Tennis Team Families

Hi Swim Team Families,

Thanks to everyone who came out for Red vs. Blue this weekend! For the first day of summer, the weather was not so summer-ey– but we made the best of it! Special thank you to everyone who volunteered— the breakfast crew, timers, and brave officials who were willing to step up and learn the more technical roles in running a swim meet. We appreciate you so much!

This week we kick things into high gear! Morning practices start Monday, we have our first home meet on Thursday, team pictures on Friday, and a clinic on Saturday.

Your must-do’s this week:  1)  RSVP  and volunteer  for Thursday’s home meet, and, if you want them 2)  Order Team Photos for Friday (passcode: AH2025)

Here’s what’s coming up this week: 

Mon Jun 23 we shift to morning practice- here is the Practice schedule. Practices are always optional, but the more you swim, the stronger you get! Looking for something to keep your swimmer busy at the Arb while you work? Check out Otters Club! This is a new program open to all youth members age 8 and older participating on a team, it provides activities and supervision for kids to bridge to open swim time.

Thurs June 26 is our first meet, and it is HOME vs. Gregory Seahurst. The theme is… Lilo & Stitch! (Think tropical vibes …hopefully the weather will cooperate) Please RSVP by midnight Tuesday, we need to know who is coming so we can build our meet lineup. (Can’t remember if you responded? Check this file)  Also, please sign up to volunteer. It takes many hands to run a swim meet, and we need your help! Gates open at 4:00, warm up is at 4:45p, big team cheer at 5:30, meet starts at 6 pm. Your swimmer will also get to meet (or reunited with) their Otter Family!

Fri Jun 27 is Team Pictures & Pancake Breakfast. To pre-order, here is the link: Order Team Photos ( passcode: AH2025), orders will be open until Jul 1. Plan to arrive at 8:00 am, we will do individual/sibling photos then the big group photo at 8:30. There’s NO PRACTICE— we won’t get in the pool, we will just take photos and eat pancakes. After the group photo, the team will enjoy a pancake breakfast, and if your swimmer doesn’t participate on dive/tennis teams, they will probably be ready to leave around 9:30-10. If you do other teams, Dive photos are at 9:00 and Tennis is at 10:00. We are working with a new photographer this year. We will give them our roster, and the photographer will match names with orders. Thanks to Cecilia Camino for helping coordinate team photos this year! We also need helpers to make and serve breakfast, plus a couple of people to assist the photographer to ensure things go smoothly. Please sign up to help.

Sat June 29 is a swim clinic, this is a chance for swimmers to work on starts, turns, and other technical aspects of swim racing. The clinic is 8:00-9:00 am for age 11+ and 9:00-10:00 am for 10 & under. No RSVP, just show up.

There is still time to order apparel!  

The first apparel order has arrived – you can pick up in the cabana. We will do one more order this summer- use this link and order by June 28.  Order Otters/AH Apparel   We have heard from a few people that they are having trouble with credit card processing with our forms– sorry about that. We are working with our platform provider, Member Splash, to troubleshoot this issue. If you really get stuck, email me and I’ll make sure we get your order in.

What to know about swim meets: 

Swim meets are lots of fun! Arbor Heights competes in the Southern Division of the Greater Seattle Summer Swim League – we’ll have 7 dual meets (this season, 3 home and 4 away) and then swimmers with qualifying times move on to compete in three postseason meets that culminate in the All City Finals.

Each meet is made up of 72 events split up by age and gender, the events rotate through the age groups so swimmers have time to rest between their races. This league records file shows you what the 72 events are. Some events will have more than one heat if needed for all swimmers signed up to participate in that event. A swimmer can compete in up to 4 events each meet. The coaches will post event assignments either the night before or the morning of the meet. (How quickly the coaches turn around the meet line up depends on how good we as a team are at opting in/out promptly without making a mess of our RSVP’s. )

Meets start at 6:00 and run until about 9:00pm, but it varies depending on how many swimmers participate and how many heats are needed. Younger (8&U, Speedy 6) swimmers are typically done by 8:00pm, earlier if they don’t do the more technical breaststroke/butterfly individual events which are later in the event sequence.

We suggest packing usual swim stuff plus LOTS of extra towels (the younger your swimmer, the more towels you’ll want), something cozy to layer on over a wet swimsuit, and drinks/food and/or small bills for concession  purchases. (We have great food, support our team by buying dinner at the Arb!) You might bring camp chairs or picnic blankets to create a comfortable spot to hang out between events. Some bring a pop up tent for shelter. Something to write down event #/heat #/lane #  can also be handy for keeping track of your swimmer’s events. Many kids choose to use a sharpie to write their event information directly on their arm.

A quick note about gender identity: 

As we head into the competition season, we want to ensure transparency and accessibility regarding our league’s Gender Identity Participation Policy (see pages 18-21 of the GSSSL Operating Plan). With your swimmer’s swim team registration, you specified a gender identity which we will use for this season- if you specified “non-binary”  we will be reaching out to you to confirm if your swimmer wants to do even-numbered or odd-numbered events this season. Each club designates an Eligibility Officer to assist gender diverse athletes and their families with gender category eligibility for the season. At our pool, the EO is Megan Kelton. If you have any questions or wish to change this, please reach out to Megan at [email protected]. Thank you for supporting our commitment to a safe and inclusive environment for all athletes – for ensuring that the Arb is a place where all athletes belong!

That’s it for now, for more information and resources, check the links below. You can also reach out with any questions, if you hit “reply” it’s just me, and if you do “reply all” you’ll email me + Coach Chris.

Let’s go Arbor!

Kirsty

Swim Rep | Arbor Heights Swim & Tennis Club

[email protected]  |  ig: @ahstc.otters @arborheightspool

Useful Links

Season overview calendar

.ics link to subscribe to swim team calendar

Practice schedule

Order a Team Suit

Order Otters/AH Apparel  (Order by June 27)

Selling/gifting/seeking swim gear  | Responses  

Swim Team Emails & RSVP forms    | Check RSVPs

  

Upcoming Events 

Jun 23    Morning practices start!!!

Jun 26    HOME Meet vs. Gregory Seahurst |  RSVP by Tues Jun 24 | volunteer   |  Warm up @4:45p

Jun 27    Picture Day & Pancake Breakfast @8a – no practice | Order Team Photos passcode: AH2025 | volunteer

Jun 28    Start & Turn Clinic | age 11+ @8a   &  age 10 & younger @9a

Jul 1        Away Meet @ Marine Hills |  RSVP by Sun Jun 29 | Warm up @5:15p

Jul 4        No Practice –  Fourth of July

Jul 8        HOME Meet vs Olympic View | RSVP by Sun Jul 6 | volunteer  |  Warm up @4:45p

Jul 10      Away Meet @ Normandy Park |  RSVP by Tues Jul 8 |  Warm up @5:15p

Jul 12      Start & Turn Clinic | age 11+ @8a   &  age 10 & younger @9a

Jul 12      Swim Team Outing: DubSea FishSticks @6   BYO ticket, all are welcome

Jul 15      Away Meet @ Kent   |   RSVP by Sun Jul 13  |  Warm up @5:15p

Jul 17     HOME Meet vs Twin Lakes | SENIOR NIGHT |  RSVP by Tues Jul 15  | volunteer |  Warm up @4:45p

Jul 22     Away Meet @ Lakeridge |  RSVP by Sun Jul 20 |  Warm up @5:15p

Jul 24     B-Champs Meet @ Arbor Heights | RSVP by Tues Jul 22 | volunteer | Warm up @TBD

Jul 24     B-Champs Team Sleepover

Jul 25     Last day of practice! Pancake Breakfast

Aug 8     End of Season Party & Awards Night