hi Poolsharks -

We raced a great team last evening, while visiting the Winding Vista Vipers.  Coach Fred from the Vipers and I loved seeing our teams race each other, going back and forth with competitive battles between our swimmers & relays, followed by hand shakes & high fives afterwards.  One thing that I especially appreciated, was WV's swimmer Abigail Heizer - she swam the fly leg on WV's 15-18 medley relay as a final tune up before she heads to compete at Olympic Trials next week.  Summer league is very special for many reasons, one of which being that kids even at the highest of levels, still love representing their neighborhood teams that they have grown up on.

Being Competitive:

I was talking with Coach Jake before the meet, he was on this years State Champions relay for St Pius, with WV Viper Zach Sutter (Zach raced all of our 15-18 big boys last evening and is headed to swim NCAA Division I at Villanova).  Jake & Zach are high school teammates and friends, and Jake was super excited to race his buddy.  Jake swam the fastest last night that he has all season - ie Zach helped bring out the best in Jake.  

When I talk about the goal of our summer league team being fun, I try to also communicate that how I define 'fun,' is also means being competitive - to be the best you can be, and to compete to the best of your ability.  I always loved racing my friends growing up - and part of showing respect towards my friends, was going at them 100% when racing, and then hanging out eating snow cones right afterwards.  My lifetime bestie is Sarah Miller Cook, we met as 6U's, swimming in NY state (Sarah from Buffalo, me from Ithaca).  We met in bullpens, always lining up next to each other.  Well, fast forwarding, we raced our whole childhoods, and ended up swimming together at UGA, while being captains together on UGA's first NCAA title.  One of the best parts of swimming is the amazing lifetime friends you can make.

Divisionals - the league is very strict about our entry deadlines - there are basically no changes unless the family pays a ~$100 late fee.  On Swimtopia HERE, I have opened up the Divisionals declaration YES/NO, and it will look different than dual meet declarations, as parents should select 2 individual races (and only 2).  We will make relays later based on how many multiples of 4 we have, with the A relay consisting of our 4 fastest kids.  The A relays will not be determined until AFTER our last meet, Mon June 24 vs HLHK, giving our kids one last chance to race and improve their times as they compete for A relay spots & beyond.  We will try to get every kid in 1 relay, if possible.  Deadline to declare for Divisionals is this Saturday, June 15th @ 9 pm.  Coaches Jayla/Maddy/Owen will then put the lineups together for our team (they have been our lineup directors all season).  We will share with all parents the PDF draft of entries to double check before submitting official entries by June 20th (league deadline is June 21).  

Swimmers competing at Divisionals should send $30 to the team to help cover the $48 per swimmer league entry fee.  I will collect $ via Venmo & PayPal.  (My last 4 digits of phone are 1440).  Please include your note 'Divisionals entry fee for Susie Smith.'

Venmo: @Beth-Lewis-7

PayPal: [email protected]

$30 entry fee must be received by June 15th.  

Reminders: Planning for Week 9 (our last week of the season):

Monday June 24 - regular AM practice

Monday June 24 - last dual meet, hosting Lake Claire & 80’s Spirit night

Tuesday June 25 - regular AM practice, donut / awards day, Burrito Tuesday

Wednesday June 26 - no swim practice, ASA Divisional swimmers will compete @ Ga Tech in the AM

Thursday June 27 - end of season celebration 9 - 11 am

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

- Beth