Hi BTC Swim Team Families-

Happy Friday, Happy Marathon Weekend, and Happy Memorial Day Weekend. I hope you all are having a great day.

I have a few announcements for you as we prepare for the season ahead.

1. Team Store is closed. But if you missed it, do not despair. We have plain (non personalized) BTC caps for sale ($15 each) in the clubhouse all season. You could get a plain navy swim suit that could be a near match to our imprinted team suits. Also a team t-shirt is included with registration. So we have all the basics covered for you.
2. Our meet and event schedule is finalized, I have the website updated, but I also included a pdf copy to this email for your browsing and planning pleasure.Our sign-up calendar is not live yet, that is done through the league and will be available shortly. So stay tuned for that. I will of course announce that when it happens.
3. Pre-season practices start in 10 days, on Monday June 1st. They are between 4:30-6pm Monday-Thursday from June 1st - June 11th (the last 2 weeks of school). Advanced group swims 4:30-6pm, Intermediate from 4:30-5:30pm, and Beginner from 5:30-6pm. No junior team in pre-season- practice. These practices, as all our practices are completely optional.
4. Regular Season with morning practice starts on Monday June 15th. Monday-Thursday Advanced is 8-9:30am, Intermediate is 9:30-10:30am, Beginner is 10:30-11am, and Junior is 11-11:30am. Fridays are always different so stay tuned for weekly updates in regards to Fridays.
5. We offer afternoon practices on Monday and Wednesday 5-6pm for intermediate and 5:00-6:30pm for advanced swimmers only. These are only an option for swimmers who have camp or a job scheduled during regular morning practice. We do not have the space to accommodate a large group in the afternoon. We are no longer offering an afternoon practice group for beginner swimmers.
6. Swim meets: sign-ups will be available online through the sign-up calendar on our website. For regular dual meets they will be open until 9pm the day before the swim meet. After that sign-up window will close and there will be no sign ups after that. So please sign-up by the deadline if you are interested in attending the meet. I am not doing day of entries this year. Sorry not sorry, as Demi Lovato would say. Championship meets: sign-ups are different. You will let me know your plans over a week in advanced on the sign-up calendar and I will pick events based on qualification time standards (States-2025 cut times) or the best options for the team (Leagues).
7. Meet Jobs- I am constantly calling, volun-telling, low key harassing people to sign up for meet jobs. It takes a literal army of volunteers to run these meets. Please do me a solid and sign up for jobs when you sign your swimmer up for the meet. They range in intensity of focus and time commitment required, there is something for everyone. We will do a swim meet jobs orientation at our Mock Meet (practice meet with just our team) on Thursday June 18th. So if you are new to all this, this is a great meet to attend to get used to all these things.
8. The single most important thing you can do to help ensure we can always run meets is to become a swim meet official. It requires no prior knowledge of swimming and is a great way to learn the technical rules of the sport. Meet Referee Nicole Chance of Middlebury is running a Stroke and Turn Officials Clinic over zoom on June 9th from 6-7pm. Here is the link and message she asked me to share with you all:

Hi all,

Please share this with anyone in Vermont interested in becoming a summer-only (rec. league) official, starter, or referee. People who want to officiate in the winter for USA swim meets should continue to clinic and test through USA swimming as non-athlete members (fee, background check, and other trainings are required).

I’ll be hosting a clinic over zoom as an introduction to officiating and to answer any questions people have about the process.

You’re not required to join this meeting to officiate in the summer.

Foundations of Officiating

Tuesday, June 9

7:00-8:00pm

Zoom clinic: https://middlebury.zoom.us/j/93801450152?pwd=0ATZPiXsDtgDFpIkgXq28KjAxSGEav.1

USA Swimming has posted the on-line clinic/test for stroke & turn officials, starters, and referees for Vermont summer-only (rec league) officials here: https://learn.usaswimming.org/browse/vermont and you’re welcome to take that any time. The cost of the on-line training is $35 (each position). The clinic/test is required every two years. In order to officiate in the summer, you also need to apprentice at three meets before working on your own. After two years at stroke and turn, you may consider moving up to starter; after two years as starter, you may consider moving up to referee.

Hope to see many new faces on June 9!

Nicole Chance

**This is huge and BTC will cover the cost of your on-line training as a thank you! So please be brave and sign-up to be a meet hero today!!!

9. Ok, it’s a sign for me to stop when I have to scroll up to see what number of announcements I am on. I promise I will send out cliff notes versions of this stream of consciousness monstrosity as we get closer to key dates on the calendar. Your main takeaways should be: you're on your own for team gear, check out our swim team event calendar and make a plan, sign-up for jobs, sign up for officiating, and we are going to have a great season of swimming together. I look forward to seeing you all at the pool soon! Bring on summer! Go BTC

Coach Hilary