Good evening,

We are heading into our 2nd week of practice and our 1st HOME meet. We had great practices last week and have come together as coaches and met about practices, placements, meets and staffing.

PLACEMENTS/Practices

By now you should see your swimmers’ practice group and they also have lane assignments. No matter which practice (day/evening) this lane assignment is where your swimmer will be for practices.

Group 1 (7-7:45 am and/or 6-6:45 pm) This group has all swimmers ages 10 and under regardless of swim level. Lanes 1/2 Novice/New Lanes 3/4 Intermediate Lane 5/6 Advance. What was taken into consideration were the following: age, skill level, personalities and most important work ethic. Coaches are able to give a workout and know that not only will the swimmers complete it but will do so with fidelity and 100% effort. In this age group they will have guidance and supervision from the coaches. BUILDING LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS

Group 2(7:45 - 8:45 am and/or 6:45 - 7:45 pm) This group has all swimmers ages 11 and up regardless of swim level. Lanes 1/2 Novice/New Lanes 3/4 Intermediate Lane 5/6 Advance. What was taken into consideration were the following: age, skill level, personalities, work ethic and honesty completing the sets and not taking shortcuts . Coaches are able to give a workout and know that not only will the swimmers complete it but will do so with fidelity and 100% effort. BUILDING LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS and Leaders.

COACHING/STAFFING

Coach Kelly will be there starting tomorrow morning. Coach Ollie and trained youth volunteer Ava Grace will also be there. There might be a YMCA Staff person assisting so that we have 3 coaches on deck at all times, when needed. I will be there in the evening with either coach Ollie/Kelly and either Shawn/Brooke/Ley depending on the evening. I'm grateful to have them along my side. We have training plans for all lanes. We will also be introducing the sound system to the swimmer on Tuesday so please try hard to have them at practice on Tuesday.

MEET RELATED

IS YOUR SWIMMER SWIMMING ON WEDNESDAY? If you haven't already declared your swimmer please go into Swimtopia under schedule/calendar click on Wednesday and let me know if your child is swimming by 11:59 pm TONIGHT!

TRAINED VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Please see a message from our volunteer coordinator

Good evening, Orcas families! I am Melissa Jenkins and will be the volunteer coordinator this season. We are 3 days away from our very first swim meet for the 2024 Summer season. For those who have not participated on a swim team before you may not know that swim meets absolutely can not run without parent involvement. We are needed for things like keeping the swimmers safe, getting them to their races, timing the races, starting each race, announcing to the swimmers which https://carolineorcas.swimtopia.com/parent-volunteers If you have any questions, please reach out!

I am challenging ALL families to get trained on Stroke and Turn, Referee, Starter, Clerk. We are going to have a training party on Monday and Tuesday evening ON DECK. Please bring your mobile device. We will also have 3-4 laptops on deck that the YMCA has offered up so that we can get people trained.

We would like to take you for trusting us to develop your swimmer both athletically and socially. Thanks for bringing them and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Orcas Coaching Staff