A New Fundraiser In reviewing our previous survey to members, we’re trying to rotate 3 big fundraisers, one per year. Last year as you remember we did the reverse raffle. Next year: dusting off the Storm-A-Thon. This year, we’re doing a shrimp sale. By far, the tastiest of the three options. If each family commits to buying (or selling to a neighbor) just one bag, it would have a huge, far-ranging effect for the team. Flyer Order Form Dryland Signup A quick note for swimmers new for the winter session....

What a Great Start! It looks like we’ll have around 225 swimmers registered for the winter session, our second highest winter total ever. More than any year prior, this winter has a lot of moving parts with four different bodies of water. Especially with parents not being able to watch their swimmers at East Madison Hospital, we greatly appreciate the trust you put within our program—it’s definitely a leap of faith that we recognize. Elkhorn Meet We’ve had a few folks ask about Elkhorn results and ribbons. We’re still waiting….on...

Winter Session With over 200 swimmers involved in the upcoming winter session, there are a lot of moving parts. To all those that registered early to help us with our planning, thank you! For those of you who see a 15 week winter session and think it’s a bit too tall a lift, feel free to talk with me about options. Practice Changes Monday will start the beginning of the winter session. It has slight changes to most groups as we get different pool availability and a larger swimmer load...

Writer’s Block Usually, I have something interesting or witty and a bit informative to add to my lead-in for the newsletter. This week—extenuating circumstances in the world have made me less witty. We’ll get straight to the updates. Social Events Saturday, November 9th – Bowling – Nearly FIFTY people are signed up to go bowling this Saturday. If you want to join in on the action, I’ve extended the deadline until Thursday at noon. We've got a Pizza, Pins, & Pop deal set up with Prairie Lanes that'll give each...

Winter Practice Schedule is Tentatively Posted It’s hard to believe but we’ve got just over two weeks of practice left in the fall session--it has FLOWN by. We’ve seen great progress from all our groups in that short amount of time, and we’re looking to carry that momentum forward through the winter session. Details on fees and the season timeline can be found on the winter session tab, and a winter practice schedule can be found on each of the training group pages. The one detail still pending is dryland,...

Social Events are Beginning! We’re starting to add some social events to our calendar. As you think, “we already do the meets and practices…surely that’s enough, right?” --No! It is NOT. Here’s why they’re important: In between 50s, in between sets…there’s not a ton of time for kids to get to know each other. Add to that, many of our swimmers tend to be a little nervous at swim meets (or skip them altogether). Plus, with 200+ swimmers separated over 9 different training groups, it can be tricky finding opportunities...

New (and Confused) Family Check-In I’ve tried to pace out my long-winded educational pieces so as not to scare away new families, and I’d guess it’s left some of our newer families wishing they could corner a coach and ask a few questions. Well, it’s time! This Sunday at 5pm, we’re going to have a virtual meeting for families with new swimmers, or experienced families needing a bit of guidance. I’ll have a few topics to start with, then the floor will be yours for questions. We’ll record it for...

The First Meet What a whirlwind the first meet always seems to be. Not only is it the first meet for many of our volunteers, but the first step up on the Sun Prairie West blocks for around 20% of the swimmers (that’s 100 nervous little swimmers), the first time officiating for several of those in white, the first time many parents are wondering “how chill am I supposed to be while my child is swimming?” Hosting the first meet means navigating all those nerves collectively, and we did a...

Home Meet Preparation The first meet of the season is always an eye-opening experience for everyone. For our new swimmers, it can be an initial scary experience that turns into something really enjoyable. Our new families realize what an undertaking a swim meet is (fun fact: a Meet Committee has been meeting regularly for over a month now, and several parent volunteers have already put in dozens of hours of preparation). And the teams that come in to our meet (11 other teams this year) realize how well we run...

Winter Is Coming As we’ve been lucky to have some great fall weather and only a few days even sneaking into the 60s, we’re constantly looking ahead at the extended forecast to see when things are going to turn on us and ruin the beautiful outdoor evenings. Peeking at the super extended forecast on Accuweather, it looks like the end of our 60s and 70s will happen on the 14th of October, so our last week outside will wrap up October 12th. Once we get inside, we’re looking at a...