Here are a few items/reminders we wanted to share with everyone.

• Bathroom Breaks - Please have your swimmer go to the bathroom before practice begins. As we only have 60 minutes of practice per age group, we want to make the most of the time we have with them.
• Warmup & Warm-Down (Cool-Down) - We expect all swimmers to participate in the dry land warmup, along with the water warmup and warm down. A swimming warm-down (or cool-down) is a vital post-workout process of easy swimming designed to bring your heart rate down, flush out metabolic waste like lactic acid, and reset your body and mind. Skipping it can leave one feeling stiff and sore the following day. This is especially important for the older swimmers, as we are increasing their sets.
• Lane Lines - Moving forward, only the 11 & Up swimmers will be allowed to put in the lane lines.
• Swimmer folders - There are two large plastic containers that have a file labeled with each swimmer's name in the room where the lane lines are housed. Ribbons, DQ slips, etc. will be placed in the folders as they become available. Please check the folders at least once per week.
• Swim Caps - If you haven't picked up your swimmer's cap yet, it is in their folder.
• Swim Caps & Hair Products - If you notice your swimmer's cap slides off their head when they swim, you may need to ensure hair products (conditioner, gel, etc.) is washed out of their hair before putting on the cap. If you're already having issues, please make sure to wash the cap by hand with a de-greasing type of soap, like Dawn.
• DQ Slips - If you find a yellow slip of paper in your swimmer's folder, that's a DQ slip. During swim meets, if an official sees a swimmer not doing a stroke properly, they will raise their arm, and then note the issue on the DQ slip. Coaches receive a copy of each DQ slip, and we incorporate addressing them into our practices. As example, there were several one hand touches on the wall during butterfly, so today we emphasized two hand touches as we worked on butterfly. If you don't understand the notation on a DQ slip, please see Claire or me, and we will explain it to you.

Thank you for helping build our swim community!

Coach Holly