Greetings Gators,

Weekly updates… Drumroll please… da-dum-da-dum… da-dum-da-dum…

(1) Meet Declaration: This is your RSVP (attending or not attending) to the swim meet and it is critical. The deadline for declaring for meets is the Friday before at 9pm, thus the deadline for the meets on 6/18, 6/20, and 6/22 is THIS Friday (6/14 at 9pm). Late declarations will not be accommodated. You have received a separate email from Swimmingly to declare for meets. Now that all regular season meets are open, 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. Information and declaration for league champs (7/28) and division champs (7/20) will come at a later date.

How to declare: 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, and RSVP accordingly. You can then select what event(s) your swimmer would prefer, selections are suggestions to coaches and not guaranteed. If you are unsure of what to select, leave event options unselected and only select attend or not attending. Then the coaches will place your swimmer in events they feel your swimmer would be most successful in and/or where the team needs them to swim. Swimmers can swim up to 4 events at a meet (a combination of up to 3 individual events; and up to 2 relays; but no more than 4 events total).

Relays: Coaches determine relay placements for all swimmers. As mentioned earlier at the team meeting in May, participating in a relay is an honor and will be earned based on attendance and those who are supporting the team goals and exemplifying the team philosophy. If you are selected for a relay and do not show up, the entire relay is scratched and is quite possibly the most disappointing experiences of a swim meet.

(2) Team Photos: Team photos will be Wednesday, June 12th at 7pm at the pool. There will be no regular practice and no Gator Pod that evening. There will be an opportunity for individual photos as well. Sign up for individual/family photo time slots on the website (similar to clinic sign ups aka sign up as it is a job) Please wear your team suit. Order form attached.

(3) Buddies: Please review the attached list to find your buddy, we will also help match you up in person at team photos and meets next week if you haven’t connected already. Our apologies for the delay, we put a lot of thought and intention into matching up swimmers. Please reach out asap if you need help or have questions about your match. Gator Pod buddies will be coming later.

All buddies, review matches and expectations: https://kingsgategators.swimtopia.com/little-buddies

(4) Swim Clinic: Our first swim clinic is this Saturday, June 15. Reminder to those who are signed up.

(5) Reminders on repeat:

• Subscribe to the team calendar
• Check your practice time slot
• Join the Gators Swim Team 2024 chat on GroupMe to congratulate our swimmers of the week, meet other swimmers in your age group, and connect with the team.

As always, reach out with questions. See you at the pool. Go Gators!

Donna and Ashley