Greetings Gators,

Thank you all for a fun and lively first two weeks! We hope you are all enjoying swim and acclimating to summer swim league.

Here is the important team updates we wanted to share with you.

Swimsuit

Our team suit orders have arrived. Here are the dates and times Tammie (Gear Volunteer) will be available at the Kingsgate Gator pool for pickup. Please plan to pick up your order prior to team pictures on Thursday, June 8th.

Saturday, June 3rd - during swim clinic 9:30- 11:30 am

Monday, June 5th - during practices 6:30-8:30 pm

Spirit wear orders have not arrived yet- we will follow up once they are in.

Any questions please reach out to [email protected]

Swim Clinic

There are a couple spots open to attend the swim clinics on June 3^rd or June 4^th. Sign up on the website. The clinics are an opportunity to learn more about starts and turns; stroke refinement; and play games.

Team Photos

Team photos will be Thursday, June 8^th at 7pm. Attached is the order form if you wish to order photos.

Points

Job sign-up is open until June 6^th. You may now sign up for 6 points. We have been working on adding more jobs (such as the division champs jobs and lead responsibilities like senior night). Thanks for being patient with us. The process is slower than usual as we don’t have a participation coordinator and thus board members are doing double and sometimes triple duty.

Meet Declaration

Declaring is your RSVP to the swim meet and it critical. Meets declaration are now open. You will receive a separate email from swimmingly to declare for meets. Thank you for your patience. Our system is only as fast as our slowest registration and we had to wait for all swimmers to register before going live as a team.

Declaring happens on the Swimmingly Clubhouse website. You will sign in, click on "Meet Schedule" on the left-hand menu, and then click on the individual meets. You will then select what event your swimmer would prefer and if they would like to participate in a relay. Each swimmer has a maximum of 2 events and 2 relays to participate in. These selections are suggestions and not guaranteed.

You can declare for the whole season if you already know what your swimmers' attendance will look like, or you can declare week-by-week. With either option, you are able to change your swimmer’s declaration up until the deadline (Friday before the week’s meets at 9pm).

Invitational

Our first meeting coming up on Saturday, June 10^th at the Kingsgate Royals (https://kingsgategators.swimtopia.com/away-pools)

Please declare by Sunday June 4^th at 9pm (we recognize this is outside of the normal declaration deadline of Fridays at 9pm but our system was delayed in going live and we are offering additional time).

Gators will warm up at 8am. The meet will start at 8:30am and end by 1pm.

This is more of a try-it-out meet and not a real meet but fun all the same. For new families, the best way is to prepare is to learn as you go. The handbook has Meet Prep tips for your reference. We are available to answer any questions.

Meet Preparations: Swim meets can last up to four hours, and are done come rain or shine! Meets are only canceled for thunder or lightning. Temperatures can vary greatly during a meet, so be prepared for all weather variations.

Things you need to bring, or should consider, as you prepare for a meet:

-Team suit and a back-up suit (can be a warm-up suit or a competition suit) – marked with the swimmer's name for easy identification

-Team cap - one is provided with your registration

-Goggles and back up goggles

-Lots of towels- A good rule is to have one towel per event plus one extra

-Sunscreen

-Warm clothes - Sweats, swim parka, rain jacket

-Blanket(s)

-Folding chair(s) - Both home and away pools do not have enough seating to support all the spectators

-Entertainment - Cards, books, devices, other items to pass time while waiting at the meet

-Canopy/tent - Great for all weather. However, not all pools have room for these. Please try and share/coordinate with other Gator families, if possible.

Buddies

We are still working on pairing buddies and will have it ready to share before the invitational on June 10^th

Review the buddy expectations: https://kingsgategators.swimtopia.com/little-buddies

A Times

If you don’t know what this means, ignore it for now or ask us at practice. If you know, the link is here:

https://kingsgategators.swimtopia.com/team-documents

As always, reach out with questions.
Go Gators!

Donna and Ashley