Hello Dolphin Families!

After another week of hard work, the Dolphins are more prepped than ever to take on our first home meet in 11 short days! The practice meet has been reschedule and will be held THIS Monday, May 20th. All swimmers AND parents working a required shift should be at the pool no later than 4:30 pm.

We understand this is a very busy time of year. If your swimmer’s availability has changed for the practice meet PLEASE update their status in Swimtopia today. If your swimmer is unable to attend, coaches will get times from them during next weeks’ practices. We do encourage swimmers to attend the practice meet if they are available so we can get official times - and so they can get READY for our first league meet against PDC on Tuesday, May 28th!

Families, please remember that if you have a swimmer swimming in the practice meet, your family is required to fulfill ONE shift during the practice meet on Monday. If you have not already signed up for a shift, you can do so here. There are still open shifts, and for the safety of our swimmers, and to keep the meet running smoothly we need to fill those positions! * Please note, you may work in any bullpen that has available shifts regardless of the age of your swimmer.

We encourage you to carpool since overflow parking at Fernbank will not be available on Monday. We currently have over 200 swimmers declared to attend!

The snack bar will be open for over the counter service (snacks, drinks, and ice cream) and we have arranged a pizza buffet for our main food option!

Time Trials Meet Timeline:

4:30pm – Swimmer/Worker arrival and check in. (Family workers, arrive promptly at 4:30 and check in at the towel shack- even if you selected the second shift! Swimmers, check in at your Bullpen!)
5:00-5:30pm – Dolphin Warmups
5:30 – Meet begins!

We are so lucky to have 188 of our swimmers declared for this meet! We will send the Heat Sheet for our meet tomorrow morning, in addition to any updates. If you did not declare your swimmer and would like to participate in Time Trials, or you do not see your child on the heat sheet tomorrow, please promptly let Justin/Robyn know, and your child will be added into the final heat of the event.

What to Expect at Time Trials

Our "Time Trials" - Sometimes referred to as a "Practice Meet" is our first opportunity to time our swimmers in the various events in which they will be competing. During competitive meets, we arrange swimmers in their heats based on their "seed times" - the time they have most recently recorded for that particular event. We will be using the times gathered at Time Trials for our first meet vs. PDC on May 28th, but also to have a defined starting point for our swimmers to track their growth throughout the season!
This run through is also important for our team- giving our swimmers the chance to experience what a meet will be like, and giving our parents who are working a shift an opportunity to practice their roles without another team on deck.
Time Trials will run like a regular meet- meaning we will have a Heat Sheet, the swimmers will remain in their Bullpens for the duration, and our timing company will be on site to time our swimmers! Swimmers will participate in the events they are eligible for so we can gather their base times.

The Dolphins will be providing pizza for the swimmers as the club is closed on Mondays and will not be offering food and beverage service. We recommend that you also pack a light snack for your swimmer(s), a water bottle, towel, and sweatshirt/jacket (as it can be cold when they get out of the pool). Also, we suggest something to keep your swimmer occupied in the bullpen during the downtime in between their events - a book, coloring materials, cards, games, etc. We do not recommend electronics as the bullpen can get quite soggy and rumor has it that water and electronics are not a good combo.

Other Time Trials Notes:

• Please make sure to bring:
• Caps
• Goggles
• Sun Screen (labeled)
• Water Bottle (labeled)
• Nut-Free Snacks
• Non-Electronic Entertainment for the Bullpen
• Towel (Towels are not provided for meets)
• Wear your Competition Suit!
• You are welcome to stay with your child in their bullpen even if you are not working a bullpen shift. Please make sure your child is in their bullpen so our family workers can mark them and line them up for their events.
• Please Sun Screen your swimmer AFTER they are marked. It is difficult to use a sharpie on already Sun Screened Skin!
• Don't be afraid to CHEER LOUD for your teammates!

As Coach Justin says, most importantly, be sure to "have fun and swim fast!"

GO DOLPHINS!

Robyn Whittemore, Ron Carmichael, Leah Humphries