Path to Meet #1

We have 3 swim practices and 2 dry land practices before our first meet! Today we went over breaststroke and surface dives. Thursday, my mom (Coach Graham) will go over flip turns, starts and stops, and pull downs. I will continue to cover all the strokes and do my best to make sure the swimmers are ready. 

What I Need from You

Will you be at the meet? Please let me know by Tuesday, October 30th. Are you willing to help? This would be a great chance to shadow someone doing a job you could do for the meet we host. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering. 

Meet Entries

I will be choosing the swimmers' entries for the meet with input from you and your athlete. Swimmers can talk to me at dry land practice this Friday about what they would like to swim. If they will not be at practice on Friday, please remind them to touch base with me on Thursday. If you have any thoughts on the matter, please grab me in person to chat or email me. I would like to have entries ready by the Tuesday before each meet. For this meet, that would be October 30th. If I don't hear from you, I will enter swimmers in the events I think would be best. 

Order of Events

Here is a link to the general order of events for all of the meets except the championships. Meet Order of Events The day before the meet I will send a link for the meet heat sheets. 

2nd Week Part 2

No Practice

There will be no dry land practice tomorrow, October 19th. Our first practice at WHCS will be next week, October 26th. 

Turtles Yoga and Wellness

The facility we are practicing at would like to offer 10% off of any classes for parents of our swimmers. :) 

Stroke Mechanic Group

Our first Stroke Mechanic Group went well today! My hope is to get these swimmers to the point where their body position is where it needs to be, their kick gets stronger, and they know the correct form for each of the strokes they'll be swimming in meets. Once they are strong and ready, I will move them into their leveled workout group.

Uniforms

WHCS red swim caps will be provided. I will hand them out the practice before our meet. I will write their names on them. Replacement caps will be $5. If you still would like to be involved in the Swimsuit Swap, contact Jennifer Vore at jennifer_vore@hotmail.com. You can also buy new, or purchase googles or pracitce suits at www.swimoutlet.com/WHCS. A percentage of the purchase price paid from our page goes to West Hills! If you are going to order a suit for meets, order soon to ensure delivery. 

2nd Week of Practice

Practice went well today! I'm learning how to multi-task to meet the needs of each swimmer. I will be dividing the swimmers into more groups and assigning different workouts/instruction beginning Thursday. We will also be beginning back stroke. For some swimmers it will be an introduction, for others we'll be perfecting technique. Thank you to Jana Starr and Karen Johnson as well as all the parents on deck helping each week. I couldn't do it without you!

Conditioning: Because we only meet 3 times a week, conditioning on the days we don't meet would be a huge benefit. This can be accomplished by being active 30 minutes each day.

Homework: We record some interval times during practice. Because there are a lot of swimmers, it is helpful if they can tell me what their split was. If you could have them practice by looking at a manual clock and say "go" and then "stop" and have them tell you how long it was between "go" and "stop" that would be helpful.

Swimsuit Swap

We have many wonderful volunteers this year! Jennifer Vore has stepped up to faciliate the Swim Suit Swap this year. This will give some a chance to use a used suit instead of buying new. Jennifer has some information to pass along about all of that as well as where to buy suits new. You can also buy goggles or any other swimming equipment you need on our school page. The school recieves a percentage of whatever is purchased on our page. 

It would be great for all our swimmers to be in our team suit. However, this is not mandatory. If they are in a plain black suit or a subtle design of black or red, that will be fine. Our swimmers will all be wearing our red WHCS swim caps at meets. Our first meet is coming soon: November 3rd!

From Jennifer:

Hi, Team Parents.  Allison Bates wonderfully set up a box for collecting swimsuits near the secretary's desk at school.  If you have a suit to donate, please place it in the box today or this week.  Parents of former team members will also be donating suits this week.  After the suits are collected, we will see who needs to order new suits.  

Everyone, please go to our team site at www.swimoutlet.com/WHCS to size your child for a new or used suit by their next practice.  Remember, they need to be tight.  Let me now their size so I can match up donated swimsuits.  Or, you are welcome to just go ahead and purchase one.

For boys, I also recommend buying jammers instead of using trunks for practices.  I found that swimoutlet sells a discounted jammer: Dolfin swimsuit grab bag.  You can pick the size, but not the color.  

Let me know if you have any questions.

Jennifer Vore

503.709.4401

jennifer_vore@hotmail.com 

Updates

Calendar

I have updated the calendar on the blog! Please let me know if you notice any mistakes or have questions. 

Lost and Found

It has been started! I will have a small basket of lost and found items at practice. Swimmers should come check it regularly. 

Swedish Fish

We will not have Friday dry land practice this week because there is no school that day. Swedish Fish will be earned for coming to all week day practices (this week that will be Tuesday and Thursday). The gummies will be handed out at the end of practice tomorrow. 

First Practice Review and Updates :)

Review

We did it! We got through our first practice. First practices are always a bit rough around the edges, but we got through it! Every practice will get smoother as I figure things out and as the swimmers get used to swimming the yardage and my style of coaching. I learned so much today, and I hope you're swimmer did too. I'm excited to build upon what we accomplished today. Please pass along my encouragement to your swimmers. They all did great and I'm excited to see them back in the water on Thursday! 

Polliwog Pick Up

Athletic Director, Doug Loiler and Principal Chang have worked together to come up with a solution to get us out quickly at pick up so that we can get to the pool. I told the Polliwogs and the parents on deck that we will start when everyone is there or at 3:45, whichever comes first. If you have Polliwogs that are trying to make it to the pool at 3:30, we have been told to park along side the gym but up the hill like you're going to exit the parking lot. Park as close to the curb as you can. They will walk out the swim kiddos and you can pick them up in front of the red gym door. 

Locker Rooms! 

I spoke to the pool owner. She has given us permission to use the locker rooms! We need to be sure to be quiet and respectful when we are there and in the hallways. We need to be out of the facility no later 5:30. Cubs and Cadets' practice will end at 5:20. So, there still won't be a lot of time for a shower but, there will be plenty of space now to get dressed! 

Carpool

I am attaching a swim team roster with addresses, emails, and phone numbers. Please contact one another to arrange rides. I have space for one more swimmer on Thursdays in my car. 

2018-2019 Swim Team Roster

First Practice Information

Tuesday, October 9th

Practice Times

Polliwogs (Grades Kindergarten-3rd) begin at 3:30pm and end between 4:30 and 4:45pm (depending on when we get started). I will be at school pick-up right alongside everyone else. I would love to use all the pool time we can, so we'll try to start as close to 3:30 as we can, but if swimmers are not there and suited up right at 3:30 I'll understand. 

Cubs (Grades 4th-6th) begin at 4pm and end at 5:20pm.

Cadets (Grades 7th & 8th) begin at 4pm and end at 5:20pm.

Practice Expectations

Please talk these over with your swimmer(s) before our first practice:

While waiting for practice to begin or end, swimmers not in the water need to be seated and quietly working on homework or reading. This will allow me to devote my full attention to the swimmers in the pool. 

When swimmers are in the pool, their complete focus will need to be on me, one of our assistant coaches, and/or their workout. I will be strict about not allowing goofing around with friends in the pool. This expectation is two-fold: Safety of the swimmers and we only have a little available time for practice (we will strive to be good stewards of that time). 

Equipment

Swimmers will need to bring:

1.  a one-piece suit
2. cap or rubber band for long hair
3. towel
4. warm clothes
5. water bottle

Dressing Room

We will not have access to locker rooms. There is one dressing room/bathroom to change in. Swimmers will need to be quick to allow everyone a chance to change. Unfortunately, there are no showers available.

Guests

We are guests of Turtles Yoga and Wellness. We need to do our best to be good guests. Please be sure to encourage your swimmer(s) to help me leave the pool deck better than we found it each day. We will only have access to the pool area of Turtles Yoga and Fitness. The studio space will still be open during our practice time. Please help me encourage our swimmers to not be too loud and crazy as we enter practice. I would love for this location to become a permanent solution for our Swim Team for years to come. 

I will have the door to the pool propped open for practice. The door will be on the left-hand side of the building (if you are facing the building). There will also be a sign. Do not enter through the main Turtles front door. 

Parking

Parking is available in the lot right in front of the building that holds Turtles Yoga and Wellness as well as Willamette Dental. If the lot is full, the lot to the left of the building (if you are facing the building) is also available. Anything that says Willamette Dental is also available to us. 

Pick Up

If you will be dropping off your swimmer for practice, please be sure to be at the pool no later than 5:30pm. We need to be off the premise by 5:30pm. I will be in the parking lot until the last swimmer is picked up. 

Missing Practice

Life happens. If you will miss a practice and can let me know ahead of time, that would be great. Please email me if your swimmer is a club swimmer or participates in another sport and will only be attending one swim practice. It will help me plan for practice if I know which practices they will be at. 

Volunteers

I am still on the lookout for parent volunteers interested and able to be an extra set of eyes and an extra voice on deck. There will also be times I'll need help writing down times and taking attendance. 

Donations

I would love to offer a fun incentive for practice attendance. If you are willing to pick up 1 to 3 bags of Swedish Fish from Costco (they are $7 each), let me know! Swimmers will get a few Swedish Fish on Friday dry land practice if they made it to all 3 practices that week.

Please email me with any questions: swimteam@whcs.org