pool deck near the grill. The practice groups will meet as follows:

11/12  -  7:45 (dryland)   8:00 -  8:45

9/10   -   8:30 (dryland)   8:45 -  9:30

7/8     -   9:15 (dryland)   9:30 - 10:15

6U     -  10:00 (dryland) 10:15 - 10:45

13/18 -  10:30 (dryland) 10:45 - 11:30

M-W Starfish lessons    11:00 - 11:30

M/W evening open age group 6 - 7 pm : 3 lanes only

Reminders:

*Please remind your swimmers to come ready to listen to the coaches and work on their technique for swim team. If the coaches have asked them to move to a specific lane, they should stay in that lane until told to move to another lane - this allows coaches to tailor the work of the day to each group's particular skill set. Jumping in the water before being instructed by a coach can be disruptive to the practice, as well as dangerous to other swimmers in the water - free swim is the time for cannonballs and silly play!

* Help keep the gate area clean by asking your swimmers to set their belongings on a deck chair as they enter the pool area, rather than dumping them on the ground, picnic tables or porch columns. Our 10 and under swimmers are doing an excellent job of this already - thanks for setting a good example for the big kids, friends!

* Finally, being a good teammate and exhibiting excellent sportsmanship is a primary goal of our summer swim team. The coaches are looking out for swimmers who are kind and encouraging to each other, both at meets and in practice. Attitude is one of the biggest factors in the weekly swimmer shout-outs and end of season awards. This season we would like to motivate all our Stingrays to remember that being a great friend is better than being a good swimmer, and our kindness to each other is an inspiration to everyone we meet!

MEET DECLARATION

This week will kick off our meet schedule with an away meet at Inverness on Thursday, June 2. We will send an email out on Wednesday with some of the pertinent details for the meet. The important thing to do now is set your swimmer's meet declaration in Swimtopia. This simply means letting us know if each of your swimmers will or will not be attending the meet. Use the following link to sign up, so the coaches know who to put in the meet events. Meet declaration will close this week on Tuesday (normally Monday) at midnight. Swimmers will only be entered in events if their status has been set to "Attending". Those with "Not Attending" or "No Response" will NOT be entered in the meet. Make sure to SAVE your selections to enter them in the system!

Athlete Meet Declaration

VOLUNTEER SIGNUP

Once you have set your swimmers' availability, you may also sign up for volunteer positions. Clicking the following link will allow you to see the jobs required for the current week, as well as what is still available to fill. You may sign up more than one family member for a meet if you wish. Don't forget to SAVE your selections before exiting the page! Molly Holbert can answer questions about what is required for a given position, if you are unsure about what your best role may be.

Volunteer Signups

LESSONS

The coaches will begin offering private lessons in the afternoons following practices. If your child is interested in working on a specific area of their swim skills, look for a signup sheet at the pool gate. Lessons are offered in 30 minute sessions, and rates & payment methods are set by the coaches. 

TEAMWEAR

All team wear orders have been placed and we are anticipating delivery by the day of the first meet. Please watch your email for more information as we have it.

STROKE CLINIC

On Tuesday, June 7, one of the Chattahoochee Gold (one of several local year-round swim teams) coaches will be present from 9-10 AM to host a stroke clinic for our 7-10 year old swimmers. Swimmers in these age groups are invited to come for the entire hour, instead of their normal practice time. This is a free clinic and one the swimmers look forward to each year! You can RSVP in the Schedule section of the Swimtopia site/app if your swimmer plans to attend.

I know that was a lot to take in, so if you have any questions, please let me know.

LET'S GO STINGRAYS!