July 29th Weekly Newsletter

Administrator Admin

This is your River Falls Swim News for July 29th!

Action items are highlighted in yellow.  

ANNOUNCEMENTS

     This past weekend we attended two swim meets.  The first meet was the Minnesota 10 and Under Long Course State Championship in Rochester, MN.  The second meet was the USA Swimming Futures Championship in Minneapolis, MN.  Together, we had three swimmers compete in eight races.    

     This week’s Swimmer of the Week is Hunter Perfect.  Hunter kicked off Saturday with a new PR in the 50 Free.  He sliced off 2.16 seconds from his PR, which was a 5 percent improvement, and resulted in a 5th-place finish.  Later that day, he blasted another 6.77 seconds off his 50 Breast time.  This 10.8 percent PR reduction resulted in a 2nd-place finish and a “B” National Achievement Time standard!  Hunter returned to the pool on Sunday still excited from the previous day.  On his first swim, he peeled another 1.06 seconds off his 50 Back PR.  He finished off the weekend with a nail-biter of a swim in the 100 Free.  Hunter battled hard and secured a 4th-place finish!  Over the weekend, Hunter set new team records in men’s 8 and Under long course 50 Free, with a time of 40.71, 50 Back, with a time of 49.97, and 50 Breast, with a time of 55.73!

 

     The Swim-A-Thon is tomorrow!  It’s not too late to raise money for our team.  Athletes raise money by swimming for up to 2 hours or 200 lengths of the pool.  Swimmers can ask family, friends, neighbors, or businesses to pledge money per length, or make a flat donation in support of the team.  Participants can earn cool prizes from our team and the USA Swimming Foundation.  We have currently raised $1,505 of our $7,500 goal.  Following the Swim-A-Thon, we will have an end-of-season celebration, which will include a cookout and a movie in the pool.  We hope to see everyone in the pool tomorrow, beginning at 3:00pm, and at the end-of-season celebration from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

ON DECK

SUMMER COMPETITIVE SESSION:  Our Summer session runs through August 3rd.  If you have questions, contact Coach Michael at [email protected] or Coach Marissa at [email protected].  End of dryland training – There will be no dryland training for the remainder of the Summer session.

Summer practice times:

  • Masters 6:00pm-7:30pm (Monday-Thursday)
  • Seniors 7:00am-9:00am (Monday-Friday)
  • Pre-Seniors 6:00pm-7:30pm (Monday-Thursday)
  • Age Group 5:00pm-6:00pm (Monday-Thursday)
  • Novice 5:00pm-6:00pm (Monday-Thursday)
  • Novice Transition 5:00pm-5:45pm (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
SPRING DEVELOPMENTAL SESSION:  The Summer Developmental session is in full swing and will run through August 16th!  The next swim evaluations will be held August 20th and 21st from 6:00pm-7:00pm.  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 Summer 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 cannot add/remove swimmers or swimmers’ events from the meet registration.

July 30: Swim-A-Thon (River Falls, WI)  Swim-a-Thon is a USA Swimming Foundation approved fundraiser used by swim teams all over the United States to raise money for their respective club. To raise money for Swim-a-Thon, swimmers receive pledges and donations from family members, friends, neighbors, and local businesses.

This is a family event. Parents of swimmers can help count laps and keep track of times. We hope that everyone is able to get the whole family involved. We will also be having a cookout at the pool, games and activities after the event, and a movie in the pool to cap off the night!

Our goal is to raise money from friends and family. With our athletes fundraising participation and your financial support, we will be able to provide critical support to our team. Your support of our Swim-a-Thon is very much appreciated!

August 1-4: 2024 Summer 11-14 Long Course State (Minneapolis, MN).  This meet is for swimmers aged 11-14 with Champ (CH) times, OR who won their event at MRCs. Prelim warmups are scheduled to start at 11a on Thursday, 8a Fri-Sun. $12.10 per individual splash, $48.40 per relay. $10.00 MN State Championship Fee.  Registration deadline has passed.

August 3: RFSC Summer Blast Championship (River Falls, WI).  Summer Home Swim meet hosted by RFSC! $30 flat fee per athlete This is a 1 day, 1 session meet. Warmups will be from 9:00a-10:00a, with meet start at 10:00a. There will be a 20 minute mid-meet warmup after event 8.  Registration deadline has passed.

This will be our second home swim meet for the Spring/Summer Session.  The volunteer event is available for signups here.  Volunteer by July 29, 2024.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

USA Swimming registration (for Competitive groups):  Our team has returned to bulk registration for 2024 returning swimmers.  If you were not a USA Swimming member in 2023, please contact Robert at [email protected] to help with new registrations.  USA Swimming membership is good from January 1-December 31 (CY24).  Registration for 2024 opens September 1, 2023.  A premium membership will be $78 ($70 to USA Swimming and $8 to MN Swimming) while a Flex membership, available to swimmers 12 and under, will be $40 ($30 to USA Swimming and $10 to MN Swimming).

Over the 2022 summer break, we became an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) affiliated swim team.  Athlete membership is only $20.  This keeps expenses low for Developmental swimmers ($20 AAU membership vs $40-$78 USA Swimming membership).  All Developmental swimmers will be invoiced for the $20 membership.  Batch registration is sent to AAU and is 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 ($78 USA Swimming membership + $20 AAU membership).  AAU memberships are valid from September 1 – August 31.  If there are any questions about this information, email Robert, at [email protected], and I will do my best to answer them.

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 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 among 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.

HAPPY SWIMMING!
Robert