Coach Letter to Families

Sue Bucher

Hi there, Dolphin Families!
 

The coaching staff are so excited for the start of swim season!  To get everyone prepared, we wanted to share a few things.  
  • Coaching Announcements
  • Spring Season, Summer Season, and Hours
  • Days off 
  • What to expect
  • Meet Schedule
Coaching Announcements
We are so thrilled to welcome back many of our coaches from last year's staff!  And, among them, we have many promotions to uplift!  First, please congratulate Coach Emma Fasullo (she/her) who will be joining Coach Brennon (any pronouns) as Co-Head Coach this summer!  Below is a list of our other coaching announcements:
  • Lead Coaches: Coach Andrew Chen (he/him) and Coach Elise Scott (she/her)
  • Assistant Coaches: Coach Anna Wetzel (they/them), Coach Divina Cortedano (she/her), and Coach Tiernan Pearson (he/him)
  • JAC Lead Coaches: Coach Akal Solomon (she/her), Coach River Washburn (any pronouns), and Coach Ben Reeves (he/him)
  • JAC (Junior Assistant Coaches): Coach Maddie Rivard (she/her), Coach Lucas Evanson (he/they), and Coach Ben Scott (he/him)
HUGE congratulations to all of these amazing members of our community!  
 
If your older swimmers are interested in helping out this summer and getting volunteer hours, please have them reach out to Coach Brennon! 
 
Spring Season, Summer Season, and Hours
Spring Season starts on Monday, May 15th.  Spring season typically runs until the school year finishes at Seattle Public Schools.  This year, due to the hard-fought strike, the school year ends on June 30th.  This means our  Spring Season will be unusually long; it will run from May 15th until June 30th.  During Spring Season, we will be hosting afternoon practices, Monday through Friday.  Practices during Spring Season will run from 4:15pm until 7:30pm.  The schedule for Spring is below:
  • 13+ swimmers: 4:15pm-5:30pm
  • 10 and unders: 5:15pm-6:30pm
  • 11-12s: 6:15pm-7:30pm
Because the Spring Season runs so long, it does overlap with our first three swim meets, starting on June 22nd.  Swim meets happen on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and usually begin at 4pm.  For the three meets happening during Spring Season, the meet will take the place of practice.  This means, From June 22nd until June 30th, we will have practices on MWF and meets on TuTh, all in the afternoon.  
 
Summer Season starts on July 1st and runs until our All City Championship meet on August 1st. During Summer Season, we host practices in the morning, Monday through Friday and our swim meets continue on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  The Summer Season schedule is below:
  • 13+ swimmers: 7:15am-8:30am
  • 11-12s: 8:15am-9:30am
  • 10 and unders: 9:15am-10:30am
Days Off
Our swim team will not practice during the following holidays:
  • May 29th, 2023 - Memorial Day
  • June 19th, 2023 - Juneteenth
  • July 4th, 2023 - Independence Day
What to Expect
Practices at Lakeridge run for an hour and 15 minutes. We spend an hour in the pool, swimming, but we start our workouts with dryland exercises.  Every practice will begin with 10-15 minutes of calisthenics to get warm and moving.   Please encourage your athletes to wear tennis shoes for this component.  
 
May in Seattle is still pretty cold.   Please encourage your swimmers to arrive with layers to stay warm - or extra items to wear after practice after they hop out of the pool.  
 
The pool is temperature controlled.  Sometimes it feels more hot or cold based on the temperature of the air.   The water itself is the same temperature.  New families, you will often hear your littles complain of the cold.  Please encourage them to keep their bodies moving to keep themselves warm - swimming is a great way to do this!  And, we've got that covered!
 
Even when it's cold out, even in the water, our bodies still sweat a TON when we workout.   Please help your kids bring water bottles to practice every day!  
 
And, even though we're outside, swimming can be tough on the lungs.   If your child has asthma or another respiratory condition, please email us to let us know and please  make sure your child packs their inhaler every time they come to practice.  Inhalers should ALWAYS be somewhere accessible in an athletes bag in the event of an emergency.  Many athletes pack their inhalers in plastic bags and bring them to the side of the pool during their workouts.  Please do what feels best to you and your child.  
 
Meet Schedule
Meets almost always start at 4pm and have a warm-up time an hour before.  We will give more information about meets as they draw closer. And, as you prepare for the swim team, it's good to know where they'll be:
  • Thursday, June 22nd - Home Meet against Normandy Park
  • Tuesday, June 27th - Away Meet against Marine Hills 
    600 S 302nd St, Federal Way, WA 98003
  • Thursday, June 29th - Home Meet against Olympic View
  • Thursday, July 6th - Away Meet against Twin Lakes
    3583 SW 320th St, Federal Way, WA 98023
  • Tuesday, July 11th - Away Meet against Kent Swim & Tennis Club
    25821 Woodland Way, Kent, WA 98030
  • Thursday, July 13th - Home Meet against Gregory Seahurst
  • Tuesday, July 18th - Home Meet against Arbor Heights
    SENIOR NIGHT! Night where we honor our senior swimmers.
We will have a family meeting night during the first week of practices to share with families what to expect for the summer.  We will reach out with more information and what to expect shortly.  Thanks!
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We are so excited for the coming Spring and Summer seasons at Lakeridge!  We can't wait to see you soon!
 
Coaches Brennon and Emma
Head Coaches, Lakeridge Swim Club