Hey Barracudas,

Thanks for a wonderful first day of practice! Sorry the weather didn’t cooperate for the 11&U group (more on that below). We have a few reminders and things to share …

• Practice Schedule and Swimmer Expectations
• Weather
• Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities (& Stroke Judge Training)
• Thank you to all our Sponsors!

Practice Schedule

Check out our website to view our 2025 practice schedule. Note that After School Practice has different times for MWF vs TuTh practices for the 6&Unders and 7/8s. This is to maximize the number of practices swimmers can make for the early practice slots which can be challenging with a short window after school lets out. In the summer, the morning practice schedule is the same every day.

We understand that many kids have after school activities still going on and might not make it to every practice. We do ask that everyone tries to make at least 1 practice a week. We only have 6 more days of practice before our intersquad meet (more on that to come)!

We understand that swimmers sometimes prefer to swim in a different group than their assigned age group so they can train with the majority of their classmates (you can see your swimmer’s assigned group by clicking “My Account” on the upper right hand corner of the website and selecting your swimmer’s name). We ask that all swimmers start in their assigned group so Coaches can assess skills, then submit any change requests after Intersquad to [email protected].

Swimmer (and Swim Parent) Expectations

During practice, Coach Ryan and his assistants will be focused on the group of swimmers in the water. Please save all questions for Board members present or email [email protected] to arrange a time to speak to him outside of practice.

Please also keep an eye on any siblings, friends, etc. who are waiting on their practice time to begin or waiting on a sibling to finish his or her practice session. Childcare is not provided and we need to keep the pool deck as clear as possible for the kids in that practice group and the coaches. Older kids are welcome to play on the basketball court or in the park, but again, do so at your own risk as childcare is not provided.

The Kiddie Pool will be open during practices for our future Barracudas (4 and under), as long as a parent is directly supervising their splashing. Please tell older swimmers and siblings 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 steps to the big pool are also closed during all practices (and during swim meets).

Before practice, please remind your swimmer of the following 5 Steps to Becoming a Successful Barracuda:

Swimmer Expectations

1. Be Responsible

• For your swimming gear (caps, goggles, suit, towel, fins, etc.)
• By being on time to practice and meets
• By letting coaches know if you have questions or needs

2. Be Safe

• By listening to your coaches' instructions
• By not participating in horseplay in or out of pool

3. Be a Good Teammate

• By encouraging each other during practice and meets
• By setting a good example
• By helping other teammates when needed or asked

4. Be Respectful

• To your coaches as well as your teammates
• To yourself by staying positive and working hard to improve

5. Have Fun and Enjoy Improving Your Swimming Abilities

Please also review the discipline and other policies on our website under Policies.

Weather

With many April inclement/severe weather watches or warnings that occur, we wanted to inform our new parents and remind our current parents on how we decide to cancel practices and how you can receive notification as quickly as possible when that occurs.

Per the Weather Policy on our website, we generally hold practices in the rain - since they are already wet - but we take lightning very seriously. If we do have to cancel on short notice, we will send an "alert" via SwimTopia, which is the site you used to register and how we send emails. In addition, we highly recommend you install the mobile application and log in to it so you can receive a text-style push notification on your phone in these time-sensitive situations. The SwimTopia mobile app can be found in your phone's app store or using this page which has links to the app stores: https://www.swimtopia.com/tour/swimtopia-mobile-a...

In addition, if you have other people regularly picking up your swimmers, like a teenage sibling or sitter, you can register them on the site as a third (or more) "parent" in the system so they can receive these notifications. If you need help setting this up, email us at [email protected] and we'll help you get that configured.

Thanks for helping us keep your swimmers safe when the weather gets complicated.

Volunteer Roles and Leads

We are an entirely volunteer-run organization and our parent volunteers are the heart and soul of the entire operation of the BCW Barracudas Swim Team. Thank you for volunteering! We could not have swim meets or Fun Fridays or other fun events without our incredible volunteers! Every swim family is expected to fulfill 4 job shifts during the season. You can check your selected volunteer roles by selecting “My Account” on the upper right hand corner of the website.

Please review the Volunteer Requirements and Job Descriptions here and sign up for your remaining volunteer shifts on the website. Most of these are during the swim meets, but we also have shifts available outside of meets if needed (coordinating Fun Friday treats, labeling and sorting ribbons after meets, icing down coolers for drinks before meets, etc.).

Calling all potential Stroke Judges! If you want to learn more about proper stroke technique and fulfill a critical volunteer role for the team, sign up to be a stroke judge! All new Stroke Judges must attend a mandatory training session (via Zoom) hosted by the League. Sign up if you can help!

Thanks to our 2025 Sponsors!

Finally, we want to send a big shout out to our sponsors for supporting our 2025 Barracudas!

Our sponsors help us keep our swimmer dues low, help us pay our AMAZING coaches, and help us have fun events like Fun Friday treats and the End of Year Party!

First, big shout out to our Platinum Sponsor ->Carpenter & Langford, PLLC!

Also thanks to our awesome Gold Sponsors:

• Lisa + Susan Residential Group
• Independence Title of Austin
• Chick Fil A - Village of Westlake
• CraigO's Pizza & Pasteria of Lakeway
• Tomblyn Family Orthodontics
• Bricks & Minifigs - Bee Cave

And finally, a big thank you to our fabulous Family Sponsors: The Arrambide Family, the Apostolakis Family, the Cantu Family, the Carnahan Family, the Coultas Family, the Felts Family, the Greene Family, the O’Keefe Family, the Neland Family, the Perryman Family, the Rowder Family, the Sabrin Family, the Sexton Family, the Sferlazza Family, and the Smith Family!!!

Thank you for your time and we look forward to the 2025 season!

See you at the pool! ~ 2025 Barracuda Board of Directors