New Lane Lines

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support this summer as we raised funds for new lane lines!

They arrived this past Tuesday, looking great in Valdese colors!

Now for matching backstroke flags!

Thanks Again (and Survey Link)!

Good morning everyone!

I want to thank you all again for a great season. In the event you all missed our potluck on Saturday, we have remaining t-shirts, trophies, and ribbons at the Rec for you all to pick up.

Once again, we have a chance for you all to give us, the coaches and Rec staff, some feedback on your experience with the team. Please take a few minutes to sit down and answer our questions. We welcome any constructive criticism so we can help make our team and your experience as a member of our team a constantly improving experience. Click here for the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BJ9T3BM.

In closing, I can't thank you all enough for the great experience this summer. I am incredibly proud of how you all did, and what we accomplished as a team. I hope you all have a wonderful last few weeks of summer before school starts back, and I look forward to seeing you all next summer for another great season!

WAY TO GO TORPEDO! Girls First, Boys Second, Combined Second! (and Potluck Info!)

Good morning!

You all did a fantastic job with the meet yesterday. We saw some great swims from everyone, and everybody can claim they had a part of what I would certainly call a victory.

Everyone did great both in and out of the water. In the end, our girls won for the entire meet! Great job girls! The boys were second to Granite group that was literally twice their size, and they did a great job, as well! In the end, we came out second as a team. Great job!

In the event you were unaware, we were trading the lead on and off for the better part of the meet with a team that had 40 MORE SWIMMERS THAN US. I think that shows the quality of swimmers we have and train during the summer. Fantastic.

A special thank you goes out to our Concession Crew. When all was said and done yesterday, they helped the team raise $676 to go towards our new lane lines. THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to all of our volunteer timers, runners, ribbon labelers, and our stroke and turn official Amy Qurollo. Thank you to the Oxentines and the Blackwoods for running our scoring computer. Without each and every one of you, our meet would not have happened. If anyone wants to learn to do the various jobs, let me know and we can get you set up.

Thank you to all of our parents for getting everyone to the pool to warm up at 7am, especially after providing a wonderful spaghetti dinner the night before. I know that it was early for everyone, and I want to thank you for making the effort to be there and to support the swimmers and the team.

Thank you to Coach Alec for learning to run the timing console in time for the meet. If anyone else wants to learn the pads, it isn't too difficult and I can train you in about 30 minutes. Contact me and we'll get something worked out.

Thank you to Coach Haley for helping wrangle kids and sign up volunteers, as well as adding some depth to our 15-18 girls. This was Coach Haley's last meet where she could swim with the kids, so next year she graduates to our "Fools in the Pool" age group.

Thank you to Doug, Bret, and all of the lifeguards who helped out yesterday. We are really fortunate to have a department that is so supportive of all the swimmers and our program. You all are a fantastic group to work with and for, and I and everyone thanks you. Also, if you haven't gotten your shirt yet, please check with Bret at the counter to pick it up.

We will have ribbons, medals, and trophies from the entire season at our potluck dinner on Saturday, August 2. We will plan to eat at 6:30, but let's start gathering at 6pm. Everyone bring a dish you love to make and share it with our VTST family. I'll be bringing my jambalaya again!

Meet at Granite Falls Tonight (including directions)

Good morning everyone!

I want to urge everyone one last time to take a moment to contribute to our fundraiser. You can donate securely online at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lane-lines-for-valdese. This is a secure website. Any amount ($5, $10, $20, etc.) will go a long way to helping us meet our goal. We are doing this to improve the pool you and your swimmers all enjoy. It is for their benefit and for the benefit of the community at large.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone tonight. There is the chance of rain, so please come prepared in the event it does rain. As usual, parents please plan to volunteer for spots to time and help officiate.

We do need a few parents who are comfortable around computers to spend some time learning to use the timing/scoring program. It isn't a difficult job once you've seen it done a few times, and it is primarily data entry. The more people we have with knowledge of the program, the better. Anyone interested in helping out this way, please come see me when you arrive for the meet.

Directions to the Granite Falls Recreation Department (56 Pinewood Rd., Granite Falls): Take Malcolm Blvd./ Connelly Springs Rd. across the river. Turn Right on Dry Ponds Rd., then Left on Main St. Take the first Right on Pinewood Rd. Take the first Right to stay on Pinewood Rd. and the Rec should be on the Left.

There are a lot of swimmers for Granite Falls, so please try to get there with ample time to find a place and to warm up. Swimmers need to be there and ready to get in the water by 5:30pm. Let's have a great meet tonight!

Meet Tonight at McDowell (and sign up for Granite Falls!)

Good afternoon Torpedo!

Great job last week against Forest City! I hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day!

Our meet tonight is at McDowell against the Mariners. We will once again need to have timers for the meet. PLEASE take the time to volunteer for one of the sessions. 

Directions to McDowell: Take I-40 West to Exit 86 (Marion/Shelby exit). Turn right at the end of the ramp. Stay on this road until you come to the second stoplight. Turn right on Rutherfordton Rd. Rutherfordton Rd. takes you to Main Street. Go around the curve. The road will widen. Go straight. At the fourth stoplight, turn left on Court St. Go down a hill. Take the second right on Academy St. The pool is on the hill on the left.

We warm up at 5:30, so please be there and be ready to get in at that time. See you all then!

Directions to Forest City

Good afternoon everyone!

Here's hoping for a great meet tonight in Forest City! Bring water and snacks, although there will be concessions available. Parents need to sign up to assist with volunteer assignments like timing. The meet should run fairly quickly.

Directions to Callison Recreation Center, Forest City: Away meet at Forest City: Warm-ups are at 5:30pm. Take I-40 West to Exit 103. At the end of the exit ramp, turn left. Take HWY 64 to Rutherford County. After passing through Westminster Community, turn left on Hudlow Rd at the traffic light. Follow Hudlow Rd to West Main Street in Forest City. Turn left on West Main Street. Take the first right right (Westview St), and then the first left onto Clay St. The pool is on the right.

See you all there!

UPDATE: Meet Tuesday, June 24

Good afternoon Torpedo family!

Thank you to everyone who has worked hard on our fundraiser. We are now over $1,200! We still need your help to get the word out to folks, and to encourage them to donate. Every little bit will help. The link can be found here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lane-lines-for-valdese. We have 19 days left to raise the needed amount!

On to business: the meet this week has expanded. Forest City will be joining us and Granite Falls. We will have a lot of swimmers. Swimmers MUST be signed up by the end of Monday night's practice in order to be in the meet. If a swimmer isn't signed up, they will not be entered in the meet. Right now I believe most of you have signed up, but if you haven't and intend to participate, please sign up at practices on Monday.

There is the potential for the meet to run late if we don't have everything squared away with volunteers. We will need EVERYONE to help out or to be ready to help out if needed. Part of the fun of this team is getting to be involved in the running of the meets. Before the meet gets started, please come and see me to sign up for a volunteer slot.

There will be a lot of people, so get to the pool early to stake out your spot. You may come on deck as early as 4pm to set up any tents. There will be snow cones to help with the fundraiser, as well as to help ward off the heat. Warm-ups will begin promptly at 5pm, so please don't be late. We have a limited time for warm up. 

The meet will be available on Meet Mobile. In the event you haven't used this app before, it will give you all of the meet information including events your child is swimming, heat sheets, results, and scores. It is available for Android and iOs (iPhones, iPads). We will still post paper versions your swimmer's entries, but it is our hope to eventually move away from this to strictly using the app. You can find the meet by searching for "VTST." I can help you with this if you have difficulty, but as I will be busy right before the meet, please ask other team parents for help before you come to me.

See you all tomorrow!

Stroke and Turn Summary and Team Pictures!

Good morning Torpedo! Practices are going fantastic so far, and I wanted to get some more information to everyone about a few additional things for the summer!

First of all, we have already raised about $400 for our fundraiser. PLEASE get the word out to everyone you know via facebook, twitter, church circles, gas station stops, etc. So many people have benefited from the Rec, and this is a fantastic opportunity for folks to give a little back. Any amount is helpful! Here is the link again: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lane-lines-for-valdese

Second, the Tarheel Swim League hosted a stroke and turn clinic this past weekend in Marion. Special thanks to Amy Qurollo for taking the time to go after having finished her first half-marathon! If you have been trained as a stroke and turn official in the past, please make a point to come and speak to me. If you are interested in becoming one, please come and speak to me. It is important to have these and other positions filled at our meets, and the more folks we have able to do them, the easier it is on everyone else. I hope that we will see one member from each family participating in some role at meets, but our stroke and turn folks are incredibly important, and we desperately need you (last year's constant officials got a wonderful massage gift as a way of saying thank you)!

Finally, we will be having team pictures on July 17th at our home meet against Transylvania and Black Mountain. Sportpix from Shelby will be taking individual and team pictures beginning at 4pm. I will have order forms available beginning on Monday, June 16th.

That's it for now! Thanks again for being a great team! I'll be out of town Tuesday through Friday, and Coach Haley and Coach Alec will be handling practices. PLEASE REMEMBER our schedule change on Thursday to our new schedule.

Have a great day!

Stroke and Turn Update

Good morning!

First, thanks to everyone who has already visited our fundraiser site! Keep on visiting and pass the word on to friends and family. All sizes of donations are welcome and will go to meet our goal.

Now, to the main point of our post.

This Saturday is the Stroke and Turn clinic hosted in Marion by team and Rec. friend, Colleen Gillan. Anyone is welcome, but we would especially like to see our former stroke and turn officials and parents with some familiarity in the sport visit the clinic. We will need your help this summer!

The training will be from 1:30 to 4:30. The address is 348 Grace Corpening Dr., Marion, NC 28752. PLEASE contact me to let me know if you will be attending. I need to tell the hosts how many to expect. 

Have a great day!

Fundraiser live on indiegogo!

Good afternoon everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that our fundraiser, in conjunction with the Valdese Booster Club, is now live online! Our goal is to make enough to replace the lane lines for the pool, as well as to replace one of the older storage wheels. Please take some time to share this with friends, family, twitter followers, and facebook acquaintances!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lane-lines-for-valdese

See you all soon!

First Day Rain and More

Good morning Torpedo!

We had a great, albeit short, practice yesterday! I was really excited to see the kind of turn out we had, especially from our younger groups. It was also fantastic to see some of our familiar faces returning, eager to get back in the pool. If this is any indication of how we'll be this year, things are looking very positive. Keep on mentioning the team to friends and family members so we can continue to grow as the summer goes on. The latest anyone can sign up in July 1, so please keep on encouraging folks to join us this year!

Once again, please make sure you are receiving text messages from our text service. If you are having difficulties, please ask myself or another coach to take a look and see if we can't figure out the issue.

Finally, be on the lookout in coming days for a Recreation department-wide fundraiser to help us get new lane lines in time for the championship meet at the end of July. We're going to need your help in passing the word along, and ANY help promoting this via facebook, twitter, or word of mouth will go far.

See you all this afternoon (hopefully minus the thunder)!

Texting Reminders!

Last year we tried out our text reminder service, and we received a lot of positive feedback from you all about it. We are going to be using it again this year. If you are still signed up from last season, you won't need to sign up again. If you are new to the team, we urge you to PLEASE sign up for this service.try out an automated text reminder service.

If you want to receive text updates about things such as practice cancellations, please text @valdese in the text body to the number (828) 475-0121. Once you have done this, you should follow the directions you receive.

Your information will be kept private from other users and will not be given away or sold to any third party. These instructions will also be posted at the pool on the VTST bulletin board.

Stroke and Turn Clinic

Good morning everyone! There will be a stroke and turn training clinic on Saturday, June 7, in the afternoon. Please check below for more information, and RSVP to me as soon as possible. Space is limited!

Hey everyone. I've finally gotten everything for the Stroke and Turn Clinic confirmed. It will be held on Saturday, June 7 from 1:30-4:30 and will be free of charge. Colleen Gillan will be teaching the clinic for us at the Corpening Memorial YMCA multipurpose room B. 

This clinic is meant to train everyone in the rules and regulations of being a stroke and turn judge at the swim meets. It is also an excellent clinic for swimmers to take since it focuses on the techniques of each stroke and what is accepted and what is disqualified. Colleen will also have information for those who are Starters at all the meets.

See you all there!

2014 Announcements and Season Schedule!

Good afternoon everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the recent snows we have experienced these past weeks and are ready to get out to the pool! We are looking forward to a great summer with you all at VTST!

I'd like to address a few things with everyone as we look forward to the upcoming season. First, Morganton Swim Club will not be participating with the Tarheel Swim League this season. As a team, we should all be positive and wish them the best as they move forward and transition to different competition. They have provided us with great intra-county and intra-league competition over the years, and we will miss them.

Second, over the past few seasons we have done a tremendous job of encouraging new swimmers to join our team family. I would like to issue every Torpedo family member a challenge: I challenge you all to invite at least one friend or family member to join our team this season. Meeting this challenge will help us to ensure continued success within all of our age groups, continue to raise the profile of the sport in Burke County, and provide more people to share in the fun we all enjoy as members of the VTST family!  

Our schedule for the season is as follows:
Monday, April 21: Sign up sheets available at the Valdese Rec Fitness Counter.
Tuesday, May 27: After-school practice for the season begins- 11-12, 13-14, 15-18: 3:30-4:30; 10 &Under: 4:30-5:15.
Saturday, June 7: TSL Stroke and Turn/ Starter Clinic at McDowell YMCA (Marion) 9am-12pm. Please plan to attend if you are interested in officiating or have served as a stroke and turn official in the past. Clinic to be conducted by USA Swimming's Colleen Gillan, a well-respected official across the country.
Wednesday, June 11: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR BURKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS!
Thursday, June 12: Beginning of summer practice schedule. Evenings will practice every weeknight EXCEPT for meet nights, and morning practices will take place every morning EXCEPT for the morning following meets.
11-12, 13-14 Novice: 7:30-8:30am;
13-14 Advanced, 15-18: 8:30-9:30am;
8 and Unders: 5-5:45pm;
10 and Unders: 5:45-6:30pm.
PLEASE plan to have your swimmer at their appropriate practice. If you absolutely cannot find a way to get your swimmer to their appropriate practice, please contact me and I will be more than happy to work with you on some options.
Tuesday, June 24: Home Meet - Granite Falls Sharks (5pm Warm-up)
Tuesday, July 1: Away Meet - Forest City Stingrays (5:30pm Warm-up)
Tuesday, July 8: Away Meet - McDowell Mariners (5:30pm Warm-up)
Thursday, July 10: Away Meet - Granite Falls Sharks (5:30pm Warm-up)
Thursday, July 17: Home Meet - Transylvania Aquabats/ Black Mountain Stingrays (5pm Warm-up)
Saturday, July 19: Sprint/ Distance Meet at Forest City; 11 and Up Only (Warm up TBD)
Friday, July 25: Spaghetti Dinner at Rotary Park immediately following 10 and Under Practice (6:30pm)
Saturday, July 26: TSL Conference Meet at Valdese (Warm up TBD)
Saturday, August 2: Team Potluck Dinner and Awards Ceremony (Rotary Park, Time TBD)

Please be on the lookout for more updates. We will once again be utilizing the Remind101 text service, so please sign up if you haven't! Enjoy your sunny Sunday afternoon!

~Coach Andersen