News and Announcements

Dear Swimmers and Parents,

The team is off to a fine start. It has been exciting to see our returning swimmers and welcome our new athletes to the team.

Coach Pat (our camera coach) was able to film all of the 13 and up swimmers who were at Groves on Sunday and give them some feedback on their technique. He will be at Covington on Thursday for any new 13/14s who were not filmed on Sunday.

As we have mentioned before, the first YMCA meet of the season is hosted by our team. The Lisa Ferris Fall Festival will be held October 28-29 at Lake Orion High School. We have renamed our Fall invitational in memory of our beloved friend, BBD swim mom and long-time board member who sadly passed away last October. Please stay tuned for both entry and volunteer sign-up information. We expect all swimmers to participate in this meet and for their parents to volunteer.

Please make sure swimmers have their equipment for practice.

Keep up the good work!

Kevin

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REMINDER: 2023 OLY Fall Classic

Posted by Birmingham Blue Dolphins at Sep 21, 2023 11:13AM PDT

REMINDER: Entries are now open for the upcoming 2023 OLY Fall Classic being held at Oakland University on October 20-22, 2023.

There are qualifying times for Friday events, but the remainder of the meet has no qualifying times. This is a USA-S meet, not a YMCA meet, therefore it is intended for experienced 9 and up swimmers who have swam at least 3 years of competitive swimming. This meet WILL NOT count towards the required 3 YMCA meets needed throughout the season.

Please be sure to enter your swimmer in their appropriate age group entries. OPEN events are intended for 13&up swimmers, in general.

The entry deadline is Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 8pm. Late entries will be unable to be accepted.

All information regarding the specifics for the meet are attached here in the meet packet, including the qualifying times for the Friday session, which are at the end of the meet packet.

2023 OLY Fall classic meet packet:
https://teampages.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/560597/2023-oly-fall-classic-meet-information-AMENDED.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA3I4H7LHC4DEQFUMF%2F20230921%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230921T155609Z&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=baa229a2279ab269545c4252c74bcb5e3cd508b28b3f39e2be70fe7925ec35f6

If you have any questions regarding your child’s entry, please do not hesitate to email Lisa Helmick, BBD Meet Entry Chair, at bbdentries@gmail.com.

IMPORTANT If your swimmer is NEW to BBD and has swam for another team previously, PLEASE email your child’s current USA-S ID number to bbdentries@gmail.com before the entry deadline. without this information, MI Swimming will not allow your child to swim, even if entered in the meet. Please include in the email your swimmer’s name, their USA Swimming ID number, as well as the team they most recently swam for.

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

Our first night of practice went well with the 9/10s and High School Swimmers.

Eight and unders start today, 13-14s on Thursday at Covington, and 11-12s on Friday at Cranbrook.

The board sent out an invitation for the parents’ social October 6th at the racquet house at Birmingham Country Club. We had a blast last year at this event so we hope to see many of you there. Please be sure to RSVP if you plan to attend.

We will have our National Team Clinics in mid-October. This is a fundraiser for our National Team and it gives our younger swimmers a chance to interact with our elite athletes.

Camera sessions will begin at Covington soon. This is a chance for our swimmers to be filmed in action and given feedback from our camera coach, Pat Deighan.

On Monday the parking lot at Cranbrook was quite congested at the 9/10 drop off. When that occurs, remind your swimmers to be extra careful negotiating the parking lot if you are unable to find a space.

Kevin

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YMCA Officials Clinics

Posted by Birmingham Blue Dolphins at Sep 18, 2023 8:28AM PDT

Attention Parents:

YMCA of Metro Detroit and Farmington Family YMCA will host the YMCA Swim Officials Clinics at Farmington Family YMCA, 28100 Farmington Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 (248-553-4020).

Clinic Instructor: Fang Liu (fangliu579@yahoo.com)

LEVEL 1: 8:00 am-12:00 pm, Saturday 10/21/23
Registration Link: https://lcdc.yexchange.org/s/c52d49r
Registration Deadline: 11:59 pm on Wed. 10/18/23

LEVEL 2: 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm, Saturday 10/21/23
Registration Link: https://lcdc.yexchange.org/s/c40w76b
Registration Deadline: 11:59 pm on Wed. 10/18/23
Prerequisites for Level 2 clinic:

For new Level II officials, have been certified for at least 1 year as a YMCA Level I Official and worked at least 8 sessions on deck as a Level I Certified Official. For recertification, have worked at least 12 sessions on deck as a Level II Certified Official over the previous three-year certification period.

Note: YMCA of Metro Detroit will collect the clinic fee directly from the Birmingham YMCA. BBD team members do not need pay.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION
All clinic participants need to sign up for the class on-line (via the appropriate registration link above) and fill in all the required information. Note: This account is different from the YMCA login you used to register for BBD. The attached PDF provides instructions on creating an account if you need assistance. Every clinic participant needs to have their own account – you cannot register others under your account.

Please contact the clinic instructor, Fang Liu, at fangliu579@yahoo.com or BBD’s Head Official, Bill Clifford, at wcliffordjr@gmail.com with any questions.

Dear Swimmers and Parents,

It was great to see so many at the Kick-Off meetings last weekend. We are all primed for a great season.

I told you that I will stagger the first week of practice so that I can be there for everyone’s first day.
Here is the schedule for the first week beginning Monday, September 18th. See the practice grid on our website for the regular schedule.

  • High School Swimmers begin MONDAY, September 18th at Cranbrook from 7:00 to 8:45 and have the regular schedule for the rest of the week.
  • 9-10s will begin MONDAY, September 18th at Cranbrook from 5:30 to 7:15. This is not their regular day at Cranbrook, but they are canceled Tuesday. They will follow the schedule the rest of the week beginning on Wednesday.
  • 8 and Unders begin WEDNESDAY, September 20th at the Y at either 4:30 to 5:30 or 5:30 to 6:30 and follow the schedule for the rest of the week.
  • 13-14s begin THURSDAY, September 21st at Covington from 6:45-8:45 and then follow their regular schedule for the rest of the week.
  • 11-12s begin FRIDAY, September 22nd at Cranbrook from 5:30 to 7:15.

Drylands for swimmers ages 13 and Up will begin on Monday, September 25th.

Remember to order your suits and caps from The Varsity Shop. The online store closes on September 24th. Look for the link in an email sent earlier this week and also available on the website.

We are looking forward to the parents’ social at Birmingham Country Club’s Paddle House on Friday, October 6th. Please save the date and look for an email from the Boosters Board with more information very soon.

Kevin