Hi BTC Swimmers and Families-

I am writing today to thank you all for a great start to the season. It is so nice to see you all at the pool and excited to get this party started.

Reminder if you are interested in becoming a swim meet hero, there is an online official’s clinic with Nicole Chance of Middlebury tonight from 7pm-8pm over zoom. Check it out, Nicole has a ton of experience and is extremely knowledgeable in both summer league and winter USA swimming officiating. She is also a very great person and fun to talk or listen to.

Foundations of Officiating

Tuesday, June 9

7:00-8:00pm

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

Another quick note:

Pre-season is a time for swimmers to get some more practice but it is also a time for us coaches to assess new swimmers or swimmers we haven’t seen all winter. I will release a practice group list this Sunday evening and that is where your swimmer will be for the season (or at least for the first half of the season). Please bear in mind that the first responsibility of my role is to do what is best for the team as a whole. We have quite a big group so this is quite a big responsibility. I take individual swimmers' needs into consideration but ultimately I do what is best for the group, and a lot of the time it is also what is best for the swimmer. Swimming in a semi-crowded lane getting swum over because you are in a practice group that is above your ability level is not a good feeling. If you have too many practices like that you might start to not like swimming. Just a thought, so please respect the group designations.

Looking to next week and beyond:

New Parent Meeting: Monday June 15th at 6:30pm at the club. I will also email a written recap of the meeting to everyone, so you all have this information. This is a good chance to meet new parents and to ask questions of me and the rest of our coaching staff.

Mock Meet: Thursday June 18th at 5:30pm. Sign up today. I will send more details out next week and the day of, so let me know if you can make it. This is a great first meet experience for the kids and the parents.

Swim Meet schedule is out in multiple locations on our club website and also on our swim team site. You can download the Swimtopia app and easily sign-up for meets (right now).

Weather Alerts- For practice I like to make a call within an hour of the practice time to give people who are traveling from farther afield a heads up. Those of you who have had me a couple of years know that I do not like cancelling practice, so if there is even remotely a chance that practice can happen I take that chance. Drawbacks are that on more than 1 occasion we have been hunkered down in the crowded clubhouse for a half an hour waiting for it to be safe just to have to cancel practice. FYI: You have to have 30 minutes from the last clap of thunder before you can return to the pool.

Alright everyone, thanks for reading. That is all I have for you today. See you at the pool!

Coach Hilary