Rudgear Rats Newsletter: Week of May 18th
Upcoming Dates
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May 20: Rat Pack Training - 6:45pm-7:45pm
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May 21: REST vs. Scottsdale (No practice)
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May 26: No Practice
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May 28: REST @ SVST – Declare by 5/24
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May 30: No Practice
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May 31: REST @ Livorna – Declare by 5/28
TL;DR:
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First home meet Wed vs. Scottsdale! Wear green and be ready to cheer!
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Lessons available—sign up online.
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Know your job, check in, don’t skip shifts (fines apply). Floaters stay ready.
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DQs happen—coaches are here to help!
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Track times with Time Drops Live (code 7287) or MeetMobile.
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Silent Auction donations needed for scoreboard! Email Karen Clark.
Time Trials Results
Great swimming on Saturday RATS! We loved the cheering and handshakes, too! Remember, we do time trials so that swimmers have a baseline time to improve from, so we can’t wait to start seeing those POPS on Wednesday!
Thank you!
Thank you to Dan Speir, Allen Shearer, Chelsey Wood, Kori Sanom, and Adam Main for stepping in at the last minute to help in the timing area yesterday! We appreciate your RATical generosity and willingness to do it for the team!
We would also like to give a giant shout out to Ted Nixon for putting in HOURS to set up our sweet new timing system. Also huge thank you to our Desk team - Christie Crowl, Alex Garbutt, and Lauren Aepli - for learning how to use new software and equipment under max pressure. You are all meet heroes for sure.
Meet Declarations
We heard that an email went out to some families reminding them to declare for meets AND asking them to select strokes for their swimmers. This is not an email from us - the website we use must have auto-sent it, so please disregard. Please don’t select strokes for your swimmers for dual meets. You can always leave a note if you want to leave a suggestion or request for Coach Mason.
How we declare for dual meets:
1. Sign into the website.
2. For each meet on the Team Events calendar, click “edit commitment”
3. Select if your swimmer is attending or not.
First Meet - This Wednesday!
We have our first dual meet against Scottsdale this Wednesday - at home! Once the meet sheet is ready it will be sent out to the team. You can usually expect a Wednesday night meet sheet by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. All the same tips from Time Trials apply to meets - print a meet sheet to bring, mark your swimmer with their events, and rock all that Rudgear Green to rep our spirit! All info about warm-up times, food, etc. can be found on our season schedule.
Lessons
Coach Mason and Coach Ari are offering lessons. Jump over to our coaching page to find their sign ups.
Jobs
If you are signed up to work a dual meet and aren’t sure when to show up - please find that info here. Please make sure you sign in with our Meet Director (they will be wearing a red vest).
Please remember, if you signed up to be a floater you can be reassigned to any job - if you are a floater it is a good rule of thumb to have childcare plan set up if you have swimmers who need monitoring/help. If you are a floater and do not get reassigned, you are responsible for staying to help clean up the meet.
If you need to book a sub, please hire a responsible person who is 16 years or older. We have a subs list if you need help finding a sub. (Note: You must be signed in to the website to access this list.)
Reminder, you cannot bail on your job. Meets run on parent power and if you have committed to working we really need you to work the meet. If you miss your meet job you will be fined $150. (And if it happens again the fine doubles - eek.) Click here to check out all the rules around jobs.
Understanding Disqualifications (“DQs”) at Swim Meets
Now that swim meets are underway, we wanted to take a moment to explain disqualifications, commonly referred to as “DQs.”
A DQ happens when a swimmer does something that’s not allowed according to the rules for a particular stroke. For example:
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Not touching the wall with both hands at the end of breaststroke or butterfly
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Using a flutter kick during breaststroke or butterfly
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Rolling onto the stomach before finishing a backstroke race
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Walking or pushing off the bottom in any stroke
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Grabbing the lane line in any stroke
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False start (The swimmer leaves the starting block before the BEEP) in any stroke
These are just a few common examples—there are many stroke-specific rules swimmers learn over time.
It’s completely normal for new (and even experienced!) swimmers to get DQ’d. While it can be disappointing, it’s also a valuable part of the learning process. Our coaches review DQ reports and use them as helpful feedback to guide swimmers in improving their technique.
What Does “I Got County!” Mean?
During meet season, you might start hearing swimmers excitedly say, “I got County!” That means they swam a time fast enough to qualify for the County Championship Meet at the end of the season—an awesome accomplishment!
Many swimmers set “getting a County time” as a personal goal, and that’s something we love to see! At the same time, it’s helpful to know that typically about 10% of our swimmers will qualify in one or more events. Not every swimmer will get a County time, and that’s totally okay. Every swimmer improves, learns, and contributes to the team in meaningful ways, no matter what!
A quick note about relays:
If your swimmer is on a relay team that earns a County-qualifying time, that does not necessarily mean they’ll swim on that relay at the County Meet. Coaches make final relay decisions based on a few factors, including times later in the season and overall team strategy.
We’re so proud of all our swimmers—whether they’re chasing County times, shaking competitors hands, or cheering from the pool deck. Every RAT matters!
Meet Apps
We have two meets apps that let you see your swimmer’s times during the meet:
-Time Drops Live! (Code: 7287)
This is a great app to see times updated in real time. This app does not show overall event placing or DQs. These results are unofficial.
-This is the app we have used in the past. It updated with overall event placing and DQs
Silent Auction Donations Wanted!
We’re gearing up for our annual Adult Social next month, and that means it’s silent auction time! This fun event helps us raise crucial funds for the team — and this year, we’ve got our eyes on a game-changing $20,000 goal to help fund a brand-new scoreboard!
Do you have a cabin, service, event tickets, or something awesome you can donate? Every contribution helps and could make a huge impact!
Email Karen Clark at [email protected] to pitch in.
Let’s rally together and make that dream scoreboard a reality!
Let’s make it a great week and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RATS!!
