Good Evening Swimmers and Parents,

Welcome to Championship Week! While it may seem that the season is winding down, that would be a misnomer. We have quite a lot of fun events planned through the end of the season for everyone so make sure to stay with us to the end. First and foremost this week is Divisionals on Tuesday. While not everyone will be swimming, this is absolutely a full team event. As we do not have a league-wide Champs meet this season, the team parades that usually happen at Champs will be taking place at Divisionals. Our team spirit is one of the things I am most proud of so I expect to see a full team area and quite a squad for the parade prior to the Divisionals meet. As I mentioned above we have filled in the gaping hole left by a lack of a Champs meet with some really fun events over the next two weeks. Please make sure to know what is coming up (as some has changed or are new additions since the beginning of the season). On to the week at hand:

Monday, July 19th

We will be on a regular practice schedule for both the morning and afternoon practices tomorrow. All swimmers are welcome and encouraged to attend even if they are not swimming any more meets this season. See you all tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 20th, A Division Championship Meet

Who: Only a small roster of swimmers will be competing on Tuesday night. We are able to enter 2 swimmers and one exhibition swimmer in every event. Entries are attached for everyone's perusal. Again, all swimmers are welcome and encouraged to attend the meet to join in the fun, camaraderie, and spirit of the event. 

What: This is the championship meet among all of the 'A' Division teams; Congressional, Kenwood, Manor, Washington Golf, and ourselves. As mentioned above, each team will have two entries (plus a 3rd exhibition swimmer) in each event and the meet will be scored by awarding points to the top 6 finishers in each event. As there is no CCSDA Champs meet this year, this becomes the de facto championship meet, and for good reason. Divisionals in A division is often faster than Champs due to the depth of competition and rivalries that exist among A division teams. The Champs team parade, which usually precedes finals on Tuesday morning at Champs will now take place in between warm ups and the start of the meet at Divisionals.  

Where: Washington Golf & Country Club

When: Warm ups will be from 4:30-5:30PM. The parade will take place immediately afterward and the meet will start at 6:00PM. 

Parking: Spaces inside the lot adjacent to the pool will fill up very quickly. Overflow can park across Glebe Rd in the Washington Golf tennis center parking lot. 

Food and Beverage: Washington Golf will have their snack bar open throughout the meet with grab and go items and drink service. There will also be a buffet running from 6:00PM through the end of the meet in the clubhouse. 

All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Everyone saw or heard how close things were last Tuesday and this meet should set up a pretty solid rematch between Army Navy and Washington Golf, the two clear powerhouses of the league. Good thing all the Army Navy swimmers haven't even put on their racing suits yet. So let's get ready to win on Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 21st

Army Navy is hosting Junior Dive Champs this week and Wednesday is the bounce day for all teams around the league to come and practice on our pristine boards. Don't worry swimmers! We will still have practice at our regularly scheduled times, we will just be doing it long course, you know, in honor of the Olympics starting next week. So while it may look a little different practice will still be on as normal for both the morning and afternoon practices. These will be our last regular swim practices of the season.

Thursday, July 22nd

Thursday is the aforementioned Junior Dive Champs that Army Navy is hosting. While the divers have graciously allowed us to practice while they are getting ready for their Champs meet, the pool will need to be clear for their actual meet. That means there are no swim practices on Thursday.

Friday, July 23rd -- Splash Party, 5:30PM

We will take Friday morning off as we have moved all the fun to the evening for the annual Splash Party. The Splash Party usually takes place the evening after the Tuesday finals of Champs. Without a Champs meet we have moved it to the Friday before, an objectively more fun day of the week. Not only is the Splash Party moving a little bit, there will be a few new additions to the party that will make it an absolutely 'can't-miss' evening for all Army Navy team members. 

What is the Splash Party, you ask? In past years this has been a casual season-end celebration (contrasting with the formal season-end celebration of the banquet, because, quite honestly, this team is almost as good at celebrating as they are at swimming) that takes place after finals of Champs back at the Army Navy pool. That part is still the same as we will all gather at the Arlington Olympic pool deck for an evening of fun. A float party in the pool, a DJ cranking tunes, beverages galore, and a pasta buffet to boot. Fun will be had by swimmers and their families whether they like it or not. 

As a new addition to the party this year we will be 'awarding' the senior gag gifts to all of our 15-18 swimmers during the party. All will be welcome to take part and enjoy a little bit of fun ribbing at the expense of our elder swim team members. This tradition has historically been carried out at the banquet, but this year if you want to see the seniors get their due, make sure you are at the Splash Party.

If this all sounds like your kind of party, please RSVP through the Swimtopia site under Team Events. 

Tuesday, July 27th -- Aquathon and Olympic Watch Party

Now, for all of you who were worried that you might have an open Tuesday with the Splash Party being moved to this Friday, fear not. Our annual Aquathon is still on. In years past we have paired our event with the Yellow Ribbon Fund Golf tournament that takes place at ANCC in early July. That tournament was moved into the fall and so we shifted our efforts to something important to each and every one of us: swimming! This year's Aquathon will raise money to support the USA Swimming Foundation. If you want to know more please follow the link. For all of you who swim for USA Swimming club teams, this is the philanthropic arm of that same organization. They do an incredibly wide-ranging list of things for the sport of swimming and swimmers across the United States. This past year alone the USA Swimming Foundation gave out over $1,000,000 in grants to swim clubs throughout the country that needed help to stay afloat during the pandemic. Without them, many clubs surely would have folded, and that is just one of the many things USAS Foundation touches. 

Our Aquathon will take place in the morning from 9-11AM. Swimmers may come and swim as many laps as they can. They should collect donations from anyone and everyone they can. I often push for swimmers to tie donations to the number of laps they swim to add a bit of a challenge. USA Swimming has provided us with a lot of swag and some prizes to hand out throughout the morning as well. More information will be forthcoming about exactly how and when to donate if you so choose.

That evening we will have an Olympic Watch party at the pool. The swim events will have started on Saturday and we will have some great races to watch that night. There will be a boxed dinner for purchase for the watch party, proceeds of which will go to our USA Swimming Foundation donation. In addition to getting to watch some Olympians in the pool on TV we will also be joined in-person by a former Olympic gold medalist! You will have to show up to find out who. So join us to meet an Olympian, watch some Olympians, and maybe win some door prizes provided by USA Swimming. It should be a really great night for everyone.

Friday, July 31st -- Army Navy Swim & Dive Banquet

I know this seems like a ways away, but with the size of our team this year I want to make sure we get word out early. Registration for the aforementioned formal end-of-season team celebration has opened and can be found under Meets & Events page of the Swimtopia website. The event will take place in the Ballroom on the third floor of the clubhouse and does have a limit to how many people are able to attend, so make sure to get your family registered now if you plan to come. There will be a scrumptious dinner, age group and team awards, graduating senior recognition, and general merriment all around. All of this is followed by the best dance party this side of the Potomac. 

Like I said, just because there is no Champs meet doesn't mean we won't be having some fun coming down to the end of the season. We hope everyone has had a wonderful year so far and is ready for the rest to come. It has been absolutely invigorating to be back on deck with the team this summer and we want to make sure to pass that along to each and every swimmer on the team. We look forward to seeing all of you over the next two weeks in a myriad of ways.

From the Deck,

Coach Ian