BSC Newsletter - 1/23/2020
Dear BSC families,
This newsletter is packed with important announcements for the team, so please take a few minutes to read through the introduction and the sections that are relevant to you/your athlete.
First, Coach Bryan Koester is no longer working for the San Mateo Athletic Club; we thank him for his past service. To maintain professional standards we do not discuss the departure of any former employee. Coach Carlos is now leading the Silver Advanced and Blue II groups.
Second, we are in need of swim meet officials! Officials are the people who make swim meets run, from being the starter, to judging relay takeoffs, to watching for legal starts and turns. Officials are all volunteers, even at the national level, and are usually the parents of current or former swimmers. Our team only has TWO registered officials. Now that USA Swimming requires teams to provide officials at swim meets where their athletes are signed up, this puts a burden on our two parent officials. Please see the section below if you’d be willing to help officiate.
Lastly, this weekend is the Zone 1N Championships, which will be held here at SMAC. This is a huge meet hosted by our Zone (1 North) and our Bulldogs are ready to race. Please join me in congratulating our teammates for qualifying for the Z1N Champs, and wish them luck when you see them!
-Coach Megan
| Zone 1N Championship – Individual Qualifiers |
|
| Gabe Anagnoson (13) |
Lily Anagnoson (11) |
| Jane Chen (16) |
Conrad Chern (10) |
| Natalie Chern (8) |
Evan Chiu (14) |
| Eden Chuang (12) |
Zoe Chuang (10) |
| April Diehn (10) |
Eva Diehn (8) |
| Piper Diehn (13) |
Alexa Elliott (8) |
| Hinako Karachiwala (13) |
Riko Karachiwala (10) |
| Kenneth Kohn (16) |
Sean Lai (14) |
| Marc Lam (14) |
Colby Laser (12) |
| Aidan Lee (15) |
Ciaran Lee (10) |
| Keira Liang (7) |
Kashya Lim (12) |
| Katie Morris (10) |
Ollie Spittle (17) |
| Makena Truong (10) |
Teo Truong (14) |
| Emily Tubbs (15) |
Finn Vos (10) |
| Zone 1N Championship – Relay Qualifiers |
|
| Elliott Bliss (16) |
Mak Boonyapornnad (10) |
| Ethan Cao (10) |
Adrian Gong (12) |
| Kirill Khrameov (12) |
Chris Stray (11) |
Table of Contents
- ALL: Become an Official – it’s easy!
- ALL: Practice Schedule Changes
- ALL: Parent Contact List
- ALL: FIELD TRIP to Stanford
- ALL: Winter Warrior
- COMPETITIVE: Swim Meets
ALL: Become an Official – it’s easy!
Starting this year, USA Swimming has made it mandatory for swim teams to provide a number of officials at each meet proportional to the number of swimmers the team has competing at the meet. Sam Chuang, father of Eden and Zoe Chuang, is one of our two current parent officials. If your child is in a competitive group, you may have recently received an email from him about officiating. It’s important, it’s something to do at meets while waiting, and you don’t have to be a swimming expert to do it. There are perks too. In Sam’s words:
You don’t have to be a swimmer or have any background in swimming to qualify. All it takes is time and commitment, plenty of which become available [when you’re sitting around at swim meets]… It’s a volunteer position and swim meets would not be possible if it were not for the parents who officiate… With the position comes free coffee, awesome food, and great parking.
All officials are required to attend one clinic every year and there is one coming up on Sunday, February 9 at the ALTO CBA+ swim meet at Gunn High School. This is especially convenient for parents who will already be going to the meet. The officials clinic will take place during the meet warm-ups from 7:00-8:30am. Coffee and snacks will be provided. Sign up HERE.
See this checklist for a complete description of the four (4) steps to becoming a Pacific Swimming official, and see Pacific Swimming’s officials’ page for additional resources.
ALL: Upcoming Practice Schedule Changes
On Friday, February 14 and Friday, March 13 the entire pool will be closed until 5:00pm due to CSM hosting invitational swim meets. The alternate practice schedule for these two Fridays is as follows:
NO PRE-TEAM
NO BLUE I
NO BLUE II
5:00-6:30pm Bronze through Senior combined workshop
ALL: Parent Contact List
One piece of feedback we got from the parent meetings in December is that parents wanted a way to get in touch with each other, to coordinate carpools to practice and swim meets, and to communicate with the coaches about group-specific topics. Our swim mom, Tracy Park, mother of Isla Iyer in Bronze, stepped up to the task and created a Google Form to put together contact lists for the parents of each group. If you’d like to join one of the group parent lists, please fill out THIS FORM. Thank you, Tracy!
ALL: FIELD TRIP to Stanford
Saturday, February 15, 2020
10:15am - Caravan leaves SMAC
10:45am - Warmups start
12:00pm - Meet starts
This is an opportunity for our athletes to feel the excitement of the second-highest level of competitive swimming in the world, to watch Olympians and Olympic-hopefuls race in-person, and to observe how they conduct themselves during a swim meet.
We will meet at SMAC at 10:15am and carpool/caravan down to Stanford as a team. We intend to arrive at the pool by 10:45am so that we can watch the teams' warm-up routine ahead of the meet. Competition starts at 12:00pm and is free to spectators, though there is no snack bar. Please plan to bring a snack that is shareable with 6 teammates -- popcorn, goldfish, pretzels, carrots, chips, etc. Parking is free in Garage PS-7 in Faculty Building East.
Do the following by Friday, Feb 14, so that we can be organized:
- RSVP by logging into your team account, clicking the EVENTS & COMPETITION tab on the left, and selecting FIELD TRIP. Click on the Attend/Decline button and select the athlete(s) who plan to attend.
- Tell us whether you are willing to drive or your athlete needs a ride. Under FIELD TRIP, click on Job Signup. On the right side there will be several groups of 5-6 checkboxes. If you can drive, check the first box in one of the groups and make sure your full name appears. If you/your athlete want a ride, check one of the boxes below a committed driver. This will allow us to keep track of our athletes and ensure that everyone has a ride who needs one.
ALL: Winter Warrior
The results are in for Winter Warrior, which took place from November 15, 2019 – January 15, 2020. Our athletes earned a point for every day that they scanned into the Aquatics Desk or were checked in by their coach on the attendance roster. Each athlete who earned a certain number of points, according to the scale below, will receive a Winter Warrior prize sometime next week.
Pre-Team, Blue I & II, and Water Polo: 12+ attendances
Bronze, Silver, Silver Advanced: 20+ attendances
Gold & Senior: 25+ attendances
COMPETITIVE: Swim Meets
Zone 1N Championships – January 25-26, 2020 – at SMAC
If you/your athlete is competing in the Z1N Champs this weekend, please look out for a separate email from Coach Megan, with comprehensive details about the meet such as parking, tent setup, spectator seating, warmups, relays, etc.
Please note that this meet runs on volunteers, and every team is expected to fulfill their assigned role. If you will be at the meet, please signup to help us fulfill our role as Head Timer for the GIRLS course. It’s not as hefty as it sounds, just starting a stopwatch for every heat. More details to come.
ALTO CBA+ – February 8-9, 2020 – Gunn High School – STILL OPEN!!
The meet director informed us that the PM session has closed but the AM session (13&Over) is still accepting entries. If you/your athlete are 13&Over and in a competitive swim group, please sign up for this meet ASAP. Ask your/their coach which events you/they should sign up for. All USA Swimming strokes and distances will be offered at each session.
There will be an Officials Clinic held during meet warm-ups on Sunday, from 7:00-8:30am. Parents, to join the clinic and take your first step toward becoming an official, sign up HERE.
BAC CBA+ -- February 22-23, 2020 – TBD
The meet director has not yet published a meet sheet for this meet, and therefore the meet is not yet open for registration. We will notify the entire team as soon as the meet opens. Ask your coach which events you should swim at this meet, so you are ready to register as soon as it opens!
Senior Open – March 7-8, 2020 – Dolores Bengston Aquatic Center
This meet is only open to those swimmers who meet the “ Senior Open” qualifying standard in one or more events. If you are 11 or older and have a Senior Open time, we highly encourage you to compete in this meet, which has competition that is older and faster on average than the CBA+ meets. This meet is now accepting entries via SWIMCONNECTION.
Spring Meets 2020
As soon as one of these meets opens for registration, we will notify the team.
Feb 6 (Thursday) Intrasquad Meet @ SMAC
Feb 8-9 ALTO CBA+ in Burlingame – ALMOST CLOSED!
Feb 22-23 BAC CBA+ in Palo Alto
Feb 27-Mar 1 Sectionals
Mar 1 Zone All-Star Meet in Santa Clara – invitation only
Mar 4 (Wednesday) Intrasquad Meet @ SMAC
Mar 7-8 Senior Open in Pleasanton – NOW ACCEPTING ENTRIES on SWIMCONNECTION
Mar 13-15 Spring Junior Olympics in Santa Clara
Mar 21-22 PSL CBA+ in Pacifica
Apr 2-5 Far Western Champs
