This week: First Meets, Summer Practice Schedule, Little Dolphins Practices

(6/14/26) 

This week, swim season gets put in full throttle with the start of morning practice, Little Dolphins practice, and the team’s first B and A meets. 

This week’s calendar at a glance: 

• NOW—Indicate availability for Saturday A Meet (deadline Monday at 11:00 pm) 
• Monday—B Meet @MVP (arrive 5:15 pm), NO PRACTICE 
• Tuesday-Wednesday—Afternoon practice schedule 
• Tuesday—New signups open: 6/22 B Meet @Hollin Meadows for swimmers and volunteers 
• Thursday—First Little Dolphins practice (swim test) 
• Thursday—@Lakeview A Meet swimmers notified 
• Thursday-Friday—Morning/two practice daily schedule starts 
• Friday—Pep Rally – Spirit wear 
• Saturday—A Meet @Lakeview, Dolphins meet in WRA parking lot @7:15 am 

In This Message: 

1. Time Trials recap 
2. Monday B Meet @Mount Vernon Park Gators 
3. A Meet @Lakeview, Saturday (6/20) 
4. More Signups Open Tuesday (6/16) for HM B Meet; Lakeview A Meet volunteers 
5. New practice schedule begins Thursday (6/18) 
6. Little Dolphins kickoff (6/18) 
7. Friday Pep Rally – Spirit wear! 
8. Look ahead 

1) Time Trials recap 

What a way to start the summer! We had over 175 Dolphin swimmers participate. A big thank you to parents who filled volunteer roles. The team didn’t have to delay the meet to ask for additional volunteers—and we’re grateful for that. 

• Time Trials is a benchmark for our swimmers. All summer long they’ll be competing against their own first times to see how much time they can drop from them before the season ends. Coach Dylan tracks both how much time individual swimmers drop as well as the team as a whole. 
• A swimmer’s best time for an event goes on the team swim ladder, and new swim ladders follow after each meet, pointing the Dolphins to swimmers for A Meets. 
• If you missed Time Trials, that’s okay. Swimmers may get times at Monday’s B Meet or any of the four B Meets that follow. 

A word on the new data system: 

One of the features of the new data system is the ability to see meet results as they are entered during the meet through Swimtopia (which wants you to buy a monthly “pro” subscription for full access). Something we wanted to clarify: 

• Results, whether times or heat/event placement, that come during the meet through Swimtopia are unofficial. It’s possible that a time or place has been entered that might later be changed (due to a mix up or mixed heat) or even disallowed (due to the delayed entry of a DQ decision). 
• Parents should wait for times to be posted on the team website or emailed before they are considered final. Once this occurs, feel free to contact team reps if there is a question about an apparent discrepancy. 
• This is a brand-new system that offers more capabilities, but we expect there will be some growing pains. All in all, we felt the system performed well on Saturday. But it will get more complex when managing the data of multiple teams at meets. Please bear with us! 

2) Monday B Meet @Mount Vernon Park 

The Dolphins swim Monday (6/15) with the Mount Vernon Park (MVP) Gators. 

• SLIGHT CHANGE: Arrive by 5:15 pm for a 5:25 pm warm-up. The first meet event (boys 8 & under freestyle) starts at 6 pm. 
• MVP’s address: 8042 Fairfax Rd, Alexandria, VA 22308. 
• MVP will have parking attendants in the outside parking lot who will direct drivers to the inside lot or "overflow parking" inside the park (on the woods side of the pond). 
• Request from our hosts: Please do not park anywhere on Lafayette Drive, Fairfax Road, or Washington Road. Park only on streets with curbs. (see attachment from MVP) 
• Volunteers: please remember that timers, clerks, and table workers are requested to wear a white top and navy (or dark) shorts/pants/skirt while on duty. 
• Swim schedule: The meet will follow the standard order of freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. The meet will need to finish by 9:30 pm even if this means some events aren’t swum. 
• Food forecast from MVP: “The Gator Cafe will be open and serving a hot food option - we need to confirm with our Concessions Coordinator, but it will either be pizza or burgers and hot dogs. There will also be a variety of cold drinks and snack foods. We accept cash and credit cards for payment.” 
• No practice on Monday due to the meet. 

3) A Meet @Lakeview, Saturday (6/20) 

The Dolphins’ first Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL) meet of the 2026 Division 7 season takes place this Saturday, June 20. The Dolphins will compete with the Lakeview Marlins. 

• Waynewood swimmers available for this meet may indicate status NOW – the meet closes to entries at 11:00 pm on Monday, June 15. 
• Lakeview’s address: 5352 Gainsborough Drive, Fairfax, VA 22032 
• The Dolphins will meet in the WRA parking lot to caravan at 7:15 am The first event is at 9:00 am. 
• Volunteer signups for this meet open Tuesday. 
  • Reminder: the Parent Handbook notes that parents of regular A Meet swimmers should contribute more than their minimum shift requirements. If you know you have a swimmer in the A Meet, please try to volunteer. 
• There will be an optional team lunch immediately after the meet – details to come. 
• Swimmers indicating availability will be notified of team selections no later than Thursday evening via email. 
• Last week’s newsletter (6/7) included a guide to B and A Meets new families may wish to review. 
• We’ll share more meet details later in the week. 

4) More signups open Tuesday (6/16) 

Signups for several new events will open Tuesday at 7 pm. 

• As mentioned in the past two communications, please note that the Sunday, 10:00 am deadline for B Meet stroke signups is a hard deadline that will not be extended. 
• Missing this deadline could lead swimmers to lose one or both swim opportunities at Monday B Meets due to new data systems implemented this season. 

Sign up for strokes opening Tuesday: 

• B Meet @Hollin Meadows, Monday (6/22) 
  • Look for upcoming information about strokes and stroke order. 
  • Deadline to register is Sunday (6/21) at 10:00 am. 
  • This meet will be at 6 pm on Monday, June 16 – our warm-up will again be ~5:20 pm 
  • The 10 & under breast/fly permission list will remain in place all season even as coaches look to add swimmers each week. 

Sign up to volunteer opening Tuesday: 

• A Meet @Lakeview, Saturday (6/20) 
• B Meet @Hollin Meadows, Monday (6/22) 

5) New practice schedule begins Thursday (6/18) 

On June 18, the Dolphins will move to our two practice-per-day schedule. It is not mandatory for swimmers to attend both (or technically any) sessions. 

Many younger swimmers may actually have a more fun and rewarding swim experience if attending just one session. Others may benefit from the heavier workload of two practices. Ask coaches for guidance if you are uncertain. The standard practice schedule starting Thursday: 

Morning Practice 

• Ages 9-10—8:00-9:15 am 
• Ages 13 & up—9:00-10:15 am 
• Ages 11-12—10:00-11:15 am 
• Ages 8 & under—11:00 am-12:00 pm 

Afternoon Practice 

• Ages 10 & under—4:00-4:45 pm 
• Ages 11 & up—4:45-5:30 pm 

6) Little Dolphins kickoff 

We love our Little Dolphins and our coaches can’t wait to start working with them this Thursday, June 18! 

Thursday will be the swim test: 

• All Little Dolphins will be tested on their first day (choose 12 pm or 5:30 pm) to see if they can swim the length of the pool without touching the side or a lane line. 
• No kickboards or flotation devices will be permitted. 
• The stroke or how they accomplish it does not matter. Safety is our No. 1 concern. 
• We will be cheering for everyone to pass this test but, if they don't, we will cheerfully retest them when ready – this can be done many times until successful. 
• Private lessons or sessions with parents is sometimes all it takes to get there. 
• First practice day is test day and not a normal practice. The entire session will be tests so once swimmers have taken it, they're free to go home on this first day. 
• For swimmers who can't come Thursday, drop the Team Reps a note to let them know when you plan to join the team (if you haven’t already). This notice will help our coaches plan for when they need to administer later tests. 

About Little Dolphins practice: 

• During the Little Dolphins practice season, you don't need to let us know when swimmers will miss practice. 
• Our awesome coaches will be in the pool during practice and great lifeguards on the side. 
• Little Dolphins should only attend one session per day – it’s good to have some consistency for your swimmers but you can definitely switch sessions from time to time if it helps your schedule. 
• On Mondays, the afternoon Little Dolphins practice session usually does not happen due to the team’s B Meet. 
• Let our coaches or Team Reps know if your young swimmer is feeling especially anxious or just isn't enjoying practice. This helps our coaches know where a little extra attention may be needed. 
• We encourage swimmers to bring goggles to practice and a one-piece swimsuit works best. 
• Little Dolphins practice in the rain, but not during lightning or weather that closes the pool. We try to send out messages when practice is cancelled, but it’s often last minute. If you don’t hear from us, assume practice is on. 

7) Friday Pep Rally – Spirit wear! 

Coach Dylan asks that everyone bring a plain BLUE or WHITE T-shirt to the pep rally at 6:00 pm on Friday at WRA to decorate with Dolphin Spirit. The results are always really cool. 

• Paint and other needed supplies will be provided. 
• Hint: T-shirts that are all or mostly cotton tend to work best. The Variety Store, WalMart, and Amazon are all good places to look for plain T-shirts. 

8) Look ahead 

In next week’s Sunday newsletter we’ll have information about: 

• Fort Hunt Sportsmen Relays @Little Hunting Park on Wednesday 6/23 (we realize we said this last week, but will have info next weekend). 
• Our first Teen Night of the season on Wednesday 6/24. 
• The Dolphins team and individual photo sessions on Thursday 6/25. 
• The first home A Meet with Dominion Hills (6/27) and the first home B Meet with Riverside Gardens (6/29). 

The full Dolphins schedule is available on the website. 

Questions? 

Don’t hesitate to contact our Team Reps, James & Melissa, at [email protected] 

Go Dolphins! 

Waynewood Dolphins Communications