MSST Team Update 19 January 2026
FYI New information is HIGHLIGHTED
Important Upcoming Dates:
22 January 2026 - Solstice and Equinox Practice 4:00-5:30
23 January 2026 - Solstice practice 4:45-6:15
23-25 January 2026 - Senior Champs - Entries Due 7 January 2026
26-27 January 2026 - Solstice practice 4:45-6:15
30 January 2026 - 8th graders swim with Solstice 2:45-4:45
6-8 February 2026 - Sweetheart Meet - Entries Due 28 January 2026
9 February 2026 - Monthly Team Tryouts
13-15 February 2026 - Age Group Champs - Entries Due 28 January 2026
16 February 2026- No Practice - Presidents Day
19 February 2026 - Monthly Team Spirit Day
20 February 2026 - Team Solar Storm Intersquad Meet - Entries Due 18 February 2026
27-28 February 2026 - Nome Goldrush Meet - Entries Due 11 February 2026
6-8 March 2026 - Seize the Day Invite - Entries Due 11 February 2026
7 March 2026 - St. Patrick’s Day Meet - Entries Due 25 February 2026
9-13 March 2026 - Spring Break Practice Schedule - Solstice swims 4:45-6:15pm
14 March 2026 - Team Ice Skating
16 March 2026 - Monthly Team Tryouts
19 March 2026 - Monthly Team Spirit Day
24-28 March 2026 - ISCA Senior Cup - Entries Due 4 March 2026
27 March 2026 - No Practice Seward’s Day
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Team Meet Financial Travel Assistance
MSST has received a donation from Northern Area Aquatics to help offset the travel costs for swimmers to some of the meets we’ll be attending this year. The funds should cover a large amount of the cost for swimmers’ hotel room and car rental. Alaska Swimming offers reimbursement for airfare for state championship meets as well. Between the two the majority of the cost for swimmers to travel to these meets should be offset.
To receive these funds families need to send me their receipts for airfare, hotel and car rental within a week after the meet. Reminder this is only for the swimmers’ travel, parents' airfare is not eligible for reimbursement.
The meets with assistance are:
Senior Champs - Juneau
Age Group Champs - Kodiak
Nome Goldrush meet- Nome
ISCA Senior Cup - ST. Petersburg, Florida
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Annual Team Registration for 2026 is now open
Our annual registration is now open for all members. Please register with the team as soon as you can for 2026. Reminder that all swimmers must register annually with the team and agree to any policy changes that were made from last year.
Here is the link to our team registration: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/asmst/page/team-registration?reg_id=109746
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Annual USA Swimming Registration is now open for 2026
USA Swimming’s annual registration is now open for 2026. Reminder that all swimmers must register annually with USA Swimming for insurance purposes and so their times in meets count. Younger swimmers not swimming more than 2 meets a year can get away with doing the “Flex” membership, but if they are participating in more than 2 will need to upgrade to the premium membership. I believe that if you have the flex and then upgrade you pay the difference.
Here is the Team’s unique link to our USA Swimming Registration: https://omr.usaswimming.org/omr/welcome/7DB841C19B0820
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Hello All,
I am the new swim shop volunteer. My son, Quinn, has been swimming with MSST for the past year. As he moves up, so do I. Got to earn those points!
I’m continuing Jaunelle’s practice of having swim caps available in my folder (Schutte) at Hamme. Please leave $3 when you grab one.
You can email [email protected] or text 907-590-2630 when you need an item from the swim shop. I will respond as quickly as possible.
Looking forward to another great year of practices & meets.
Sincerely,
Jen Schutte
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Recruiting incentive for families:
New swimmers who join the team that let us know that they were referred by a family on the team will receive one month of free dues after the new swimmer pays for their 3rd month with the team.
New families just need to let coach Patrick know they were referred to the team by you and we will make sure that after they pay for their 3rd month of dues we will credit you for a free month of dues, for one of your athletes.
Get out there and start recruiting!
Any questions let coach Patrick know.
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Monthly Team Spirit Days, 3rd Thursday of every month
Wear your team gear around town and show your team spirit!
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Upcoming Meets
Solar Storm Intersquad Meet - 20 February 2026 - Entries Due 18 February 2026
Solar Storm Intersquad Meet - 1 May 2026 - Entries Due 29 April 2026
Solar Storm Intersquad Meet - 10 July 2026 - Entries Due 8 July 2026
We have added several team intersquad meets on the schedule this year. All swimmers should plan to attend each one as they will be held during practice time on Fridays, with the exception of one on Saturday morning. It will only be our team that participates in the meet. This is also a great opportunity for parents and swimmers to meet others on the team, and for parents to gain some experience in meet jobs they may be nervous to try out. These meets are targeted as team building meets and early competition opportunities for swimmers who may have not done a meet yet.
The format for these meets is that all swimmers signed up will be split evenly into several teams and they will compete against each other to see which team wins.
Our goals for this series of team meets are:
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Fun for our swimmers and parents.
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Low stress/pressure competition for all of our swimmers, especially those who have little to no experience in competing.
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Team cohesiveness and building.
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Educational opportunities for parents to learn different roles for meet jobs.
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Short duration meets, to be done in under 2 hours including warm up.
The cost for these meets are $5 entry and $1.50 per event swum.
These team meets will be very fun for the team. The times will count as they will be sanctioned events. Hopefully everyone on the team can compete in all of them.
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10 and under postal meet - 17 January 2026 - Entries Due 7 January 2026
Alaska Swimming annually hosts a virtual 10 and under meet where teams around the state swim the same events during the same week in their area and then the results are combined. This is a fun way to have our youngest swimmers compete in a championship meet without having to travel.
The meet will be held at the Patty pool the morning of 17 January and all swimmers 10 and younger should be in attendance to compete.
Ask your coach if this is a meet for you.
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Senior Champs - 23-25 January 2026 - Entries Due 7 January 2026
Alaska Senior Championship in 2025 will be held in Juneau. Qualifying times required to attend this meet are NAG16 13-14 'A' times, regardless of the swimmers' age. Swimmers need only make one qualifying time in order to attend as they can supplement their other events with bonus events they do not make standards in. This meet is also a state sponsored meet, where the state will reimburse a portion of the swimmers' travel expenses for attending.
This is a meet for swimmers in the Junior and Senior groups, but all swimmers who qualify should attend.
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Sweetheart Meet - 6-8 February 2026 - Entries Due 28 January 2026
The Sweetheart Invite is hosted by Stingray Swim Team at the Hamme pool. This open qualifier meet is held over three days and all swimmers should consider attending. This meet would be a great opportunity for new and developing swimmers to get a first or second meet under their belt. This is also an opportunity to make any last minute Age Group qualifying times or any additional cuts for Junior Olympics in April.
If you have any questions as to if this is a meet for you and your swimmer, ask you coach.
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Age Group Champs - 13-15 February 2026 - Entries Due 28 January 2026
Alaska Swimming Age Group Champs will be held in Kodiak this year.
Swimmers will need to have achieved at least NAG 16 single age 'B' times for every event they wish to swim. Swimmers earning a cut this year will also be able enter bonus events even if they have not made a cut in those events. This qualifier meet is held as a preliminary/ finals meet with 10 and youngers swimming timed finals in the morning session. This meet is limited to swimmers 14 and younger.
If you have questions about this meet, ask your coach.
Travel Fee: All swimmers will have a $100 travel fee added to their invoice. We work hard to keep travel fees as low as possible, but these fees are a necessity to allow us to travel throughout the season and give our swimmers a great experience. Your travel fee helps us defray the cost of team travel expenses; thank you for your support
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Nome Goldrush Meet - 27-28 February 2026 - Entries Due 11 February 2026
Nome will be returning this year with it's Goldrush meet held at the end of February. This has been a fun meet for swimmers and a great opportunity to see a smaller community in our great state. Swimmers do not need to have any qualifying times to enter into this meet so this would be a fun first travel meet for our younger swimmers to experience.
Ask you coach if this is a meet for you.
Travel Fee: All swimmers will have a $100 travel fee added to their invoice. We work hard to keep travel fees as low as possible, but these fees are a necessity to allow us to travel throughout the season and give our swimmers a great experience. Your travel fee helps us defray the cost of team travel expenses; thank you for your support
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Seize the Day Invite - 6-8 March 2026 - Entries Due 11 February 2026
This year we will be traveling to Snohomish, Washington for our March taper meet. We'll be able to get all swimmers who wish to attend into this meet as it does not require any cut off times to attend. Competition looks great for all swimmers.
Swimmers must be 11 or older in order to attend this meet with our 13 and older swimmers eligible for team travel. This is a meet for all swimmers on the team who are at least 11 years old.
We will only be competing on Saturday and Sunday and looks to be a fun weekend.
If you have questions, ask your coaches.
Travel Fee: All swimmers will have a $150 travel fee added to their invoice. We work hard to keep travel fees as low as possible, but these fees are a necessity to allow us to travel throughout the season and give our swimmers a great experience. Your travel fee helps us defray the cost of team travel expenses; thank you for your support
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St. Patrick’s Day Meet - 7 March 2026 - Entries Due 25 February 2026
The Saint Patrick's Day meet is held in North Pole and is a one day meet. This open qualifier meet is a great meet for those not traveling to Oregon Senior Champs or any of the other championship meets held in March. Swimmers competing here have a chance at making Junior Olympic times they haven't yet attained. This would be a great meet for swimmers who are new or developing in the sport.
If you have questions on if this is a meet for you, ask your coach.
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DOES MY SWIMMER QUALIFY FOR THAT MEET? CLICK HERE
Updated 10 January 2024
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12 AND UNDER TECH SUIT BAN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Midnight Sun Swim Team is an Arena Sponsored team. Swimmers have access to discounted racing suits depending on the highest level meet they have qualified for. Regardless of the level meet your swimmer may or may not have qualified for they are entitled to a discount listed below.
Remember when purchasing racing suits for swimmers 12 and younger they cannot compete in a tech suit. There is a link to more details on this ban lower in the email.
ARENA discount on select racing suits for swimmers:
If you would like to take advantage of the discount on the Arena tech suit (one per swimmer), please email me at [email protected].
· Swimmer’s name + Qualifying Meet (Sectionals, NCSA Juniors, Age Group, etc.)
· Arena Suit name and style, size, and preferred color (product code is helpful)
· Shipping & Billing address
· Once I receive the email, I will put together the quote, and send it to you for verification.
· Once you give the okay, I can process the order with payment. If you have a credit card on file, you can provide the last 4 digits as verification and I can process the order. If not, you can call SwimOutlet Team Division at 1-800-691-4065 and give them the order number that I email you.
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Band Communication App
Swimmers and parents should sign up for a band membership and then follow our “Band”. We primarily will use this app to communicate with our senior group from the coaches but anyone can use it and the info we post can be pertinent to everyone. We periodically will post test set results as they happen at practice in there also. Parents and swimmers should each have their own account for access.
The Band Page we have is private and anyone wishing to join will need to be approved by me before they have access to the page and see what we have posted in there.
Please share this info with your swimmers so they and you can make an account on here:
-Go to the band website or download the app
-Search for Midnight Sun Swim Team or Click here on your computer
-It should be self explanatory from there to request to join.
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Fred Meyer’s Rewards for the team
1. Create a digital account.
A digital account is needed to participate in Fred Meyer Community Rewards. If you already have a digital account, simply link your Shopper’s Card to your account so that all transactions apply toward the organization you choose.
2. Link your Card to an organization.
Selecting the organization that you wish to support is as simple as updating the Fred Meyer Community Rewards selection on your digital account.
1. Sign in to your digital account.
2. Search for your organization here.
3. Enter the name or NPO number of the organization you wish to support.
4. Select the appropriate organization from the list and click “Save”.
Your selected organization will also display in the Fred Meyer Community Rewards section of your account. If you need to review or revisit your organization, you can always do so under your Account details.
3. Your organization earns.
Any transactions moving forward using the Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Fred Meyer donates annually to participating organizations based on your percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending associated with all participating Fred Meyer Community Rewards organizations.
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See you on the deck.
Patrick Burda
Head Coach
440-570-8586
PO Box 83625
Fairbanks, AK 99708
