Hey Barracudas!

Chomp Chomp Chomp! First dual meet is complete! Swimmers did fish-tastic! Shout out to the kids and coaches. Lots of improvement and more swimmer confidence! Big thanks to all the volunteers who helped make it happen - organizing 259 athletes and finishing ahead of schedule? That's a real achievement!

Meet results are always available on the Swim Meets & Events calendar, you may have to click “past events”. Live and final results are also available in the SwimTopia app.

Ribbons (and chomps) will be awarded at practice on Monday.

This Week - May 12

• Wednesday 4:30-6:40 pm - Individual Photos @ practice (wear team suit!)
• Thursday 12 noon - Meet Entry Deadline (RSVP even if not attending)
• Thursday 4:30-7:00 pm - Individual Photos @ practice (wear team suit!)
• Saturday 7am warmup - RP @ BCW Meet Warmup (meet entries due Thurs noon)
  • Team Pic will be at 7:30am Saturday

Featured Information for This Week:

Based on observations, questions, and support tickets, we wanted to highlight two important details to make our swim meet operations run as smoothly as possible.

1. Please review the “About Those Relays” details on our Helpful Info page by scrolling down to that section. Relays reflect the “team” aspect of the swim team and are an opportunity to compete together for a shared goal. This linked resource will help parents understand the types of relays we swim, how relay teams are formed, how to properly RSVP for relays, the swim-up process, and how to be a good relay teammate– feel free to share all you learn with your Barracuda(s), too!
2. In light of our relay procedures, when RSVPing for a meet, please do not make personal preference relay requests for particular strokes, swim order, or relay teammates in the notes section. When signing up as available for relays, a swimmer is agreeing to be a team player and swim the assigned relay leg for the good of the team at large.

• Note: RSVP notes related to injury-based stroke limitations are appropriate and should be included (i.e- recovering from sprain so no butterfly this week).
• Remember, the computer will NOT assign any swimmer to a stroke that the swimmer does not already have a successful individual event time logged.

Lost and Found is overflowing from the previous two meets and practices! Please label your gear and check the box a few times each week for goodies!

River Place @ BCW is our next meet. It will be this Saturday, May 18th with warm-up at 7:00am and meet start at 8:15am. We expect the meet to complete around 10:50am, River place is a smaller team than Lake Pointe this past weekend. Heat sheets and final timeline will be available Friday morning.

Please RSVP whether you're coming or not! You can find the meet RSVP and event entries linked here, and they're due by Thursday at noon. If you know you’re attending but not sure about strokes, you can mark “attending” and change your swimmer’s events until the Thursday noon deadline. If you're unsure about your swimmer's attendance (other sports that may have a game, etc), you can select individual events but choose "not available for any relays." Missing individual events is okay, but a missing relay swimmer can cause issues for the whole team. If you marked no relays and do end up making it, have your swimmer tell the AGP they'd like to be a relay alternate if needed!

Remember, the check-in deadline for early relays is 7:45 am the day of the meet! If your swimmer hasn't checked in by then, they'll be scratched from their relays, and we'll scramble to find a replacement or scratch that relay leaving the other swimmers on the side of the pool. If you think you might be late, just select "No Early Relays."

The full timeline for the meet will be similar to last week and is detailed on our website (you can find it under Meets & Events Calendar on the quick links). Volunteers, please show up on time! Swimmers need to arrive at 6:45 am, and warmups start at 7:00 am. If you're unsure whether your swimmer is ready for IM, butterfly, or breaststroke, email Coach Ryan at [email protected] or have your swimmer ask at practice. The coaches will review all IM, breaststroke and butterfly entries for meet readiness.

Volunteer slots are open for the rest of the season, also on the calendar and events page. Click here and select Job Signup or you can add/remove shifts by selecting the green Job Signup buttons next to each event.

Our entire team structure is set up assuming parents fill their fair share of volunteer shifts in some manner during the season; each family is expected to earn 4 points during the season (most shifts are worth 1 point each). You can see ALL of your job shifts here, please check now! If you have special circumstances (e.g. expecting a baby, have a toddler in tow) that prevent you from volunteering at meets, look for jobs like labeling ribbons, handing out treats on Fun Friday or email [email protected] for more ways you can earn your points.

Individual photos will be taken during practice this week with two options: Wednesday May 15 (4:35-6:40pm) & Thursday May 16 (4:35-7:00pm). Wear your team suit! Stop by anytime during the listed times, even if not practicing! We will try to schedule one more makeup session, but the photographer is swamped with end-of-school graduation photos and other activities. A memory mate photo is included with registration, sample here. Always a favorite!

Swimtopia App: Make sure you have installed and are logged in to the Swimtopia Mobile App (iPhone) or (Android) to get text-style push notification alerts when we have to cancel.

This app is great because it is tied to our website and can send out push notifications on practice cancellations.

We also use the Time Drops Live app during meets for a scoreboard in the palm of your hand. The meet code for home meets is 2292.

Kiddie Pool. Speaking of the Kiddie Pool, we will leave this open during practices for our future Barracudas who are not yet ready to join the team, as long as a parent is supervising their splashing.Please tell your Barracudas this is not a good place for them to play while waiting for practice and if it gets too loud or disruptive, we will need to close the splash area during practice. No fountains during this time (it is too loud).

The Kiddie Pool and steps to the Big Pool are CLOSED during all swim meets.

See you in the Pool!

BCW Barracudas Volunteer Board