Good Morning Gator Families,

Thank you everyone for another great week! We hope you all enjoy the long weekend and happy 4^th. Sorry in advance; this email is a lengthy one.

(1) Swim Meets 7/8 & 7/10: Next week we compete with the Kingsgate Royals. Remember to declare by 8pm tonight, including POD families for 7/10 meet.

Tuesday, 7/8 KGG@KGR (B Meet)

Attached is the meet info from the away team; the doc is also on the website under Away Pools

Thursday, 7/10 KGR@KGG (A Meet)

The website has all the home meet information and FAQ. Please review and plan accordingly. The pool/parking lot will open at 4:15 for set up, Gator warm ups are at 4:45, the Pod will swim at 5:50, and then the meet starts at 6pm. Additionally, we will have a food truck for each home meet. Food trucks are listed on the team calendar.

Meet Scratching: If you do have an emergency or illness and cannot attend though you have declared attending, please DM the coaches on GroupMe or email ASAP.

(2) Volunteers: If you are volunteering, you will receive a reminder/confirmation from participation. If there is a conflict, it is the volunteer’s responsibility to arrange for a substitute.

(3) POD Families: We are excited to see your swimmers compete in the 2^nd meet on 7/10 at 5:50pm (arrive at 5:30pm). Please declare your swimmer by 8pm tonight on Swimmingly.

(4) National Anthem: Are there any musicians who want to perform or singers who want to sing the national anthem on 7/15? Shout out to Markus Sather for a repeat performance this week.

(5) Awards: Ribbons are in the boxes in the lobby. Each family has a file folder sorted by last name. A huge thank you to our incredible awards leads — Carissa Haws, Layne Barker and Jennifer Golden — for their work behind the scenes each week. From printing, labeling, and organizing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th place ribbons for both our Gators and the visiting teams, to tracking personal bests and overall team records, their dedication keeps the spirit of friendly competition and hard work alive. We hope your swimmers love earning these tokens of their hard work — they’re a reflection of the effort they bring to practice and meets each week.

(6) THE Relay: As mentioned last week, our Senior/Coaches/Parents/Lifeguards will compete on July 10 for bragging rights. We will have two heats - one competitive medley relay heat (Joe, Catherine, Erik, Andie) and a fun free relay heat.

Thank you parents - Joe Walker, Catherine Early, Erik Downing, Andie Bartleson, Andrew Dean, Cameron Boone, Nural Booth, Robbie Schwartz, Ryan Mueller, Eric Weiss, and Kim Shah. We cant wait to see you swim! Please let us know if more want to participate. The more the merrier!

(7) End of Season Party: Save the date for our end of season party and awards banquet on Tuesday, 7/22 from 6-9:30pm. We will gather as follows: 6-7pm BYO Dinner in the lower field; 715pm Awards in the lower field; 8-9pm Fun Meet at the pool; 9-930pm Pool Party. More to come later.

(8) Coach/Staff/Board Appreciation: A separate email will be sent regarding this. Shout out and big thanks to Janae Foster for coordinating.

(9) Champs Meets:

Division Champs (aka B champs) will be held on Saturday, 7/19 in the morning at the Kingsgate Royals. If you have swam in a meet during the regular season, you are qualified for this meet. We encourage all athletes to attend!

League Champs (aka A champs) will be Sunday, 7/27 at KCAC in Federal Way. Athletes must have qualifying A times to attend this meet, and will be contacted directly by coaches for declaring if qualified. Additionally, these athletes will have practice 7/21-7/25. More details to come.

*Athletes can swim up to a combination of 3 events at Division AND League champs, including up to two relays.

(10) Kingsgate Water Polo: Midlakses offer water polo following the end of summer swim. More details to come but last year’s info is HERE to get an idea of timing and schedule. Gators join the Kingsgate team at the Royals pool as a combined team with Royals, Monarchs, Dolphins, and Gators. The team is co-ed, and align with Midlakes swimmer age groups (ex: a 10U team, 12U, 14U, 15+). The season will be from 7/28-8/24. Practices are usually M-W in the morning, and games are weekly in the morning/mid-day (Thurs 12U, Fri 10U, Sat 14U, Sun 15+), along with a championship tournament on the weekend of Aug 23/24. The season is a combination of hard work and fun, plus all those swimming skills gained during Gators come into use. All four of my kiddos plan to join the fun!

(11) Reminders:

- Subscribe to the team calendar

- Check your practice time slot

- Follow the Gators Swim Team 2025 chat on GroupMe.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far. Go Gators!

Ashley