Dear Piranhas,

                First of all, I am so excited to see the huge jump in the size of our team.  Last year we had 85 swimmers swimming at the Divisional Meet, and this year, after clinic, we have 126 swimmers.  Always with growth there are some growing pains.  During the first four weeks of the season we had the returning swimmers cramped into two practices while we offered new swimmers a swim clinic.  Now that the clinic is over we are able to focus on the strengths and weakness of all the swimmers.

                Swimming is an endurance and conditioning sport.  The best way to improve the swimmers ability is to lengthen the practices times (endurance) and place them together with similar abilities (conditioning).  The coaches have been requesting that the swimmers that swim mainly 50s during the meets practice for a minimum of an hour; those that swim mainly 25s during the meets practice for a minimum of 45 minutes.  Now that the weather is warming up and the clinics are over the board had decided to grant the coaches their request.  The coaches had submitted the following schedule before the request had been approved:

5:00 – 6:00 PM:  11 – 18 year olds that know all four strokes.  Maximum number of swimmers 36 (6 per lane)

6:00 – 7:00 PM:  11 – 18 year olds that may only know 2 or 3 strokes or need more refinement on all four strokes to make them legal, also some 9 – 10 year olds and one 7 – 8 year old that know 3 to 4 strokes.  Maximum number of swimmers 36 (6 per lane) New Time 7:30 – 8:30 PM.

7:00 – 7:30 PM:  7 – 10 year olds that know all 4 strokes.  Maximum number of swimmers 24 to 30 (4 to 5 per land) New Time 6:00 – 6:45 PM

7:30 – 8:00 PM: 6 & Under and any 7 – 10 year olds that only know 1 to 2 strokes.  Maximum number of swimmers 24 to 30 (4 to 5 per lane) New Time 6:45 – 7:30 PM

                I felt that once we approved the 45 minute change that having the younger swimmers out that late would be a major concern for many parents.  That would also make the 15 – 18 year old helpers staying later as well giving them little to no time to work on homework.  We do not want to keep them at practice all night unless they want to stay and help, which is always greatly appreciated.  I made an executive decision to move the 6:00 – 7:00 PM practice since they are older and usually have a later bedtime. The new 1st and 4th practices will have the exact same routine.  The new 2nd and 3rd practices will be tailored to their ability.

The coaches will be having a parent meeting after each practice on Thursday to answer any questions and concerns that you may still have.

Regarding the Coaches:

                When the Swim Team Board hired the coaches we knew that they were still in college and had a full time job with the YMCA at Langham Creek.  Just recently both coaches have been given more responsibilities at the YMCA.  At this time the YMCA is short staffed and is in the process of hiring their summer life guards and swim instructors.  The YMCA is trying to work out a better schedule with all the summers swim coaches and their second job.  Because Joshua is the head coach Parker is picking up the slack at the YMCA just as the other assistant coaches are doing.  This has caused the 15 – 18 year olds to pick up more responsibilities as volunteers.  Our 15 – 18 year olds have other obligations as well and are often not able to stay.  Now that the startup of the season work is slowing down the board members will be stepping up and helping the coaches more often.  We know that we will not be able to take the place of the coaches but can assist during practice and help the swimmers follow the coaches’ guidelines.  We also have a 15 – 18 year old that is life guard trained and will be water safety instructor trained after next week.  Monica Vasquez will be the top 15 – 18 year old that will step up and help out more with practices when needed.

                Please be patient with us as we work through these growing pains.  We want to give the swimmers the best possible experience as well as be competitive and have fun.  Trying to balance all this is tough on all.