Welcome to the 2024 Dolphin Swim Team!

We hope this email and the links in it will provide you with a lot of what you need to know for the coming season. PLEASE read it thoroughly. PLEASE check our team website for additional information. And PLEASE make sure to regularly check your email (the email linked to your SwimTopia account) during the season because that is the primary way leadership and coaches will communicate.

And please remember that while our coaches are paid, the team is led and run by parent volunteers – all who spend countless hours behind the scenes before the season begins and once it begins. Your leadership team is fellow parents who understand the positive experience summer swim team can be for children – and have taken on the responsibility of helping to create a safe, fun and encouraging learning space for the more than 160 Hanarry West Dolphins and Dolphin Pups. Feel free to ask us questions! But also feel free to jump in when you see a need (stock bathrooms, pick up trash, problem solve, fix swimmers' goggles, etc.).

Before you finish reading this email, we suggest doing the following:

Download the SwimTopia App

Join our team Hanarry West Dolphins Facebook Group

Print out or save the “Fridge Sheet” and other PDFs attached

Before the season starts …

Order your swimsuits. We have no official team suit, but we do encourage you to purchase suits in our team color -- solid royal blue or a royal blue pattern. Girls should wear one piece swimsuits and boys jammers. Our SwimOutlet Store, where we receive a portion of the sales, features several of these royal blue suits in a variety of price points. And as you are getting ready for the season, pull out the swimsuits your kids have outgrown and bring them to the first week of practice. We’ll have a “Swimsuit Exchange” table set up near the entrance.

Each swimmer will receive one team swim cap (and a team shirt) with registration. If your swimmer tends to lose or break caps each season, consider purchasing extra swim caps to wear during practice. During meets, we ask swimmers to wear only our team cap or a solid cap to help build team spirit and make our Dolphins easier to identify. We have a few options available on the SwimOutlet store as well.

Consider joining the Hanarry West Swim & Tennis Club so you can hang out with swim team friends at the pool after practice ends. Plus, you’ll have year-round access to the tennis courts, can attend special Club socials and events and build a summer community at the pool.

The first week of practice …

The schedule is posted on our website, along with a list of things to bring to practice. For the after-school practices, the water is usually cold and practices happen in the evenings, so along with goggles, your kids may need extra towels and warm layers.

Please be sure to label ALL your swimmer’s items with their names! Sharpies or waterproof labels are great for this. Not only do team caps and shirts look alike, but also shoes, goggles and water bottles. We’ll have a swim team-specific “Lost & Found”, but labeling makes it all easier!

We are using a local company for our spiritwear this year, and if everything goes smoothly with production this week, your swimmer’s team shirt and cap, plus any additional items you purchased will be available for pickup the first week of practice. Even if you can’t attend the first week of practice, please plan to have a parent stop by the pool to pick up your family’s items – items will only be handed to and signed for by a parent.

Familiarize yourself with the names of our Dolphin coaches (see attached PDF). Led by head coach Eric Brown, who is also the head coach of the Parkview High School Swim & Dive Team, most of our coaches are high school students who have grown up swimming at Hanarry West. If you’d like to speak to coaches, please try to find a time before or after practice so they can devote their full attention to the swimmers in the water during practices. Several of our coaches also provide paid, individual lessons if your swimmer would like extra practice. That list is also attached to this email.

Familiarize yourself with our team’s volunteer leaders, (see attached PDF) who are all parents themselves, and introduce yourself to them and fellow parents! For many, swim team is a summer community – and the community that exists and continues to grow is one of the best parts. If you are a veteran swim parent, please walk around and introduce yourself to newcomers or invite them to sit with you at practice. If you are new to the team, welcome! This is truly a family sport, where we all work and cheer alongside each other.

Review our team policies. It’s especially important as practices begin to remember that coaches only watch swimmers actively practicing. Parents are responsible for watching their children before and after practice – this includes keeping them out of the baby pool and out of the way of active practices.

If you are new to summer swim or our team, read over the terms and FAQs on our website.

Preparing for meets…

The meet schedule is posted on our website and on the team calendar. You’ll need to RSVP your swimmers for each meet on our team calendar page (we'll let you know when they are open for RSVPs). If you don’t RSVP by 11 a.m. the Friday prior to the meet, coaches will assume your swimmer isn’t available to swim, and they will not be entered to compete. And, just as important, parents should know at what meets and what shift they are scheduled to volunteer (see more info below).

You’ll receive an email (or two) the week of the meet with information about that specific meet and a heat sheet (list of your swimmer’s events). But LOTS of basic information about swim meets is available on our website, including:

• Where to park (our lot is closed and parents park on the street)
• What swimmers should bring
• What parents should bring
• Layout of the pool deck during a meet
• How to label your swimmer
• What time to arrive
• Weather delay procedures
• Schedule of events
• Team Cheer
• Rules & disqualifications
• Strokes
• Volunteer roles

As you make plans to attend our home meets, please also make plans to eat dinner or buy treats at our amazing Concession Stand! Our concessions is truly the best in the league, featuring not only hot dogs and burgers but also fruit, pasta salad, baked potatoes and on occasion specialty items (like tacos and blueberry cobbler!). Proceeds from sales go directly to the team – this is our primary fundraiser each season. We’ll post the menu the week of the meet.

Volunteering…

Swim team is truly a family sport because we need EVERYONE to volunteer in order for swim meets to function. Swim meets rely on parent volunteers from start to finish (it takes approximately 80 adult volunteers to run one swim meet).

This season, each Hanarry West family is required to work three meet shifts (this could be pre-meet, first shift, second shift, or post-meet) and one non-meet shift (pool work day, spiritwear, 50th Anniversary Celebration, County Meet). Volunteers are essential not only to the function of the team and meets but the overall positive experience of the swim team for our kids. Please take requests for your time seriously and respond promptly.

Sign-ups for some of the non-meet volunteer shifts have already started on our team calendar – log into your SwimTopia account to sign up. As we get closer to the season, we’ll post sign-ups for Fun Fridays, 50th Anniversary Celebration, and County Meet activities.

Volunteer sign-ups for meets will open Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. on SwimTopia. Log in to your SwimTopia account, go to the Calendar page and look for the green “Job Signup” button. Signing up for meet shifts will be first-come, first serve. If you are brand new to summer swim meets and have questions or concerns about shifts and what to sign up for, please ask us questions or email us: [email protected]

In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about the different roles at meets, read through the volunteer section of our website.

It is crucial at the end of EVERY meet that swimmers clean up all their personal items and trash from the bullpen. And as your family leaves the meet, please be sure to look around and make sure you have your personal items and collect any trash or recycling in your area. At the conclusion of the meet, we have two volunteers assigned to the “breakdown” role but our team relies on coaches, parents and even swimmers to help cleanup at the conclusion of the meet – and get the pool ready for Friday morning. This involves not only picking up trash and recycling, but also returning pool deck tables and chairs to their regular location.

On Friday mornings…

Things look a little different than the rest of the week. First, it’s the optional paid stroke clinics ($10 each) from 9-10 a.m. led by Coach Brown and other team coaches. These clinics are limited to 20 swimmers and RSVPs are done on the team calendar the week before.

Next, it’s many kids’ favorite part of the season – Fun Friday! At 10 a.m. the morning after a meet, swim team members get to celebrate accomplishments from the previous night’s meet, pick up ribbons, free swim and enjoy a treat. New this year – we’ll be recognizing “swimmers of the week” with a yard sign that can be displayed in the swimmer’s yard for the week (and then they bring it back the next Fun Friday).

We are grateful to this year’s Fun Friday sponsors: Dewald Family, Hughes Family, Borneman Family, Whitten Family.

To celebrate the season …

The team’s end of season awards will be given out on Friday, June 28 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Coaches will present high point awards and recognize each swimmer. There will be age group photos, free swim and a special yummy treat.

This final Fun Friday/Awards morning does not have a sponsor. If your family or business would be interested in sponsoring, please let us know.

To celebrate 50 years …

The team’s 50th Anniversary Party is scheduled for Sunday, June 2 from 4-8 p.m. at Hanarry West. Volunteers have been working hard to plan fun activities. Stay tuned for more details. And thank you to Hamilton Financial Services for being the sponsor for this event.

The last event of the season …

The Gwinnett County Championships are the last event of the season – for swimmers who qualify for the event. They will be held this year July 12-14 at Georgia Tech. Swimmers can qualify for the county meet by being a part of their team’s “A” relay or having a time in the top 50 in the county in an individual event. During the season, the county updates a list of the top 100 times – so you can find your swimmer on this list and keep track of their ranking.

Swimmers are required to RSVP for this meet through their team. The League will fine swimmers a penalty of $100 for no-shows. The County Meet, like our regular season meet, is staffed by parent volunteers. The League will assign Hanarry West specific volunteer roles for each age group session. So if your swimmer participates in the County Meet, please be prepared to volunteer at the meet as well.

For Hanarry West swimmers who qualify for the county meet, a celebration will be held at the Hanarry West pool on Thursday, June 11 for 12 & under age groups. For 13 & up swimmers, a dinner celebration will be held that evening at a restaurant (TBD).

Go Dolphins!