Home Meet on Tuesday 6/25

Hello all!  As you probably know, we have our FIRST MEET at home on Tuesday (6/25).  We are excited to have many swimmers participating.  Here is some important information.

Where: Woodstock Rec Pool
When: Swimmers arrive at 3:45pm for warmup; the meet starts at 5pm

1.  Things to bring: suit/cap/goggles, healthy snacks, warm clothes, and WATER!

2.  Please plan on staying through the very end of the meet.  Many swimmers are in relays, and they may not know before the meet starts if they are entered in one.  When one swimmer in a relay leaves before the end, we end up having to scratch relays and other swimmers cannot swim either.  If you are planning to leave early, please check with a coach as early as possible.

3.  Please check in with Tammy, our volunteer coordinator, upon arriving to the meet, to let her know you're there and ready to help out. 

4.  We have a concession stand during home meets where the Rec cooks some food, such as hotdogs and hamburgers.  However, we ask that all parents also bring a small donation to the concession stand.  Ideally, donations consist of healthy snacks such as fruit, granola bars, home made goodies, etc., but anything you can do is great!

5.  We see meets as just another way to keep practicing what we've been doing in practice.  Meets are fun and no-pressure, and we encourage swimmers to cheer on their friends and teammates!

We are looking forward to seeing you all at practice on Monday and at the meet on Tuesday!
 

First Day Is Coming Up!

Congrats to all the area graduates from Pre-K on up. You are on to new and exciting ventures this summer and beyond.

Our first day of WST practice is Wednesday, June 19th. The WST coaches Maddie, Sam, Nicola and Megan are so excited for the 2013 season, and we are frantically gearing up for next week.

Speaking of gearing up, thanks to Tammy Meyers and Jo MacMaster for sharing the Volunteer Coordinator responsibilities. They are already off to a great start, but they need your help with the paperwork, so please return all your forms ASAP. Thanks!

New and returning coaches or anyone interested in volunteer coaching: There is a training session on Tuesday the 18th from 7:15-8:15pm at the WRC pool. Please come. Bring a pen and a bathing suit!

First Stroke and Turn Clinic for Volunteer Officials: 
Wednesday, June 19th
Rutland's Godnick Adult Center
6:30 pm

Too old for WST? Try UV Rays!

This is the second year WRC Executive Director Gail Devine has graciously arranged lane space to enable us to host Masters swimming at the WRC. In collaboration with WRC and UVAC, Head Coach Barbara Hummel and Assistant Coach Nicola Smith will lead morning practices; look for one or both of us at the Rec from 7-8am, Monday through Thursday. Appropriate for various levels including those looking to train for fitness, for triathlon skills or for technical instruction. WRC pool pass and UV Rays membership required. While we are not a learn-to-swim program, we can accommodate a range of abilities. Please contact Nicola or Head Coach Barbara Hummel for more information.

UV Rays Team Site

Icebreaker Meet on June 30th

Where: Springfield.  Directions can be found here: http://svslvt.org/Directions/CRVSSpringfield%20Directions.html.

When: June 30th
Morning session: 10&unders
      Warmup: 8:00am
      Start: 9:30am
Afternoon session: 11&overs
     Warmup: 1:00pm
     Start: 2:20pm
(These warm-up times are approximate and we will be more specific as we get closer to the date)


--For those of you training to be Stroke and Turn officials, there will be a clinic offered at 8am right before this meet if this one works best with your schedule. 

--The fee is $10 per swimmer for this invitational, which can be dropped off at the front desk at the Rec or given to a coach.  If you leave it at the Rec, please make sure you also tell them your name and what the money is for.  We cannot enter swimmers without first receiving the entry fee. 

Important Registration Information

As you register for swim team, please be sure to collect and fill out the three forms needed to ensure your swimmer is fully registered. Your swimmer is not on our official roster unless all forms are complete. Once you have completed the forms, please submit them to the WRC main office.

1) A two-page WRC registration and release form
2) Meet Sign Up Sheet
3) Volunteer Sign Up Sheet

All forms are available at the Rec center. Thanks!

Morning Practice Change and Registration Night

June is here and summer is just around the corner. And that means it's almost summer swim season!

Don't forget, WST Registration Night is June 4th from 5-7pm. Share the news with anyone you think would be interested in swimming for the summer. If you can't make it, please know that next week is the best time to order your suits if you want them in time for the early part of the season.

Also, just to make sure everyone is aware of the practice schedule. Please note the change to the morning practice time.

12-12:45pm for ages 8 and Under
12-1pm for 9-10 years old

1-2pm for ages 11 and over
7-8am for ages 11 and older; younger swimmers would need permission from a coach

We can't wait to see you all soon!
WST Coaches

It is never to early to think about summer...especially for WST members! Our league, the SVSL, is pulling together the competition schedule for 2013, and the coaches will be sure to update our swim families as soon as possible.

Some competition dates are tentative, but highly probable: League Champs, July 27th (Rain Date: July 28th); VSA State Champs: August 2nd and 3rd. We will confirm ASAP.

In the meantime, we are looking for a Volunteer Coordinator for 2013 as Julia Haynes has chosen to step down. If you are good at organizing others, have a nack for communication and an hour or so per week to offer to WST during the summer, please contact us at wstcoaches@gmail.com.

Leagues Update

LEAGUES!
This Saturday, July 28th, we have the Southern Vermont Swim League Championships at Rutland.  This meet will feature all the teams in our league so, needless to say, it's going to be quite the event!  Our 10 and Unders will be swimming during the morning session which starts at 9:00.  All the 11 and Overs will be be swimming during the afternoon session, starting at 1:30.  We do not yet have specific warmup times but we do know that they will be between 7:30-8:30 for the morning session and between 12:00-1:00 for the afternoon session.  There will also be a concession stand running all day that will sell food, swimsuits, and goggles.  Meet programs (which are very helpful to have) will be sold at the gate when entering the pool area.  We are really excited about this meet and we hope all our swimmers are too!

Picnic Reminder!
Don't forget: next Tuesday evening, July 31st, will be our annual Swim Team Picnic!  The event will be a potluck and we'll be sure to let you know more specifically what to bring.  This night is always a ton of fun and we hope that everyone will be able to make it, so mark your calendars!

Happy Swimming
Nicola, Maddie, and Sam

Two Meets and a Picnic 7/18/12

Hello WST!

Last night's meet was a great (albeit slightly stormy) success!  We are so happy with the way everyone swam.  We have three swimmers for whom this was their first WST meet.  Congratulations to Will Duane, Liam Harper, and Norah Harper on a great first meet!  In addition we had a number of kids qualify for states by dropping time on some of their swims.  One thing to keep in mind: swimmers need to compete in at least three meets (including Leagues) in order to be eligible to participate in States.  We have one more away meet and then Leagues so if your swimmer doesn't quite have enough meets, make sure they're swimming in both.

Quechee Meet
Next Tuesday, the 24th, we will be travelling to Quechee for our last regular season meet before Leagues.  We ask that swimmers arrive by 4:15 in order to have plenty of time to get ready for warmups.

Team Picnic
Our end of year Team Picnic is July 31st, the Tuesday right before States, so make sure it's marked on your calendars.  We hope that everyone will be able to attend, and we'll be sure and supply more details in the coming weeks!

Happy Swimming!
Nicola, Maddie, and Sam

7/9/12 Update!

Hi All!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Tomorrow, July 10^th, is our Team Picture Day!  Pictures will be at 12:45 so our younger swimmers will already be here but our older group needs to arrive to practice early so they can be in the picture too.  We also would like swimmers to wear their team bathing suits so that we can have something of a uniform look for our team.

Pancake Brunch

Thank you, thank you, and thank you to everyone who came to the brunch and donated money for this fundraiser.  Even though this was our first go around running the Pancake Brunch as a fundraiser it was wonderfully successful!  Our hope was to raise at least $150, but we more than doubled that with over $300 donated!  We are so happy about the equipment that this money will allow us to purchase for the team.

Rutland Sprints Overview.

At Sprints this past weekend all of the swimmers in attendance performed extremely well with a number of them taking top finishes, and even a broken record.  For the coaches though we were most pleased by all the swimmers’ improvement in regards to disqualifications.  Our swimmers have really worked hard to improve their strokes and it showed Saturday as our disqualifications decreased dramatically!

Meet Reminder for July 14^th

On Saturday, July 14^th we have a home meet.  We’re asking swimmers to arrive by 8:45 that morning so we can be in the water for warm-ups at 9:00.  It’s going to be a great meet so make sure we’re all there ready to go!

Happy Swimming!

Nicola, Maddie, and Sam