July 26th Update: Fall schedule/season info, and other important team news

Good morning Tritons!

This newsletter is going to be a big one, but I will try to be as concise and informative as possible.

Fall Season

As we head into our next season, there will be a few changes to the structure of practices. Some of these changes were already being planned, especially to fix the overlap and akwardness of transition between practice sessions, but they happen to also accommodate our current situation.

Structural changes:

• Riptide B: Riptide A and B will be combined into one united Riptide.
• Tsunami: will split into Tsunami A and Tsunami B.
• I will have swimmers assigned lanes. List will be created prior to practice and will be assigned on September 3/4. I already have an idea of what lanes each swimmer will be placed, and this will allow me to differentiate workout volume/intensity while keeping technique work the same across a session, similar to how Tsunami is currently ran.
• Criteria for promoting across the groups will be shared on our website. I am working on making the page look presentable and not too poorly formatted!

Practice Times:

• I will be sending an email to each person to communicate which practice group each swimmer is invited to.
• Riptide will have practice 4:30pm-5:30pm on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
• Tidal Wave will have practice 4:30pm-5:30pm on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
• Tsunami B will have practice 5:30pm-7:00pm on Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and will practice 4:30pm-5:30pm on Tuesday/Thursday
• Tsunami A will have practice 5:30pm-7:00pm on Monday-Friday
• I have an updated graphic that I have uploaded to our website here. Also included on that page is our 2024-2025 scheduled breaks.
• Our team calendar has also been updated with our scheduled breaks for 2024-2025. [Link here]
• Pricing will remain largely the same for each of the practice groups. 

Note on coaching situation:

     After an internal search for possible replacement candidates, I want to officially reach out to the swim team families to see if there is interest in volunteering/being onboarded as an assistant coach.

     Our team has historically had several parents become great assistant coaches, and I remember each of them fondly. Some of you may know Mel Pusateri, either through being a patient, or if you had kids on the swim team a few years ago. He was the most recent in a long line of parents who have helped in that capacity. Before that was Scott Elliot, and before that was Jim Byfield. Each of these assistant coaches have helped create great memories and have made a positive impact on the team, molding it into what it is today. 

     The new assistant coach position will be more traditional, assisting on deck with swimmer feedback, or timing splits. I will be leading each of the practice groups and providing the workouts - my seasonal plan is almost complete and I am excited for the future! If you are interested or have any questions, let me know via email: [email protected]

     In addition to parents, many of our coaches have also been through the program themselves. Isaac started swimming with the team around the age of 12 and became a coach. Keegan McAdams was another swimmer who had become a long-time assistant coach and now is the head coach of the Stanwood YMCA's swim team. The team has been stuck with me since 2007, and I've seen several other older swimmers help out on deck. With more planned mentor swimming days ahead, I am hopeful we have more cohesion between the practice groups and also provide more opportunities to develop our swimmer's leadership skills and confidence.

Swim Team Tryouts

• I have chosen not to do a huge outreach campaign on the swim tryouts, as we are near capacity with the current team. We will still be holding tryouts next week, as we do have a few openings left for each practice group!
• Tryouts are for potential new team members only; if you are already a Triton, you do not need to attend tryouts!
• Please check out our event page for more information
• If you know someone that is interested in joining the team, don't hesitate to let them know!

Other Important Info

• Our team handbook has been updated for the 2024-2025 swim year!
  • I will need swimmers to sign the code of conduct before jumping in the water in September.
  • Prohibited behavior and actions and their consequences will be clearly outlined and enforced. A safe and positive atmosphere is paramount to the success of the team.
• I have regained managing access to our SwimOutlet store!
  • The list of required gear will be added to our website. Each swimmer is responsible for their own gear, and we will start using it on day 1.
  • There will be days where we don't use something like fins, but each swimmer will be expected to bring them each day.
  • If gear is forgotten or a swimmer does not have a certain item, the workouts can still be done without them. Swim gear is never the central focus of a practice, but can help make building certain aspects of a stroke easier. Here are a couple of examples
    • Kick sets can be done without fins, but adding fins adds more resistance, which helps strengthen the muscles and keeps a workout dynamic and engaging.
    • Snorkels can help with sculling and drill work, so a breath doesn't have to break the rhythm.
• If you are attending the meet on August 3rd, please consider clicking the link here to help out: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A5A922A1FCC61-50168577-2024
  • Thank you in advance!!
• Almost finished fixing my 3D Printer! To those that I owe monthly badges to - they will be ready by September, don't worry I haven't lost track.
  • Monthly Challenges will resume in September
  • I will have a more flushed out reward system for collecting badges put on the website

As always, thank you all for your support! Sorry this was a bit of a longer read than normal, but I hope it provides some insight into the Fall and beyond.

Best,
Joseph Shelly