Take your mark,

In one week (and three hours) we will begin warming up for our first swim meet of the 2011 season.  I can hardly wait.  Swim meets are so much fun and home ones are a great way to showcase our club and our dedicated members.  Remember that we have practices everyday except Sunday between now and the meet day.  Yes, we do have practice on that meet day.  I am still in school until Friday, June 24, however, I will be able to be at the club much more next week than I have been while I have had students and teachers.

Swimcerely,

Mark

PS  Calendar change:  Since high school practices can begin on Wednesday, August 10, we will not have any high school practices after August 9.

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75 degrees and sunny – a perfect day for swimming

We are so excited to see all of our new swimmers out at practices.  We have been enjoying everyone of them.  Please be sure to get to as many practices as you can due to our first meet being just over a week away.  I will miss today’s practice, due to the same issue that was a conflict last Monday.  I have to attend three School Board meetings this afternoon/evening, each dealing with our 2011-12 budget.  Have fun.

Swimcerely,

Mark

PS.  Parker will not be with us as long as I had one thought, and hoped for.  United Airlines may be moving his start date earlier and he will be heading to Europe for a post graduation trip with some friends.  To play it safe, plan to say your goodbyes within the next week.

I know this is perhaps the busiest time of the year for families, however, . . .

. . . it is so nice to see everyone that can make it to practice each day.  It seems that each year there are more and more events that I hear about our swimmers being involved with.  Combined with more and more schools being represented, and the wide range of “the last day of schools” and we have quite a bit of diversity – isn’t it GREAT?  I certainly think so.

Our coaches have a good sense of where all of swimmers are, ability wise, and we are working on areas that need to be addressed.  We want to reinforce those aspects of our swimmers’ strokes that are correct, and work on conditioning.  We have long told our swimmers that there are three ways to get faster:  First, you can improve your technique and become a more efficient swimmer; second; you can get in better physical condition which will give you more energy for your races; and third, you can use a combination of the first two.  The third option is what we plan every practice to incorporate.

I will not be at today’s practice.  Alexa has a banquet for her high school softball team at 5:30 and, while it is no swim meet dinner, it is still a sports dinner – so I will be there!

Swimcerely,

Mark

Hello: Matthew, Michael, Patrick, Noah, Bella, Lindsay and Jillian, Bianca, Jasmine, and Albert

Our first swim meet, which is a home swim meet, is in 14 days (Yikes, that is almost two weeks!)

I remember hearing the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  While I do not want to open that discussion, I would like to reference it to hosting a swim meet . . . “It takes an entire club to host a swim meet!”  It is probably somewhere around 40 adults that is needed to host one of our dual meets.  We do not have that many volunteers at this time.  Please contact Charlie Miller a sign up for a spot for one or, perferably, both of our home swim meets.  No previous experience is needed for almost everyone of these jobs.

Swimcerely,

Mark

What a day to miss practice!

I had two budget meetings that I had to attend yesterday afternoon/evening for my school district.  While I hate to miss practice, is it alright if I hate to miss it even more when it was such perfect swimming weather?  I hope so, because I live for summer weather.  Please make sure that you have ordered a team swim suit, if you need/want one.  We are using the same suit as last year so if yours still fits, and is in good shape, there is not need to order a new one.  Swimmers should not wear these suits to practice.  By wearing a different suit at practices you accomplish three things:  First, your meet suit will last much longer and look better; second, it allows for a added excitement/motivation at our meets – sort of like wearing a uniform at a soccer game; and third, it give your child another suit – I have discovered that this is especially important for the girls on our team.  See you this afternoon.

Swimcerely,

Mark

Now this is what I call S-U-M-M-E-R

It was so nice to see everyone that was able to attend the Parent Cocktail Party Friday evening.  We had a great mix of new and returning parents.  If you were not able to attend I would like to highlight just two things:

1.  Our first swim meet is a week earlier this summer than in previous summers.  This early meet, combined with missing some pre season practices means that each practice is very important.  Please come to as many as possible – during this very busy time for students and families.

2.  Please do not spend your time wondering about anything associated with the swim team.  If our Manual or Calendar do not answer your question just ask.  Kelsey or I can answer pretty much everything, as can many of our parents of returning swimmers.

Swimcerely,

Mark

Parent Cocktail Party

If you can make it please attend our Parent Cocktail Party this evening from 6:30 – 7:30.  While this is geared for everyone, it is most valuable to families that are new to BOH swimming.

Swimcerely,

Mark

I know that we just got started, but sometimes we need to look ahead

For the last several years the BOH Swim Team has started swim practices a couple of weeks before the Memorial Day weekend.  Most summer swim teams follow the same practice.  The difference is that BOH has practiced at BOH and most other clubs practice at a nearby high school, until their pool opens for the season Memorial Day weekend.  Last year we tried starting three weeks early and lost a week due to unseasonably cold weather that kept our pool water temperature too cold to practice in.  This year we lost the entire preseason due to the pool work that was performed.  A question that we should answer this summer, for next year, is whether we should have our preseason practices at a nearby high school pool to avoid possibly missing practices, or continue scheduling them at BOH.  While the pool will not need any repair work next year, there is the risk of weather interfering with preseason practices.  Currently we do not charge a separate fee for our preseason practices.  As other clubs currently do, we would need to charge enough of a fee to cover the pool rental costs associated with these practices.  If you have any thoughts on this please let me know.

Swimcerely,

Mark

Hello: Gideon, Jack, Alex L., Mia, Megan, Alex H., Hadley, Elisia, Sarah, Alex M., and Jane

thanks, Thanks, THANKS

Dear BOH Swimming Families,

I must take a moment to thank some key people as it pertains to getting the pool opened this year.  If you looked at the pool, even a couple of days before our opening, you would have thought there was no way that it would get opened in time.  The primary reasons for this is the length of time the remarciting took and the weather.  The extended repair was worth the wait as it is an excellent job.  Each year, when we set up an opening schedule, we have been able to count on being able to work the week prior to opening.  As many of your basements can attest, we had a lot of rain during the seven days prior to opening.

-Thanks to the Board of Directors for approving the needed pool repairs for this summer.

-Thanks to Paul Rizzo, General Manager, for his involvement every step of the way.

-Thanks to Kevin Greaves, Maintenance Director, for his efforts.

-Thanks to Kelsey Brown for all of the hours she put in, usually after a full day of work prior to her summer job beginning at BOH.

-A special THANKS to Jacob Brown for his many hours and hard work (including a 2:00 am shift to make sure the filling of the pool was correct.  Without Jacob’s many hours, the pool would not have opened Memorial Day weekend.

Swimcerely,

Mark

PS HELLO – Kolton, Julian, Natalie, Kathryn, Madeleine, Ava, Gracie, and Kathryn