Happy Monday Blasters! If you are looking for the results from the swim meet on Saturday, please check our website where results are posted generally the Sunday after the meet. In addition, the PWSL posts all meet results and top time on their site here. Congrats to Dashel Dean, Caroline Cotter, and Grant Golembiewski for getting the top time in PWSL this week! Also congrats to our 9 - 10 boys free relay for getting the top time in PWSL for the second week in a row–way to go Jacob Maas, Brandon Morton, Dashel Dean, and Dylan Sieloff!

This coming Saturday, June 27 we have an away meet at the Virginia Oaks Sea Devils.Today is the deadline to declare for the meet. Please note if you are NOT attending, you still need to declare that you are not attending. If you are unsure how to declare, please check out this instruction guideline.

Please note, we will NOT ADD swimmers to events after the declaration deadline tonight. Attached is a list of those who have declined or are undeclared. PLEASE CHECK THIS LIST, EVEN IF YOU BELIEVE YOU DECLARED, DOUBLE CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT ON THE LIST. If you appear on either list but plan to swim this weekend, please edit your swimmer(s) commitment on the website by 11:59 pm tonight! If you plan to be out of town this weekend and know you can not make the meet, please make sure to DECLINE the meet. We understand that illnesses and last minute changes happen, but we are trying to avoid all other scratches. Additionally, if you would like to suggest an event your child should swim, please include that in the notes while declaring. These are just suggestions, but the coaches will pay attention to them.

Events this week: There are a lot of events this week–plenty for all to participate in. As a reminder, unless specifically stated, all events are for both Micros and Blasters. Also, moving forward, all the flyers for any spirit night or social event will be available on our website the Sunday before the events. Make sure to check out our Social Events page!

1. Tuesday, June 23: Everyone’s favorite food truck is back–Big B’s Smokin’ BBQ will be in the Rob Roy parking lot from 5 - 8 pm. No pre-order necessary, but the perfect opportunity to grab dinner during practices!
2. Wednesday, June 24: Team photos at Iona Sound clubhouse from 7 - 10 am. A separate email will be sent shortly with more details. To clarify, the team photos will be indoors at the Iona Sound clubhouse from 7 - 10 am. Practices are still on for that day, so we recommend you sign up for a time slot BEFORE your practice. For the 13 & older age groups, we recommend you sign up for a slot after your practice. Micros don’t forget to sign-up too!
3. Wednesday, June 24: Join the team in a friendly kickball game from 6 - 8 pm at T. Clay Wood Elementary School.

Here are a few additional reminders:

1. When coming to practice at both pools, you must sign-in at the front desk (if the guard is there) and go through the locker rooms to get on the pool deck. Families and swimmers are NOT permitted to walk through the lifeguard area in the clubhouse to get on the pool deck.
2. Our Micros program in the morning goes until 11:45 am, but we have to turn the pool over to the community at 12:00 pm. Last week worked well, thank you Micro parents and coaches for clearing the pool and deck in the short turnaround time. Just a reminder that all families and swimmers must take their stuff and EXIT the pool deck. If you plan to come back to the pool, you will need to sign-in again with the gate guard.
3. Parents, we know you want to encourage and chat with your kids while they are swimming, but it’s very distracting to the swimmers and proves difficult for coaching. Please refrain from talking to your swimmer(s) during practice time.
4. If you ordered a swimsuit and it does not fit, you can purchase a different size–swimoutlet.com is your best bet to find the team suit. Please note that the team suit (Arena fireflow in red/white/blue) is very popular this season and many sizes are either out of stock or on backorder. So if you want to purchase, it is recommended to do so soon. Micros, this is also where you can purchase a matching team suit if you would like–it’s not required, purely optional.
5. Ribbons will be available at Iona Sound pool only. They will be available starting on Tuesdays.
6. Don’t forget, volunteering for Blaster families is MANDATORY. Our swim meets cannot run without volunteers, so please make sure you are completing your selected roles and communicating with your committee head. If you have missed shifts, you will be called upon to make those up by doing double shifts or filling in as necessary. If you are currently assigned to a non-meet committee but plan to be at the meet, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a spot. While we would prefer for folks to not do duplicate volunteer positions–although several do already–we are short volunteers this summer and really need the extra hands.
7. Do not forget to bring your pool passes—resident and non-resident—to practices. We still have many non-resident families who have not picked up your pool passes. Please make sure to do so ASAP.

Anticipated Timeline for Swim meet 6/27:

6:30 am: Warm-ups

6:30 am: Officials meeting

6:45 am: Timers meeting

7:00 am: Meet Start

12:30 pm/TBD: Meet End

After meet: Join us at Pizza Margherita in Gainesville!

Volunteers are needed to run this meet and you should be hearing from your committee heads soon on your specific roles. Please pay close attention to the emails/communications forthcoming. If you CANNOT make it to the meet, please let your committee head know ASAP. As a reminder, the following committees have the ability to sign-up on the website/app when declaring their swimmers: computers, clerk of course, timers, ribbons, runners, and stroke & turn. A guide on how to sign-up for job shifts is available on our website.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have questions in the meantime.

Looking forward to seeing you all on deck!