Green Mountain Swim Team

Here is some information for this Saturdays swim meet
First, the Individual events have been entered.  I apologize we didn’t communicate that swimmers can swim (3) individual events.  If swimmers only signed up for (2) events and they want to swim (3) we can make these changes at practice on Friday morning.  Please have your swimmers talk to a coach or to Jennifer to get this additional event added.  (Jennifer will be easy to spot sitting behind the computer).  We will get the relays put together tomorrow morning and all of this information will be posted tomorrow afternoon.

We will not have a team tent set-up at 5 Parks because they have turf.  The Gators will gather outside of the pool area on the turf grass (to the East of the pool).  If your family is planning on bringing a tent/umbrella please make sure you have weights or sand bags for this.  There is NO STAKING into the ground.  Also parents don’t forget to sign-up to volunteer to time at this meet.

We are excited to swim in our first dual meet.  See you all at 6:30am.
Swim Fast!!

It is always hard to know the number of kids swimming in each age division when we set practice times. It is always a risk when we set these times on if session will balance out. Well this year is one of those times where it isn’t very even.  In our upper division practice we have about 10 kids to a lane and that is not very productive for the swimmers.

We are going to enforce the specific age group practice times as well as change the 13 year old practice times. If you are swimming up in practice we need you to attend your regular age group practice. Also the 13 year olds will begin to practice from 8:00-9:00am. 

This change will be beneficial to all the swimmers involved. It will give each swimmer more space in their lanes and provide them more swim time.

If arrangements were not already made to participate in a different practice we appreciate your cooperation in adhering this.  These changes will take effect immediatly. 

What could make a swim meet on a Wednesday night even better than it already is?  PIZZA!!!!

Swim team has officially started!  Let’s hope we can keep the rain out of the forecast.  Our first important event will be Wednesday, May 31st.  The Gators will have our first Intrasquad meet.  This meet will be held at Green Mountain Swim Club. Warm-up for the swimmers will begin at 5:00pm and the meet will start at 5:30pm.

For our new swimmer families here is an insight of what an Intrasquad meet is:
Intrasquad meets are meets that are just for GMST.  They give the swimmers a good idea of what to expect at a real meet as well as the ability to try out a new stoke in competition without the pressure of another team’s opponents.  There will be no relays at Intrasquad meets.  The times for these meets count just as they would in a dual meet.

Each swimmer is allowed to swim in two individual events.  We limit the events the swimmers can swim because this meet runs fast (since there are no relays and less swimmers participating). Because of these reasons there is not a lot of rest/recover time and we try to prevent injuries.  Swimmers will be able to sign-up for the events they want to swim on Tuesday and Wednesday at practice.  They will sign-up with the coaches so make sure your swimmer knows if they are able to participate in this meet.  If your swimmer won’t be at practice but is able to participate in the Intrasquad please send the events they want to swim to gmstgators@aol.com.

We will also need parent volunteers to help this night happen.  Please help volunteer your time while you watch your kid(s) swim.  Please don’t be shy, if you have never volunteered for a specific task before, we have wonderful parents who are always willing to share their knowledge.

Happy Memorial Weekend to our Gator families!  This weekend officially kicks off our summer and we are excited to have our swimmers back in the water.
Here are a few important reminders for next week (Tuesday, May 30th-June 3rd)

• If you haven’t signed up for swim team yet please do so to ensure you can swim in our meets
• If you haven’t submitted your payment and/or forms please do this as soon as possible (you can hand them to any coach and/or board member)
• We will begin morning practices on Tuesday, May 30th.  These will be at the Green Mountain Swim Club
• 13&up practice 6:30-8:00am
• 10-12 year olds practice 8:00-9:00am
• 9&under practice 9:00-9:50am
• Our first Intrasquad meet is Wednesday, May 30th.  There will be another post with more information about this night.
• Saturday, June 3rd will be our first meet of the season.  Swimmer event sign-up for this meet will be available Wednesday.  Parent volunteer and pool location information is on the right hand side of the blog. 

We are glad summer is here and we are ready to be at the pool.
Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

I hope Mother Nature realizes that we are starting summer swim team and the sun decides to come out and stay for awhile.  There has been a few changes to the after school swim practice schedule as mentioned earlier but we just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of these.