This Week (7/5) in Gator News:

 We have a lot of updates to take us through the end of the season… please read.

Monday 7/5: no practice due to holiday

Wednesday 7/7: Final Intrasquad – warm up @5:00pm / start @ 5:30pm  sign up here to volunteer

Saturday 7/10:  We will swim against AAC.  Their pool is not allowing meets due to COVID, so AAC is coming to our pool and will host the meet.  This means a lot less work for us, but we will still need volunteers (just not as many as a normal home meet). This is our last official meet of the season before we move into League and State (see below)  sign up here to volunteer

Sunday 7/11:  5 Parks will be hosting a “Last Chance Meet”.  Your swimmer would ONLY swim in this meet if they have a “B” time or better, are trying to make a League or State time and approved by Coach Emma.  This is not a standard meet where all swimmers would go. We will only have limited swimmers and maybe not have any at all.  Also, if your swimmer does goes, please know that you will need to time and help out. Coach Emma can talk your swimmers through this. sign up with Coach Emma

Ribbons:  Many of the teams are not doing ribbons and all 2nd Place ribbons are on back order.  This year is sort of a “you get what you get” kind of year. Sorry to all the disappointed swimmers who really want those.

Wednesday 7/14:  Team Movie Night – If weather permits we will host a team movie night after the pool closes from 8-10pm. Kids can wear their pajamas, bring blankets and pillows and be together as we eat popcorn and watch a soon-to-be-determined-kid-appropriate movie.  It’s a fun team function that feels special to be at the pool so late. No swimsuits please. This is not a swimming function. 

League 7/16-7/18:  We will know what’s happening with League by Friday 7/9. We have two options right now that our Foothills Swim Association is finalizing. For sure:  League 400s will be hosted by Golden at Splash on either Thursday 7/15 or Friday 7/16 at 5:00pm in addition… Option 1: League will be hosted by Stingrays at the Columbine West pool (this is different than the Columbine Knolls pool) either all day on Saturday 7/17 or split into two days for upper and lower division. Only League qualifiers would be invited. Option 2: 3 teams host a tri-meet on Saturday 7/17 (all swimmers invited) and then all times are combined to determine league winners.  Option 2 is the back up plan if Option 1 falls through.

State:  State is an absolute cluster this year with Central Park (formerly Stapleton) at the helm.  It is so messy that they haven’t actually planned it yet or hired any officials. They have said that they will offer their pool, but will not have parking, heating, concessions, seating or anything else that would be needed to actually have the meet. Also, no large events are allowed in Central Park right now. So in essence, it’s a no go.  Here is what FSA has planned instead.  We will host an ALL STAR CHAMPIONS weekend with all of our State swimmers. All FSA teams will get together on Saturday 7/24 with all qualified State swimmers to swim it out for ultimate glory!

Team Banquet:  Just a reminder that we will have our team banquet on Wednesday, July 21st at 5:00pm at the pool.  GMSC will close the pool for us as we gather to celebrate our 2021 season.  We will have a more detailed list of what food to bring (one dish to share per family), awards for all the kids and generally laugh at the absurdity this year brought.  We sincerely hope your family can join us. 

This Week in Swim Team News (6/28)

 We have team pictures and some time off this week. See below for details…

Team Pictures and Pancake Breakfast:
Pictures: We will start taking pictures at 7:30 am witH the team picture to follow around 8:00 am.  Our photographer, Alex Hearn, will provide us with a digital link after the photos are taken to order whatever you want.  Please have your swimmers take individual (or buddy photos) only if you intend to purchase them. Have your swimmers wear their team suits and be at the pool by 7:30.

Pancakes:  We will be cooking up gator cakes (green pancakes) in both traditional wheat-based and gluten free versions.  Swimmers will be served pancakes after the team picture and age group photos.

What happened to Water World?  The decision was made to not have our traditional Water World day along with team pictures this year.  We plan to have it back on the calendar in 2022. 

PRACTICES:
6/30 Wednesday: No MORNING practices due to Team Photo & Pancake Breakfast
7/1 Thursday: No NIGHT Practice due to holiday
7/2 Friday: No MORNING practices due to holiday
7/5 Monday: No MORNING practices due to holiday

Week of 6/21

Wednesday 6/23:  Intrasquad #2
warm up @ 5pm
start @ 5:30
please sign up to volunteer

Saturday 6/26: Home Meet vs. Golden
warm up @ 6am
start @ 7am
please sign up to volunteer ASAP. This is a home meet! We need LOTS of help. We have many families who have not volunteered yet. We need your help. Your child is only able to swim in the meets due to the number of people stepping up to make it happen.

Next week: Team Pictures and Pancake Breakfast

Wednesday 6/30
7:30 am – 9:30 am
please sign up to volunteer
We will not have practice this day. Bring your swimmer in their Gator Suit (or whatever they normally wear to a meet) and smile big. Our awesome photographer Alex Hearn will be taking the VERY BIG team photo, along with individual or group swimmer shots if you would like them. I will have a price list soon.

Away Meet – What to Know

 For our new Gator families….

On the blog under “Up Next” you will always find the location, warm up times and start times of our next event. 

We will set up a Team tent area at every away meet and you are welcome to bring a family tent (at most meets) as well. We will have the Individual Race Events posted for the swimmers at our Team tent and your swimmer should start here to check in with the coaches. We will also have the Parent Volunteer list at the tent. If you see open spots the day of the meet, please take one. (We prefer to fill the sign ups before the day of the meet so we are not spending our time finding volunteers). For away meets we only need timers and officials, but just like our home meets, the meets can’t run without volunteers. 

Sign up here to volunteer or find the sign up on the blog.