Good evening, Barracudas!

Thursday's Swim Meet (& general meet expectations)
This Thursday, June 11th we swim against the Beaver Brook Blue Fins at our home pool. Warm-ups are at 5 PM and racing begins at 6. Since we are taking our team picture before warm-ups, everyone needs to be at the pool—wearing this year's team shirt—no later than 4:15! If you want individual photos, those typically start around 4 o'clock. 

Have your kid(s) check in with me as soon as they arrive to the pool, just like at Time Trials! Taking attendance will be more important for this meet since we're actually competing against another team. If someone in a relay is absent, we have to rearrange entries on the pool deck, so knowing who's present is crucial. If you're running late, always text me.

Us coaches began working on entries today. The coaches for each age group are the ones completing their kids' entries, and I'm reviewing them all. Of course, we collaborate since the "age group" coaches have some kids that are slightly younger or older in their lanes at practice. Individual entries as seen in SwimTopia today and tomorrow aren't final until us and Beaver Brook merge and seed the meet the day of. This is our standard dual meet routine. If you have questions about the events your child is swimming, feel free to reach out to their age group coach or me! Swimmers 13 and up, especially high schoolers, are encouraged to speak with their coaches directly with their questions and concerns.

A few notes on relays... Relays are always subject to change. This includes as we work on entries, between warm-ups and the meet starting, and even during the meet itself. Please confirm, or have your child confirm, with a coach that y'all are okay to leave upon your child finishing what you think is their last event. 

Additionally, being in an "A relay" is often a coveted position. Typically, we use season best times to determine relay placements. At championship meets, we switch to considering personal bests from previous seasons. This mostly applies to older kids who taper and suit-up. That being said, being on an A relay at previous meets or in previous seasons does not guarantee you will always be on an A relay. Us coaches will nearly always create relays to be as fast as they can be in order to win.

We try to have fun at JCSC. Summer league is about learning and loving the sport of swimming. But winning is also fun. We've been undefeated at dual meets in our home pool for 2 straight years, and I hope that streak continues!!! Per JCSC tradition, if we win a home meet, the kids push all the coaches into the pool, and there's no morning practice the next day. So, get excited, and cheer for every Barracuda!

Big Cudas & Little Cudas
At Time Trials, we made sure every Big Cuda and Little Cuda present knew who their swim sibling was. Big Cudas did an awesome job helping their Littles get to the blocks. Please continue doing this! Also, I asked all the Big Cudas to find out their Little's favorite candy so they can buy it for them for the next meet (this one on Thursday). It's a scientific fact that poolside sugar makes a small child swim faster! Parents of teenagers, please remind your "big kid" of these expectations. If anybody missed Time Trials and isn't sure who they're paired with, reach out to Coach Sadie.

File Folders, Water Bottles, & Apparel
There are still a lot of photo order forms in the file folders. If you haven't grabbed one yet, get one tomorrow at practice so that you know what's available for purchase on Thursday.

The United States Coast Guard donated 150 water bottles for us to give to every swimmer and coach. I keep forgetting to hand them out at the afternoon practices. Please remind me at any practice tomorrow if you haven't received one yet, and make sure your kid's name gets written on it in Sharpie since they're all identical!

Lastly, in case you missed the other email and Remind message, we're selling JCSC hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, tank tops, and extra t-shirts under the "Merchandise" tab of our website. This little store of ours will close on Friday! Order yours while you can!

Thank you, as always, for reading my long emails. There will be a shorter one on Thursday with the event list and heat sheet. Hopefully it goes without saying by now, but reach out if you need anything.

GO CUDAS!!!

Josh