Dear Colonies Swim Team,

To begin, I would like to thank everyone for all their patience so far this season! I know there have been a lot of changes already, but we are working hard to make this season as exciting as possible for the kids!

With that said, I have a few important announcements to make regarding:

1. First-year swimmers
2. Practice time adjustments
3. July 3^rd practices
4. 2020 meet schedule

My apologies in advance for the long email!

1) First Year Swimmers (effective June 29^th)

First-year swimmers can begin practicing with the team during the 8 and younger practices starting June 29^th. We will let any swimmer who can swim independently down the pool join the team for the season. If you’re unsure if your swimmer can swim down the pool independently, they are welcome to come and try out on the 29^th at 9:00 AM or 3:30 PM.

2) Practice Time Adjustments (effective July 1^st)

To provide as much pool time and space for the general membership when the pool opens on July 1^st, we will need to adjust practice times slightly. Effective July 1^st, morning practices will all be moved up by half an hour:

• 8:30 – 9:15 AM: 8 & Unders and New Swimmers
• 9:15 – 10:00 AM: 9-12
• 10:00 – 11:00 AM: 13 and older

There will be no changes to the afternoon practice schedule. Since the pool will also be open to the general membership in the afternoons, we will only have access to four lanes for all afternoon practices. We would like to encourage all swimmers to come to the morning practices if possible. Swimmers are still more than welcome to come in the afternoon, just please be aware space will be limited.

3) July 3^rd Practices

Since July 3^rd is a Federal Holiday, we will not hold any practices. The afternoon practice on July 2^nd will be our last practice until July 6^th.

4) The 2020 Meet Schedule

After much consideration and debate, the Colonies Swim Team will not participate in GRAL this year. Instead, we will run our own four-meet season. All swim meets will be at home and against ourselves. The first 3 meets will resemble traditional GRAL regular season meets, while the last meet will resemble GRAL Champs and will be open to all swimmers - no qualifying times necessary. It is my hope that this format will provide our team a safe version of our traditional GRAL season while simultaneously allowing us to make some creative changes to make the swim season more exciting for the swimmers.

At this time, please mark the following dates on your calendars:

• Meet 1: July 7^th - Colonies @ Colonies (Rain Date: July 8^th)
• Meet 2: July 14^th – Colonies @ Colonies (Rain Date: July 15^th)
• Meet 3: July 21^st – Colonies @ Colonies (Rain Date: July 22^nd)
• Meet 4: July 28^th - Colonies Champs @ Colonies (Rain Date: July 29^th)

Warmups for the first three meets will all start at 5:00 PM with the meet starting at 6:00 PM. Events will run in the traditional GRAL format. The logistics for the Colonies Champs are still in the works, but for the moment, please mark off the entire day, since we might run events in the morning and again in the evening. Please be on the lookout for the meet RSVPs on Swimtopia and stay tuned for an update about volunteer sign-up from Cheri Taylor.

I am very excited for our season! On behalf of the entire coaching staff and the swim team parent committee, we are committed to making this season as fun and as safe as possible. We would like to thank GRAL for their flexibility and understanding given this year’s unique circumstances. We all knew this season would present a special set of challenges, but after much thought and consideration, we believe this four-meet format will provide the best swim team experience for our swimmers this summer!

Please feel free to reach out with any questions and concerns!

Go Cruisers!

Very Respectfully,

Coach Jack