Good Day Swim Nerds,

We just finished up a great week. Two big wins this past week, especially over Congressional, who managed to sneak by us in our dual meet and at Divisionals last summer. We left no doubt this year with a 298-188 drubbing and continued to put in good work on a cold night at Bethesda winning 335-143 sweeping 7 events. You can always find the full results of each meet on the Swim Results page of the Swimtopia website. I usually keep track of the point totals in each age group throughout the season and figured I would give you all a peak behind the curtain with our top three age groups after each week. Here are the top three age groups after week 1:

1). 18&U Boys -- Outscoring opponents 68-19

2). 12&U Boys -- 69-21

3). 18&U Girls -- 68-22

Obviously the numbers are close with only two meets of input, but we will see if they can hold those spots after week two. Of interest to some, while two boys age groups take up the top two spots our girls have outscored our boys 270-245 so far. Keep an eye out for our stats section throughout the season!

Now onto the last week of June. It looks to be another tough start to the week as far as weather is concerned. We will make sure to communicate out any changes or cancellations due to weather as soon as those updates are available. Please do not reach out to Wendy or coaches to ask if practice is still on. If you have not heard anything then everything is on as scheduled. As it pertains to meets, we are of the mind that it is always better to try and wait out a storm and get a meet in on the scheduled night as opposed to having to squeeze it into the schedule later in the season. 

Meet Entry Deadlines

We have three meets this week, so please make sure to have your swimmer marked as 'Attending' or 'Not Attending' for each. 

-The entry deadline for Tuesday's 'A' Meet vs. Kenwood is Sunday at noon.

-The entry deadline for Thursday's 'B' Meet @ Washington Golf is Tuesday at 9:00PM

-The entry deadline for Saturday's Squirt Gun Mini-Meet (10&U only) is Thursday at 11:30PM.

-The entry deadline for the A Division Relay Championship Meet is Saturday, July 1st at noon.

I have been very accommodating up to this point with late entries and getting people into the meet after the deadlines. This has been a courtesy as we get started this season and everyone gets into the groove. Changing the lineup and adding swimmers is difficult both for the coaches and for those swimmers and parents who have gotten their information in on time. As the season progresses I will not be able to accommodate late entries as I had in the first week of the season. Thank you very much for your attention to these deadlines.

'A' Meet vs. Kenwood -- Tuesday, June 27th

Warm Up: 5:15PM -- Meet Start: 6:10PM -- Theme: Blackout

We will again start the week hosting a division A rival in Kenwood CC. We have had Kenwood's number for the past couple years, but they always bring the fire and have kept our meets close. There will be some great races so come ready to roll! Please make sure that your swimmer arrives by 5:00PM for our 5:15PM warm up. There will be a buffet to follow the meet. You can sign up for the buffet and peruse the menu beforehand: Kenwood Meet Buffet. 

The seniors have decreed that this meet will be a Blackout. Intimidation is the name of the game, so throw on your best all-black outfit and get ready to mean-mug behind the blocks. 

Team Picture -- Wednesday, June 28th

Jr Team Picture: 8:45AM -- Full Team Picture: 9:00AM -- Individual Photos: 9:15AM

We have rescheduled the team picture to Wednesday morning this week. Please make sure that your swimmer is wearing their Army Navy team suit if they have one and arrive ready for their closeup. Having all swimmers arrive prior to 8:45AM will make it much easier and more efficient as we try to organize our large team. If your swimmers arrives on the pool deck after 9:00AM there is a good chance they will not be in the picture.

After pictures, we will hold a swim team practice for everyone in attendance. Afterward swimmers can head up to the Dive Inn deck to enjoy some chocolate fondue as a treat for looking so pretty.

'B' Meet @ Washington Golf & CC -- Thursday, June 29th

Warm Up: 5:50PM -- Meet Start: 6:30PM -- Theme: Color Wars

We have our first 'B' meet of the season. Things are a little different from our 'A' meets. You may have already noticed that you have the ability to suggest events for your swimmer when signing up. We will do our best to include all event suggestions, but in some cases we may have to limit heats in order to keep the meet from going to deep into the dark of night. Washington Golf will be offering a meet buffet to run through and after the meet. 

The meet is meant to be an opportunity for swimmers who normally would not get to swim a full slate of events at our 'A' meets and no swimmer may enter an event in which they have placed top 3 in at any of our meets to this point in the season. 

The meet theme of Color Wars is going to see the team splitting up a bit. Each age group will decide at practice what their respective color will be and dress accordingly for the meet. Each age group will have a different color which should make for quite a site on deck. 

Fun Friday Practice and Social

Friday, June 30th will be our first foray into the full Fun Friday schedule this season after last week's weather delay. We will have our Fun Friday practice from 8:45-10AM for all swimmers. Following practice swimmers will make their way through the Decoration Stations to show their team spirit. There will be a cap decorating table set up for swimmers to create some crazy swim caps for the rest of the season. All crafting supplies will be provided for swimmers. Swimmers can also make their way out to the grass by the parking lot to tie-dye their Army Navy t-shirt to give it that little extra zhuzh. 

Please have swimmers bring their Army Navy swim cap and team t-shirt (they can use the new shirt they just received or bring an old shirt to tie-dye). Caps and shirts will not be provided at the Fun Friday activity. 

There will be treats for all swimmers provided by the club as well. 

Squirt Gun Mini-Meet @ Washington Golf -- Saturday, July 1st

Warm Up: 7:20AM -- Meet Start 8:10AM

The Squirt Gun Mini-Meet is a single-age swim meet available to our 10&U swimmers. Swimmers may enter events of their choosing (please have them in by Thursday) with the same rule for B meets applying. Please do not enter events in which your swimmer has placed top 3 in any meet. Swimmers will receive a squirt gun for a little post meet battle with Washington Golf and Belle Haven. 

Please make sure you have responded as to your swimmer's availability for the A Division Relay Championship Meet taking place at Bethesda CC on Thursday, July 6th. These entries have to be in earlier than our regular dual meets.

From the Deck,

Coach Ian