Hello again, Hammerhead Parents!
It's that time...time to prepare for our first swim meet! (Lots of info contained here! Please read!)
FIRST SWIM MEET: HAMPTON WOODS vs. CHIMNEY SPRINGS, MAY 31
Seeing our kids swim in the meet on Thursday is going to be so exciting! We know the kids will be a little nervous, but once they finish the first race, they will be so proud of themselves!
We currently have 29 kids registered for the meet. We need more! If you are in town on Thursday, please RSVP your child(ren) for the meet on our website:
https://hamptonwoods.swimtopia.com/
Click on the green buttons on the left side of the home page to RSVP your child(ren) and to sign up for your volunteer shift. Volunteer shifts last for half of the meet, so you can sign up to volunteer for the first or last half of the meet. To ensure the meet is fully staffed, we need one adult or responsible teenager per family to volunteer for half of the meet. Volunteer check-in is at 5:30pm for the first half of the meet and 7:30pm for the second half. For your reference, event 43 is the halfway point of the meet.
THE DEADLINE TO RSVP FOR THE MEET IS TUESDAY! If your child is not registered for the meet, we will not have a lane for him/her to swim in at the meet on Thursday.
The first meet is at Chimney Springs. Here is the address of the pool:
2465 Hearthstone Circle
Marietta, GA 30062
Warm-ups will begin at 5:15pm. Please have your child(ren) at the Chimney Springs pool no later than 5:15pm.
The team will wear either their HW blue swimsuits OR a solid blue one-piece for girls or solid blue swim trunks for boys. Please pull back long hair and bring your child's swim bag with the swim cap inside. PLEASE LABEL ALL BELONGINGS! The swim bags have a name tag on them, but the swim caps and anything else that comes in the bag needs to be labeled with your child's name. Your child will probably also want to wear the swim team t-shirt over his/her bathing suit.
Upon arrival at the Chimney Springs pool, please check your swimmer in at the shark tank (formerly known at the bullpen). The shark tank is a relaxed space where the swimmers hang out between their races. Parents can monitor their children from outside the shark tank. The shark tank will be marked; just look for all the Hammerheads wearing blue. In the shark tank, your child can lay out a towel, chill with friends, and have a snack or a meal! All swimmers under the age of 13 are strongly urged to stay in the shark tank during the meet. You can check your swimmers under 13 out of the shark tank by notifying the shark tank volunteers. Shark tank (formerly bullpen) volunteers are NOT responsible for swimmers checked out of the shark tank. Swimmers will be allowed to go to the bathroom with a buddy and then return to the shark tank. When your child finishes a race, please congratulate her/him and then bring your swimmer back to the shark tank.
If you check your swimmer out of the shark tank, you are responsible for bringing your child back to the shark tank ten races ahead of his/her scheduled race. For example, if your child in swimming in race #26, she/he must be in the shark tank by the time race #16 is announced. Shark tank volunteers are not responsible for locating swimmers around the pool deck, at the concession stand, or in the parking lot area. We ask that you know what events, including event numbers, your child is racing in so that you can ensure he/she doesn't miss a race. You can do this by printing a copy of your swimmer's individual meet sheet and bringing it with you on Thursday. Meet sheets will be emailed to you on the day of the meet. Due to last minute changes, we cannot send the meet sheets prior to meet day. Believe me, we wish we could!
Please remember that the meet will start on time and the races will happen in quick succession. The starter will not wait for swimmers who are not in place when their race begins.
If a swimmer who has already signed in must leave the meet, a parent must communicate this to the shark tank volunteers as soon as possible.
You might want to bring cash to the meet for concessions just in case the concession stand doesn't accept cards.
For the meet, each child's arm will be marked up with his/her event number, heat number, lane number, and race, as shown here:
We usually wait until we arrive at the meet to markup kids in case there are last minute changes. You can mark up your child or ask an experienced swim parent/volunteer/coach to do it for you.
We will also write your child's name on her/her right shoulder along with HW, Hammerheads, EAT MY BUBBLES, or some other team identification.
PRACTICE
We start morning practice and junior hammerhead practice this week! We will practice Tuesday through Friday on the following schedule:
8:40-9:10am --- Junior Hammerheads
9:00-9:45am --- Hammerheads ages 5-8
9:45-10:30am --- Hammerheads ages 9 & up
This week, our coaches will give out Hammerhead Awards at practice to recognize all kinds of accomplishments, from best backstroke form to funniest joke! The Hammerhead Awards are blue metal dog tags that swimmers can exchange for a snack or candy from the concession stand at the meet! If your child receives a Hammerhead Award, please remind him/her to wear it to the meet!
COACH OF THE WEEK - Nick Froemming
Coach Nick Froemming has been swimming for about ten years. Throughout high school, he swam on the varsity swim and dive team and acquired two state championships! He is currently swimming at Denison University, where just this year Nick and the Denison Swim Team won the D3 title and became national champions! Nick says he loves working with kids through summer swimming because that is how he was introduced to the sport, and he looks forward to seeing all the fast times our kids put up this year. Thanks, Coach Nick, for teaching our Hammerheads butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle and for being so kind and patient with the younger Hammerheads! We appreciate you!
SPONSOR OF THE WEEK - Atlanta Swim Academy
https://www.atlantaswimacademy.com/Atlanta Swim Academy is Atlanta's premier swim school and aquatic center. Their mission is to develop the skills necessary for a lifetime of swimming in students of all ages and to create a safe and fun environment in and around water. Atlanta Swim Academy has been the heart of the East Cobb community providing a year-round curriculum that teaches swimmers from a young age how to enjoy water safely since 1985. A big thank you to Atlanta Swim Academy for hosting a free dive clinic for our Hammerheads! The kids practiced entering the water from the side of the junior Olympic pool and diving in the pool off of the blocks. Thanks, ASA!
If you have any questions about the meet or practice, please ask us at practice or email us at
[email protected] or
[email protected].
TO RECAP:
- Morning practice starts Tuesday
- Meet warm-ups start at 5:15pm on Thursday at Chimney Springs
- First half volunteers check in at 5:30pm
- Second half volunteers check in at 7:30pm
- LABEL everything
- Know your child's event numbers
- Remind Hammerhead Award winners to wear their dog tags!
GO, Hammerheads! Eat my bubbles!!!
Kelly Wilkins & Brittany Reed
Hammerhead Swim Team Coordinators
