​TO: ALL NEW AND RETURNING SWAC SWIMMERS
From: SWAC Parents' Board
 
A few points of information as we begin our season:
 
We are looking forward to another great season with many new and returning swimmers!

Please keep in mind that this email address is not monitored for incoming mail.  If you need to ask a question please email a board member.  Email addresses are on the website (www.cbswim.org)  under the resources and records tab, under contacts. 


PRACTICE: Practices begin on Tuesday, October 4th and practice times are posted on the team website www.cbswim.org (look in the schedules/results section). These practice times are for swimmers who swim with SWAC only NOT for swimmers who swim with CBST and also do SWAC meets. CBST swimmers must follow the practice schedule on the CBST team website and may not attend any practices listed on the SWAC team website. Note that conflict dates (dates when practice is normally scheduled but cannot be held) are listed on the swim practice page. There is one conflict date coming up soon: ***no practice*** on Thursday, October 6th.


PARENTS MEETING: There will be a parents’ meetings at CB South on Thursday October 13th at 6:00pm in the cafeteria. Please try to attend this meeting as important information will be covered. There are SWAC items available for sale. We have gray SWAC sweatshirts and sweatpants available for $20.


TEAM SUIT FITTING: Personal Best Swim Shop will at CB South on Tuesday, October 18th from 5:30-7:30 for a team suit fitting.  The team suit will also available at Personal Best swim shop in Montgomeryville.  Team Suit prices are as follows: Female - $54.01 and the Male Jammer - $36.49


PERSONALIZED SWIM CAP ORDER-**DEADLINE FRIDAY 10/7**:Below is a signup genius to order Personalized Swim Caps.  The caps will be a black silicon cap with white lettering.  SWAC will be in large white block letters with the swimmers last name in white under SWAC.  The caps come in a set of 2 at a cost of $24 per set.  Checks should be payable to SWAC, please place your payment in the McGrath family folder at CB South. ORDERS MUST BE PLACED ON THE SIGNUP GENIUS BY FRIDAY 10/7.  Any questions regarding caps please contact Joanne McGrath at joannemcgrath66@yahoo.com

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ea5af2cabfe3-personalized

GIRLS SNACK BAR COORDINATOR AND BOYS SNACK BAR COORDINATOR NEEDED: We are in need of 1 or 2 parents to coordinate the girls snack bar  and the boys snack bar for our home meets.  This would involve purchasing the food/beverages, set up and clean up of the snack bar at home meets.  If you are interested please contact Heather Yim at yimheather@yahoo.com.


CBAC/SWAC HOLIDAY CLASSIC INVITATIONAL: CBAC and SWAC will be hosting our first annual invitational swim meet this season. We are asking all SWAC swimmers 14 and younger to attend. We will need plenty of parent volunteers during the meet which promises to be a great fund-raiser for our team. Please mark your calendars now for this fun meet – Sunday, December 4th at CB South. (Meet details will be posted online shortly and will be on the bulletin board at CB South when practices begin.


POOL ENTRANCE: At CB East, the door by the pool is our entry and exit point. At CB South, the doors by the pool will typically be open and may be used to enter and exit. If the pool area doors are not open, the gym/cafeteria doors may be used. No doors should be propped open at any time for any reason.
 
FAMILY FOLDERS: Please be sure to check your family folder and the bulletin board (both will be available by the second week of practice) each time you attend practice at CB South. Also visit our website (www.cbswim.org) frequently for the latest information. Contact Heather Yim (parent board president at yimheather@yahoo.com) if there is a problem with your family folder in the box (don’t have one, name misspelled, etc.).


WEBSITE: (www.cbswim.org) The website is being updated as information for this season becomes available. Please be careful when viewing information on the site to look for dates so you know if it is current or past season. The practice schedule is posted. It is possible that the practice schedule will change after the first few weeks. This allows the coaches to assess practice attendance patterns and make any changes necessary to improve practices. Practice times at CB South will shift one hour later in mid-November regardless of what the schedule is at that point. We are in the process of confirming meet times with all of our opponents and will have those posted on the website calendar as soon as they are known.


TIME TRIALS: Time trials will be held on Saturday, October 22nd for all SWAC swimmers, ages 14 and under (including SWAC swimmers who also swim for CBST). Arrival 12:45pm, Warmup 1:00pm and Meet Start 1:30pm.  Details will follow on the website and swimmers will need to sign in/out on the swimmers portal.   We will host combined time trials with CBAC swimmers again this year.


PARENT VOLUNTEER TRAINING: SWAC training for various volunteer positions will take place during time trials. Our girls’ and boys’ reps will provide a volunteer schedule to communicate who will be trained at each session.


STROKE & TURN AND STARTER/REFEREE TRAINING: League training dates for stroke and turn judges and starter/referees will be posted on the website shortly. One of each type of training will be held at CB South as follows: 10/27 Stroke and Turn from 7:00-8:15, 10/27 Starter/Referee from 8:15-9:00. Please attend a training session at our pool or another pool if interested in these positions.  If you are currently a certified S&T/starter please keep in mind that the league recommends attending a S&T/Starter/Referee Training course every two years.  Please let the girls’ and/or boys’ swim reps know if you have attended.
 
Girls: Nate Majewski -  nmajewski@hotmail.com
Boys: Karen Wallace – kawallac@cbsd.org
 
TEAM HANDBOOK: The current team handbook is available on our website.


WEEKLY UPDATES: Each week I will be updating the team via an email/blog post containing important information. While I’ll do my best to cover everything in this once-a-week message, sometimes circumstances (timing, importance, etc.) require that I send additional messages (this will be the case for the first 2-3 weeks!). Please read each message to keep informed…we recognize that it’s a lot of information but find everything runs more smoothly when people keep themselves as informed as possible.


PORTAL: We will again be using the swimmer’s portal this year for meet check-in, invitational registration and parent volunteer assignments.  You can access the portal via the SWAC website.


PARENT BOARD:
Co-President: Heather Yim -  yimheather@yahoo.com
Co-President/Webmaster: Julie Kline
Vice President:  
Treasurer: Anne Hasegawa
Secretary: Joann McGrath
Ways & Means: Joanne McGrath
Girls Rep: Nate Majewski
Boys Rep: Karen Wallace
Diving Rep:
Away Invitationals:
Girls Snack Bar: Open
Boys Snack Bar: Open
Personal Best Ribbons: Kristin Chelius (girls)
Records: Irene Chen 

Enjoy the first week of practice!




 
*FYI*:
 
Time Trials are held in order for the coaches to get a base-line time for each swimmer in each event. Time trials are run like a meet in that the event order of a meet is followed. Each swimmer swims each event for his/her age group. While there is no other team, time trials is a good way for first-time swimmers to get an idea of what a meet is like. The times from time trials will also be used as base times in the determination of personal best times for distribution of personal best ribbons. Attendance at time trials is expected. Note, however, that high school swimmers should not attend.

​Welcome to the 2016-2017 SAL Season!
 
Please visit your team sites for practice times, locations, parent's meeting date, and calendars. (CBAC www.cbwave.org or SWAC www.cbswim.org ). Not all information is posted at this time but it is being posted as soon after it becomes available as possible and emails will come out from your parent boards shortly. Coaching information will be communicated at your parent meetings early in the season. Please hold non-urgent questions until after the parent board emails come out as much is answered below and much will be answered in those emails and, as you can imagine the CBCS staff and volunteer parent boards are very busy at this time of the season.  Swim practices begin Tuesday, October 4th and dive practices begin Thursday, October 6th.
 
It is important that you read this message (and all communications from CBCS personnel and your volunteer parent boards) in full. There is a lot of communication to manage but we’ve found that our most successful and happy swim families read the information so they know what is going on. In this message there are many rules and procedures that must be followed so please read all the way to the end.
 
We are so happy to have many return members and lots of new participants this year! Please remember these tips to help make the season fun for everyone:
 

• Our dual (Saturday) meets are the main competitions for our teams and all members are expected to attend. While our coaches and other team members understand an occasional conflict, it is not fair to other team members or coaches if some participants consistently miss these meets. High school aged participants – this is often especially true in your age groups – please come as often as you are able and remember that you’ll receive a thank-you gift from your parent board if you participate in at least three dual meets. Team members in grades 8 and below – we hope you’ll attend all seven dual meets but require a minimum of three of the five November/December dual meets to keep your spot on the team and, of course, attendance at the January dual meets (which are like our play-offs/championships) is expected. All participants must attend at least two of the five November/December dual meets in order to be eligible (league rule) to swim/dive in the January dual meets and league individual championships (should they qualify).
• Always keep a positive attitude (even if we do have a meet or two with low numbers in attendance) – focus on time-drops or improved diving scores rather than the score of the meet and who was missing. Your kids will take their ques from you about what’s really important.
• Encourage your swimmers to be up off the benches at meets when they are not competing, cheering for teammates. The coaches will be strongly encouraging our swimmers this season to leave electronics at home, with a parent, or in their bag at meets to keep the devices safe and the participants engaged. This is a team sport and the more involved the kids are the more fun it will be for everyone.
• Attendance at every practice is not required. Swim team members should plan to attend a minimum of three practices per week. Developmental swim team members should plan to attend two or three practices per week. Divers should plan to attend all three practices per week if at all possible. Coaches understand if some weeks attendance is more difficult than others – don’t make swim/dive a source of stress. Just understand that participants who attend fewer than the minimum recommended number of practices may not progress as they would hope and may become discouraged and may feel less a part of the team.
• During the first couple weeks of swim practice, it will take the coaches longer to get everyone organized while they get to know the kids and the kids learn where they swim in each pool. By mid-October everyone should be in the swing of things and swimmers will be in the water for their full practice times.
• Developmental swim team members – all of the information in this message pertinent to swimmers applies to you. In general unless specifically noted, all swimming information applies to developmental team members as well. Developmental team practice schedule is listed on your website. Developmental team members will be contacted near the end of October regarding meet participation.
• Any new swim or dive member – if you participated with another team in our league (SAL) team last winter season, please let me know immediately by replying to this email.

 
Policies and Procedures:
 

1. Please note that parents are NOT ALLOWED in the locker rooms under any circumstances.  High school students may be using the locker rooms related to high school activities. It is important that adults (including parents) not be in the locker room for the safety of all program participants and other student athletes. Coaches will be sweeping the locker rooms before, in between, and after practices. Nothing should be left in the locker rooms. Athletes should place all belongings into their bags, zip the bag fully shut, and bring it out onto deck and leave it there for the duration of practice. Please speak with your swimmers/divers about appropriate locker room behavior:
   1. No horseplay or physical contact should occur.
   2. Lockers are not to be used at any time as they lock and you will not be able to retrieve any items placed into them.
   3. Speak at a reasonable volume and speak respectfully to everyone.
   4. Do not touch anyone else or anyone else’s possessions.
   5. Move with care (remember swimmers and the floor are wet).
   6. Locker room time should be short (10-15 minutes at the most) - kids may need to be reminded often to stay focused on the task at hand.
   7. Get a coach if anything inappropriate is occurring, even if they are not involved – tell them they should help stop issues before they escalate, rather than waiting for problems to happen and seeing our friends unhappy based on the consequences.
   8. Remind your participants often of these behavior expectations which are required at all times – on the deck and in the locker rooms.

 
2.       The use of cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras is prohibited in locker rooms, rest rooms, and other changing areas.
 
3.       If you prefer that your child not use the locker rooms with the other swimmers/divers please have him/her dry off completely and meet you in the hallway outside of the pool before escorting them to the appropriate bathrooms located down the hall from the pool in each building. 
 
4.       Please make sure your swimmers and divers are dry and have shoes on when in the hallways of the schools.
 
5.       Please refer to the CB Aquatics Locker Room, Anti-Bullying and Communications policies on the CB Community School Aquatics website (also accessible through your team website).
 
6.       Swimmers and divers should arrive about 5-10 minutes prior to the start time of practice in order to be ready to go at the scheduled start time. They should wait in the hallway outside of the pool ready to get into the water as soon as the coach comes to get them.  They will be sent directly to the locker rooms after practice. 
 
7.       Parents/siblings should go straight to the balcony. Please do not go on deck to speak with the coaches.  If you have a question or concern please email the appropriate board member, if it is a question they can answer for you, or the head coach.  If you have any concerns please email me immediately.
 
8.       Parents should not coach their children from the balcony (or otherwise). We are in one of the few youth sports that provides professional coaching – please trust that the coaches are competent and leave the coaching to them. If your child looks to you for approval/attention/anything during practices, it is likely to cause them to miss important instructional information and/or disrupt the practice for themselves, other participants, and coaches. If this is an issue for your swimmer please do not remain in the balcony during practices.
 
9.       Videotaping of practices is prohibited.
 
10.   Please remember that behavior should mimic typical school day behavior.  No running, climbing on tables, etc. Playing with balls in the building is prohibited. Siblings of team members must stay with their parents at all times. No children should be running or roaming the halls at any time. Swimmers and their families are to be in the pool area (balcony or pool hallways) and should only go to the cafeteria area to use the restrooms or vending machines. Swimmers and their families are not to be in the gymnasiums at any time.
  
11.   The doors close to the pool at CB South will generally be open and may be used to enter/exit the building. If they are not open, please enter through the main Gymnasium doors.   No doors should be propped open at any time.
 
12.   Please enter the pool hallway off Anderson Road to access the CB East pool at all times. Do not use the front doors.
 
13.   All swimmers should follow their appropriate practice schedule.  In other words, CBAC/SWAC only swimmers should NOT BE attending CBST practices.   CBST swimmers should ONLY ATTEND CBST practices even if they are also registered with CBAC or SWAC.
The practice schedule for October through November 18th is listed below. Starting November 21st and through the end of the season, the times at CB South for swimming shift one hour later. Please remember that it is always crowded the first two weeks!  We are not splitting the boys and girls up as we have done in some past years.  If we find that the pool is too crowded after week two we will re-evaluate so please think carefully about which nights your swimmer will practice – there is nothing special about attending day 1 so if Tuesdays won’t be your “normal” night, no need to be there that day. Also, it may seem to be a long way off but please make a note now that practices end on January 27th. Only athletes who qualify for league champs will have a modified practice schedule for the week of January 30th. Also note that there will modified practice schedules for the Thanksgiving and winter breaks, communicated through your parent board.
 Spring swimming and diving clinic information is available at this link. http://www.cbsd.org/Page/2476
 
We also plan to again have the extended season swim clinic. At this time our intention is for this clinic to run for six weeks beginning on February 21st. Once it is time to register for this clinic (and coaches are identified and pool space confirmed), an informational email will be sent to current CBAC and SWAC participants. This information will not be posted on the website as the clinic is only for current season SWAC/CBAC swimming participants.
 
Initial Swimming Practice Schedule (CBAC & SWAC):
 
Monday/Wednesday
At CB East
Developmental team (all ages) – no practice
10 & Under – 6:30-7:30PM
11 & Up – 7:30-9PM

Tuesday/Thursday
At CB South
Developmental team (all ages) – 5:30-6:30PM 
10 & Under – 5:30-6:30PM
11 & Up – 6:30-8PM
 
Friday
At CB East
Developmental team (all ages) – 6:30-7:30PM 
10 & Under – 6:30-7:30PM
11 & Up – 7:30-9PM
Diving Practice Schedule (CBAC & SWAC, pre-team and team)
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 6:30-8:00PM All diving practices are held at CB South.
 
Thanks for your cooperation and participation.  The entire CB staff is looking forward to a great, fun season.