Why Hello There Lane Lovers,

We made it through a very full and very hot week. A 2nd place finish by 10 points at relays, a 280-point win against Norbeck, and finally a bunch of first swims and best times at Duckies & Donuts yesterday. Even though we were 2nd at relays, our score of 230 points is the highest we have been at an A Division relay meet in my time as coach. We had a plethora of winning relays: girls 12&U, 14&U, and 18&U medley relays, the boys 14&U medley relay, girls 12&U, 14&U, and 18&U free relays, and boys 10&U and 14&U free relays, and finally the girls 250 Crescendo Free Relay. That is a total of 10 relay wins (2 more than Washington Golf). Of special note, the Girls 250 Crescendo Freestyle Relay team of Lila Miller (8), Laina Hancock (10), Regan Marm (12), McKinley Busen (13), and Kate Douglas (16) set the CCSDA record in the event with a time of 2:33.36 taking down Kenwood's record of 2:34.01 from 2012. Congratulations girls! 

We are in for another very hot week it looks like, especially on Tuesday. Please make sure your swimmers are bringing a water bottle to practice so that they can stay hydrated while they swim. It is also imperative that swimmers do not spend too much time out in the sun when the heat index rises up over 100 which looks to be the case through Wednesday. On meet days, please have a plan to get your swimmer home or at least to some AC in between practices and the meets to ensure that they are both staying safe and preparing to swim fast.

Ok, that's enough about last week. It is time to move on to the week at hand:

Picture Day -- Monday, July 15th -- 10:45AM

We will have our team pictures tomorrow morning at 10:45AM. All swimmers should report to the pool deck at 10:30AM so that we can start to organize them and get the picture taken as efficiently as possible. If your swimmer has a team suit, they should wear it on Monday. We will only be taking a full team picture, there will be no individual pictures offered/taken.

A Meet @ Washington Golf & CC-- Tuesday, July 16th

Warm Up: 5:45PM      Meet Start: 6:30PM      Theme: Toga!

Tuesday brings our biggest dual meet matchup of the year. The power in CCSDA has resided in Arlington for the better part of a decade with Washington Golf and Army Navy finishing 1st and 2nd at Champs every year since 2017 and Washington Golf having won each Champs meet since 2014. We have come close in dual meets with Washington Golf a few times in their run of dominance and this year looks to be one of our best chances to end that streak.

We have always had some great battles and get some of our best racing at dual meets with Washington Golf. We go into their house on Tuesday and you know they will be ready for us. Make sure everyone gets a good night sleep on Monday and stays out of the sun on Tuesday. We are going to come ready to race and ready to shock the league.

"Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your ears!" The theme for Tuesday is Toga or Roman. The coaches will have their senatorial garb on and you all can join in as gladiators, Caesars, magistrates, and the like. If everything goes right, we can all party like Delta Tau Chi members after the meet. Washington Golf will have a buffet open during and after the meet. Parking can be found in front of the club on Glebe Rd or across the street accessed off of Rock Spring Rd. 

B Meet @ Manor CC -- Thursday, July 18th

Warm Ups: 5:45PM      Meet Start: 6:30PM      Theme: Jerseys

Thursday night we make the long trip out to Manor for a B meet with Manor and Montgomery. Please make sure you have marked your availability prior to the start of Tuesday night's meet with Washington Golf. You have the option to suggest events for your swimmer. This is a reminder -- At B meets swimmers should not enter any events in which they have placed in the top 3 at any dual meet so far this season. If you simply mark your swimmer as available the coaches will make sure to put entries in. Please be aware that due to time constraints we may change the suggested events that you put in for the meet.

Manor is quite a hike, so make sure to plan accordingly for the drive out. As is customary there is weather in play for Thursday it looks like. We will always try to make the best decision for the team and communicate that out to everyone as soon as we know of any decisions or changes. As soon as anything is known we will let everyone know immediately. There is no need to email, text, or call and ask about pending changes to the meet schedule or cancellation. 

Volunteering

We still have a number of families that have not completed their volunteer requirement for the season. We ask for 2 volunteer sessions from each family either at meets or other team events. If there are families who have not completed this requirement their swimmers will not be eligible for Divisionals or Championships. Divisionals are next Tuesday, so we are getting perilously close to it being too late. There are plenty of options for volunteering that can work for every family. If you are unable to find volunteer opportunities that work for you we can work to find non meet-related ones to help. Please make sure you have done your fair share by week's end.

Championship Meets

As mentioned above we are approaching Championship season with Divisionals next Tuesday and Champs the following Monday and Tuesday. If you are looking for a breakdown of these meets and how entries work please check out the FAQ page of the Swimtopia website. I will also include the specifics in my email next week. 

In the meantime, please make sure you have marked your swimmers' availability for these meets. Even if you think your swimmer is not likely to swim it is imperative to the coaching staff that we have all the information available to us. It is really helpful to have answers for all swimmers. So if you know your swimmer will not be able to make it please mark them as 'Not Attending' as opposed to leaving them undeclared. Thank you.

The deadline to let the coaches know availability for Divisionals will be this Thursday, July 18th. The deadline for Champs will be Tuesday, July 23rd. There will be absolutely no exceptions made for these meets after the dates above.

Fun Friday Practice and Activities

We are back for Fun Friday practice at 8:45AM for all swim team members this Friday. Following practice we will have Tie Dye stations available for the swimmers since we missed out on that due to the rain this past Friday. We will also have a set up for poster making going into our championship meets. These posters will be hanging in the team area for Divisionals and Champs and are a great show of team spirit and comfort for those swimming the next two weeks. Plan to stick around, have a little treat from the club, and make some posters and tie dye on Friday. See you there!

That's the week. Stay cool and see you at the pool.

From the Deck,

Coach Ian