Hi Rapids Families,

This is your 2021 Parent Meeting Recap email. Please take the time to read this from 'The' to 'eeek'.

The overall goal and mission of the Riverwood Rapids Summer Swim Team:

Established in 2008 as members of the CSRA swim league, whose purpose is to stimulate interest in competitive swimming and provide a means of teaching youth of all ages the meaning of good sportsmanship through competition.

We are an all volunteer organization that's committed to providing a safe, fun competitive sport environment in which all can participate. Our goal is to teach self confidence in the water and a love for the sport of swimming!

IMPORTANT:

• Please stay away from the edge or shallow end of the pool during practices. This will allow your child(ren) to focus on the coaches and not be distracted. Unfortunately, if you are found to be disrupting practice, e.g. coaching your child and/or hovering over the coaches, we will have to have a discussion and possibly ask you to remain outside the gate during practice times. Encouragement, as they walk by, is welcome but please keep your suggestions for your child(ren) until after practice. Thank you!
• If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak to any board member. Our information is on the Contact Us page and several of us will be at every practice. IMPORTANT: please refrain from speaking with the coaches during practice, you are welcome to talk with them before or after practice.
• Speaking of Coaches: they are made up of High Schoolers. Please be mindful of this and respectful of these young adults working hard to coach your kid(s)!
• Refund requests have to be written in email and sent to [email protected] before EOD (5pm) on May 24th

COVID CHANGES:

• Yes, we are still placing a few changes in light of COVID-19 virus for our swim meets.
• ONLY volunteers will be allowed on the pool deck. Parents and Spectators will be on the grass for both teams and we would like for the edge of the grass to be clear for watching races...NO CHAIRS, TENTS, etc. set up on the edge of the grass so that it can be used for viewing.
• Concessions will move to the kitchen opening in the Barn and our Meet Manager table will be at the entrance of the barn. NO swimmers or anyone in the Riverwood Barn please.
• Masks are highly recommended for the volunteers to have on them in case they are in a crowded space near the swimmers...example: Timers

VOLUNTEERING STEP-BY-STEP:

• Volunteer sign-ups and changes will be allowed once registration is closed, you will be able to use the website or Swimtopia app to view your volunteer positions. Please note that volunteer participation is a REQUIREMENT FOR ALL FAMILIES. We can't run a meet without your support!
• AT A MEET: Please check-in once you get there with the volunteer coordinator to get your badge/ID for your position no matter if it is second or first half of the meet. Also, if we are short volunteers for the meet, we will go around asking for parents to step up and help out.
• NEW for 2021 – COVID restrictions...ONLY volunteers will be allowed on the pool deck during meets. Parents and Spectators will watch from the grass area. This will apply to both teams.

ALSO GOOD TO KNOW:

• Communication will be sent through email, Facebook posts, and Remind. Please download the Swimtopia App as well. Remind: Text @riverwoodr to 81010 to join.
• We will be doing OPT-INS for meets, this is now available and instructions on how to do this are in the Swimtopia Cheat Sheet (see attachment).
• Go to rapids.swimtopia.com and click the Schedule tab. At the very top is a link: 'Subscribe'. This will allow you to automatically add the meet schedule to your calendar.
• Team Swim caps are included in registration, we have a box at practices.
• Weather: we will practice in the rain but practice will be cancelled if there is thunder or lighting nearby. This applies to meets as well. If the meet makes it to the halfway point (backstroke) then team managers can agree/decide to call the meet and take the score from that point.

CALL FOR HELP/DONATIONS:

• Concessions: The kids loved the fruit and baked goods in 2019, so we would we are going to be asking for those concession donations again this year. Please donate so we can sell back to you :)

MISC QUESTIONS FROM MEETING:

• Do we need to notify anyone if we cannot make practice? No, but please note that you absolutely do need to sign your swimmer up for the meets they are able to swim.
• What should swimmers wear for practice? Whatever they are comfortable in but one piece swimsuits are recommended for the girls.

UPDATES ON RAPIDS VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT:

Unfortunately, my full-time (real) job has grown in the last year and my ability to manage the swim team is becoming increasing difficult for myself and my family. In light of this, Amy Sherrill and Becca Freestone (current volunteer board members) have graciously volunteered to take over the management of the swim team. We are going to work closely together over this summer to transition the management and allow them to be set up for success going into next summer.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST – PRACTICES MOVE TO MORNINGS:

Yesterday was our last day of practices after school...thank you everyone with your patience with the filled lanes over the last two weeks. We move to mornings here on Monday May 24^th. Swimmers are broken up by age and if the Coaches deem that the swimmer should be in a different group, they will let you know so you can plan accordingly.

• 13 & up: 8:15am - 9:15am
• 7 to 12 year olds: 9:15am - 10:15am
• 6 & Unders: 10:15am - 10:45am

Attachment: Swimtopia Cheat Sheet. This sheet includes screenshots on how to use the website or the Swimtopia App. MOST IMPORTANT: how to opt-in for the meets if you WILL be attending to be put in the entries! You can go ahead and opt-in or out for the all the meets by logging into rapids.swimtopia.com

Thank you so much to the wonderful parents and swimmers on the team this year. We are so excited to have this amazing opportunity in light of the year we all faced last year. Can't believe that we have TIME TRIALS next week on Tuesday, May 25th from 5-9pm...eeeek!!

- Danielle Oldham