Team Events

Upcoming Events

May 15 Update: Important dates and Monthly Challenge info

Joseph Shelly

Good afternoon Tritons!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sun before a forecasted weekend of rain. I have a few important pieces of information to briefly share:

Important dates/deadlines

  • Registration deadline for the TAC meet in Anacortes is tomorrow May 16th at 11:59pm. This is a short course meter meet (so instead of 25 yards, their pool will be 25 meters long, a little bit more distance). This is a great intro to the metric system of swimming!
  • Registration deadline for the Wenatchee Starlight Invite meet is May 17th at 11:59pm. This is a long course meter meet, so the pool will be 50 meters long (more than double the length of our pool). Fun travel opportunity to an outdoor pool, and the meet was very well run last year!
  • No practice on May 27th for Memorial Day
  • We have been invited to participate in the 2024 Berry Dairy Day Parade with the rest of the Skagit YMCA! The parade is June 15th and the Y would like us to come and walk in swim gear (goggles, cap, etc.) and we would be handing out lifejackets to the crowd to promote water safety. If interested, please signup here so we can get a headcount: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A5A922A1FCC61-49718742-berry

Monthly Challenge

Thank you to the swimmers for participating in the first iteration of our team's monthly challenge! I have the results page here for those that haven't seen it yet in person: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sHYcQOfRHf2arrUF5VmXlTueZheX6qgIGWwcLj1qo8E/edit?usp=sharing

In that document I explain the process of scoring a little bit. Our intention is to create something fun that can be another way to motivate growth in swim technique. Back when I was a swimmer, I remember my coach setting up an "iron swimmer" challenge where you had to complete 100 pushups, 200 situps, and 20 pullups in one sitting. Swimmers that demonstrated they could do it got a little trophy and custom shirt. 

With our monthly challenges, we will be giving custom badges that can be attached to your swimmer's bag tags or a key ring. Once a swimmer has earned 10 badges, they may redeem a grand prize! The badges can be kept, as each year I will print them using a different color to differentiate them. They must get 10 unique badges, as each month will have a unique design (can't get two May challenge badges).

Congratulations to the following swimmers to receive the first badge of our new swim team tradition!

  • Victoria (1st place overall, 1st place Riptide B)
  • Marie (2nd place overall, 1st place Riptide A)
  • George (3rd place overall, 1st place Tidal Wave)
  • Liesel (4th place overall)
  • Henry Jones (5th place overal)
  • Russell (6th place overal)
  • Millie (7th place overal)
  • Sienna (8th place overall)
  • Avery (9th place overall)
  • Logan (10th place overal)
  • Landon (fastest turn time in Riptide A)
  • Rachael (fastest turn time in Riptide B)
  • Uriah (fastest turn time in Tidal Wave)
  • Artemiy (fastest turn time in Tsunami)

I will be printing these 14 badges and will put them in the swimmer mailbox next week. It takes about an hour to print each one, and I will need to buy more PLA for my printer, but my goal is to deliver sometime next week!

These challenges will take place when a coach can work them into their seasonal plan. There will usually be a couple sessions where they can be fit in, but there will not be prior notice so please keep attendance as high as possible to participate!

Our next monthly challenge will be a Breastroke efficiency challenge! The details are to be shared with each practice group during practice, but I will give you Tsunami's criteria for an example. Swimmers must complete a legal 50 breastroke with 4 strokes maximum in under the following times (organized girl's time standards / boy's time standards)

  • 13&U = 1:00/1:00

  • 14-16 = 0:55/0:50

  • 17+ = 0:50/0:40

 

Monthly challenges are supposed to be challenging but not impossible! It is very likely that a swimmer may not be able to complete the challenge right away, but I am hoping it gives another thing to give another fun thing to think about on swim team while also help motivate the desire to better their swim technique. These standards/criteria to earn a badge may be very different than other practice groups based on ability level / age.

 

I will keep our website updated with this information (under the swimmer tab), so please let me know if you have any questions!

 

Best,
Joseph Shelly