Waynewood Dolphins Weekly Newsletter

June 4, 2023

This is the first edition of our weekly email. We’ll preview every Sunday (or Monday) the upcoming week for you. We’ll also send other communications throughout the week, but we’ll try to make those about things that require action or new developments that we couldn’t communicate in this weekly email.

This Week’s Calendar at a Glance:

• Monday-Friday—Practice as usual
• Saturday—TimeTrials at 8 a.m. (warm-ups start at 7 a.m.; see schedule below)
• Monday, June 12—Home B Meet vs. Mount Vernon Park (no practice)

In This Week’s Message:

1. Time Trials—Saturday, June 10 at 8 a.m. (warm-ups start at 7 a.m.; see schedule below)
2. All About Time Trials
3. Home B Meet vs. Mount Vernon Park—Monday, June 12 at 6 p.m. (warm-ups at 5 p.m.)
4. Dolphins Volunteer Shifts
5. T-Shirts and Swim Caps
6. Swimtopia App

1) Time Trials—Saturday, June 10 at 8 a.m. (warm-ups start at 7 a.m.)

Time Trials, our first event of the swim season, takes place this Saturday at 8 a.m. Please note the earlier start this year, which means warm-ups begin at 7 a.m. Chick-fil-A and doughnuts will be available for sale if you’d like to eat breakfast at the pool.

Swimmers should arrive at least 10 minutes before their warm-up time:

• 11 & Over—7 a.m. - 7:20 a.m.
• 9-10—7:20 a.m. - 7:35 a.m.
• 8 & Under—7:35 a.m. - 7:45 a.m.

Please read the item below for a detailed explanation of Time Trials. It is important for all swimmers (except Little Dolphins) to attend Time Trials. This is where we get our baseline times for the season to determine who swims in what meets.

• If your swimmer cannot be at Time Trials on Saturday, please make an effort next week to sign up for the June 12 B meet to get times recorded before the first A meet.

Swimmer sign-ups for Time Trials are already open and will stay open until Wednesday at 8 p.m. Here is the link to sign up: https://waynewood.swimtopia.com/swim_meets

• We want every swimmer to swim each stroke they can legally swim.
• If you think your young swimmer is ready to swim a legal breaststroke or butterfly go ahead and sign them up for the strokes.
• Coaches will be making determinations and have final say on which 10 & under swimmers are ready to swim these strokes at the Time Trials meet.
• Stay tuned for guidance on who has permission later this week.

2) All About Time Trials

Time Trials is a scrimmage meet with only our Waynewood swimmers competing against each other. It is run like a regular meet with a starter, timers, stroke & turn judges, snack bar, etc.

The purpose of time trials is to get an initial time from swimmers at the start of the season. Coaches would like for swimmers to swim ALL the strokes that they think they can swim legally without disqualification (DQ).

Strokes are:

• Freestyle
• Backstroke
• Breaststroke
• Butterfly
• Individual Medley (IM), a 100m swim with one length of each of the aforementioned strokes.

We begin with 8 & Under Freestyle (first boys, then girls) and proceed up through the age groups, then we move to 8 & Under Backstroke, again working up through the age groups. Breaststroke and Butterfly will follow with IM finishing up the meet.

• The 8 & Under group swims 1 length of the pool (25m) in each stroke, while older swimmers swim 2 lengths (50m). The exception is 9-10’s swim only 25m Butterfly.

Coaches will assess 10 & Under swimmers this week during practices to see who is ready to swim Breaststroke and/or Butterfly at time trials. We don’t want swimmers to be unnecessarily discouraged by a DQ.

Time Trials give the swimmers a baseline for placement in meets and to see how much they improve over the season. Please stress this to the swimmers. It is amazing and fun to watch their times decrease as they improve their strokes! You can come in last and still feel good about improving your time.

• Don't forget, Time Trials, like the rest of our swim season, is about having FUN! The kids get a chance to cheer for each other, dance between events, and show their team spirit!

3) Home B Meet vs. Mount Vernon Park—Monday, June 12 at 6 p.m. (warm-ups at 5 p.m.)

Our first B Meet is Monday, June 12. It will take place at Waynewood.

Everyone (except Little Dolphins) is allowed 2 strokes.

• Since Monday is a school night, we won’t be swimming IMs (but we likely will on 6/19).
• After Time Trials, parents of 10 & Under should know whether their swimmer is eligible to swim Breaststroke or Butterfly.
• The deadline to sign up is Saturday, June 10, at 6:30 p.m.

Please visit https://waynewood.swimtopia.com/swim_meets to sign up by 6:30 p.m. Saturday

• Swimmers should arrive 10 minutes early for a 5 p.m. warm-up. The meet starts at 6 p.m.

There is no practice on Monday, June 12, due to the meet.

4) Dolphins Volunteer Shifts

Volunteers are a crucial part of our swim team and your assistance is essential to ensure that the team is well-organized and operates efficiently for the benefit of our kids.

Please sign up to volunteer for Time Trials and the B Meet beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

• Initially, to ensure that many families have an opportunity to volunteer, we’re asking that families sign up for no more than one shift per meet.
• If we have vacant needs after a day or say we’ll send a second email giving families permission to sign up for more than one shift per meet.

For Time Trials, families with swimmers competing in Breaststroke and Butterfly should consider signing up for second-half shifts to give parents of younger swimmers who only swim Freestyle and Backstroke a chance at first-half shifts.

• Some time ranges for volunteer roles (for example, timers, tables, clerks) offered on the sign-up page are only estimates.
• We need volunteers to finish their shifts through the conclusion of events—even when this goes past the posted “end” time.
• Our plan at Time Trials is to finish Freestyle and Backstroke with Shift 1 and swim Breaststroke, Butterfly, and Individual Medley with Shift 2.

There’s really no volunteer role that parents should feel they’re not ready or qualified to do. Volunteer leads will either explain your duties at the meet or reach out ahead of time. No one needs to worry about showing up and not knowing how to do a role.

The Dolphins are a volunteer-driven team, so we need everyone to pitch in whenever and wherever a role has not been filled!

5) T-Shirts and Swim Caps

Thanks to everyone who ordered T-shirts and caps by the May 12 priority deadline. They should be available for families this week.

6) SwimTopia App

We encourage you to download the SwimTopia App for your smartphone. It allows you to receive weather cancellation alerts, view the schedule, see what strokes your swimmer is signed up for, and check your own volunteer shifts.

• The SwimTopia App does not allow you to sign up for meets or volunteer shifts. These must be done via the website.

Go Dolphins!

Waynewood Dolphins Communications