Hi Stingrays- please see the following note from our awesome Coach Elise!

This week at Stingrays we’re going to focus on Freestyle and best stroke.  Each day’s focus is:

Welcome our new members (Tuesday).

Develop slippery streamlines and body-line kick (Wednesday).

Do start progressions, leading up to diving off our new blocks (Thursday).

Work on breathing and rotation; rock Fun Friday.

No meet this week.

If you miss a day, you miss a lot! 

Equipment we’ll be using:  Fins for all ages.  Please label and/or decorate with black sharpie.  Bring equipment in a bag, with a checklist to make sure you leave with all the same equipment you brought.  Checklist items:  Suit, towel (that you can get dirty—we’ll use it for dryland too), cap (for anyone with hair), goggles, fins, paddles (11 & up), clothes, shoes.  Take it all home with you to avoid buying it back the next day for 50 cents!  We’re encouraging individual personal responsibility so that coaches can focus on swimmers and swimming.

On Tuesday 4/19, returning 13 and up swimmers are invited to our junior coach meeting if they would like to be involved with helping our younger Stingrays (8&U) for the first few weeks of practice.  The meeting will be held during the normal 13 & up practice time.  Be ready to swim!

Weather:  We won’t get in the pool if there is thunder/lightening, but I’d really prefer not to lose this whole week of teaching/training and getting to know the kids.  Kids will meet under the awning across the pool from the entrance with their dryland towels if and only if it is safe to travel to the pool and be in the pool area.  Parents may stay under the awning at the pool entrance or may drop off/pick up at normal times.  Please use your best judgement about travel in our area and do not risk travel through flooded areas.  We will email/ text you as soon as possible concerning practice cancellations.

Heads up for next week:

4/26 we will begin using paddles for ages 11 and up.  You can get them from D&J Sports or on-line (Amazon, etc).  I recommend small size green Strokemaker paddles for most swimmers and medium size yellow paddles for high school swimmers and those with adult size hands, as pictured below.  Do not buy smaller than green or larger than yellow.  If you already own some kind of paddles, you may use whatever kind you have.

 

 

See you at the pool!

Coach Elise