Spring 2025 Registration Opens January 2nd for Returning Families, January 9th for NEW Families. Help Spread the Word!
Happy Holidays to All and to All we hope you are looking forward to a much needed School Break! Even as we get ready to break for school, we wanted to let you know your Tidalwaves board has been working double-time to get ready for the 2026 Spring Season!
2026 Registration Open Dates
Registration for our Returning Families (anyone who has participated in a Tidalwaves or Tadpole program in the past and is therefore on the distribution list to receive this e-mail) opens on January 2nd. Registration for NEW Families opens on January 9th.
Why the different dates? Tradition dictates that we offer a headstart to those who have already participated with us. We may reach our age group maximums, so please get your registrations in as soon as you can. Mark your calendars!
2026 Season Dates
February 23 - July 3rd. For team-level swimmers, splash week practices start February 23rd, and meets start April 25th with our time trial meet. Links to detailed schedules are below.
We'll get back to you on the Tadpole Season. While we are thrilled to hear that the College of Marin pool project remains on track for a "March" completion, we have yet to receive the key information we need to plan our program...when in March? Efforts to obtain this information have not yet been successful. I've been told I will have that information by the end of this coming week...yep, all I want for Christmas is to be able to schedule our Tadpole program! As soon as I can, I will share the information. We are encouraged that we will have a program that will look similar to what we have run in the past, but I cannot yet be specific. Please stay tuned!
Tidalwaves Swim Team to HOST The Marin Swim League Champs Snack Bar, JUNE 27th!
8 & Under Practices at Redwood all Season, and at COM When We Can Get In!
Similar to the uncertainty around the end of the COM, Kentfield renovation project that is impacting our tadpole plans, we don't know yet at what point we will be able to offer our 8 & Under practices at COM. We have, however, secured pool time at Redwood so that our 8 & Unders will have practice opportunities 5 days a week, until the COM pool re-opens. And no, we don't expect the little ripples to come every day. A good goal is 3 times a week to see improvement throughout the season. Team-level swimmers have the flexibility to pick the practice days that work best for them and we don't need to know in advance.
As in previous years, we do know that COM practices for our little ripples will end when our Redwood High School pool time shifts earlier in the afternoon at the beginning of May. From May to the end of June all Tidalwaves team level practices will be at Redwood only.
2026 Assessments for NEW 8 & Unders
This year assessments of New 8 & Under swimmers (whether tadpole level or team level) will again be required before having the swimmer join the program and charging the full registration fee. We will be holding assessments for NEW swimmers (ages 8 & younger) on Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1 and again on Saturday, February 7th for those who seek to enter the tadpole program or the team-level program.
For families with swimmers who did Spring Tadpoles last year and are interested in assessing for team readiness, we recommend that you register for a spot as a Returning Tadpole and then sign up for an assessment time slot. The reason for this is that tadpoles fills up much faster than the 8 & Under team-level group. It's easier to bump kids up. If Marie has already let you know that your tadpole graduate is team-ready, please register as a Returning 8 & Under.
2026 Fees
As always, we are committed to keeping our rates as low as possible to encourage participation for ALL. We've even kept the ever-popular early registration discount. Remember, the early registration discount is our way of incenting you to help your board plan better. Receiving the bulk of our registrations early helps us plan, and boy does your board like to plan!
| If Registered before 2/1/2026 |
If Registered on or after 2/1/2026 | |
| Regular Season 1st Swimmer Fee | $475.00 | $495.00 |
| Regular Season Additional Swimmers' Fee* | $460.00 | $480.00 |
| High School Season Swimmer Fee** | $150.00 | $150.00 |
| Assessment Fee (only for NEW 8 & Unders) | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Tadpole Fees | unknown at this time* | unknown at this time* |
| Waitlist Fee | $10.00 | $10.00 |
* Additional Swimmers means "additional swimmers in the same family".
** Note the High School Swimmer Season registration rate applies only to High School swimmers who, due to commitments to their high school team cannot begin practicing with Tidalwaves until the completion of their high school season in early May.
Meet Schedules Available on the Website! Practice Schedule...not yet final.
For those whose only gift wish this holiday is for something to help them organize their life better in the New Year, we are working hard for you, however, until we know the situation with the COM, Kentfield pool, we need to stay agile with our practice scheduling. Chances are good that the schedule will look similar to the practice schedule for 2025, however, we will publish our definitive schedule after confirmation from COM. In the meantime, we do have the meet dates for the season on the website. Remember, Champs is June 27th this year followed by the Awards banquet on June 28th...and the all-important pool party will be July 3rd (still waiting for confirmation from TUHSD).
When do Volunteer Sign Ups Open?
This year we're opening volunteer sign-ups on February 13th. We'll give our Returning families a head start on registration, but for volunteer sign-ups, we'll all "take our marks," at the same time. Changes to job descriptions are being made as we speak and will be posted sometime in January. Click here to learn more about the Spring Season volunteer commitment and the many job choices available for so many different skill sets and schedules coming together.
Help Spread the Word!!
Ahh, you already do so much, we hate to ask for a gift from you, but what the heck... There is one wee gift you can give your board and team this year...help us spread the word! We are a team that believes in the gift of swimming for EVERY child in our community! It's a life skill, it's a place to make and build on friendships year after year, a place to continue to work toward skill competence and a place where EVERY swimmer and their family can feel like they belong to our COMMUNITY TEAM! Invite your friends and invite your friends to invite their friends. After you invite them, invite people you don't even know. Everyone is welcome on the Tidalwaves team! That's how we make a Tidalwave size "BLUE WAVE" splash in the community!
That's it for now, but keep watching your e-mails, we've got a TIDALWAVE of information to share...but we'll try and send it out in smaller sets of WAVES...oh, the fun is only just beginning! GO WAVES!
