Good afternoon, Torpedo!
I hope everyone is doing their best to stay cool in this heat! In this post I first want to address practice this afternoon (Friday, June 28). It is extremely hot today, and it will continue to be for a few days. We will still be having practice this evening. However, parents use your best judgement on whether your swimmers should attend. If your swimmers are already tired from the heat of the meet last night, let them rest and recuperate. Please have them drink lots of water over the course of the weekend, as many heat-related illnesses can occur due to lack of fluids (Coke, sweet tea, and anything with caffeine DOES NOT COUNT!). So again, come to practice tonight if you feel OK doing so, but please keep the weather in mind and drink plenty of fluids beforehand.
Second, for those who didn't hear at the end of the meet last night: Practice for next week on TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, and THURSDAY is CANCELED for the holiday. We will have morning and evening practices on both MONDAY AND FRIDAY.
Now, on to celebration! We had a hot meet last night, and our swimmers burned it up in the pool against Forest City! While numbers were certainly in our favor last night, the Torpedo had a great showing. We were able to get the meet done relatively quickly, and many of our swimmers had best times in at least one event. All the relays swam well, and the coaches only received a couple of DQ slips last night, which always makes us happy! We won the meet by a significant margin, and we had some good competition from Forest City. Way to go Torpedo!
Thank you to all of the lifeguards and Rec. staff who helped run the meet last night. Thank you especially to the parents who volunteered to help out with the various meet positions. Many parents who volunteered did so for the entire evening, instead of just one shift, due to necessity. We will be hosting two more meets this season, including our next meet on July 12. For those meets, the coaches expect parents to assist with the meet. While there are a few skilled areas for volunteers, the majority of tasks are not difficult to perform. PLEASE PARENTS: WE NEED YOUR HELP TO HOST MEETS! Without you to volunteer, coaches are not able to fulfill coaching responsibilities and instead have to pick up cards after events and hand out ribbons to heat winners, among other things. If you are interested in learning how to Clerk of Course (get kids into their events and heats), run the scoring system (input times into a computer), or be a stroke and turn judge, LET A COACH KNOW! These are not difficult tasks, and the more people we have familiar with these positions, the less stressful it is on everyone. Timing is incredibly simple, and it is also the best seat in the house. If you have older swimmers, or if you have someone able to keep an eye on your swimmer, such as a spouse, another Torpedo family member, or family friend, please volunteer to time! The more people we have sign up to time, the more sessions we can work, which will in turn decrease the collective burden. Don't think of this as time away from your swimmers or family, but rather as time interacting with them and something they have an interest in: being an active part of VTST and the Valdese swimming community as a whole.
