February 20th Weekly Newsletter
This is your River Falls Swim News for February 20th!
Action items are highlighted in yellow.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Yesterday, we hosted the RFSC Snowflake Splash! Thanks to all that volunteered! We had 43 swimmers participate in 159 races. There were 86 new PRs, and 22 swimmers met new achievement time standards. This week’s Swimmer of the Week is Henry Matzek. Henry scooped up three new PRs over four events, in addition to earning three “BB” National Time Standards and three Gold MNSI Achievement Time standards. He also ditched 6.70 seconds during the 100 freestyle event, which was a 10.32 percent time reduction, and eliminated 9.16 seconds over four events. Excellent job this weekend!
This week, a roundup of unclaimed items will be conducted around the pool. There are multiple water bottles and other items that should be claimed prior to Friday. If the items are still in the pool area at the conclusion of practices on February 24th, 2023, they will be removed and donated.
As a reminder, parents/legal guardians are discouraged from entering the locker rooms and changing areas. If your swimmer requires assistance changing, please notify a coach.
Also, if you would like to stay and watch practice/lessons, please use the pool’s observation deck. Parents are not allowed to remain on deck during practice/lessons.
There are boys basketball games tonight, February 20th, and boys basketball games on Thursday, February 23rd. Bring your RFSC bag tag to access the pool’s observation deck for free. During these events, the south door (normal entrance) may be locked. Please use a northern entrance to enter the high school.
ON DECK
WINTER COMPETITIVE SESSION: The Winter Competitive session is in full swing and runs through March 10th (this is a change due to the pool closing early for maintenance). There will be a Competitive Orientation on Thursday, February 23rd, from 6:15-6:40pm. More information will be sent in a separate email. If you have questions, contact Robert at [email protected] or Coach Marissa at [email protected]. Winter practice times are shown below:
- Seniors 7:00PM-9:00PM (Monday-Friday)
- Pre-Seniors 7:00PM-8:30PM (Monday-Friday)
- Age Group 6:00PM-7:00PM (Monday-Friday)
- Novice 6:00PM-7:00PM (Monday-Friday)
- Novice Transition 6:00PM-6:45PM (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
WINTER DEVELOPMENTAL SESSION: Our second Winter Developmental session is in progress and is scheduled to conclude Friday, March 10, 2023. There will be Developmental Orientations on Tuesday, February 21st, and Wednesday, February 22nd, at 5:45pm, 6:21pm, and 6:57pm. More information will be sent in a separate email. Our next swim evaluations will be around mid-April, with dates and times to be determined. Our next session is projected to begin mid-to-late April, with the start date depending on completion of the scheduled pool maintenance. Share with your family and friends if you would like them to get started with RFSC in the coming sessions!
UPCOMING SWIM MEETS & EVENTS
The meets for the Winter Session are posted below. Team meets are posted on the Team Events page of the website and in this newsletter. As a reminder, once the deadline passes, we will not be able to add/remove swimmers or swimmers’ events from the meet registration.
February 25-26: RIPT Bronze Classic (Apple Valley, MN). This is a meet ideally for swimmers with no times and Bronze level times, intended to provide swimmers the opportunity to earn motivational times eligible for the Minnesota Regional Championships meet. This meet consists of one Saturday session and two Sunday sessions. $5 facility fee, plus $9.00 individual splash fee or $12 relay splash fee. Registration deadline for this meet has passed.
March 3-5: Minnesota Regional Championships (New Prague, MN). 50s and 100s need a verified time (No NTs permitted), 200s need a Bronze/Silver/Gold time, 400s-1650s need Silver/Gold times. No Champ/Zone times permitted at this meet. $8.70 per individual splash/$34.80 per relay splash, $5.00 MN Championship fee. FRIDAY SCHEDULE: warm-ups 3-4:30pm, meet starts at 4:30pm. SATURDAY/SUNDAY MORNING: warm-ups 7:30AM-8:30AM, meet starts at 8:30AM. SATURDAY/SUNDAY AFTERNOON: warm-ups will not start before 11:30AM, preceded by a minimum 60 minute warmup period, and a 10 minute break. Registration deadline for this meet was Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Additional entries are permitted, until noon on February 27th, if new official times are acquired after the initial registration deadline.
March 9-12: Minnesota 14&Under Short Course State Championship (Rochester, MN). This is a 3.5 day meet. Eligible athletes must have a verifiable Champ time, or must be a "Win it and swim it" qualifier from the 2023 Winter Minnesota Regional Championships. Initial Thursday warmups begin at 3:30pm, with the meet starting at 5:00pm. Initial Friday-Sunday warmups begin at 7:30AM, with the meet starting at 8:30AM. Final warmup times, along with meet start times for all sessions, will be published on the meet website located on the MNSI website (www.mnswim.org) once all entries are received. The individual splash fee is $12.20. The relay splash fee is $48.80 ($12.20 per swimmer). There is also a $10 MN State Championship fee. Registration deadline for this meet is Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
March 16-19: Minnesota Senior Short Course State Championship (Hulbert Aquatic Center, West Fargo, ND). This is a 3.5 day meet for swimmers with verifiable Senior (15&O) Championship (CH) qualifying times (or faster). Entry fees are $12.20 per individual splash, and $48.80 per relay splash. Registration deadline for this meet is Friday, February 24, 2023. Swimmers obtaining qualifying times, for new events, between entry deadline and March 13, 2023, are eligible to enter. There is a list of hotels available here along with a discount code for reservations.
July 8-9: Minnesota Achievement Championships (River Falls, WI). Minnesota Achievement Championships are the first in a series of swimming finals meets for the Summer session. All swimmers competing in the meet must have times that are slower than Silver time standards in order to participate. Registration deadline for this meet is TENTATIVELY Friday, June 16, 2023.
This will be our home swim meet for the Spring/Summer Session, and we will need everyone’s help to volunteer at the meet and make the weekend a success.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
Have you ever considered a volunteer position on deck during a swim meet? Would you like to have the best seat in the house at your child’s swim meet events? Meet new friends? Get free entry into the meet? Free food and drinks while you officiate? Consider giving back to the swim community by becoming a swim meet official! We are looking for Stroke And Turn judges, Administrative officials, Starters, and Referees. Serving as an official completes all volunteer requirements with the club for the year. If you have any questions about becoming an official, you can contact Robert at [email protected].
If you have taken pictures of your swimmer at practice or at swim meets, and would like them shared on the RFSC website, Facebook, and/or Instagram, please email them to [email protected]. Any emailed photos will only be shared publicly with the parental consent of all identifiable photographed swimmers due to league athlete protection policies.
If you are shopping on Amazon.com, Amazon.com will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the River Falls Swim Club. You can donate to River Falls Swim Club by using this link or by visiting smile.amazon.com, and clicking on the orange word “supporting”. Search for River Falls Swim Club and click on “select” next to the River Falls Swim Club located in River Falls, Wisconsin. Only purchases at smile.amazon.com or through AmazonSmile activated in the Amazon Shopping app will support your selected charity. Your purchases between July 1 and September 30, 2022, led to over $37 in donations! Amazon will terminate this benefit for RFSC by February 20th. Thank you for using Amazon Smile!
If you are shopping on SwimOutlet.com, SwimOutlet.com will donate 3%-5% of your eligible purchases to the River Falls Swim Club. You can donate to River Falls Swim Club by using this link.
If you have been a part of the River Falls Swim Club for any length of time, and you have a Google account, would you mind leaving a review on Google? Word of mouth is pretty powerful, and there have been many positive things said about the club on social media and amongst friends. If you would like to share your experiences with the community and let others know about the developmental and competitive sides of the club, you can add your review here.
Over the 2022 summer break, we became an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) affiliated swim team. Athlete membership is only $16. This keeps expenses low for Developmental swimmers ($16 AAU membership vs $30-$76 USA Swimming membership). All Developmental swimmers have been invoiced for the $16 membership. Batch registration was sent to AAU and will be processed as soon as it is received. All Developmental swimmers will be registered with AAU. Competitive swimmers (Novice Transition through Senior) are still required to register with USA Swimming, in order to participate in local swim meets, but will now have the option of adding the AAU membership, which provides swimmers the ability to participate in the AAU Junior Olympics ($76 USA Swimming membership + $16 AAU membership). If there are any questions about this information, email me, at [email protected], and I will do my best to answer them.
HAPPY SWIMMING!
Robert
