Dear Parents and Swimmers,

​Since the girls’ middle school season is over, we can move our Derby and Covington practices to the earlier times….Covington 5:45-7:15 and 7:00-8:30, Derby 5:30-7:00 and 6:45-8:15 beginning Monday, January 31.

​What a great meet we had last Sunday!

​Thank you to our board and all of our volunteers who worked to pull it off. The kids really benefited! A special thanks to the volunteers who worked the whole day. I am very grateful. Everyone went the extra mile. I was in the lifeguard chair for most of the meet because the Y couldn’t supply us with a guard. We are all doing what we can to keep the program moving forward.

The live streaming was very impressive, wasn’t it?

I am looking forward to this weekend’s Indy meet. It is a fabulous, storied facility. Swimmers— make sure you read the wall with the names of all of the Olympians who swam Olympic trials there…I will have some stories for you!

At Indy…..

…..swimmers MUST check in before warm-up so you MUST be punctual.

….the deck is frequently chilly, so bring sweatshirts/pants so that you are comfortable.

….Wear your masks!!!

….this is a regular season meet so 12 and Under swimmers must be in team suits. 13 and Up swimmers may ask a coach’s permission to wear tech suits. Generally, tech suits are not worn until we get to the championship season, and then only for the swimmer’s most competitive meet.

Clusters….

…Swimmers will be registering for Clusters shortly. This is our first championship meet and it is a required meet for all swimmers except for high school boys who have already done their two outside meets. When selecting events, nine-and- up swimmers should be looking to add events for YMCA state meet, so they should not select events in which they already have qualified for the YMCA state meet. A lot of our swimmers already have qualified in all of the events and they should be swimming events with an eye to qualifying for YMCA Zones and the USS 14 and Under State Championship.

Philosophy

With all of the COVID limitations, I feel like we have lost a lot of opportunities to help explain Y philosophy as it pertains to age-group competitive swimming. Y swimming puts the team first and that is why swimmers are “locked into” their age group rather than aging up on their birthday. That is one of the reasons our swimmers practice with other swimmers in their age group rather than being grouped by ability/achievement. I can see how the swimmers have bonded and made a lot of new friends. Especially after this weekend, I think you can see how every one of our swimmers is a winner! The improvement in our kids has been dramatic…and individual progress is the most important measure.

​Our board has done an exceptional job securing sponsors for our program. I hope you noticed the banners at Seaholm during the meet. Please support them and let them know how much you appreciate their support. If you go to TDR for orthodontia say hello to Dr. Tyler (former BBD president) and Dr. Groth (the son of a former BBD president, a national-caliber swimmer and my student at Cranbrook) and Dr. Reyes ( a former student of mine…) Thanks to all of the Goldfish family who are associated with our program and all of our other sponsors.

Keep up the fine work!

Kevin