Good afternoon Lightning families!

Thank you to all who were able to make it to our parent meeting last night. We know that finding any time for a meeting during Maycember is difficult, so we appreciate you! It was so nice to see some new faces as well as some returning families. We are so excited for our season to start!

One thing I forgot to mention at our parent meeting last night is about our spirit wear. If you have ordered spirit wear already from Lanier Goods, they are currently processing those orders. I will have to go back to Lanier Goods for more of our team order and am happy to pick up any spirit wear orders if they are ready. I will likely only go to Lanier Goods one more time to pick up items for the team, and it will be in a couple of weeks. So if you want to order and have me grab it, you need to order ASAP. Also, if you would like to have your spirit wear by our first meet, you must have your spirit wear order in by 5/14. You will still be able to order after 5/14. It just may not be ready by our first meet. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this.

We are having a swimsuit fitting on Thursday (5/7) evening from 6-8 pm in the lower level of the clubhouse. Please make sure to attend if you are unsure of the size of your suit. You can also check our sizing chart listed on our website HERE. Another option that families have had success with is to order multiple sizes and return the sizes that don’t work. Swim Outlet has fast shipping, but we want to make sure you have your swimsuits by our team picture day.

We wanted to send out the members of our Swim Team Parent Board. If you have any questions, any board member is happy to answer them for you. A board member will be in attendance at each practice!

• Heather Otwell – Director
• Tracy Foxx - Treasurer
• Christy Moynan – Volunteer Coordinator
• Ashley Cerny - Secretary
• Jennifer Ng - Fundraising Coordinator

Here is a list of all our coaches with the age group they will be working with. Reach out to your child’s specific coach if you have an issue/question. Also, some senior coaches will offer private lessons for $25 for a 30 minute session. I will let you know who those coaches are soon!

• Tyler Martin – Head Coach
• Trey Jackson – Assistant Coach & 11&ups
• Sophia Landis – 6 & under swimmers & 11&ups
• Fay McCurley - 6 & under swimmers
• Gabby Ramey – 9 & 10 swimmers
• Adelyn Thomas - 9 & 10 swimmers
• Sam Hutcheson - 7 & 8 swimmers
• Jackson Sawyer - 7 & 8 swimmers
• Sophia Wingate - Sparks
• Sabrina Rinaldi - Sparks
• Thatcher Wiegand - Junior Coach
• Dylan Brooks - Junior Coach
• Georgia Galt - Junior Coach
• Paislee Otwell - Junior Coach
• Austin Carey - Junior Coach
• Maggie McCurley - Junior Coach
• Graham Cerny - Junior Coach
• Aidan Parks - Junior Coach

Next, we wanted to congratulate our raffle winners from our parent meeting.

• Winner of a reserved parking spot in the pool lot: Jade Parks
• Winner of the volunteer pass: Lauren Watkins

Here is our meeting recap:

1. Please make sure you have notifications turned on for the swimtopia app. This is how we will send out any quick notifications/reminders to the team. These are especially important during weather situations.
2. Our first practice of the season is Monday, May 11 at 4:30 for our 6 and under swimmers. Please see the attached practice schedule for your age group specific times. If you are unsure whether your swimmer needs to be a spark or 6 and under, please come to practice Monday, and our coaches will evaluate your swimmer. Also, please have your swimmer arrive 10 minutes prior to his or her age group practice time to stretch on the island. For example, if your swimmer is practicing at the 6 and under practice time, please have them arrive at 4:20 for dry land stretching.

A few more practice reminders: 1.Sparks do not start practice until Tuesday, May 26 at 8AM. 2. No parents are allowed on deck on the dive blocks side of the pool. You may sit/stand on the opposite side, near the pool house or anywhere around the zero entry area of the pool. 3. If you have an issue/concern about your swimmer or practice, please wait to speak with your child’s coach until the practice has concluded. It is a safety concern if our coaches are not actively watching the water, and safety is our #1 priority. If you have an immediate concern, please talk with a board member. 4. Please remember afternoon practices are always a little crazy because we have to cram all our practices into an hour and a half. Please be patient with us and the coaches during this time. Parking will be an issue during afternoon practices. We ask that you be respectful of our neighbors while you are parking and not park in front of driveways or fire hydrants. Once morning practices start, the parking should improve.

3 . All swimmers must be declared as “attending” or “not attending” by Monday at 8 am before that week's meet for all meets on Thursday. For our last Tuesday meet, please go ahead and declare your swimmer the week before. We will send out a video with instructions on how to do this soon. If you do not declare your swimmer, we will assume they aren’t swimming that week, and they will not be placed in our lineup. Sparks swimmers do not have to declare their swimmer.

4. The ASA Championship (County Meet) will be held at Georgia Tech pool on Friday, June 26 at 9 AM. We are encouraging all families to participate if possible. This was such a fun experience last year! If you plan to participate in this meet, you MUST let me know by Friday, June 5, after our 2nd meet. If you already know you want to participate, please go ahead and email me, and I will place you on our team list. I will contact you once we get closer with more information. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out! To participate in this meet, the cost is $50/swimmer.

5. At our home meets, the concession stand will accept cash or square (credit card, apple pay, google pay, etc). We are no longer accepting venmo. We will have burgers, hot dogs, pizza, BBQ sandwiches, chips, candy, and drinks.

6.Volunteering – Volunteer signups will go live Sunday May 17 at 9 AM. Remember, each family must sign up for 5 volunteer slots, with 2 of those being bullpen slots. If you have any questions about volunteering, please first check our website with all the volunteer job descriptions, by clicking THIS LINK! If you still have questions, you can reach out to Christy Moynan (our volunteer coordinator) at practices or email our swim team email account. Sparks families do not have to volunteer.

7.Picture day is Thursday May 14. (We realize this may be a conflict for some families, but we have to go with the best possible date for our photographer.) Please arrive promptly at 5:15 in your royal blue swimsuit or jammer AND your team t-shirt to line up for the group picture. The group picture will be taken promptly at 5:30. Individual pictures will be taken after the group picture concludes. We will have no practice on this day. If for some reason you can’t make the May 14th picture date but would still like individual pictures of your swimmer(s), we are offering one make up picture date, May 18 during practice. Please help us respect our photographer’s time/schedule by not reaching out and requesting an individual date apart from the ones listed. Thank you!

8. If you haven’t already done so, please check out our spirit wear store. Click HERE to order!

I think that’s everything! As always, please let us know if you have any questions! We look forward to another fun swim season!

Sincerely,

Heather Otwell

Director