A very exciting meet!  The final score was 754-733, Stingrays over Barracudas, and every Stingray was part of that win, whether you earned points as an individual, on a relay, or cheering poolside (which many of you were).  With that kind of close competition, we needed every single person to do their part.  We make each other stronger every day at both meets and practice.  I love what we can do when we work together. 

A couple of important notes about Summer Thunder tomorrow:

First, there is only one warm-up tomorrow, and it is early in the day, at 12:15 p.m.  Many of our older kids are not swimming tomorrow until 6, 7, 8 or even close to 9 p.m.  I am not certain there will be a suitable warm-up area or even if lanes will be open during competition.  Coach Dore and I recommend that if you have access to the Longwood pool or another pool before heading to the meet, you can do your warm-up there.  This is a better option than an overcrowded 3-lane situation, no lanes at all, or a warm-up 6 hours before you swim.  Obviously, this information is for our older swimmers.  Our 10 and unders who will be swimming all day should come to our group warm-up at Klein at 12:15.  Please get there early so you can find the group, get set up, and be settled well before warm-up.  Personally, I will be there no later than 11:30 a.m.

For our younger kids, please note that the Klein pool is deeper than the pools we’ve been swimming in.  Parents may want to remind their swimmers that this is not something to be afraid of.  In competition, we only swim in the top few inches of water anyway.  In particular, we should try to make shallow dives in competition so we do not spend too much time trying to kick back to the surface.  I will remind them of this during warm-up, but it may be worth a moment of your time to mention it as well.  (Thank you, Tom Lightfoot, for bringing this up earlier today.)

Another important thank you today goes to Sharon Thomas, who filled in for Coach Dore while she was at her sister’s high school graduation this morning.  Sharon, your time was a gift to me and all our swimmers today.

Finally, if you have not looked at the ST invitation, Olympian Chloe Sutton will be there from 10 – 11 a.m. before the meet tomorrow to talk to interested athletes.  Please see the invitation document link from our homepage for more information.

See you at the pool tomorrow (and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....),

Coach Elise