Dear Swimmers and Parents,
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What a weekend!!!
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Our swimmers had a terrific debut meet, and we all (swimmers, coaches, and parents) learned a great deal. The coaches have the feedback that will inform their practices going forward, and the swimmers can begin to craft goals for the season. Goal sheets will be available as soon as we have all of the qualifying times for major meets from US Swimming.
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Thank you to all of you who made it possible. The meet ran very smoothly under the watchful eyes of our meet managers, Liz Solomon and Dennis Jackson. There were several people who worked all four sessions: Kara Howe provided hospitality, our head official Bill Clifford and on computers, Michelle Schwab. I am sure there were others as well who went above and beyond. I am very grateful. I am thrilled to be associated with a parent group with such high standards. The swimmers (and coaches) reaped the benefits.
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This Thursday, the 9-10s will have an underwater camera session at Covington 5:30-7:30. You must pre-register by signing up for the limited spots via the following link:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094CA9AB2EA3FF2-bbdunderwater

On Saturday, due to a conflict at Cranbrook, the 9-12 practice will end at 1:00. Please make a note of that if your children are attending (and they should be attending!!)

We are off to a great competitive season. Enjoy it!!

Kevin

Good afternoon,

We are looking forward to seeing our swimmers in action this Saturday and Sunday at Lake Orion! There are a few important updates and reminders for the weekend.

First, it has become standard practice at hosted meets that our families provide drink donations for concessions. We request that families bring the following items to the meet and drop off at concessions upon arrival. Please bring the item that corresponds with the first letter of your last name.

A-C 12 pack Sprite/Squirt/LaCroix/Iced Tea
D-F 12 pack Coke
G-H 12 pack Diet Coke
I-P 8 pack 20 oz Gatorade
Q-Z 24 pack water

Secondly, we are still in need of announcers for both of our morning sessions. Please sign-up on the parent portal if you are able to help!

Finally, a friendly reminder that swimmers 10 and Under should arrive with their event numbers written on their hands. This is incredibly helpful to coaches and marshaling volunteers. There will be marshaling in the morning sessions for 10 and Unders, and swimmers should listen for their event numbers to be called to report to the marshaling area.

For families who are new to BBD or winter competitive swimming, please reference our Parent Handbook on the website (under “About BBD” tab). There is a lot of information here about what to expect at a swim meet!

BBD Boosters Parent Board and Coaches

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

It was good to see so many parents at Friday night’s social. Swimming is supposed to be fun for the adults, too! I hope you met new people and enjoyed yourselves.

Our national team clinics were very successful. I know our young swimmers are inspired by this distinguished group! We had fifteen national swimmers sharing their expertise.

Our first meet is on the horizon. It will be a very productive weekend as our new swimmers and parents will be introduced to YMCA swimming. We all will learn a lot!

We will be the largest team at the meet by far….We are committed to running a very efficient meet. I know you are all going to lend a hand to make that a reality.

Please remember…

…be punctual! Our team will be warming up first and because we are committed to having all of our swimmers in a relay we need the time to get them organized. One swimmer arriving late can cause our organization to fall apart. …younger swimmers should come to the meet with their event numbers written on their hand. You have the event numbers from when you registered your swimmers so please write them on their hand BEFORE you come to the meet. …swimmers may only wear BBD suits and caps (or plain suits and caps if they don’t have their BBD attire yet. Swimmers may not wear suits/caps from their summer or school teams. … we ask the swimmers to come to see their coaches immediately after their events for feedback. …if a swimmer wins an award it is their responsibility to pick it up at the meet.

Remember, all of the swimmers come to do their best. I am sure we will see some fine swimming from all of our athletes.

11-12 Camera sessions:

Our new underwater camera has arrived and Coach Pat is ready to welcome swimmers to be filmed. The first session will be for 11-12 swimmers at Covington (BCS) from 5:30-7:30. We limit the group to twenty athletes and swimmers will meet with Pat in groups of five. When they are not with Pat they will have a regular workout. Register by texting one of our 11-12 group parents, Kara Howe, at 248 703 1422.

Kevin

We have just learned of a new rule that is being put into place by the National YMCA Competitive Swimming and Diving Advisory Committee that has important implications for all members of our team.

The rule is as follows:
Teams and swimmers may no longer automatically count participation in two or more days of a closed YMCA meet as participation in two separate YMCA meets.

What does this mean?
Specifically, it means that in order to complete the 3 required YMCA meets, swimmers will need to swim in 3 separate meets, rather than 3 separate sessions. In the past, we were able to count participation in 2 days/sessions of a meet as 2 separate meets. This will no longer be the case.

This new rule will have the greatest impact for High School swimmers, who are trying to satisfy their YMCA requirements either before (boys) or after (girls) the High School season.

What do I you need to do?
We strongly encourage all BBD swimmers to sign up for the BBD Fall Festival. The entry deadline for this is tomorrow, October 13th at 8pm. Then, you must enter and participate in at least one day of an additional 2 YMCA meets. Please stay tuned to your email for meet entry announcements, and do not miss the deadlines.

Here is the updated YMCA meet schedule for the regular season. The specifics for the Championship Season are still being finalized.

October 22-23 – BBD Fall Festival, Lake Orion HS ENTRY DEADLINE IS 10/13 @ 8PM
November 6 – FLY Fall Invite, Lakeland HS (White Lake, MI)
November 11-13 – RAYS Thanksgiving Classic, Zeeland West HS Travel Meet
December 2 – FFYS Holiday Distance Meet, Waterford Kettering HS (experienced swimmers only)
December 3-4 – FFYS Holiday Invitational, Waterford Kettering HS
January 6-8 – FLY Winter Invite, Waterford, MI

Thank you for your support and cooperation!

BBD Parent Board

Friday, October 14th
6:00 to 9:00 PM
Birmingham Country Club Paddle House

This event was a huge success last year and we are delighted to return to the same location, the Birmingham Country Club paddle house.
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Stop by any time either during or after your chid’s practice. Please note that 11-12s and 13 and Up will NOT have practice on this evening.
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Light appetizers and cash bar will be available. Denim in good taste is permitted at Birmingham Country Club. This event is partially outdoors so please dress appropriately. This is an adult only event.
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Please RSVP by October 12th so we have an accurate count.

We hope to see you there!

BBD Parent Board