Good Morning Lap Lovers,

First of all, a Happy Father’s Day to all of our swimdads. Hopefully you all are getting settled in for a full afternoon of watching golf and have your favorite dinner coming up. The swim team’s gift to you is the fact that we moved Blue & Gold off of its decades-long spot on the evening of Father’s Day a few years back so as not to steal from Dad’s Day. So thank you, and also, you’re welcome.

It is time for the season to start in earnest this week. We have a full practice schedule, two away dual meets, and our first Fun Friday activity. The rest of this season is now like drinking from a firehose so make sure to keep up and feel free to check back in on these emails throughout the week. I do my best to encapsulate the whole week and include everything you need to know all in one place so it is easy to find. It will be especially important this week as I will be heading out of town Wednesday-Friday. I want to get ahead of this so that our seniors don’t gaslight the team into believing that I have eloped and gotten married in secret (a thing that actually happened the last time I missed a couple days of practice). I will be taking in the beautiful game in Kansas City for a couple days knowing that Megan, Jacob, Kate, et al have everything under control. I will still be a bachelor when I return, I assure you.

Meet Ribbons

The original plan was to not do ribbons for Blue & Gold, but we did do ribbons for all 12&U races. Ribbons are meticulously labeled and sorted during each home meet by Leslie Abbott and her crew of helpers. Away meets we get the ribbons at the end of the meet and will sort them out the next morning. The ribbon cart will be pulled out of the garage during morning practice times during the week so swimmers can pick up their ribbons. Each family will have a folder for their swimmers. If you do not see a folder with your last name please let the coaches know and we will make sure to get it in there.

TL;DR – Home meet ribbons will be in the folders the morning after the meet. Ribbons for away meets will be in the folders two days after the meet. Let us know if you do not have a folder with your last name.

Team Swag

If you have not procured your team t-shirt and swim cap yet, don’t fret. The coaches will have the rest of the t-shirts and caps with us down on deck this week. Please have your swimmer let us know if they still need theirs and we will get them their swag during practice time. Hopefully we can get them all distributed this week.

A Meet @ Washington Golf & Country Club

Tuesday, June 23rd – 5:30PM Warm Ups – 6:00PM Meet Start – Theme: Top Gun

While we are the back-to-back CCSDA Champions, it has been almost 15 years since we pulled off a dual meet win over Washington Golf. So we kick off the season with a big one, to say the least. Please make sure you have marked your swimmer’s availability by this evening at 5PM so that we can get the lineup finalized tomorrow. Everyone marked as available will be entered in at least freestyle. We do our best to add exhibition heats and get them in as many events as possible without taking the meet too deep into the night. Swimmers will know what they are swimming by practice on the day of the meet. The theme is Top Gun, so pull out those aviators, grab a flight jacket, make a call sign, and get ready to show your need…a need for speed!

Washington Golf has parking in two different areas. Their primary parking lot is small and likely will be full, so the secondary lot is right across Glebe Rd at their tennis facility. There is a tunnel under Glebe Rd to get to the clubhouse/pool. Please make sure your swimmers do not try to cross Glebe Rd and use the tunnel to get across to the club.

There will be a buffet on the terrace during/after the meet and a full chit bar will be available throughout the meet. Please make sure your swimmer has eaten before the meet so they are fully fueled and ready to swim. Swimmers should not be going up to the buffet during the meet unless they are done swimming. For those that are new to the swim team, please make sure to check your swimmer’s relay entries. All medley relays will happen in the middle of the meet between backstroke and breaststroke. All freestyle relays happen at the end of the meet as the last event. No swimmer should leave the meet without letting a coach know.

Please make sure your swimmer arrives at least 15 minutes prior to the start of warm ups at 5:30PM. Our warm up time is tight given the size of our team, so adding swimmers in halfway through warm up can be difficult.

A Meet @ Congressional Country Club

Thursday, June 25th – 5:25PM Warm Up – 6:00PM Meet Start – Theme: Business Time

Thursday we are on the road again as we make our way out to Congressional CC. Please make sure you have marked your swimmer’s availability by Tuesday evening. The meet lineup process will be a little truncated with me leaving Wednesday afternoon. Warm ups are slightly earlier than Tuesday and, as always, crossing the bridge around 5PM is always an endeavor.

Congressional will have a grilling station set up in addition to their Pavilion (think Dive Inn) throughout the meet. Their Stone Bar will be open for adult beverages as well.

Meet theme is ‘Business Time’, so come ready to DO WORK! Briefcase and all. Dress for the job you want they say, and the job this Thursday is taking down another dual meet win. Congressional has picked us off in a dual meet a couple times in the last 5-6 years. They can be feisty and early in the season we have plenty of swimmers at camps, training trips, etc… So don’t sleep on this meet and come ready to race!

Fun Friday - Cap Decorating

As always, we will have a fun practice for all swim team members from 8:45-10AM. Following that will be our first Fun Friday activity of the season. Starting at 10:00AM we will have tables set up for the swimmers to do some cap decorating. Decorating supplies will be provided at the tables… caps will not. So make sure your swimmer brings an Army Navy cap, or a black cap, of their own to decorate and wear the rest of the season. The club will have a treat for each swimmer to nosh on while they decorate as well. Swimmers can hang out and decorate as long as they like, but the tables and decorating gear will be cleaned up starting at 11:00AM.

Looking ahead to next week we only have one meet against Kenwood at home on Wednesday, July 1st. Get your swimmer signed up now and pick out your preferred volunteer spot before they fill up. We are off and running with the season this week and it comes at you quickly. So ‘gallop apace you fiery footed steeds’ and be ready to keep up.

From the Deck,

Coach Ian