One week away!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the pool next Monday! We want to say again a heartfelt thank you to all our swim team families for volunteering your time at our Pre-Season Work Days. You've made a tremendous impact on the Club grounds and pool deck – they look awesome and ready for the season! And a shoutout to Mike Ellison’s E&N Pressure Washing for volunteering its services to clean the pool deck!

First Week Reminders
As we’ve seen the past few days, the weather can still be cool in mid-May, so extra towels and layers may be a good idea for swimmers at evening practices. Don’t forget to LABEL WITH SWIMMERS’ NAMES. For parents sitting poolside, we recommend mosquito spray.

Swimsuit Exchange - We’ll have a swimsuit exchange table set up for the first week. Feel free to bring outgrown swimsuits, goggles, caps or team shirts. And look through to find something that might fit your swimmers this season.

Spiritwear - A big thank you to Spiritwear Coordinators Angie Thomas and Gwen Hughes for sorting all the spiritwear this week! They’ll be set up to distribute during the first week of practice. Every family on the team has a spiritwear bag to pick up, and we ask that parents sign for their family’s spiritwear. Please make sure to double check your sizes AND label with names as soon as you receive them! And please stop by the pool to pick up your spiritwear bag by Thursday, May 15.

Weather - Remember to download the SwimTopia app and have alerts enabled because this is how we communicate if practice is canceled due to weather. You can review our weather policies on the website.

Volunteer Shift Sign-ups
We'll have the same process for signing up for shifts as last season. Volunteer sign-ups will open on Thursday, May 15 at 8 p.m. There are 5 swim meets and shifts for our End of Season Celebration. All families are required to sign up for 4 shifts. If your family wasn’t able to participate in a Pre-Season Work Day, please sign up for an additional fifth shift.

How to Sign Up - Log in to your SwimTopia account, navigate to calendar, to a meet, and click the green “job signup” button. If you are unsure about what roles to sign up for, read through the descriptions on our Volunteer page. For new families to our team with questions, please reach out to New Families Coordinator Katie Huffaker. For returning families with questions about volunteering, email Volunteer Coordinator Laura Holder. Both of these parents are serving in these roles for the first time this season – please be patient when reaching out to them.

Deadline - New this year: Deadline to sign up for 4 volunteer shifts is end of day Monday, May 19. Please note, if your family has not signed up for its 4 shifts, swimmers will not be entered to compete in the first meet. Having all families sign up for volunteer shifts ahead of the first meet will help alleviate the workload on our Team Managers and Volunteer Coordinator.

Stroke & Turn Officials - Our team still needs one or two more parents to train as Stroke & Turn Officials this season. This training is free, done online and takes less than 2 hours. The certification is good for 3 years. Training needs to be completed by the start of practice. You get a front row seat to all the races, and the training is a great way to learn more about the strokes and rules your kids are learning. Please send us an email if you are interested.

Cooks - If you are interested in a volunteer shift as a Concessions Cook at our home meets and End of Season Celebration this season, you’ll need to be pre-approved by the end of this week to sign up for this role. Send us an email and let us know what foods you are skilled at preparing. Please note that Concessions Cooks pay for the ingredients themselves. Some of the staples of the Hanarry West concession stand – and items volunteers cook and prep include: Baked potatoes, chili, baked ziti, fruit, assorted desserts (brownies, cookies, etc.). Our Concession Coordinators will provide detailed instructions, but cooks are asked to make servings between 25-40, depending on the item. And items should be brought to the pool by 4:30 p.m. ready to serve (so hot items should be hot).

Fun Friday Sponsor
We are still looking for one more Fun Friday sponsor. If your family or business is willing to support the team in this way, please let us know! You can fill out the sponsorship online or send us an email. Sponsorships are $150 and fund treats and activities for our 140+ swimmers.

Dolphin Pod: Adult Swim Practices
Last summer, some swim team parents at Hanarry West started their own swim practice group in the early mornings and evenings, and we are looking to create another group this summer. If you are interested in participating, please fill out the interest form by the end of the week and our Dolphin Pod Coordinator Lindsey Thiers will follow up with details.

This group is for adult swimmers of all ages and skills – if you want to become a stronger swimmer, if you want to learn the same strokes as your kids swim on swim team, if you are training for a triathlon, if you love swimming laps or if you just want a summer exercise routine where you don't sweat!

Raffle Winner
Congratulations to the Staker family! They are this year’s raffle winner for the home meet parking space! Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle – this is a great pre-season fundraiser for the team.

See you soon at the pool!