Plymouth Gators Week of July 1-7
Good Afternoon Gators,
There are so many good things to celebrate and to thank you for this week, my heart is full! What an amazing pair of meets -- our kids and coaches are awesome! So many swimmers with personal best times, first-season swimmers winning points at meets, all-around good sportmanship and team spirit! WOW! (Oh, and we also won both home meets!) And you parents -- getting your kids out of bed and to a JV meet by 7:30 am, timing, running, officiating, selling snacks, rolling with the last-minute change to the Varsity meet location, contributing blueberries & whipped cream, helping flip pancakes and just generally pitching in to wherever needed -- you are a treasure! Special thanks to Jen O'Brien for arranging for us to move the Varsity meet indoors on Wednesday and to Gretchen Sidler for organizing the delicious Pancake Breakfast.This week's update is a little ahead of schedule since due to the Fourth of July holiday, next week's meets are earlier in the week. Please make sure to declare your meet availability by Saturday so Dave has enough time to set the lineup before Monday morning's meet. We know that the evening meets are easier for working parents, but here are a few reasons why you should consider signing your child (age 14 or under) up for a JV Meet.
Gators' Top 10 reasons to swim JV
10. JV Meets are in the morning -- you don't miss dinner and have to get a cranky kid home to bed right after the meet.
9. If you have a swimmer who is close to an A Champs time and wants to try to reach it, JV meet times count as qualifying times.
8. Martin's Dam Swim Club in Wayne hosts 2 out of our 3 remaining JV meets and it is only 15 minutes from PSC (8.6 miles).7. Many opposing teams have separate JV and Varsity teams, so multiple heats in JV meets are more likely to match up swimmers with similar skills and times.
6. More swimmers means more parent helpers.5. There are more heats of everything so your swimmer gets to swim more races in a JV meet than they can in a Varsity meet.
4. Other teams start their JV meets a little later than we do, so you don't need to get up as early.
3. The more meets they swim the more practical racing experience your swimmers get -- its a short season why not swim as much as possible? 2. Coach Dave and Coach Kelly will be lonely without your swimmer ;)
1. It's just plain FUN.
All practices are at Plymouth Swim Club. Please make sure anyone bringing your swimmer to afternoon practice knows to stop at the gate to check in with the guard. We have reports of cars driving right past and this can be dangerous with the two-way traffic through the gate.
AM practice begins at 8:30 AM for 8 & under swimmers, 9-10:30 for Ages 9 & up. Please remember that during morning practices pool staff are often working on grounds maintenance and for safety reasons, we are required to remain on the pool deck/paved areas and stay off the grass.
PM practice times are 6-7 pm for 8 & unders, 6-8 pm for ages 9 and up. Pool grounds close at 8:30 pm.
Meets this Week:
- Monday, July 2nd Junior Varsity Tri- meet is AWAY vs Aronimink and Martin's Dam at Martin's Dam Swim Club 1045 Croton Rd, Wayne, PA 19087. Warm up starts at 8:45 am, so please plan to arrive by 8:30 am. The meet begins at 9 am. This is a JV meet, there are no events for ages 15 & up but the older swimmers are welcome to attend and help with line-up, timing, or just cheering on the team. To sign up as a volunteer, visit the webpage. Volunteers should check in with Sally upon arrival. Please note, the host club does not allow any food or beverages other than water in the pool area, any food you bring may only be consumed in designated picnic areas. It will be a hot day so bring plenty of water & sunscreen. If you have a portable canopy for shade you may wish to bring that as well.
- Tuesday, July 3rd our Varsity dual meet is AWAY vs Swarthmore at 201 Riverview Rd, Swarthmore, PA 19081. Warm up starts at 5:00 pm, the meet begins at 6 pm. The volunteer sign up is found here. If you signed up to volunteer for this meet, just check in with Jo-Ann upon arrival. This club has a snack bar.
Other info this week:
PSC swim caps are available $5 for blue or green (latex or silicone), $10 for green w/gator logo (silicone). See Sally if you wish to purchase one.
Gator Gear If you are looking for T-shirts, sweatshirts and more to show your gator pride check out our custom swim team gear. Orders are taken on a rolling basis. Jenny can pick up weekly and bring them to the pool or you can have it shipped to you. These are available through our Gator Gear Team Store
End of Season Picnic The majority response to our poll about the team picnic date was a preference for Sunday, July 22 at 5:00 PM. Please mark this in on your calendars.
Have a nice weekend, see you Monday!