Team Movie Night – Wednesday 7/14

 Our team movie night is to celebrate another fun swim season with our awesome gator families and to give the kids a special treat to be at the pool after hours. Swim Team Board members will be present at the event, along with the coaches.   

When:  Wednesday 7/14 from 8-10pm
Movie:  Luca (this is a new Disney movie and appropriate for all ages)
What to bring:  blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, and pajamas are all encouraged.
Provided: popcorn and candy

FAQ:
Who is Invited?- All swimmers are invited, along with their siblings and/or parents. No friends please.
Do I need to stay with my kid? – Only if you feel like it. You are welcome to drop your swimmer off at the pool and pick them back up at 10pm.
Can I swim during Team Movie Night?  – No. 
Can I play volleyball or play on the playground during the movie? – No 

If you need to contact someone during the movie, please call or text Danielle at 303-884-8084

League Updates!!

 There has been a LOT of movement behind the scenes, so here is the plan…

Practice week of 7/12: this week is normally reserved for League swimmers only. However, we have one more meet on Saturday (see below). If you plan to attend the Tri-meet or League, then you can attend practice. If not, then your swimmer is done practicing for the season.

“Tri-Meet/Last Chance/Let’s Get it Done Meet!”:  Saturday, July 17th
We will host a tri-meet @ GMSC with AAC and Stingrays. All swimmers welcome. Note, there will be no 400’s at this meet and the relays teams that are League relay teams will have their times counted for the League meet. Warm up time will be @ 6am for the Gators. more details to follow this weekend.

League!!!!
Note: your swimmer must have a League time to qualify for this event AND they must sign up with coach Emma.  Teams pay for each entry for League, so your swimmer will not be automatically signed up. Each swimmer can only swim a maximum of 3 events and they can only choose races that they have League or State times in.
 

Thursday, July 15 @ 5:30pm @ Splash
event: 400’s only

Sunday, July 18 @ Columbine West
events: all events except 400s and only 1 relay team/event/team allowed
session breakdown:  we don’t know yet. It may be an ALL day meet or it might be broken up into lower division in the morning and upper division in the afternoon. Details are still being worked out. Our seasons normally aren’t so unorganized but you know, 2020 happened. Thank you for sticking with it.

State – All Star Champions Meet!
Saturday, July 24 @ Splash
State swimmers only. Details to follow soon. (Again, it is still being worked out, but we know that it is happening)

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