No night practice

We just wanted to let you know there will be no evening (12& under) or night practice (upper division) this week.  Thank you to all the 12&under swimmers who participated in our first evening practice session and to the upper division and parents who attended the night practice.

We plan on seeing all swimmers and families at the banquet on Wednesday night.

Al Hofstra is the recipient of the FSA Betty Woods award

The Green Mountain Gators would like to recognize Al Hofstra as he received the Betty Woods award this weekend at the 57th FSA League meet.  

The Betty Woods award was created by the Foothills Swim Association in 2010 after Betty passed away.  Betty was a valuable asset to the swim league and they want to carry on her tradition by recognizing people within the League that posses the same qualities and passion for the sport.

The objectives of Foothills Swimming Association are:
  1. To promote and encourage competitive aquatics.
  2. To promote good sportsmanship in competitive aquatics.
  3. To provide an opportunity for summer club swimmers to compete.
This award is created in honor of Betty’s 50+ year contribution to the Foothills Swimming Association.  The award is intended to recognize a person for their contribution to the FSA.  



Nominee: Al Hofstra               Home Team if applicable: Green Mountain Gators
Describe the nominee’s contribution to the Foothills Swimming Association:


I would like to nominate the Betty Woods award to one of the hardest-working contributors to the FSA, Al Hofstra. Al has been working for Green Mountain Swim Club ( a part of the FSA ) for over 10 years. Through his work, he has helped swimmers realize their full potential and has encouraged them to swim. He worked not only as an official during meets, but a swim team board president and has done volunteer work to help maintain the GMSC pool.


Al Hofstra has been a part of the swimming community since he was a child. His parents, Warren and Mary Hofstra, helped found the Terrace Club in the 1960’s, where he swam from age 7 to 17. He earned league titles at ages 8 and 12. When he was 13 the Terrace Club joined FSA. Al also swam on the varsity team for Lincoln High School where he earned an all-city title for the 50 and 100 free. He was also the captain of the swim team at Colorado College, when he joined the Green Mountain Gators as a coach. For two years, Al coached GMST’s eight and under age division. In one of the years that he coached, GMSC won League in the eight and under age division. In 2005, his daughter Tess swam as a gator and Al began his volunteer service. He officiated, timed, and maintained the pool. In 2010 he was elected the position of Swim Team board president and head official at Green Mountain, which he held for five years. Even after passing the baton this year, he continues to support both the pool and the FSA team with his work and his wisdom.

A big thank you to Brooke Tompkins who wrote this submission and helped share Al’s love for swimming with all of us.

 

End of season banquet: Wednesday, July 27th

Wednesday night we will be celebrating our 2016 Gator swim season.  It is hard to imagine that the summer only began with our first Intrasquad meet 63 days ago.  We would love to see all the swimmers and their support team on this night.  

Wednesday night, July 27th at 5:30 will be our Gator banquet.  The swim team board will be providing pizza and will have water and lemonade available.  We are will having a pot luck style dinner.  If your last name begins with A-L we are asking you to bring a side dish to share and if your last name is M-Z please bring a dessert to share.  Please remember to bring serving utensils with your food item and please take all items with you when you leave.  

During this evening, we will be celebrating all the Gator swimmers.  Please remember to check your swimmer folder before you leave for the evening and collect everything that is in there.  

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Look forward to celebrating the end of an amazing season!

July 25th-July 31st schedule

Great swimming this weekend by the Gators at League.  Practice this week will only be for swimmers that have State qualifying times.  If you are not participating in the State swim meet we will see you Wednesday, July 27th for the end of season banquet (see post about the banquet for more information).

If you are swimming any individual events at the State Meet this weekend you need to make sure you talk with Coach Porter on Monday at practice.  Please refer to the list of qualified swimmers to see eligibility.

As mentioned above practice this week is for kids who are swimming at State.  If you did not qualify for an individual event you may be contacted to see if you can swim in a relay.  Swimmers will be contacted Monday if needed for relay events.

Monday, July 18th:  swimmers must select events they want to swim in at League at the beginning of their age group practice

Monday-Friday (July 25th-July 31st):  practice for State swimmers
7:00-8:00am:  13&up
8:00-9:00am:  12 and unders
NOTE:  No night practice will be held

Tuesday, July 26th from 5-9pm:  Swim/Dive-a-thon fundraiserThe GMSC will be hosting a Swim/Dive-a-thon fundraiser. Swimmers will have 60 minutes to complete as many laps/dives as possible. Please help the pool raise money for facility improvements/repairs.
Please use this pledge form to start collecting donations
Please sign-up here for the time/date you can participate

Wednesday, July 27th:  End of season banquet
End of season banquet dinner and awards; begins at 5:30pm at Green Mountain Swim Club
See post about banquet for more information

Friday, July 22nd:  Upper division 400’s (Events 1-6)
Warm-ups begin at 2:00pm; Meet starts at 3:00pm
Swimmers must provide their own lap counter

Saturday, July 30th:  Lower division (12&under) State Meet (Events 7-60)
Warm-ups TBD; Meet starts at 8:50am

Sunday, July 31st:  Upper division 13&up State Meet (Events 61-110)
Warm-ups TBD: Meet starts at 9:00am

Please continue to watch to blog for updates on an upcoming swim team movie night and also an Olympic watch party at the pool.

League Update

The first two days of League went incredibly well. We as coaches are so proud of all that the swimmers have accomplished so far this weekend. We had two relays break FSA records today; the 13-14 boys medley with Andrew Penn, Quinn Meinert, Alex Granquist and Ben Hofstra as well as the 15-18 girl medley, with Kaylyn Schull, Sydni Sich, Ianna Debrunner, and Amanda Ballard! On top of that, we had countless best times and great swims from all age groups. One Applewood Knolls coach pulled me aside to tell me “Green Mountain is swimming with a lot of heart today”, a true reflection of the effort the team has put forth.

Tomorrow lets keep up the great work. Lets make sure we continue with the positive and encouraging thoughts, the continuous support of one another, and the effort that has put us in the position we are. I urge the swimmers to not worry about points, rather focus on the races and making sure that they are swimming as well as they can!

Warmups will be at 7:00 again tomorrow, so I ask that everyone swimming is behind the blocks and ready to go by 6:55. Get some good sleep tonight, I will see you in the morning.

Coach Porter