Storm Forecast for January 21st, 2026

This Saturday

Planning for Saturday feels a lot to me like picking out my cabin for a trans-Atlantic voyage on the Titanic.  I feel very certain that this isn’t going to end well, but I’ve gotta plan for the best.  We’ll start our hypothetical morning with practice for Typhoon, Senior, and Performance at SP East from 8:30-10:00A.  As they wrap up, they’ll be greeted with donuts, juice, and milk to power them through their volunteering efforts with the Rising Stars Meet.

The Rising Stars Meet, with arrival times at 10:00, will run theoretically until about 1:30.  There’s a job signup for this one, but it’s not a major lift that will require a ton of spots.  I believe there are something like 37 available positions, and we’d love to fill most of them with our age 11&O swimmers that aren’t participating in the meet.  ANY of those 11&O swimmers volunteering are eligible for the donuts, juice, and milk--not just the ones at practice!  For some positions, we will need some help from adults.  So if you’re able, please check out the signup. 

All of this is predicated on Saturday’s Extreme Cold Watch not turning until an Extreme Cold Warning.  Once we get into the warning stage, school facilities will be closed and it’ll all be cancelled.

February Practice Changes

Another reminder-- 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. 

Storm-A-Thon Voting

If you haven’t already voted for the big 15K option, 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.

Summer Meet Opportunity

We’re working with the Maine LSC to try and crash their party and swim at the Maine LSC Championships, 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

Sign up for the class here

Instructions on signing up here