June 2011
June 28, 2011
We had a fantastic meet in Ukiah last weekend! Natalie, Emily, Hannah, Lilah, Dylan, Haley,Cecile, Autumn, Josepha, Piper, Mitchel, Hope, Mackenzie, Mikhaila, Analiese and Victoria represented the Sea Dragons well, in and out of the water. Everyone noticed the Sea Dragon's excellent sportsmanship as our swimmers recognized and shook hands with their competitors at the end of races. Almost all of the Sea Dragons swam a personal best time during the weekend, and we had had a lot of heat winners. Some swimmers achieved new "A "times as well as new "JO" times. Our Girls 10 & under relay team (Analiese, Haley, Natalie, Emily) dominated both the 200 medley and 200 free relays.
Congratulations to all of our swimmers for a great meet!
See the PAC Swim website www.pacswim.org for full results.
Don't forget to sign up for Willits and check the team meet schedule (see below) for the rest of 2011. We will be heading to Lakeport on August 27-28 for the Lake County Channel Cats Meet.
–Coach Derek
Hello Sea Dragon Families:
As we start to wind down and close our 2010–2011 swim season there is a great deal to reflect upon and be thankful for and a good deal still left to plan, for the future prosperity of our team. Since the teams' inception over two years ago, our young team has successfully sponsored four swim meets at the CV Starr Center, with the help of all of our coaches, swim parents, community volunteers, businesses, and Star Center staff. We have three Certified Stroke and Turn officials; thank you Ken Baumgartner, Ken Susman, and Michelle Norvell. Our kids have consistently improved with the ongoing enthusiasm and commitment from our coaches Derek, Kevin, and Skip; thank you coaches.
Thank you parent board members for your help in building a team base and making ongoing plans for our program to thrive well after our swimmers have graduated on. We have conducted two very successful Swimaramapalooza fundraisers, totaling $13,000. We cannot thank you all enough for continuing to support your swimmers, the team, and the Sea Dragon program. Kudos to you all!
The MCSD Swim Team is a volunteer run program, it succeeds only with parent support. Without this support the program cannot function. There are board members on our team who would like to take a break, some of us have been volunteering as heads of committees and board members since before the teams' inception. I would like to ask all of you to really think of volunteering to become a parent board member. Our parent board is searching for two or more board members; one of these positions will be in charge of fundraising. It’s not as time consuming as you might believe. If you are interested, please contact any one of the board member’s and they can give you details and info on the scope and commitment duties pertaining to board leadership.
I would also like to thank Liz Petersen for designing our new team logo. This logo will be used on all team apparel, equipment bags and hats. The basic dragon head will used on the team suits and jammers. Ordering for all team equipment and apparel will be available through NorCal Swim Shop. Directions and information on how to order will be posted on our team website under Team Store. There will be an initial order from NorCal on all team equipment and apparel; we will give you order forms and establish a due date to turn money in. After this initial order, families will need to take care of their own ordering. If you already have a Nike team suit or jammer you can call NorCal and make arrangements for them to embroider the dragon head logo on your suit or jammer for a fee. Team parkas will be ordered through TruWest, and t-shirts and various other team items will be ordered thru Café Press; more to follow on these once the initial set-ups are ready.
Thanks again for your continued support!
Go Sea Dragons!
André
YOUR PARTICIPATION=DRAGON SUCCESS=YOUR SWIMMER’S SUCCESS
June 21, 2011
Happy First Day of Summer to All!
It's meet week! Practice is focused on technique, turns, starts, and of course speed this week, so show up to as many practices as you can.
For the Ukiah meet, anyone swimming on Friday should be ready to warm-up at 3:00 p.m., as events start at 4:00 p.m. Please be in the pool at 8:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday morning (warm-ups are from 7:30–8:45 a.m.). We will put together as many relays as we can and will have relay teams posted on Thursday at practice.
Swimmers:
• Check in at the clerk of the course when you arrive at the meet, and write down your event numbers.
• At the meet, find the team area and set up your stuff in and around our shade.
• Check in with a coach before and after each event. Before your event let the coaches know what heat and lane you are assigned.
• Cheer on your teammates! Get into the team spirit.
• Wear a team cap.
• Stay hydrated (water is best, but a little Recharge or Gatorade is OK too)
• Bring plenty of healthy energy-rich food (peanut butter and crackers, bananas, trail mix, etc..)
• If it's hot stay out of the heat, and wear sunscreen and a hat!
• Most of all have fun and swim fast!
Parents:
We will need to provide some timers, so please plan on timing for part of the meet (you get a great view of the races in the shade!). If there are any parents who can official, or who want to take on any other meet job, let one of the coaches know.
Reminder:
Next week, on Monday, 6/27, practices begin at 9:00 a.m..
Upcoming Special Events:
Monday, July 4: No practice
Friday, July 8: Practice, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, July 14: Team Time Trials, 4:00–5:30 p.m. — we will need parents to help time!
June 1, 2011
Hello Swim Team Families:
One month until the Ukiah meet! If you haven't already signed up for the Ukiah and Willits meets, please sign up now. When you register for these meets on swimconnection.com your recommended events will show up with your best times if you've swum them before, or "NT" if you haven't. These are the coaches' recommendations, and if you want to to swim something else or have questions about your events, please talk to one of the coaches.
Our goal is for all swimmers to have efficient, fast and legal strokes, so practices will continue to focus on technique/mechanics for Bronze Group swimmers, and Silver and Gold groups will continue to work on technique, strength and endurance. If you haven't already looked at this month's Splash magazine, check out the stroke technique section—it's a great overview of all of the strokes.
See you at the pool!
Coach Derek