Storm Forecast for January 15th, 2026

A Throwback Meet

When we started hosting the Winter Classic, we went with a prelims/finals format so that swimmers who didn’t typically get to experience the morning and evening swims, got that chance.  The meet was usually comprised of a lot of smaller teams, but no massive squads.  This created a very different environment than if 200+ BAC swimmers were attending.  There was a *vibe*.  Add to that the hard work of our parents, and we quickly created a very unique experience that teams would travel far and wide to be part of.

I’m thrilled to say that many commented on feeling that vibe last weekend.  It was a home run of a meet.  Volunteers went above and beyond.  Families came in early or stayed late to make sure things were covered.  Erin jumped in as a project manager/meet director.  Coaches did extra things for setup/teardown.  It was just a perfect mix to create a fantastic meet experience for everyone.  A special shout-out to Michelle Schmitt.  She has worked every one of the 10 Winter Classic meets and continues to give back to the program, years after her kids have stopped swimming.

February Practice Changes

Putting on the radar of our Thunderstorm/Tropical Storm families…starting February 1, SP East boys are changing their scheduled practice to 4:30-6:00P.  That means the early shift, the 4:20P Thunderstorm 1, Thunderstorm 2, and Tropical Storm swimmers each day will move later to 6pm.  Apologies for the changes, we’re at the mercy of the schools.

Storm-A-Thon Wrap-Up

Please pardon us as we’re working through all the craziness of our December events while still doing MORE January events—we’re digging out, I promise!  Let’s talk Storm-A-Thon.

A wildly successful Storm-A-Thon brought in $23K in donations plus another few thousand with the silent auction. It was everything we could have hoped for and more.

Some of the moving parts for this:

• Because February tends to have a lot of higher-importance meets, we’re tentatively looking to make our fun practice/ice cream social at a time when ice cream is a bit more appropriate—April.  This day will be open for all fall, winter, and spring swimmers.  Date: TBA
• We also want some feedback on families for crossing the $15K threshold.  There are 5 options: a roller skating night in Watertown, a team movie night at the local cinema, team bowling night, a pool party night, and one I can’t remember off the top of my brown hair.  Vote now.
• Prizes are slowly rolling in, and we’ll be working to get everything distributed as soon as possible.

Summer Meet Opportunity

I know it seems early, but while we’re trying to wrap up the winter we’re already planning spring and summer (maybe this is why we constantly have that frazzled look).  On odd years, we do training trips.  On even years, the plan is travel meets.  Going some place special with team travel to get the full experience of a big meet, out of state.  We might have found a winner for this summer: the Maine LSC Championships.  This year, the meet is held July 17-19 at Colby College.  We’ll arrive a bit early to get acquainted with the area, swim in their LSC championship meet (it’s open to all!), and come back as a group.  Provided the meet happens (some inside baseball: Maine LSC clubs have left in droves to a neighboring LSC, New England, and they’re piecing things together), our plan will be to make this available to all of our summer registered athletes.  Time standards only exist for distance events, so everyone interested could go.  If you’ve never experienced Maine in the summertime, it’s amazing.

Why do we do these kinds of meets?  To help kids figure out the independence, self-autonomy, and prep it takes for big meets later in their careers (whether in club or college).  For an event like this, we’ll have official chaperones and we’ll figure out a way to coordinate for parents that want to attend, too.  More details will be coming once we talk with the Maine LSC.

End-of-Season Meets

Coach emails turn dramatically to a “what meets should we pick to end the season?” theme in the last couple weeks, so let’s discuss them a bit:

VAST Snowglobe (1/31-2/1) – That signup is closed, and they look super crowded. 

BCSC Champs (2/7) – This is the final Rising Stars meet of the season.  Held at Elkhorn High School, this is a fantastic one session meet for any of our swimmers without state cuts.  This year, the meet is short course meters (so a slightly longer pool), but it’s a fun time with giant medals and great team spirit.  Signup is OPEN.

Regional Champs (2/20-2/22) – The final meet of the season for 80% of our swimmers.  Held at McFarland High School, we co-host this beast of a meet and historically swim extremely well at this event.  If your swimmer isn’t going to state, this is the meet you should plan to wrap up the season with.  If your swimmer has *some* state cuts, talk to your coach.  If your swimmer has many state cuts, it’s one to skip.  Session 1 has some Ironman/IMX events; Session 2 and 4 are for 10&U, Session 3&5 are for 11&O.  Signup is OPEN

LSC Championships
Senior (2/27-3/1)
10&U (2/28-3/1)
11-14 (3/6-3/8)
These three meets primarily require an LSC Championship time standard to attend.  If you haven’t found those standards, they can be found here.  Signups are open for the 11-14 and Senior Champs, but we’re still awaiting the 10&U file.  If you have a swimmer that *hasn’t* qualified but wants to be considered for relays, declare them a yes for the meet and we’ll add them to relay variables.

Sectional Championship

This meet is a little faster than the Senior Champs meet, held this year in Fargo.  So far, it looks like about 7 swimmers are qualified---this is a TOUGH one to make.  Time standards are here.  No swim file yet, but swimmers can declare their intent.

Team Pictures

We’ve tentatively set Tuesday, February 10^th for our team photo day.  We’re doing things a little simpler this year, with swimmers getting individuals, then small group & team photos being done strictly by composite photos.  That way, nobody is sticking around for 90 minutes.  We’ll have more details out soon, but for now—mark Tuesday the 10^th at SP West down for swimmer and coach photos.

Roles to Fill

We’ve been lucky enough to find ourselves a Volunteer Coordinator, and we’re checking on some Meet Director leads.  One role that I thought would fill in a cinch but hasn’t had any bites is a team photographer.  For those that dabble in photography, this is an opportunity to catch great moments wherever they happen in a meet.  If you think you’ve got an eye for timing action, we’d love to have you take pictures as your official role at swim meets.  The pictures you take would be used in our social media posts, on our website, and all over.

If you’d like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Practice Changes & Schedule

Meet Signup & Details

JJ’s Dryland Signup

Use promo code: SWIMFAST25

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