The Athens Clarke County Dolphins Swimming Teams announcement

Announcements

Welcome to the News Section of the ACC Dolphins Website. Information and updates will be posted here over the course of the season, so please check back often. If there's something you have a question about, but can't find here, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Date: Monday, June 28th, 2010

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend are ready to get back into the pool. There's quite a lot going on this week, so I have a few additional announcements.

First, we will be having our usual "Monday Meeting" tonight to go over the results of the Summer Hill meet. This will begin at about 6:30, and though it's primarily intended for the swimmers, parents are, as always, welcome to listen in.

Second, we have ribbons for the first two meets available for pick up. Please see Heather Escoe after practice if you have not yet gotten your awards from Eastside or Shamrock. Ribbons for Summer Hill should be available next week.

This weekend is the 4th of July and marks our midseason break. Please remember that we have no practice on Friday the 2nd or Monday the 5th. We'll get things up and running again on our regular schedule beginning on Tuesday the 6th.

For those swimmers who wish to participate, this year's District Meet will be held in Gainesville, GA on Saturday, July 10th. This is a qualifying opportunity for the State Meet in Carrollton at the end of the summer. Complete information can be accessed here. We'll be sending out an email containing more information about this later tonight, but for now, please remember the following. If you intend to participate, you'll need to have a copy of your birth certificate and meet entry fees ($7.00 per event) back to the Dolphins so it can be turned in to GRPA no later than Monday the 5th. Sometimes getting a copy of the birth certificate can take a little time, so please do begin investigating that now if District and State are something you'd like to do.

That's about all I have for now. Thanks again to all our volunteers who helped with the first three meets.

We'll see you tonight at the pool.

Date: Monday, June 14th, 2010

Dear Dolphins Swimmers & Parents,

We hope everyone had a good weekend and that you're ready to get back into the pool this evening. We have just a couple of announcements as we begin the week. Rather than bombarding you with multiple emails, they're condensed into a single list below. Much of this has to do with our meet on Wednesday, so please do read through this carefully.

Individual event entries for Wednesday's meet against Shamrock have been posted in the entries section of the website. Please check them over and let us know if any corrections need to be made. Please note that if you turned your meet registration form in after the deadline, you may not appear in this file. We can get these, and any other swimmers who are not in the posting into the meet, but you'll need to let us know by the end of practice tonight. Heat and lane assignments as well as relay info will be posted tomorrow.
Results for the Eastside meet have been posted as well. As is our custom, we will have a brief meeting at the end practice tonight to go over the meet, as well as to announce the scores. This is primarily for the swimmers, but parents, as always, are welcome to listen in.
Thanks to all our wonderful and patient volunteers who stuck it out through our delays Wednesday night. These meets couldn't happen without you. Several people have already signed up for our upcoming meet but we still have several jobs to fill. Please email Laura Cofer (laurafgrimes@gmail.com) or track her down at practice if you're available for our meet on the 16th vs. Shamrock. Laura is also working on a volunteer appreciation idea for the team party. Each time you volunteer this season you name will be entered into a drawing for prizes at our party. Anyone who works both halves of a meet (and several of you did on Wednesday) will be entered twice for that meet. She will be soliciting prizes for the drawing also if you would like to donate something!
Speaking of donations, we've had a request from Todd Upchurch about additional concessions items for our upcoming meet. He has asked for the following items to replace what was sold last Wednesday.

Green or Orange Gatorade/Powerade in 20oz bottles (lots of these would be great!)
Cokes, Diet Cokes, Sprites 12oz cans
Candy that won't melt (things like individually wrapped Skittles, Nerds, Nerds Ropes, Gummi Candies, Little Debbie Oatmeal)
Healthy snacks that won't melt (bananas etc.)

While we're on the subject of concessions, Todd has asked for a volunteer to help oversee concessions for the Summer Hill meet, as he's going to be out of town next week. Most of the legwork (ordering pizzas, etc.) has been taken care ahead of time, but we do need someone to pick up ice and act as coordinator. If you can help, please contact Todd (getoutofmyhouse@hotmail.com) and he'll go over the ropes with you.

That's about all we have for now. See you tonight at the pool.

Date: Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Dear Dolphins Swimmers & Parents,

Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend. I have just a few announcements about things to remember in the upcoming week.

First, please remember our team pictures are scheduled for this coming Tuesday (June 8th). John Weatherford, who owns and operates River Oak Photography, will be on hand to take both individual and group shots. To streamline the order process, he has asked that anyone who is interested in purchasing pictures register beforehand online. This registration in no way obligates you to buy--it simply saves everyone the hassle of filling out paperwork on the pool deck.

Second, remember that our meet against Eastside will be at Bishop Park on Wednesday night (June 9th). Entries, as well as Heat and Lane Assignments will be posted in the "Meets" section of the website on Monday. Please make sure that your swimmers come to the meet with Heat and Lane assignments written on their hand. Warmup will begin at 5:00 pm, so Dolphin swimmers need to be at the pool getting ready to swim at 4:45.

Third, we're short a number of volunteers for Wednesday's meet. Spots that still need to be filled include:

Head Timer: 1 Second Half

Starts extra watches at the beginning of each race and replaces those operated by timers in case of malfunction

Timers: 3 First Half; 7 Second Half

Two per lane working in tandem start and stop watches, and record times for each race

Finish Judge: 1 First Half; 1 Second Half

One on each side of the pool; write down order of finish for the meet administrator

Scorer: 1 First Half; 1 Second Half

Works with meet administrator checking order of finish against times

Bullpen Workers: 4 Second Half

Help prepare younger swimmers for races by organizing them in chairs and escorting them to the blocks

Runners: 2 First Half; 2 Second Half

Pick up order of finish from finish judges and record sheets from timers and take to meet administrator

If you've never done one of these jobs, don't worry; they're designed to be check, balance, and back each other up, so making a mistake is seldom a problem. Plus, there's always someone available to answer any questions you might have. We need your help to run a successful meet, so please contact Laura Cofer and let her know what you'd like to do.

Finally, please keep in mind that we will need concessions for this meet, so a request for donations (snacks, drinks, etc.) will be going out soon. Funds from concessions at swim meets enable us to purchase necessary equipment around the pool as well as to provide scholarships for swimmers who need them, so please do remember to donate when the appeal goes out.

That's about all we have for now. We'll see you down at the pool.

Date: Monday, May 16th, 2010

Dear Dolphins Swimmers and Parents,

Welcome to the Dolphins 2010 season. Before practices begin we have just a few announcements that we'd like to run by you.

Since we'll be using the web more and more to get information out, announcements at the pool will be be much shorter than in years past. This year we'll begin announcements each day at 5:25, with the goal of wrapping things up and having the swimmers under the "Tent of Knowledge" by 5:30. Of course, it may take a few minutes longer, especially if there are questions, but our goal is to be in the water as close to 5:30 as we can. Accordingly, please make sure that swimmers are there on time, with suit and goggles on, ready to swim.

Please do feel free to stay and observe what's going on at practice, but we ask that parents remain behind the fence while practice is going on. Swimmers (and even coaches!) can sometimes get distracted when parents are on deck, so please do try to avoid coming through the pool while the coaches are coaching. If there's something you would like to talk to any of us about, the best time to do so is after practice. If something strikes you while you're away from the pool, the email addresses of most staff members can be found under the "Coaches" or "Contact Us" sections Dolphins website.

One other thing we ask is that you make sure you're at Bishop Park to pick your children up when practice is over at 7:00 pm. Though members of the staff will often be around the pool for some time afterward, and will never leave a child at Bishop Park alone, we ask that you be respectful of their time. Many of them have early morning practice and need their sleep; others have classes and need to study; still others are expected at home to tuck people in!
Remember that meets are an important part of Dolphins swimming. They help us gauge improvement, they give us a forum to teach good sportsmanship, and they're fun, so we encourage all our swimmers to participate. In order to help us put together the meet best roster we can, we need to know who is going to be there. This is especially important in terms of relays, when the absence of one swimmer can leave three others without an opportunity to swim. For that reason, we ask that you print out the Meet Registration Form and turn it in to Coach Chris no later than June 2nd. The sooner we have these in, the better.

As we mentioned on the first night, much of what makes the Dolphins program successful is parent participation. This is particularly true of meets, where we need parents to serve as timers, runners, scorers, bullpen workers, and more. People generally sign up to do these the week before each meet, so look for a request for volunteers before each meet.

That's about all we have for now. Please do let us know if you have any questions. We'll see you next week at the pool.

Date: Monday, May 10th, 2010

Dear Prospective Dolphins Swimmers and Parents,

The Athetics Staff at Bishop Park informed us today that the Dolphins program is now full. We may have room for more swimmers after the season begins, but in order to be considered, you will need to be put on the wait list at Bishop Park. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Date: Friday, May 1st, 2009

Dear Prospective Dolphins Swimmers and Parents,

Some important points of information with regard to the upcoming season are as follows:

Registrations for the Dolphins opened on April 12th and will continue through the first week of the season (May 29th). The cost is $55 for Clarke County residents (scholarships are available) and $83 for residents of the surrounding counties. Swimmers must register at Bishop Park between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm.
Swimmers must be 18 years old or under, and able to complete at least one "short lap" (15 yards) of Bishop Park Pool in order to participate. Swimmers who are not able to complete this distance should enroll in one of the many swim lesson programs available in the area.
Practices will begin on Wednesday, May 26th and continue through July 20th. Practices run Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. There will be no practice on Monday, May 31st, Friday, July 3rd, and Monday, July 6th. Days off and other changes to the schedule will be announced in this section of the website.
Information on competitions for the 2010 season can be found in the "Meets" section of this website. After signing up for the Dolphins, parents are asked to download the Meet Registration Form so it may be filled out and turned in the first week of practice. All meets will be home meets this year, so please begin considering ways in which you would be willing to volunteer.
When you register for the Dolphins, please be sure to include your email address on the form. This is for swim team purposes only and will ensure that you are included on the Dolphins listserv . The listserv is one of the best means we have of getting important information out, so please do be sure that you give us accurate information.

All of us on the Dolphins staff are looking forward to another great summer season. If you have any questions not answered here on this site, please contact Coach Carter or Coach Foggin for more information.