Swim Team Friends,

On June 5th we communicated our weekly "gear up" with you. Because this week has a lot going on, we will continue to send short reminders throughout the week to help ensure we all stay organized and on top of things.

Our team is settling into a nice rhythm and we are so grateful for our swim team community. Just a few items for you:

1) We swim in rain. Summer storms are upon us, we absolutely swim in rain. We also do everything we can to hold a swim meet so even if a forecast may look bad, you should be at the swim meet and/or practice unless we have communicated otherwise. It is VERY difficult to reschedule a meet, please show up no matter what.

2) Meet declarations per swimmer are requested as a hard deadline in advance of a swim meet because our coaches must have time to plan all the heats and as a team we must adhere to the meet lineup deadline per ASA rules. When swimmers scratch (that means canceling AFTER the deadline), it has a whole cascade effect on the team and the meet. Relays can't swim which means missed opportunities for other swimmers, points are lost, lanes are vacant in races, etc. Please carefully consider your attendance before declaring to avoid last-minute changes as much as possible.

3) Due to rising temperatures outside, the pool water has gotten a lot warmer. Our Board will be adjusting the pool temp to be cooler to ensure our athletes are more comfortable in the water.

Without further ado, let's talk about an incredible opportunity for our swimmers:

Perhaps you have started to hear the buzz around practices…to cap off our awesome swim team season, the Atlanta Swimming Association (ASA) Championship meet takes place the last week of June at the Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center. Recall that ASA is the “governing body” of the swim team program throughout the area.

The ASA Championship will take place on either Wednesday, June 23rd from 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM or 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM or Thursday, June 24th from 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM or 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM (warm-ups take place 90 minutes before event start). ASA cannot confirm our meet time until June 14^th. ASA is under pretty tight restrictions regarding how many people can be in the building at one time, so they have to balance the numbers carefully. They won't have a full picture of how this will fall into place until they have entries in hand. We requested a Wednesday participation window, and we were told by ASA that it is likely we would get that. RSVP HERE

The championship will be a timed final. Teams will compete in 1 session only. There will be 8-12 teams per session. Each session will be its own championship with medals, ribbons and team trophies.

The meet is run by ASA and is the largest in the country, with over 3,000 swimmers participating. Participants have the opportunity to see and compete with future elite swimmers from Georgia. Not to mention, this is an INCREDIBLE opportunity for your children to swim in an Olympic pool that remains one of the best and fastest pools in the country…swimmers will be in the same water that our U.S. Olympic swim team trains in! The Mountaire Park Barracudas are proud to extend participation to our swimmers this year!

Participation in the meet entails a $40.00 per athlete entry fee (this covers all individual and relay events) and is completely up to individual swimmers and their parents (the only requirement is a swimmer must have participated in at least one regularly scheduled dual meet to be eligible, all ages welcome). We encourage EVERYONE to participate, you don't need to be the fastest swimmer to enter. Our team participated in 2019 and we all had such a fun time, the facility is truly amazing.

Athletes can swim in two individual events and if we have enough swimmers in each age group, we will be able to make relays (up to 2 relays per swimmer)! Additionally, your swimmer can choose the two individual events they want to swim.

Your next step:

RSVP for the ASA Championship meet by 5:00 PM on Friday, June 11th

• To do so, click here
• Scroll down the page and click on the green RSVP button for “ASA Championship”
• This will open up a page pre-populated with your swimmer(s) name(s)
• Indicate if your swimmer(s) is attending or not attending (and by attending we mean they are swimming)
• In the comments box indicate the two events they would like to swim. If there are no comments, Coach Danielle will choose their events.
• Hit the “checkout” button, enter your payment details and follow the prompts.

Event recap:

ASA Championship meet at the Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center

• Takes place on either Wednesday, June 23rd from 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM or 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM or Thursday, June 24th from 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM or 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM (date/time to be confirmed on June 14^th)
• Warmups begin approx. 90 minutes prior to meet start
• RSVP deadline is by 5:00 PM on Friday, June 11th, RSVP HERE
• Entry fee is $40 per swimmer
• The championship will be a timed final. Teams will compete in 1 session only. There will be 8-12 teams per session. Each session will be its own championship with medals, ribbons and team trophies.

Volunteering:

Once ASA has everyone’s entries, they will send out volunteer and warmup assignments. We are required to have 1 volunteer per 8 swimmers we enter in the meet. Most volunteers will need to be available at least 45 minutes prior to the start time of the session to ensure an on-time meet start (see more on this below).

Spectators:

At this time, spectators will be unlikely for this year’s meet. Teams will however be provided extra credentials for parents who volunteer to work for the meet, as well as extra credentials to help supervise team areas and shuttle swimmers to and from the deck for their events. The likely ratio will be 1 credential per 8 swimmers entered. Credentials will be provided for these people and must be displayed at all times.

Additional information can be found here.

Our coaches and team reps will continue to chat with swimmers and parents about this opportunity at practices. Be sure to really give this some thought with your athlete(s). Most swimmers in the country don’t have a chance like this in such a world-class facility. It is an honor to extend this opportunity to our swim team community.

We love swimming with you!

Amber Cooley & Brooke Brown