Swim for Smiles OPENS 2010 Youth Triathlon Registration

Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon OPENS Registration

The Swim for Smiles Foundation is excited to announce that we have opened registration for the 4th Annual Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon to be held in Chapel Hill, NC on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - and raising money for the UNC CHildren's Hospital!!! This triathlon has sold out for the past two years, but for 2010, we've added almost 100 spots for kids ages 6-18 to participate. But, we still expect it to fill by March, so if you're considering signing up your kids to participate, please do so quickly!

What is it?

Last year, the Swim for Smiles 3rd Annual Youth Triathlon drew over 440 participants and this year's has been expanded to accommodate at least 550. Open to kids from ages 6-18, the Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon is a USA-Triathlon sanctioned event, it's one of the largest in the country and the largest kid's triathlon in the Southest and includes two courses for ALL levels of participants. In addition, we have a limited number of relay teams made up of kids of any and all ages (one kid will swim, another bike and the third will run the course -- all relay participants and teams will do the Long Course).

Beginners can select a Short Course triathlon that includes a 100-meter swim, a 2.5-mile bike course and finishes with a short 1K (0.6miles) run. Long Course participants will begin with a 300-meter swim, transition to a 5-mile bike course and then finish with a 3K run (1.8miles). The Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon will start on May 16th at 8am in Chapel Hill Country Club's heated pool, move to a neighborhood bike ride and end with a side-walk run. This is considered an easy triathlon and it designed for all levels of youth participants.

How do you register or get more information (like course maps and race day details)? Simple, go to: http://www.swimforsmiles.org and click on the EVENTS bar.

The NC CHildren's Hospital and the Swim for Smiles Foundation is a registered 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation.

The Swim for Smiles Foundation
http://www.swimforsmiles.org

Scotts Mill in Apex needs Head Coach

Head Coach needed for Division 4 Champion, Scotts Mill Sea Dragons (approx. 150 swimmers). Coaching and competitive swimming experience required, as well as a passion for working with children. For more information about our team, visit our website at www.soakseadragons.com. We offer an outstanding coaching environment and competitive pay. Interested candidates should forward their resume to Carol Medins at cmmedins@bellsouth.net

2010 Board of Directors Meetings

Mark your calendars: winter approaches, and that means TSA Board of Directors meetings will begin in a couple of months. Board meetings will continue to be held at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of each month. The 2010 meeting lineup is as follows:

January 19th at the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC), located at 275 Convention Drive in Cary (Exit 291 from I-40, then turn left into Cary Towne Center mall at first traffic signal).

February 16th at University Club, located at 4200 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (Exit 3 from the I-440 Beltline)

March 16th at the TAC

[April 20th at the TAC ] -- This meeting has been canceled

May 18th at University Club

Pre-season Tune-ups for High School

Triangle Aquatic Center is holding pre-season tune-ups for any high schoolers interested in getting more water time before their season begins.

Practices will be held on Saturdays, 9/26-10/31 from 12:30-1:30. Additional session added 10/17 from 1:30-2:30.

More information and online registration available HERE, or drop by the front desk. Walk-ins are welcome as long as space permits.

Cost: $5/practice

Youth Water Polo: Clinics start this weekend 9/26, 12-2p!!

Triangle Aquatic Center and the Triangle Water Polo Club are hosting Youth Water Polo clinics for youth 11+. Upon completion, qualified participants are eligible to join the Triangle Water Polo Club (ages 16+).

TimeDate: Sep 26, Oct 3, Oct 10, Nov 21, and Dec 19. 12:00 PM—2:00 PM

Clinics cover Fundamentals & Techniques (eggbeaters, passing, shooting), Basic Offensive/Defensive Strategies, and allow time for scrimmages.

Location: Triangle Aquatic Center, 275 Convention Drive, Cary

Cost: $10 per clinic or purchase a multi-clinic pass: 3-clinic= $25.50 ($8.50/clinic), 5-clinic=$35 ($7/clinic)

Participants can pay at the front desk or online at http://online.activecommunities.com/TriangleAquatic/Activities/ActivitiesDetails.asp?ProcessWait=N&aid=73.

Proceeds go to lane rental and equipment costs.

Age: 11 and up

Pre-requisites: Participants should be able to swim 50 continuous yards freestyle and should feel comfortable treading water

FAQs:

Q: Is there a way to waive the entrance fee? A: If you have difficulty meeting the cost, please contact Rob Dickens at the email below.

Q: I am an adult, can I attend? A: Yes. Although this clinic is primarily designed for youth, adults are welcome to attend! This would be a great learning opportunity before getting involved in Triangle Water Polo Club (practices 1-2x).

Q: What other Water Polo opportunities are available? A: The Triangle Water Polo Club currently practices 1 to 2 nights per week at TAC. Qualified youth and adults are welcome to join this club. For younger children, we hope to grow a summer program. These clinics are your first step!

If you are interested in pre-enrolling in the Water Polo Clinics, please visit the TAC website http://www.triangleaquatics.org. For more information about the Triangle Water Polo Club please visit our website: http://www.meetup.com/Triangle-Water-Polo-Club/. If you have questions about the clinics or the water polo club, contact Rob Dickens at robstuff@yahoo.com.

Swim Champions Fitter and Faster Tour

Hi Reps,

Please pass this along to any swimmers on your team who might be interested in attending this Clinic next weekend (Saturday the 12th) at TAC in Cary.

Bob


Dear swimmers,

We are so excited to present you with an opportunity to swim with some of the best swimmers in the country and in the world! The Swim Champions Fitter and Faster Tour is making a stop in Raleigh on September 12 and in Charlotte on September 13. Mark Gangloff (2x Olympic gold medalist) and Lacey Nymeyer (Olympic silver medalist) will be hosting the event and invite each of you to register.

At the event participants will learn stroke technique from our Olympians, participants will get the opportunity to ask our Olympians questions and participants will get to see, touch and even wear Olympic medals. Make sure to bring your game face because all participants will get to race our Olympians, too!All participants will also receive a goody bag, including a t-shirt, swim cap and other goodies, and

Parent programing and Q&A will be available as well.

To register for the Fitter and Faster Tour visit www.swimchampions.com and click on the city in which you wish to attend the event.

To watch a highlight video from the Fitter and Faster Chicago event visit:

http://swimchampions.com/gallery/videos/events/38/

See you at the pool!

2009 Post-Season Survey

I apologize for not having this ready sooner, but the 2009 TSA Post-Season Survey is finally available on-line here, just in time for Labor Day.

One of the most important functions of this year’s survey is to get your feedback on the three different locations we used for Board of Directors meetings earlier this year. Since I will have to start reserving our 2010 meeting venues by early autumn, I ask you all to please complete the survey by the end of September so that I will have a reasonable number of responses to guide my 2010 booking decisions. Filling out the survey sooner rather than later is also an advantage because your memories of the recently-completed season will still be fresh. If your team has multiple reps or alternates, please coordinate among yourselves so that only one of you completes the survey. However, within that single response, you are encouraged to incorporate feedback from all individuals who shared the responsibilities of TSA rep for your team over the previous year.

Note that this survey is not the Fall Election for the two offices whose terms expire this year (Secretary and President). That election will also be conducted via a web vote, but not until later this fall (or at the January meeting if no candidates are forthcoming before then). However, clubs must participate in both of the on-line polls (this Survey and the forthcoming Election) in order to receive attendance credit for the Fall Board (virtual) Meeting. If your club has not yet satisfied the annual meeting participation requirement (attending at least three Board meetings), you cannot afford to miss this final opportunity to get attendance credit.

On the subject of elections, please contact any of the four current officers if you are interested in running for either of these offices yourself. All nominations are welcome!

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Trophy and how to display?

Please advise us on how you display your trophies and/or other memorabilia. We do not have a display case at the pool and would worry about vandalism if we built one. Any other teams have a creative solution/idea? thanks Cris Clarke Hollands Crossing Sea Devils cristine.clarke@abromitisonlinelearning.com

Join Triangle Aquatics Torpedoes this Fall!

Summer pools close, but it's summer all year at TAC!

The Triangle Aquatics Torpedoes is a swim league for the families who seek flexibility, affordability, and fun. With month-to-month schedules and weekday to weekend options, the league is a great way to fit in swimming through the rest of the year. Skills stay fresh and continue to improve, and the kids never miss a beat before the next season.

Registrations are now open at TAC for the Blue and White squads. Minimum age 6.

BLUE is for advanced swimmers who have developed some endurance and are either considering year-round clubs or want a low-key alternative.
Pre-requisites: Able to perfom 25 yards (1 length) of each of the four competitive strokes, swim continuous 50 yards Freestyle under 1:30, and tread water 2 minutes.
To learn more, click HERE.

WHITE is for swimmers who have a strong foundation of the strokes and will work on building endurance and stroke technique.
Pre-requisite: Able to perfom 25 yards (1 length) of Freestyle,Backstroke, and Breaststroke, and demonstrate butterfly. Tread water 1 minute.
To learn more, click HERE.

Practices are held at Triangle Aquatic Center, 275 Convention Dr, Cary, which is conveniently located off I-40 by Cary Towne Center.

Register online at the above links or at the front desk.
Questions? Call 459-4045
www.triangleaquatics.org

Announcing the TSA Educational Grant Winners for 2009

Board Members,

I am pleased to announce that Bob Goudreau, Mike Kaufman and I conducted the random selection process last Thursday night (7/23) and selected the following 20 individuals as recipients of one of the $400 TSA Educational Grants for the 2009 swim season:

Charlie Holland - Apex
James Harrison Ashworth - Bentwinds
Scott Graham - Cary
Thomas Whitehead - Cary
Andreia Wehrle - Devereaux
Kirby Trundle - Greystone
Tommy Brader - Lake Park
Bill Wagner - MacGregor Downs
Katie Kelly - Manchester
Michelle Delellis - Oxxford Hunt
Jack Friesen - Planter's Walk
Whitney Sweesy - Prestonwood
Sam Toumey - Quail Hollow
Kristin White - Shepherd's Vineyard
Jackie Navarro - Stonebridge
Jeff Beale - Stonebridge
Matt Peterson - Wellsley
Teagan Miller - Wellsley
David Hurley - Wood Valley
John Isaac Jordan - Wood Valley

Congratulations to all the winners!

The executive board is in the process of completing the administrative activities relative to issuing the grant checks and all recipients can expect to see their checks within the next week.

Rick Rudd
TSA Secretary

End of Season Notes

We lucked out with the weather on Tuesday, so the 2009 season was able to end on schedule. I hope everyone had an enjoyable season. Before you clear your mind of all things TSA for the rest of the summer, I would like to ask everyone to take care of a few end-of-season housekeeping tasks:

1) Please verify that your 2009 team size listed on your team’s page on the TSA web site is accurate, and correct it if it is not. The easiest way to check is to count the number of names on your printed roster from the final meet. To set this on your team page, log into http://www.tsanc.org/ and click on the “club” link, followed by the “Update your club’s information” link.

2) While you’re logged in and updating your club info, please also fill in the mascot field if it is blank. Having this information helps us greatly when ordering divisional champion trophies. Be sure to pluralize your mascot (e.g., “Killer Whales” instead of “Killer Whale”), unless your team is known collectively by a singular noun (e.g. “Carolina Courage”, “Orlando Magic”).

3) Also check for any other blank fields in the club info section and fill them in, especially phone number and address information for your pool.

4) Remember to remind your team’s rising high school seniors (not graduates) of the $1000 Pool Professionals Partnership Scholarship. Information is available online, and the application deadline is September 1st.

5) If you have any swimmers who may be interested in learning or playing water polo, please spread the word about water polo clinics about clinics at TAC offered by the Triangle Water Polo Club.

6) I’ll be sending out the postseason survey sometime next month. Please let me know about any specific questions that you would like to see on this year’s survey.

7) Remember that the two year terms of the President and Secretary are expiring at the end of this year. If you would like to stand for either of these posts in the on-line election this fall, please notify any current officer.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Upcoming Youth Water Polo Clinics

Please help spread the word about this fantastic, fun way to enjoy the water after summer swim league:

Triangle Aquatic Center and the Triangle Water Polo Club are hosting three Introduction to Water Polo clinics for youth 12+. Upon completion, qualified participants are eligible to join the Triangle Water Polo Club (ages 16+).

Time and Date: August 1, August 8 and August 15 12:00 PM—2:00 PM
Clinic 1—Fundamentals & Techniques (eggbeaters, passing, shooting)

Clinic 2—Basic Offensive/Defensive Strategies + 30 minute scrimmage

Clinic 3—Intermediate Strategies +30 minute scrimmage>

Location: Triangle Aquatic Center, 275 Convention Drive, Cary

Cost: $10 per clinic or $25 for all three clinics. Participants can pay at the front desk or online at http://www.triangleaquatics.org/Programs/ Proceeds go to lane rental and equipment costs. Please register at the front desk to receive the 3-clinic discount.

Age: 12 and up

Pre-requisites: Participants should be able to swim 50 continuous yards freestyle and should feel comfortable treading water

FAQs: Q: Do I need to attend all 3 clinics? A: No, however, each clinic will build on lessons of previous clinic.

Q: Is there a way to waive the entrance fee? A: If you have difficulty meeting the cost, please contact Rob Dickens at the email below.

Q: I am an adult, can I attend? A: Yes. Although this clinic is primarily designed for youth, adults are welcome to attend! This would be a great learning opportunity before getting involved in Triangle Water Polo Club (practices 1-2x).

Q: What other Water Polo opportunities are available? A: The Triangle Water Polo Club currently practices 1 to 2 nights per week at TAC. Qualified youth and adults are welcome to join this club. For younger children, we hope to grow a summer program. These clinics are your first step!

If you are interested in pre-enrolling in the Water Polo Clinics, please visit the TAC website http://www.triangleaquatics.org. For more information about the Triangle Water Polo Club please visit our website: http://www.meetup.com/Triangle-Water-Polo-Club/. If you have questions about the clinics or the water polo club, contact Rob Dickens at robstuff@yahoo.com.

Pool Management Companies

Hi All,

I am probably a bit off topic for most of you, but I am taking a shot at this anyways. In addition to being one of the TSA reps, I am on the Pool Committee for our subdivision. We are interested in, at least, talking to some other pool maintenance companies. The one we have is not horrible, but really likes to let us know that we are only one of seventy pools they service. I guess we are just not too high on the priority list. We currently have a salt water system which is spectacular and I definitely want to keep.

Do any of you know anything about your current pool management companies or can you put me in touch with the person who does??? I've been told that with pool servicing we can only hope to find "the best of the worst" and although that might be true, I hope that with the network we have going here we could actually change that :) The word of mouth and manpower certainly exists.

Thank you in advance for any help and information you are able to send my way.

Best Regards,

Wendy Cox
cox.wendy@gmail.com
Hollands Crossing Sea Devil's
349.9595

Olympic Dream International Swim Clinic

Jon Vorpagel and Dan Velez with the Olympic Dream International Swim Clinic recently conducted a clinic for a group of Park Village swimmers. Both Jon and Dan spent an hour in the water breaking down the freestyle and breaststroke and offering insights on improvement to our swimmers. Afterward Dan shared his experiences from the 2008 Olympics and brought along some of his artifacts from Beijing for our kids to see. He also spoke to the swimmers about what it took for him to make the Puerto Rican Olympic team and kindly posed for photos with our swimmers.

We would definitely recommend this clinic to other clubs that may be seeking something insightful and educational for its swimmers. Our team members and parents were impressed with the clinic and the material. Jon and Dan were great with the kids and we would definitely consider inviting them back in the future. You can reach them at olympicdreamisc@gmail.com if you are interested in having them conduct a clinic at your pool.

WinSwim "cookbook" now available

For those of you who are using WinSwim (and even those of you who just might want to see what it’s all about), I have finally completed a “cookbook” document that describes how to use WinSwim to enter, seed and time a TSA dual meet. Please don’t send feedback and questions to me via email; instead, please post them to the Google Group dedicated to TSA WinSwim users.

Get ready for the start of the season!

Hello TSA Reps,

As we prepare to kick off the first meets of the season Tuesday, I want to remind you all of a few housekeeping tasks you should take care of before then:

1) Log in to your account on the TSA web site. Doing this now will ensure that you don’t have a crisis the night of your first home meet when you suddenly realize that you have forgotten your password J. If you already had an account on the site, your password is unchanged. If you are a new Rep or Alternate, then the person who created your account for you (most likely one of your predecessor from your team) should have sent you your initial password. If you don’t know or can’t remember your password, email me and I’ll reset it for you.

2) Update your contact information. Once logged in, click the “personal” link and fill in or update any of your contact information that is missing or outdated. It’s very important to enter all your phone numbers, as another team’s Rep may need to contact your urgently on the day of a meet if, say, their pool had to close suddenly due to a contamination accident and they want to find out if they can switch the meet to your pool.

3) Enter your club’s information. From the “club” link, select “Update your club’s information” and fill in anything that is missing, especially your pool’s address and phone number. New this year is a “Number of Swimmers” field; please update this to reflect the number of swimmers on your team’s official roster (the one you must submit to the Scorer’s table at each meet in accordance with TSA rules). If you add swimmers to the team during the season, please remember to update the swimmer count field on the web site as well. Another club information field this year is “Mascot”; fill this in with “Sharks” or “Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches”, or whatever your team calls itself.

4) Enter your club’s roster (optional). Also on the “club” link, look for “Manage Roster”, “Promote Roster” and other roster related operations. This will allow you to enter your team’s roster, which will give you pull-down name menus for entering swimmer names in meet results (for new records and for triple- and double-winners). If you had your roster on the site last year, you can promote it and then remove the swimmers no longer on the team before you add swimmers who are new to the team this year.

5) Practice entering meet results. If you have never been a rep before, click the “results” link and play around with entering meet results for one of your three home meets. Remember to clean up from your practice by setting the meet status back to “Meet Not Held Yet” when you’re done.

6) Put a reminder in your schedules for entering meet results. The home team’s TSA Rep will need to enter meet results on the web site no later than 8:00 PM on the evening after the meet. If you can do nothing else by that deadline, at least enter the meet score and meet status, which should only take about 30 seconds of your time. You can then come back and enter the rest of the results (no more than 10-15 additional minutes) later. The reason we really want to get the meet score by 8:00 is because that’s the deadline for submitting our results to the News & Observer so that they can print them on the Scoreboard page of the Thursday sports section. If your meet is postponed due to weather, please indicate that in the meet status as well before 8:00 Wednesday.

7) Know your responsibilities as a TSA Rep. You should be familiar with the TSA Rulebook, particularly the sections concerning weather delays and postponements. You may also find this checklist helpful in remembering your duties before, during and after a meet.

8) Stroke & Turn Judges. The list of TSA-certified Stroke & Turn judges is available here. The list will be updated if there are corrections or additions.


On a separate topic, I wanted to pass along a free tool that my club has found useful this year for tracking which swimmers will be absent for which meets. It’s a website called MySignup.com, and it’s very easy to set up and use. Take a look at this example to see the type of interface we have for each meet. The password is “tsa”. If you configure your own similar signup pages, you can assign a password so that only families on your team get access. Signup results can also be downloaded to a spreadsheet if your coach doesn’t want to check the whole roster for “no” answers.

I wish everyone a safe and storm-free season!

List of certified Stroke & Turn Judges now available

Vice president Mike Kaufman passes along the following news:

Attached please find the certified listing of all Stroke and Turn Judges for 2009. If we have missed someone, please let me know ASAP so we can verify the training date and get the person added to the list. Sorry for any misspelled names. Tony, thanks again for getting some many training sessions together for Stroke and Turn.

Have a great season and we will see you around the pool

Mike Kaufman

YOTA Stroke School

YOTA STROKE SCHOOL

The YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team (YOTA) is continuing to offer new opportunities for families in our communities. We will begin a NEW Stroke School Clinic program to help swimmers learn the proper stroke technique for more efficient swimming. All lessons will be given by our experienced and certified YOTA Coaching Staff. We hope you will come join us for an educational experience!

6 Sessions Dates:
#1 Oct. 3, 4, 17,18, 24, 25
#2 Oct. 31, Nov. 1, 6, 8, 20, 22
#3 Jan. 8, 9, 23, 24, 30, 31
#4 Feb. 6, 7, 13, 14, 27, 28
#5 Mar. 6, 7, 13, 14, 27, 28
#6 May 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16

Time:
11:00-12:00pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Location:
OPC 1012 Oberlin Road, Raleigh (the old YWCA building just off of Wade Avenue). Pool is located in the back entrance of the Interact building.

Cost Per Session:
$90 for 6 one hour lessons, given in a group setting

Lesson Plan:
Day 1: Freestyle, Day 2: Backstroke, Day 3: Breaststroke, Day 4: Butterfly, Day 5: Review, Day 6: Fun Race Day

Requirements:
•Must be able to swim a lap of freestyle with no assistance and have had an introduction to butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke.
•Ages 6-12
•YMCA membership NOT required-all are welcomed.

Make Up Policy:
•Should YOTA cancel a class, we will schedule a make up date depending on pool and staff availability.
•If you miss for outside circumstances a make up will be unavailable.

Refund Policy:•If a participant drops out prior to start date of the session a full refund will be given.
•If a participant drops out for medical reasons then a full refund will be given only if the session hasn’t begun.
•No refund will be given once a class has completed its 2nd day unless for medical reasons then a percentage could be refunded.

Coordinator Contact:
Tammy Minyard 919-832-9088 ext. 6 tammy.minyard@ymcatriangle.org

2009-2010 YOTA Swim Team Evaluation Schedule

All evaluations will take place at the YMCA Oberlin Program Center located at
1012 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, NC 27605. The entrance to the aquatic facility is located in the
back of the Inter-Act building. Please park in the back parking lot where you will see the
entrance to the YMCA aquatics facility.

Evaluations are scheduled on the following dates:
June 11th, June 18th and July 2nd from 6:30-8:00pm
Each evaluation session will be limited to 20 swimmers per training group.

To Sign up for an evaluation:
Contact Head Age Group Coach Brendan Betts via email at brendan.betts@ymcatriangle.org

Prior to signs up, please take the opportunity to read through our Training Group Standards on
our website located at www.ymcatriangle.org/YMCA_Swim_Team/Training_Groups.aspx.
Please include in your email the following information:
1. Child’s full name
2. Child’s date of birth
3. A brief summary of your child’s swimming background
4. The group your child is trying out for
5. Your name and contact information – email address and phone number

Once your child has completed the evaluation we will let you know whether or not your child
has met the standards required for the designated training group. If your child does not meet the training standards, we will recommend that you enroll your child in the YOTA Stroke School
and the appropriate swim lesson program at your local YMCA branch.

The YOTA Coaches will contact you by Monday, July 13th to inform you whether we have
space for your child. At that time, we will provide registration instructions. Once all of our
spaces are full we will form a waiting list at each location, for each group. We will contact those
who are on the waiting list as soon as a spot comes available.

If you have any questions, please contact Brendan Betts at (919) 832-9088 ext. 3 or
brendan.betts@ymcatriangle.org.

Stroke and Turn Clinic

We are scheduling another Stroke and Turn Clinic on Tuesday June 9. It will be at Falls River in North Raleigh and the time will be 7:00 PM. We would like for anyone planning to attend to RSVP to Michelle Gemmell or Tony McCullough so that we can be sure we have enough seats.

Tony McCullough
TSA Clinics

Southern Wake Invitational Meet at Sunset Ridge - July 12, 2009

The meet information for S.W.I.M. was emailed to most teams already. If you did not receive that information, and your team wishes to attend, you can find the meet information on the MOR website.

Please email your intent to attend S.W.I.M., with approximate number of swimmers, to Cindie Lawton by May 29, 2009. As we get closer to the meet, the MOR website will have all updates and changes. If you should have any questions or concerns, please contact Cindie.

We are looking forward to another great meet!

Olympic Dream International Swim Clinic

Thank you for letting Dan and I speak tonight at the TSA meeting. We are dedicated to creating a fun, informative, and entertaining clinic that will be time well spent. Dan's Olympic story and our swimming expertise is guaranteed to benefit all swimmers who participate. Please feel free to contact me with any questions at OlympicDreamISC@gmail.com.

Thanks!

May Board of Directors Meeting

Remember, our final in-person Board meeting of 2009 is coming up tomorrow night (Tuesday, May 19) at 7:00. We will be meeting at the NC State University Club again. If you can, please print and bring your own copy of the meeting agenda and the March Meeting Minutes..

The Board meeting proper should be quite short, which will allow us to distribute meet management materials and then adjourn directly into our annual Meet Management Clinic. Everyone is welcome to stay for this clinic, but it will be most useful for new TSA reps and for new clubs (including exhibition teams). If you are unable to attend the clinic but have questions, be sure to read the meet organization document on the TSA website and to familiarize yourself with some of the other resources on the site.

One reminder about attendance: TSA Bylaws require that a club attend at least half the Board meetings each year in order to avoid probation. The following teams have attended only a single meeting this year, and must not miss either of the remaining two Board meetings (in person tomorrow night; and the post-season survey and elections on the web this fall):

• Black Horse Run
• Crabtree
• Holland’s Crossing
• Regency Park
• Southall
• Weatherstone
• Zebulon & Zebulon Country Club

If you find it difficult to attend Tuesday’s meeting, I strongly urge you to find some other team parent to send in your place. As mentioned above, the meeting itself will last only a few minutes, and having someone attend will save you the inconvenience of having to track down your team’s bag of meet materials later.

Stroke and Turn Clinic

We are scheduling another Stroke and Turn Clinic on Tuesday May 26. It will be at Lochmere and the time will be 7:00 PM. We are working out details for another clinic in North Raleigh as well.

Tony McCullough
TSA Clinics

March Board meeting minutes

Board Members,

I have just posted the minutes of the March TSA Board of Directors meeting.

I apologize for the delay in posting these and I hope it has not caused any inconvenience. With my job going away the 1st of April and the job hunt in full earnest, my schedule is not laid out quite as cleanly as it was when I was at IBM.

As always, please do let me know if there are any questions or concerns about any of the information included in the meeting minutes.

Thanks!

Rick

North Raleigh Championships (formerly known as the JC Meet)

Meet information for the July 12th North Raleigh Championships hosted by the Marlins of Raleigh and formerly called the JC Meet can be found on the MOR web site by clicking on the meet information link. You will also find the Meet Event File as well as the directions and web link to download TM Lite if you do not already have Team Manager.

We are excited to host this meet again for 2009 - with just a little name change. Please note that there is no limit on how many swimmers your team can bring to this meet. However, we do ask that you email Cara Cameron with your intent to attend by June 16th. This meet is great for the swimmers of the Tarheel Swimming Association and is run to benefit the children.

If you should have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Cara Cameron.

Reminder: No Board meeting Tuesday

Just a reminder that the Board of Directors meeting scheduled for Tuesday night has been canceled. For those of you who missed March’s Board meeting, we finished our off-season business and voted to skip the April meeting.

The sole remaining Board meeting this spring will be the brief May 19th meeting at University Club. Please make sure to attend this meeting, as this is when the bags of materials will be distributed. If you are a new TSA Rep, you will probably want to stick around for the annual Meet Management Clinic which begins immediately after the Board meeting adjourns.

Swim coach contracts?

Do any of the teams have a formal contract with their coaches? Can you share the boilerplate with the Holland's Crossing Sea Devils? Email cox.wendy@gmail.com and thanks!

Cris

Summer Tune-up Clinics for Swimmers

Please share with your swim team families:

This Saturday Triangle Aquatic Center kicks off its series of Summer Season Tune-ups. Swimmers have the chance to work on strokes and 'feel the water' again. Build confidence and excitement for the upcoming season!

Saturdays, April 18-May 16
1:00-1:40 10&Under
1:45-2:30 11&Up

$5/clinic Come to as many or just one, whichever ones work for you!
Spots are limited. Pre-registration is encouraged to save your spot.

Registration available online or at the front desk.
Click HERE to view online information.

Located at 275 Convention Drive, Cary, near Cary Towne Center.
919.459.4045
www.triangleaquatics.org

Updated Clinics schedule

Clinics Committee chairman Tony McCullough passes along the following revised clinics schedule:

The Clinics Committee has scheduled several clinics. All Clinics begin at 7:00 PM. Stroke and Turn clinics usually last until approximately 8:30, while Coaches and Starter Clinics usually finish by 8:00.

• Stroke and Turn Clinic at Charleston Village in Apex on April 15. This clinic will have a seating limit of 40.
• Stroke and Turn Clinic at Lochmere in Cary on May 5. This clinic will be at the Lochmere Highlands Clubhouse, not at the main Lochmere pool.
• Stroke and Turn Clinic at Jewish Community Center in North Raleigh on May 12.
• Coaches Clinic on May 27 at Northbrook in Raleigh.
• Coaches Clinic on June 3 at Lochmere Highlands Clubhouse in Cary.
• Starter Clinic on May 28 at Carpenter Village in Cary.
• Starter Clinic on June 4 at Stonebridge Emerywood Clubhouse in North Raleigh.

We are working on additional Stroke and Turn Clinics. We plan to have one in late May and possibly a second in early June. If you are aware of someone who would like to be an instructor please email Tony McCullough or call him at 919-271-8514.

Dues Reminder

TSA Reps,

Just a reminder that the 2009 TSA dues are due to me no later than April 30th. Currently, less than half the clubs have submitted their payments. Please remit a check as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thanks,

Cathy Brunk

A coach in search of a job

This resume was forwarded to me by a former TSA rep.

Cary Park Sea Dragons Assistant Swim Coach Wanted

The Cary Park Sea Dragons are looking for an assistant coach for their summer swim team. The Sea Dragons are a 150 member, TSA South League Division 4 team of swimmers age 5 to 18 that is run by an enthusiastic and supportive group of parent volunteers. We are seeking an enthusiastic, organized individual with proficiency in stroke mechanics, the ability to motivate swimmers of all ages and skill levels, and strong communication skills with parents, swimmers, and other coach(es).

Duties include, but are not limited to: day-to-day team operations, development and supervision of age group appropriate workouts, assisting in preparing and submitting meet entries, attending swim team planning/parent meetings.

The position is part-time from mid-May through July. The assistant coach must be available weekday mornings and evenings for practices, Saturday mornings for practices, Tuesday evenings for swim meets, and occasional weekend days for invitational swim meets.

The ideal candidate will have prior swim team coaching experience, competitive swim team experience, and be proficient with Hy-Tek Meet Manager software. Knowledge of TSA rules and regulations is helpful.

If interested, please send resume to caryparkswimteam@gmail.com.

Youth Sports Photography

Hello,

My name is Bill McLean, I am reposting my blog from last year. I am President of McLean Digital, Inc. We are a youth sports photography business. Bob has invited me into your Blog so I could introduce myself to all swim teams.

I am interested in making partnerships with each swim team. We provide team/event and action photography for your clubs. A percentage of the sales from the team/event photography will be donated back to each organization as well as to TSA to provide scholarship funding.

I believe this would be a win-win situation for everyone (your swim team, TSA, and Mclean Digital). If anyone would like to get more information, please feel free to email me (bill@mcleandigital.com) or call me on my cell at (919) 604-3756. Please visit my website: http://www.mcleandigital.com.

Thanks for your time,

Bill McLean

TSA Clinics

The Clinics Committee has scheduled several clinics. All Clinics are at 7:00 PM.

Stroke and Turn Clinic at Charleston Village in Apex on April 15. This clinic will have a seating limit of 40.
Stroke and Turn Clinic at Lochmere in Cary on May 5. This clinic will be at the Lochmere Highlands Clubhouse, not at the main Lochmere pool.
Stroke and Turn Clinic at Jewish Community Center in North Raleigh on May 12.

Coaches Clinic on May 27 at Northbrook in Raleigh.
Starter Clinic on May 28 at Carpenter Village in Cary.

Stroke and Turn clinics usually last until around 8:30. Coaches and Starter Clinics usually last one hour.

We plan to have others announced soon, including:

Coaches Clinic in Cary (tentative date is June 3).
Starter Clinic at a North League club.

We are working on additional Stroke and Turn Clinics. We plan to have one in late May and possibly a second in early June. If you are aware of someone who would like to be an instructor please email Tony McCullough or call him at 919-271-8514.

Don't forget to order your team's ribbons!

This is an ideal time of year to take stock of your team’s ribbon inventory so that you can replenish it in time for the upcoming season. Now that the meet schedules are settled, you will have a good idea of approximately how many swimmers each visiting team will bring to your three home meets (though remember to add in some slack in case any of those teams have grown since last year).

Remember, the home team provides all the ribbons awarded in a meet. This includes first-place through sixth-place ribbons for all main event swimmers (including each individual member of a relay team), as well as heat-winner ribbons for the first finisher in every other heat, and participant ribbons for all other competitors in those heats. (If your pool has only 4 or 5 lanes, you can omit the fifth-place and sixth-place ribbons because main events will never use more than 4 lanes.)

If you aren’t already familiar with the meet materials page on the TSA web site, I urge you to acquaint yourself with it. Of particular help is the ribbon calculator spreadsheet, which allows you to plug in a few basic parameters (number of lanes, number of swimmers on each team) and quickly generate your requirements for each of the eight ribbon types. (Prepare to be shocked and appalled at how many ribbons you will award over the course of the season.)

The colors of the place ribbons are specified in Article 102.5 of the Rules, but otherwise you are free to design your team’s ribbons. There are no color requirements for the heat-winner or participant ribbons, though you will probably want to make sure they are easily distinguishable from the place ribbons in order to avoid earning the undying enmity of the volunteers working the ribbon table at your meets. Another way to keep those folks happy is to pre-print ribbon labels which can be affixed to the little cardboard tag on the back of each ribbon. This time-saver allows the ribbon table volunteers to avoid having to write dates, team names, strokes, etc. on the back of each ribbon; all they need to write is the swimmer name. The meet materials page also has a ribbon label document template which can be customized for this purpose (pools with 4 or 5 lanes should use this template instead).

Pool Professionals Partnership Scholarship awarded to Denver Davis of Highcroft

At the TSA Board meeting on March 17, Pool Professionals founder and president David Harvey awarded the Pool Professionals Partnership Scholarship to Denver Davis of the Highcroft Hurricanes. Mr. Harvey praised Denver's leadership qualities as exhibited both at Highcroft and at Panther Creek High School, as well as Denver's contributions to the local community through the North Carolina Food Bank and the Special Olympics.

Denver receives the ceremonial $1000 check from Pool Professionals Staff Director Sean Hare and Regional Aquatics Supervisor Allison Huggins.

Denver Davis poses with his parents. Denver will use the scholarship when he matriculates at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August.

Insurance Question

As a new team we have not yet wrangled with the issues of insurance. I KNOW that our homeowner's association carries adequate coverage but this year and that this would cover residents and guests. Do any of the TSA teams carry separate coverage? If you would like to reply privately with detailed advice.....please email cristine.clarke@abromitisonlinelearning.com
thanks
Cris

MOR/Speedo to offer Katie Hoff Olympic Clinic April 18

The Marlins Of Raleigh Swim Team and Speedo are offering an Olympic Swim Clinic with 2-time Olympian, Katie Hoff on Saturday April 18th from 9-11am at NC State University's Willis Casey Natatorium. This clinic is open to TSA swimmers for just $10 and includes a Speedo Goody Bag. Bring a suit/goggles and you must be able to swim 25 yards of all 4 strokes. Hoff will demonstrate the techniques that helped her break the world record and will be available to sign autographs. Parents of swimmers registered with the clinic are free to observe in the stands.
Hoff was the youngest member of the 2004 US Olympic Swim Team and finished in the top 8 of the 200 IM. At the 2008 US Olympic Trials she broke the world record in the 400 IM. In Bejing at the Olympic Games Hoff won a Silver medal in the 400 Free and Bronze in the 400 IM and 800 Free Relay.
Registration forms are available at MOR's website at www.marlinsofraleigh.com or contact MOR at coachcara45@aol.com or call 851-3000.

Head Coach wanted

Banbury Woods Swim Team is looking for a head coach for the 2009 summer season. Experienced, mature coach candidates need to contact Mindy McGinnis at mindyLmcg@aol.com.

March Board of Directors meeting

This is the usual reminder of the upcoming TSA Board of Directors meeting, which will be held Tuesday night (St. Patrick’s Day) at 7:00. This month, we will be meeting at Northbrook Country Club at 4905 North Hills Drive in North Raleigh. Northbrook has been gracious enough to let us use their clubhouse for free. However, everyone attending must complete this release form. If possible, please print out a copy and fill it out in advance to bring with you to the meeting. Otherwise, you will have to fill out a form at the door before entering the clubhouse.

As always, I also encourage you to print out your own copies of the meeting agenda and the previous meeting’s minutes to bring along with you. Our meeting will also feature a PowerPoint presentation on one club’s experience using WinSwim; those slides are not included in the agenda handout, but can be viewed here if you later want to review them at your own leisure.

If your club hasn’t paid its 2009 dues, please remember that you have until the end of April to do so. All the dues statements (in alphabetical order) can be found here.

February 2009 Meeting Minutes Now Posted

TSA Board Members,

The minutes for the February 2009 TSA Board of Directors meeting have now been posted. You can access them at the following weblink:

http://www.tsanc.googlepages.com/Minutes2009-02-17.pdf

Please review these minutes in preparation for next Tuesday's March Board of Directors meeting and let me know if you have any questions about any of the content.

Thank you!

Rick

2009 Dues

Thank you to the teams who have paid their TSA dues. Clubs, when paying the dues please make the check payable to TSA or Tarheel Swimming Association and please identify your club on the check. Thank you for your help.

Cathy Brunk

The Reserve Stingrays need Assistant Coach

The Reserve Stingrays are looking for an Assistant Coach. We are located off Hwy 55 in Cary with 120+ swimmers. Practices are twice daily with actual schedule to be coordinated with existing Head Coach and other Assistants. If interested, please contact Jill at jdecandio@gmail.com by March 30th.

WinSwim update

Every team's TSA Reps and Alternates should have received an email from me last night containing their team's license number and key code to use the fully functional version of WinSwim. Please contact me if you didn't get yours.

I'm looking for someone to volunteer to be the "single point of contact" for TSA to request WinSwim enhancements. That person need not be a TSA rep. Please contact me if you are interested in this role or if you have someone in mind.

TSA Dues Sent by E-Mail

The TSA dues statements were e-mailed to all TSA reps earlier this week. Please remit payment by the April deadline. If you have any questions please contact me at clbrunk729@aol.com. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Cathy Brunk
TSA Treasurer

Park Village Porpoises need an Assistant Coach

The Park Village swim team is looking to hire an Assistant Coach for the summer swim season. Our pool is located in Cary off of Davis Drive. We offer practices twice a day during the week with no practices on the weekends. Anyone interested in being considered for this position please e-mail Tracey at twasbill@nc.rr.com.

S.W.I.M To Be Held July 12 at Sunset Ridge

SWIM to be Held July 12 at Sunset Ridge

The South Wake Invitational Meet (SWIM) will be held at Sunset Ridge Swim Club on July 12, 2009. This is the 3rd year MOR has hosted this meet and we look forward to providing an opportunity for TSA swimmers to have a championship meet to compete in with their whole team that is fun and geared towards the enjoyment of the swimmers and parents.

For more information, contact Cindie Lawton at bill@lawton.net

MOR IN MAY

The Marlins Of Raleigh Swim Team will again offer its "MOR IN MAY" pre-summer swim clinic April 27-May 16, 2009 at 3 convenient locations including just minutes from Cary at Peace College in Raleigh, Ravenscroft School in North Raleigh, and Riverwood Athletic Club in Clayton.
MOR IN MAY is a pre-summer swim clinic for summer league swimmers offering instruction in all 4 competitive strokes in a fun learning environment by MOR's nationally known professional swim staff. Directed by Coach Jonathan Watson and Coach Cara Cameron who have over 40 years coaching experience between them. Get a head start on the summer season in our heated indoor pools. MOR IN MAY will teach your swimmer technical skills that will establish good habits that will last all summer.
MOR IN MAY gives the best instruction in the Triangle at a better price. Just $80 for nine 1 hour classes. Space at each location is limited so sign up right away by filling out the registration and send in with a check for just $80!
For Registration forms, go to www.marlinsofraleigh.com or call 851-3000 or email coachcara45@aol.com

Swim Coach needed in Apex

Hollands Crossing a growing TSA team with 2 strong volunteer assistant coaches seeks a Head Coach for the 09 season. We have a generous stipend and reasonable schedule. Please forward any and all leads to cristine.clarke@abromitisonlinelearning.com and thanks!

February Board of Directors meeting

This is the usual reminder that our next Board meeting is coming up on Tuesday evening at 7:00. Please note that we will meet at a new location: the University Room at University Club. For those of you whose teams have not swum a meet there, the NC State University Club is located on Hillsborough Street just west of the Beltline.

As always, a limited number of printouts of the meeting agenda and of the previous meeting’s minutes will be provided at the meeting. However, at last month’s meeting, all those hard copies were quickly claimed and some attendees had to do without. You can avoid this problem by printing and bringing your own copy to the meeting with you (hint, hint).

See you then!

January 2009 Meeting Minutes Now Posted

Board Members,

The meeting minutes from last week's January TSA Board of Directors meeting are now posted at the following location:

http://www.tsanc.googlepages.com/Minutes2009-01-27.pdf

Please let me know if you have any questions about this information.

Rick Rudd
Secretary, TSA

Crown Trophy

Crown Trophy (2431 Spring Forest Rd. , Raleigh, phone: 878-6565) and Awards visited the TSA January meeting to express our interest in earning the TSA trophy/medals/plaques/ribbons business. We offer the best prices in the triangle, a wide variety of products (including swim specific items and custom options), FREE engraving, FREE delivery and a FREE perpetual plaque for each TSA team that uses our services. Our store is open M-F (9:30am to 5:30pm) and Sat (9am-12pm). We are open to meeting before store hours or after store hours by appointment. Our belief is that customer service is of the utmost importance and we value our customers everyday. Feel free to visit our website (http://www.crowntrophy.com/) or email us at crownraleigh@gmail.com. We look forward to serving your sports, corporate or religious awards needs.

Rules - Checks and Balances

It seems we have checks and balances across all aspects of the meet officiating: alternating judges from both teams, 2 scorekeepers - 1 from each team, 2 clerk of course - 1 from each team...EXCEPT recorder. There were 2 seperate meets last year which involved the recorder writing down the wrong lanes for the various places. In what such meet, the lanes were not clearly numbered, the other was just a mistake. I'm not sure there's an easy solution, but it seems it would be wise to consider someway to balance the recorder. I'm posting here to solicit ideas and/or alert the rules committee to discuss.

Some followup from last week's Board of Directors meeting

I want to thank everyone for making Tuesday’s Board meeting a success. Even with the last-minute rescheduling caused by the prior week’s snowstorm, turnout was still over 90 percent (68 of our now-74 member teams were able to attend), and we resolved all the business that we set out to cover.

As mentioned during the meeting, all teams have been assigned to a committee except in cases where last year’s Rep indicated in the post-season survey that they would not be returning. Those teams were listed as “exempt” in the committee assignments on the last page of the meeting agenda. However, as we discussed Tuesday, there are other teams who have introduced brand-new TSA Reps since the time of the survey, and all of these Reps are also eligible for the “rookie exemption” should they wish to exercise it. (Remember, rookies may choose to serve as members of their assigned committees even though they are not required to do so.) However, if you do wish to exercise your exemption, you must send me email to that effect! So far, only a single team has done so. Unless I hear from you by next Sunday, I will assume that no more exemptions are needed.

On the subject of new Reps, I wanted to make everyone aware of how you can use the features of the TSA web site to manage the Reps and Alternates for your club. I’ve written a short document that walks through (with screenshots) all the tasks that you might ever need to perform on behalf of your club:

• Adding a new TSA Rep or Alternate
• Changing your contact information and/or password
• Deactivating (Retiring) a TSA Rep or Alternate
• Switching a TSA Rep to an Alternate and vice versa

A link to this document is now also available under the “Information for Clubs’ TSA Representatives” section of the TSA home page for general reference.

Prep clinics for YOUR team, at YOUR time

Curran Aquatic Center invites TSA teams to bring over their swimmers for exclusive summer prep clinics! The kids can get in the water together to swim before the pools open (and the water warms up) to get excited about the summer season.

Contact our Program Manager, Doracy Harrison, for more information and to schedule a time for your club's clinic. Limited slots this Spring!

919.459.4045 x223 or email dharrison@triangleaquatics.org

We've Added 24 New Spots

Thank you to all the TSA reps that have shared information about our swim team prep classes at the Triangle Aquatic Center. We have filled all of our swim team prep classes at the TAC location.

To meet the demand for swim team prep classes we are adding a new location at Impact Athletics with 24 new open spots. We have two outstanding coaches for this location, SEE OUR IMPACT LOCATION COACHES.

TAC LOCATION - All 66 swim team prep slots are full.

IMPACT ATHLETICS LOCATION- 24 new swim team prep spots open.

For more information contact either Susan or Andrea at 919-267-4762 or
CUSTOMER SUPPORT

_____________________________________________________________________

Coaches to Student Ratio / 1:6
Swim Team Prep Classes are 60 minutes and the class is offered as follows:

Sunday, February 8, 2009 thru Sunday, March, 29, 2009 (8 classes) - $100.00

All classes will be at Impact Athletics Pool in Cary.

• Sunday @ 3:00-4:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 1 (12 spots / 2 Coaches)
• Sunday @ 4:00-5:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 2 (12 spots / 2 Coaches)

_____________________________________________________________________

Board of Directors meeting is tomorrow night

Just a reminder that the TSA Board of Directors meeting that was originally scheduled for last Tuesday will be held tomorrow night at 7:00 at the Triangle Aquatic Center. As before, please bring your own copy of the meeting agenda (and also the minutes of our last meeting) if possible.

One of the topics we’ll discuss will be our 2009 meet calendar. In addition to the information about previous meet calendars shown in a table on the agenda, I’ve also re-cast that data as a bar chart, which might be easier to grasp visually. And as long as we’re delving into history, some of you may also be interested in TSA’s growth trends and its detailed club membership history, both of which now have complete data covering TSA’s entire history starting in 1971.

See you then!

Bob

Swim Across America-Making Waves to Fight Cancer-Quick Style

Please join the swimming community in helping Richard fight! Please post attached are your local club, Year Round Club or YMCA to get the word out!!!!! Richard is the current Auburn University Swim Coach and is in the battle of his life! Go to your local pool and swim on February 14th as one, as strength is gained in numbers and with each and everyone of you, we can make a difference!!!!!!

Libby George, Durant Typhoons

As most of you have heard, one of America’s most respected and decorated Swim Coaches, Richard Quick, has been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. In the world of swimming, he has "done it all" – coached six US Olympic Swimming Teams, led his collegiate teams to 12 NCAA titles, inspired every swimmer he has coached, and led the swimming community with respect and integrity.
Now it is our turn to give back. Richard and his family have teamed up with Swim Across America in an attempt to combat this disease and raise money towards finding a cure. The swimming community is now tasked with joining forces with Richard as he faces this newest challenge in his life.
WHAT IS SWIM QUICK?
Many people in the swimming community have asked what they can do to help Richard during these difficult days. "Swim Quick" is a fundraising program developed by Swim Across America to answer this question -- and it provides a tangible way for everyone to support Richard. By collectively donating to Swim Across America and swimming together in his honor, we can share with him how much he has impacted our lives.
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
Simply go to www.swimacrossamerica.org/swimquick and donate as generously as you can. You can also register to swim in the event. Or, if you are a coach, you can reach out to your team to participate and dedicate a workout in Richard’s honor. Simply tell your swimmers and parents about the program, ask for donations and collect the funds. All checks can be made out to Swim Across America, Inc. and will be put toward the Richard Quick Endowment.
WHEN IS SWIM QUICK?
The event will be held on February 14th, Valentines Day with hundreds of people swimming in his honor and sending him their positive thoughts, prayers and energy while they swim. However, if this day and time doesn’t work with your schedule, you can swim in his honor on any day and at any time that is convenient for you or your team.
QUESTIONS?
Please contact Janel Jorgensen, Executive Director, Swim Across America at janel@swimacrossamerica.org or call (888) SWIM-USA. Swim Across America, Inc. is a non-profit organization created over 20 years ago to with the mission of raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment. All checks should be payable to Swim Across America, and can be mailed to One International Place, Suite 4600, Boston, MA, 02110.

Coaching Position: Harrington Grove Swim & Racquet Club

COACHING POSITION:
Harrington Grove
Swim & Racquet Club

TSA SWIM LEAGUE:
Harrington Grove Swim & Racquet Club is looking to hire a responsible individual with swimming knowledge, who is organized, and enthusiastic about coaching our summer swim team (ages 4 –18). Must be available late May through late July for practices and swim meets. Harrington Grove is located in northwest Raleigh off the 540- Leesville exit.
E-mail resumes to: jcountie@nc.rr.com or call
919-846-0287 with questions by March 1, 2009.
Prior coaching experience preferred.

TAC Programs of interest to TSA Pools

I'm pleased to announce some great programs for families and staff at summer pools to prep for the upcoming season!

GuardStart: Junior Guard program for 11-14 yr olds, to be held evenings and as half-day camp in track-outs. They even earn Community CPR and First Aid certification in the course!

Torpedoes (evening/Sat) and Tigerfish (daytime): Monthly swim team prep groups that bridge the gap between lessons and competitive swim team.

Summer tune-ups: Saturday afternoon clinics starting mid-April to help kids gear up for the opening of the summer season. Only $5 each Saturday. Come to one or all!

Lifeguard/CPR classes and recertifications: We have several offerings to help accommodate everyone's schedules, including Cary Academy, Cardinal Gibbons, and college breaks.

Water Safety Instructor: Boost the caliber of the instructors at your pool with American Red Cross WSI certification. They'll be certified in the new release (Mar '09) of the WSI curriculum.

and of course, our Swim Lessons are on-going for daytime, evening, and Saturday options. Other fun and different classes we have are Synchronized Swimming and Discover Scuba!

If you would like more information on the above programs, please email me at dharrison@triangleaquatics.org for flyers or details.

Board of Directors meeting postponed until January 27th

Due to hazardous travel conditions, the January meeting has been postponed until next week. We will meet at the same location (TAC in Cary) at the same time of day (7:00 PM), but we will do it exactly one week later on Tuesday, January 27th.

Possible postponement of Tuesday's Board of Directors meeting

It looks like TSA can't escape weather worries even when the pools are closed. With a threat of winter weather approaching, we may not be able to hold our first Board meeting tomorrow night. Stay tuned to this blog -- I will post a go/no-go decision no later than noon Tuesday.

If we are forced to postpone the meeting, it would be made up exactly one week later (7:00 PM on Tuesday, January 27) at the same location (TAC in Cary). I realize that some of you may have schedule conflicts next week, so if we do end up postponing, please get one of your club's Alternate Reps to come. If you don't have an Alternate Rep, please designate some member of your club to attend.

In the meantime, Leagues & Scheduling chairman Bill Grussemeyer is already accepting your feedback about the proposed team rankings and would like to get everyone's input by the end of Wednesday the 28th regardless of when we hold the Board meeting. So please study the rankings proposal in the agenda and send Bill your comments. If you downloaded a copy of the agenda prior to 5 PM today, please retrieve it again. The original version contained errors in the South League rankings proposal on page 6: the "2008 Rank" column actually contained 2007 rankings, and the "Potential Rank Change" column was therefore also incorrect. A second version of the agenda (marked as such at the top of page 1 and the bottom of page 6) is now available that corrects those errors.

January Board of Directors meeting

A reminder: our first Board meeting of 2009 is coming up tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 20) at 7:00 at the Triangle Aquatic Center. If you can, please print and bring your own copy of the meeting agenda. A limited number of hard copies will be available for those unable to bring their own.

One high-priority issue to think about before the meeting: no one has yet expressed interest in serving as TSA Treasurer for the term spanning this year and next. Our current Treasurer, Nita Dail, no longer has any children swimming in TSA and has therefore opted not to stand for reelection. So before we leave Tuesday night, we must identify someone in the room to serve as Treasurer! Please review the job description on page 3 of the agenda and consider serving in this office; you will see that it is not a very onerous or time-consuming position and that no special qualifications are required.

See you there!

2009 Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon - Registration Open

First, I want to thank the TSA for so many participants in our 2008 event. Over 100 of the 370 kids who participated in the 2008 Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon apparently from the TSA. And, a special thanks to Bob Goudreau for allowing us to use your Blog site to get the word out. We ended up raising over $15,000 from that event.

I am writing to tell you about the 2009 event! We opened registration this morning at 11:30am for the 3rd Annual Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon - to be held, again, in Chapel Hill - on Sunday, May 31st. Last year's event drew more than 370 participants and we sold out of spaces. So, we have expanded to over 400 spots for 2009.

Remember, this is a fundraiser for the UNC Children's Hospital and kids ages 6-17 can participate - we have a short course (100m swim/2.5mile bike/1K run) and a long course (300m swim/5mile bike/3k run) and every finisher gets a medal and we have all sorts of prizes for placing in each age group.

Please consider passing this information on to your swim teams and encouraging them to participate. It's a lot of fun, it's for a great cause and it's truly Kids Helping Kids.

Check out complete details here.

Thank you,

The Swim For Smiles Foundation

Some feedback from the survey feedback

Some of the comments in responses to the post-season survey posed questions that I can answer, or reported problems that are already addressed. There were also a couple that seem to be based on mistaken information, and I'd like to clear those up too. So here they are, in no particular order...


A comment on last year’s Board meetings said:

“One meeting date was changed to a date before the original scheduled one and it made it impossible to attend. Not all reps check the blog or web site daily.”

I’m not sure what this is referring to. No dates were changed, and all meeting notifications and reminders were sent by email (as well as being posted on the blog). The entire slate of 2008 Board meeting dates was announced in email sent to all TSA Reps on November 29, 2007, which pointed to the previous day’s Blog posting. All were held on the originally advertised dates, except for the April one, which the Board voted at the March meeting to cancel (as we usually do when there is no more TSA business to discuss before May). Each meeting (as well as the cancellation) was also heralded by an email reminder and a new blog posting a day or two in advance of the event.


A couple people wished there was a way to train Stroke & Turn judges on the web:

“If this is on DVD, it should be made more readily available for past stroke and turn judges.”

“Since the content is all there on line we should have an on-line clinic.”

This is entirely feasible technically, but impossible for legal reasons. The dilemma here is that the video clips are an essential part of the training, but we do not have the rights to distribute them electronically because they are copyrighted material owned by USA Swimming. We are allowed to use them in person because we actually own two separate copies of the training DVD from which they are taken; we can thus conduct up to two (but not more) simultaneous S&T clinics that display this material.


A comment about the meet result entry part of the web site suggested:

“Consider adding another option for the meet results: NO SWIM. This would address situations where weather does not permit swimming and each team agrees not to swim. Right now you have to call it a tie, but another option may be more descriptive.”

We actually do have that capability already. One of the meet status values (along with “Completed Full Meet”, “Completed Partial Meet”, etc.) is “Meet Not to be Completed”, which is intended for exactly such situations. A canceled meet is scored as a tie, but the 0-0 score does convey to next year’s Leagues & Scheduling Committee (and anyone else) that no actual meet was held.


Another rep had trouble seeing meet results:

“…as a TSA rep, it would be helpful if I could see the results of our Away meets as entered by the other TSA rep on the website. As far as I could tell, I could only see the Home meet results I entered and if I wanted to go back to review the results I entered at a later time, I had to go through all the steps to see them.”

I’m not sure what the problem is here. Once a meet’s results have been entered (always by the home team’s rep), the results are visible to everybody by just clicking on the date of the meet from the schedule/results table on either team’s page. The results include all the triple-winners, double-winners and new pool and team records that were set. Results for all meets held on a given date can be seen by clicking on one of the date links on the “scores” page of the site.


A comment about a different part of the web site suggested:

“It would be great if we could add a couple of text boxes to the club information page to list the type of timing system and software, with a contact name. This would help facilitate communications before meets on sending meet manager files, timing, etc.”

The site already has this feature too. Log in to your TSA web site account, click on the “club” tab and then on the “Update your club’s information” link. The “Notes:” text box can be filled in with multiple lines of arbitrary text information, which will be displayed near the top of your club’s page.


Two reps wanted email notification about blog postings:

“The website is fine and so is the blog. I still think it would be nice to get an email if there is important information in case Reps don't check the blog.”

“The website is well organized; the blog was helpful. It would have been helpful to me if every time someone posted to the blog if I had gotten an email with perhaps the subject line because once the season started, I didn't always remember to go out to the blog to see what was new.”

The tradeoff here is information vs. annoyance. I instituted the blog in the first place to cut down on the amount of email that I was sending to TSA reps. I still try to make sure all important communications go out in email (in addition to being reflected in the blog), but less urgent items can be blog-only instead of cluttering everyone’s inbox. However, those who want immediate notification of blog postings can subscribe to an RSS feed of the blog, or use an external notification service such as Blog Alert to generate automated email.


One rep noted that it’s getting harder to get meet results printed in the community newspapers:

“What was the deal with the newspapers this year? I submitted results for all of our home meets and one away meet ... and they never published them or responded to my emails. We need the TSA organization to exert some influence.”

I don’t have a good suggestion for this. The newspaper industry’s slow secular decline seems to have suddenly accelerated in the last year or two, and all papers are cutting back. The “news hole” has shrunk everywhere, from the community weeklies to the News & Observer. All of the local weekly papers for the suburban towns used to be happy to print meet results involving local teams, but they may not be willing to any more. (For instance, I know that he Cary News no longer does so.) However, they may still post these results on their web sites, even though that may not be as exciting for the kids as seeing their names in print used to be.

Stonebridge Looking for Summer League Coaches

Stonebridge summer swim team is looking for a Head Coach and an Assistant Coach. We are located in North Raleigh and have approximately 100 swimmers on our team. Afternoon and morning practice mandatory for coaches. Individuals should have experience coaching summer league, high school or year round. Knowledge of TSA rules and meet management are essential. Qualities we are looking for in applicants: maturity, enthusiasm and leadership. Resumes should be sent to Nora Flynn at DFlynn0526@aol.com by February 1st.

New Swim Team Needs Equipment

Used equipment needed for New Swim Team – 2009 is Meredith Townes first swim team year, and we are in need of used equipment to get us started. If you have used equipment or have ideas on where we can locate lane lines, spools, flag, starting blocks , etc. we’d appreciate hearing from you. Contact TSA rep Parker Herring at pherring@foryourlife.com or call 919-971-5663.

Cary Park Sea Dragons Head Coach Wanted

The Cary Park Sea Dragons are looking for an experienced head coach for its summer swim league. The Sea Dragons are a 150 member, TSA Division 4 team of swimmers age 5 to 18 that is run by an enthusiastic and supportive group of parent volunteers. We are seeking an enthusiastic, organized individual with proficiency in stroke mechanics, the ability to motivate swimmers of all ages and skill levels, and strong communication skills with parents, swimmers, and assistant coach(es).

Duties include, but are not limited to: day-to-day team operations, development and supervision of age group appropriate workouts, supervising and mentoring assistant coach(es), preparing and submitting meet entries, attending swim team planning/parent meetings.
The position is part time from mid-May through July. The head coach must be available weekday mornings and evenings for practices, Saturday mornings for practices, Tuesday evenings for swim meets, and occasional weekend days for invitational swim meets.The ideal candidate will have prior swim team coaching experience, competitive swim team experience, and be proficient with Hy-Tek Meet Manager software. Must be a high school graduate with some college a plus. Knowledge of TSA rules and regulations is helpful.

If interested, please send resume to caryparkswimteam@gmail.com.

Results of Post-season Survey

At long last, the results of the 2008 post-season survey are ready. My apologies for leaving it so late; I should have started badgering the late responders sooner so that all the results would have been in before mid-December. Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the entire survey.

As with the previous survey, I have broken the results up into separate thematic sections, each represented by one of the links below. As before, all results are anonymous, and a few comments have been redacted [denoted by square brackets like this] to remove specific identifying information. All financial information has been aggregated over large numbers of teams, so it will not be possible to deduce specific dollar amounts spent by any particular club.

Survey sections:

• Census
• Feedback on 2008 TSA operations
• Coaches' salaries
• Swim practices
• Registration fees
• Invitational meets
• Team events
• Swim meet operations
• Educational grants

Swim Team Prep Classes

Triangle Swim School (TSS) will be starting their winter session swim team prep classes soon. Registration for new families begins January 6th.

Our experienced coaches have designed the Swim Team Prep class for those swimmers who wish to improve technique (teaching, drills), enhance conditioning, and have fun!! Classes are filling up quickly with returning students and we have limited spots available.

Attracting the very best coaches in the area who embrace a caring, nurturing, positive attitude toward kids is our top priority. We hire only the finest instructors in the area and compensate them at a much higher rate than our competitors. SEE OUR COACHES

For more information contact either Susan or Andrea at 919-267-4762 or
CUSTOMER SUPPORT

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Coaches to Student Ratio / 1:6
Swim Team Prep Classes are 60 minutes and the class is offered as follows:

Friday, February 6, 2009 thru Friday, April 3, 2009 (7 classes) - $87.50

• Friday @ 5:00-6:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 1
• Friday @ 6:00-7:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 2
  

Sunday, February 8, 2009 thru Sunday, March, 29, 2009 (8 classes) - $100.00

• Sunday @ 1:00-2:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 1
• Sunday @ 2:00-3:00 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 2
• Sunday @ 3:30-4:30 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 1
• Sunday @ 3:30-4:30 p.m. - Swim Team Prep 2
  

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