GENERAL INFORMATION:Practice begins on Monday September 12th and continues until mid-March. Practice times have changed slightly this season, please make sure you review your practice schedule. HOW LONG IS THE SWIM SEASON? Swim Team begins in September, with meets starting around the end of October or the beginning of November. Most meets take place during the winter months and the program officially ends around mid-March. There is an optional program that runs during the summer for any members of the team. WHEN ARE THE PRACTICES? See "Practice Schedule" tab above. HOW DO I KNOW WHICH PRACTICE IS RIGHT FOR MY CHILD? The best thing to do is go by your child's age. If you are still uncertain ask a coach. Coaches can help you decide which practice is right for your child. HOW OFTEN SHOULD MY CHILD GO TO PRACTICE? The more your child goes to practice the more improvement they will see in themselves. We recommend for 10 and under swimmers 2-3 practices per week. 11 and above swimmers should attend a minimum of 3 practices per week. WHAT CAN I AS A PARENT DO TO HELP THE TEAM? The Swim Team is completely made up of VOLUNTEERS and new help is always appreciated. Meets are a great place to volunteer as lots of help is NEEDED. We need people to: set up and break down for the meets, time, officiate, write ribbons, score, run between the timers and scorers. Monitor the locker rooms and work at the concession stand. All swim team parents / guardians are members of the BOOSTERS Club. Participation in the BOOSTERS Club is a great way to get involved. WHAT EXACTLY IS A SWIM MEET? A swim meet is a competition between two or more teams. There are actually three types of swim meets: Dual Meet - competion between two teams Specialty Meets - many teams competing with a specific stoke, distance or theme Championship Meets - many teams competing for individual or team titles. The SENECY Championship Swim Meet is the biggest meet of the season for our team. This is the meet where all 14 teams swim each other. It usually takes place on the first weekend in March. This is a mandatory meet. All swimmers are expected to participate at this meet. When we host a meet in our pool, it takes a lot of people to make it run smoothly. This is a good time to volunteer to help. HOW DO SWIM MEETS WORK? Your child will be informed when to be at the pool (this is usually done at practice and a posting on our web site.), it is important to have your child at the Y at the correct time. This allows the coaches to tell the children what they will be swimming as well as give your child time to warm-up (swim) before the start of the meet. Each child is usually put into three events. It is VERY important that your child stay until they have swam all of their events - ALL swimmers MUST check with the Head Coach before leaving. Meets are long, hot and tiring. Be prepared to spend the afternoon. Typically, a dual meet will begin with warm-up around 11:30pm and last until 5:00pm. SHOULD I BRING FOOD FOR MY CHILD DURING A SWIM MEET? No food is allowed in the Fuller Pool area. A concession stand is set up away from the pool area and has hot dogs, pizza, drinks and a variety of baked goods. Parents will be asked to provide a food item for the stand. All proceeds benefit the swim team. ADDITIONAL SWIM MEET INFORMATION Make sure to bring a towel and footwear to all meets. Water makes the floors VERY Slippery! Flip-flops will prevent your child from picking up Planters Warts and Athletes Foot. Swimmers will not be allowed to leave the pool area in just a bathing suit. Remember that we swim during the winter months so bring a tee shirt and sweat pants to keep warm. WHAT DOES MY CHILD NEED TO BE ON THE SWIM TEAM? All swimmers are required to purchase the goggles and a team suit. Bathing caps are optional, but most, if not all the ladies and some of the guys wear a cap. A second swimsuit or practice suit is also needed. The chlorine is hard on suits and if the team suit is used for both practice and meets it will not make it through the season. Throughout the year various items will be available for sale during home swim meets (tee shirts, sweats and boxers), however none of these items are required. Swimmers should also wear flip-flops to and from the pool for all practices. HOW MANY EVENTS CAN MY CHILD SWIM IN? In general, each swimmer is allowed to swim three events per meet. WHERE CAN I GET SWIM TEAM SUITS AND ACCESSORIES? A local swim wear vendor, BEACH PARTY of Newport participates at generally all the swim meets in our league. Beach Party sets up a stand at each meet, selling suits, goggles, caps and a variety of swim stuff. Beach Party |
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