Good afternoon, Torpedo Family!
It is hard to believe, but the middle of the season and Independence Day are upon us! We have been in the water for over a month, and the swimmers have come a long way in a short time. We're excited to see what the second half of the season holds.
To that end, I wanted to remind everyone that WE WILL NOT PRACTICE ON JULY 4. We don't practice on Fridays anyway, so that will be an off day, as well. We will host Granite Falls on Saturday, July 6th.
Thursday we head to Boone to swim a fun meet with Watauga. This will be their first time hosting a summer league meet, and we will be assisting them with making sure it goes smoothly. There are still some volunteer spots open: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084CABAE2AAAF58-50164353-valdese#/
Their coaches are experienced swimmers and knowledgeable coaches, but, as a team, they are hoping to learn from our logistical experience, so please be patient with them. The pool is indoors. Families can set up outside of the building in front of the pool area, and they can enter clerk of course through doors that will lead on the deck of the instructional pool/slide run out. When ready to race, swimmers will then progress to the blocks in the competition pool. There is a viewing gallery above the deck area for spectators.
Top Image: Clerk of Course will be on the deck area in the left of the image. Families can set up outside in the area beyond glass wall.
Bottom Image: Gallery area overlooking competition pool. Clerk of course area is to the right with this orientation.
This Saturday we host Black Mountain. Warmups will be at 8am. There will be a lot of swimmers, and this should be a good meet. Please have your swimmers signed up by Thursday morning. Again, please be prepared to time/volunteer. If each family has one volunteer for the meet, we will not have any issues finding timers or other workers. Volunteer sign up is here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084CABAE2AAAF58-50119554-black#/
After this Saturday, we will have one more home meet (7/6 against Granite Falls) and two more regular away meets (Thursday, 7/11 in Granite and Friday, 7/19 in Shelby). The 11 and Over swimmers will have the Sprint/Distance meet on Saturday, July 13 in Forest City.
Due to some circumstances I'll discuss below, I need to have the entries
for the 7/6 meet by the end of the meet on Saturday here on 6/29 against Black
Mountain. Please have the 7/11, 7/19, and Sprint /Distance entries done
by the end of the meet on 7/6. It's easier to remove/scratch swimmers
than to add them in, so if you think you will attend, please sign up!
Again, it is going to be critical that we
have people volunteer to time and perform other duties. I will have the other
SignUpGenius sign ups for the meets scheduled to go out via Remind for
the remaining meets, and anyone able to assist at Sprint/Distance will
be needed to help. If swimming the mile at Sprint/Distance, swimmers
will need to provide a volunteer timer and lap counter for their race
(this can be parent, sibling, friend).
It is my hope that we will have our T-Shirts here for the meet this Saturday. They can be picked up at the concession stand on deck. All swimmers were provided an opportunity to order a shirt when you registered, and those are the sizes we ordered. We did order some additional stock in primarily adult sizes for any parents or other family members wanting a shirt, but those numbers are limited and available first come, first serve. They will be $15 per shirt.
As many of you know, I underwent surgery this past August. Unfortunately, I'm dealing with the same situation again, and due to some other things coming up later this year (Footrace/Festival, anticipated pool structure decisions, other staffing considerations), I'm going to be undergoing surgery again on Tuesday, July 2. It is outpatient, but I will likely be out for two weeks. There is never a good time for a prolonged absence, but this is the least bad option for me to take care of this. I will be in communication with the coaches, but I have full faith in them to guide the team during my absence. This is the reason for the shift in sign up dates for meets. I want to be sure to give myself and the coaches a good amount of time to get entries in.
Thank you all for your help and making this a great season! Let's finish strong!
