Good afternoon, Barracuda Family!

This will be one of those longer emails with a lot of information, including a couple of things I need y'all to take care of, so please read it completely and reach out with any questions.

Practice Tonight @ Morristown Landing
The lap pool at the Jefferson City Outdoor Pool (JCOP) is closed all day today. In case you didn't see my Remind message, we'll be practicing at Morristown Landing this evening at our normal times (5-6 and 6-7). If you didn't sign and turn in a waiver when we were there Week 1 of the season, I have one attached to this email that you may print and complete. It goes to the front desk of the Landing. They might have more there in the event you don't have access to a printer between now and then.

I will not be bringing the City Meet parking passes tonight. They're already organized into folders and the black rolling cart doesn't fit in my car. If you can't make it to practice tomorrow (we should be back at JCOP) to get your parking passes, I need you to text me so we can figure something out since we won't be able to get them to you at UT.

Sugarwood & Smoky Mountain Invitational
Before we get into all things ~Tom Schumann GKAISA Championship (City Meet)~ we need to plan a little bit ahead of this weekend. Next Tuesday the 15th, we swim against Sugarwood at their pool in Farragut. I know this isn't ideal timing, and I admit it's weird to be having a dual meet after City. But it's what we're doing, and we'd love to see you there. Please mark whether your kids will be Attending or Not Attending sometime this week because us coaches will need to do entries on Sunday and Monday. 

Us coaches will also need to do entries for the Smoky Mountain Invitational (SMI) on Sunday and Monday. I had y'all put in a tentative RSVP for our SMI registration last week; please revisit what you marked on our SwimTopia and change it accordingly. We'll likely do the Sugarwood and SMI entries in tandem. For information on SMI, refer to my previous emails or visit their website here.

Tom Schumann Memorial GKAISA Championship
The most important summer league meet of the year is upon us, and I could not possibly be more excited! The psych sheet came out a few hours ago, and it has us coaches "psyched!" The psych sheet shows the seeding/ranking of everyone's entries in the whole meet. Please check it out on GKAISA's webpage for the whole meet here. Use your discretion on whether you share it with your kids; some find it motivating, and others find it discouraging. Remember, any individual or relay that ends up top 16 at prelims (Thursday and Friday) will come back and swim again on Saturday for points. Individuals and relays that are 17th and 18th (1st and 2nd alternate) are also expected to return on Saturday in the event they get "scratched in."

That link in the previous paragraph has quite literally everything you could need to know about this weekend. I encourage you to check out the Daily Schedule, Tent Map, and Timelines especially. Luckily, our tent is in the same place it's been for years, which is great news. I'll get to Worker Assignments in a second, but first you'll see below when you need to be under the team tent next to Allan Jones Aquatic Center (UT).

• Thursday (10&Unders): Show-up by 12:45 PM. Warm-ups @ 1 PM. Competition begins @ 3 PM.
• Friday (11&Ups): Show-up by 7:45 AM. Warm-ups @ 7:55 AM. Competition begins @ 9 AM.
• Saturday (Top 16 Finals, all ages): We won't have our warm-up time for Saturday until Friday night. The first warm-ups begin at 9:10 AM, though, so plan to show-up by 9 AM for now. Competition begins @ 10:30 AM.

I recognize that showing up 15-30 minutes before warm-up for a very long meet not close to home isn't agreeable, but it's very helpful for us coaches. We'll be there way earlier for meetings and more, and we need to take attendance of all the kids for relays prior to certain deadlines before competition begins.

Worker Assignments for this meet are a big deal. If we don't fill our required positions we lose points and face fees. Please refer to Barbara's recent email concerning those volunteer jobs and direct all questions to her. The Worker Assignments document that she sent is also in the GKAISA link above for you to refer to. You'll sign up for your job on our SwimTopia like normal. Be aware that there's an online Microsoft Teams video briefing for timers tomorrow night (Wednesday the 9th) at 8 PM. That information is in Barb's email. We greatly appreciate the service you're providing to help this huge event run. It's an amazing experience for the kids that can't be done without you.

Final Comments & Preparation
Our finalized entries for this weekend are attached to this email. Nothing changed from the last file except for the addition of USAS ID#s. I'll have these printed out for the kids to see tomorrow and Thursday at practice. Speaking of "Thursday at practice," in case you didn't see my Remind, we're having a practice for 11&Ups from 8:30-9 AM since they're not racing that day. This will be helpful for them to keep their feel for the water and get even more race ready!

As I explained earlier in the season, relays are always subject to change. This is especially true for this weekend. "A" relays in prelims might not have the same people on them as at finals. We will reorder "A" and "B" relays for finals depending on how kids swim at prelims to create the fastest relays as well as honor those who have exemplified positive attitudes, work ethic, and consistency.

Last week, the kids had fairly challenging practices. This week, we've let off the gas a little bit as we've tapered their yardage to allow their muscles recover in order to swim fast. Please support our efforts and do what you can to keep your kids resting and indoors (outside of swim practice) for the next couple of days! I'll talk to them about this as well tonight.

There will likely be more updates, but not more emails, before Saturday. Make sure your Remind notifications are turned on. Following GKAISA's Twitter (@GKAISAOfficial) might be a good idea. If you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out to my cell phone directly at (512) 709-7297. Texting me there is your best bet to get ahold of me this week as there's a lot to juggle.

I'm incredibly proud and grateful of our Barracuda Family, and I cannot thank you and your family enough for your support. It's about time to party.

GO CUDAS!!!

Josh