Hi Poolsharks -

One of the most important things we strive for each season is good sportsmanship & caring for others. Our kids are continuing to grow in demonstrating these characteristics each week. For example: Coach Martha from Echo Ridge coming up to me at the end of the meet last evening and sharing that her timers said that the Venetian kids consistently said ‘thank you’ to so many of them. They really appreciated this unexpected expression of gratitude. I also love watching our athletes stay in the water after racing and exchange high fives with their opponents racing to their right and left. And the cheering - random pop up Poolshark cheers happening all evening long. The humid heat was certainly matched by the Poolshark team spirit.

5 More Things:

#1) Water Polo Tourney tomorrow during practice (Thursday) - littlest kids will play Pirate Ship and games like that, while our kids ages 7-18 will have a round robin water polo tourney. Always a very fun day of the season and a great time for our athletes to shine and learn in new ways.

#2) ASA Divisionals - this is our Championship meet, Wednesday morning, June 29th @ Georgia Tech. Lots of info down below in Detail. Deadline: this Sunday June 19th. Cost: $20

#3) Dean Farris - 4 private lessons available - first come first serve - $50 per :30 minute lesson. 11 am Thursday, 11:30 am Thursday, 11 am Friday, 11:30 am Friday. LINK to sign up (4 slots)

#4) tshirts and 3-6-9 season items: tomorrow (Thursday June 16) - we will get all the stuff out on tables and hand out during the 8 - 11 practice times. If you have not picked up your tshirt/item yet, and cannot attend tomorrow, please ask someone to pick up for you.

#5) End of Season celebration - we will have our end of season celebration on Thursday June 30th, during the regular morning practice times. Details are TBD but I would love to have a parent water polo game!!! Maybe some silly relays and penny dive and that sort of fun stuff. We will also recognize 6 Poolsharks of the Year at the celebration.

Have Fun, Race Hard, Do Your Best, Go Poolsharks!

- Beth

In Detail - Divisionals Information (info LINK from Atlanta Swim Association)

The meet takes place at Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, one of the fastest and best pools in the country.

Deadline to Declare: this Sunday night, June 19th

Who: all Poolsharks are welcome to swim at Divisionals - if you are not sure about your swimmer, please let me know and I can help you make an informed decision based on age, experience, environment, etc.

When: Wednesday June 30th in the AM - warmups typically are sometime between 7 - 9 am (these times will be assigned next week) and the meet starts at 9:30 am, with an end time of 1 pm.

Why: The meet gives kids a chance to swim in a Championship Meet and it is very well organized and well run. The pool hosts national and international meets each year and is very fast and fancy. It is a lot of fun and gives kids a chance to compete with 100’s of kids from around metro Atlanta and give their best while representing the Poolsharks.

Cost: Families will pay $20 per swimmer towards the $35 entry fee (Venetian will pay for the other $15 as part of our team registration fees).

You can send $ to Beth via Venmo. @Beth-Lewis-7. Please put in note ‘Divisional fee for Johnny Miller’ or via PayPal at [email protected]

Parking: parking passes for the lot right next to the pool are ~ $12 and sometimes sell out so you may want to purchase early. LINK

Events: you MUST declare which 2 individual races your child would like to swim, when you declare on our site. Relays will be created for as many multiples of 4 that we have.  We will try to get every swimmer on at least one relay but cannot guarantee as it is based on entries in multiples of 4.  

*The referees are VERY strict at Georgia Tech and will DQ any swimmer not fully legal. I don't mean to scare swimmers or parents, but they are ruthless and they will DQ a 6 year old if they even hint at turning on their tummy on the last stroke of backstroke.

Late entries/change: Not Happening. This is the BIGGEST meet in the entire country - yes - there are about 5,000 kids that compete in the meet over 7 sessions (we are in Session #1) and so the league director does not want late entries or any changes. If a family REALLY needs to make a change, the director will do it but it typically costs $75 or so per race.

Volunteers: we are required to provide a handful of parent volunteers for this meet - it may be timing, drink hospitality, runners, awards, etc. The stands can get pretty crowded at this meet so many of our parents do like to volunteer in some fashion at this meet and get a front row view of the action.