We have several new families on the team and I’m sure all the returning families could use a review of the details needed to keep the season running smoothly. This email is designed to help in that area.  Also feel free to ask questions of the board members at practices.  First, make sure you bookmark the team website. Trust me, you’ll need to access it regularly.
                             http://fourseasons.swim-team.us


   *** Everyone must read these sections to RSVP for Time Trials on

0.    Time Trials
1.    Password protected information
2.    ***Deadlines for meet sign-up
3.    ***RSVP for meets (action required by Weds 6/15)
4.    ***Volunteer at  meets (action required by Weds 6/15)
5.    When are the meets? (note change from last year)
6.    Swimming in meets
7.    Relay Do’s and Don’ts
8.   Meet Directions 

0. Time Trials

The time trial is a chance for the coaches to get initial times for your swimmers in order to help get them seeded properly in a meet. It also gives the team and parents a chance to work out the kinks and run through a small meet before the official meets start.  

IMPORTANT: you must RSVP for a meet in order for your swimmer(s) to be included in the events.

1. PASSWORD PROTECTED INFORMATION

Some information on the site, such as the roster, results and volunteer information, can only be accessed with the team password.  Login using one of the email addresses you gave us when you registered and enter the team password. The password was included in your registration confirmation email.

2. DEADLINES FOR MEET SIGN-UP

You are not expected to make all the meets during the season, but we encourage you to participate as much as possible.  We ask that you RSVP, yes or no, for each meet.  This will help us schedule the swimmers and ensure your child gets to participate if you are in town. Your child will ONLY swim in the meet if you have said YES in the online RSVP for a meet.   
 
   MEET                  RSVP DEADLINE
   Wednesday      Saturday night before 
   Saturday           Tuesday night before

3. RSVP FOR MEETS

RSVP for all meets on the website. There are multiple ways to RSVP for meets. It can be done from PARENT PAGE, SWIM MEETS, or CALENDAR. 

----Ensure that the RSVP reflects the actual swimmers attending.

----Add COMMENTS to communicate special circumstances regarding swimmers or volunteering.
 
4. VOLUNTEER AT  MEETS

Volunteers make the season successful. This year you are responsible for signing up yourself for volunteer positions, by meet. It’s easy and fast.  You can start signing up now.  As a rule, we ask at least one adult to volunteer for a meet if you have a swimmer signed up for the meet.  We recommend you volunteer at the same time that you RSVP to save time and confusion.  If you have very young swimmers, volunteer for the first session (first half of the meet) if your swimmers will not swim in relays. Keep in mind that you need to stay for the full session, even if your swimmers are finished earlier.

It’s easy to select a volunteer job from either the PARENT PAGE or the SWIM MEETS page. 

We understand that families will have restrictions and we are happy to work with you to find ways for you to volunteer but still address your personal family restrictions.  In exchange we ask everyone to embrace what we are trying to do for our swimmers and keep a positive attitude.    Four Seasons has a reputation for stepping up in our league when volunteers are needed.  That’s a great family-friendly reputation we want to keep, so please help us do that this season.

5. WHEN ARE THE MEETS? 

                          Setup Jobs                 Warm-up                    Meet Start
Wednesday                5:15                    5:30pm                     6pm
Saturday                     7:45                    8:00am                     8:30am

Meets usually last about 3- 3.5 hours. The actual end time varies based on the size of team we swim against. The actual schedule can be found on the website, under SWIM MEETS.

6. SWIMMING IN MEETS

Swimmers must be able to swim the length of the pool without assistance in order to swim in a meet.  The swimmer is allowed to hold on to the lane multiple times for brief stops during their swim, but they cannot use the rope to push themselves forward.  Ask the coaches if your swimmer is ready for a meet, if you are not sure.

Coaches will try and put swimmers in the events that they can swim legally, up to 4 individual events and 2 relays.  As your swimmer is learning the strokes it should not be a surprise if they actually disqualify (DQ) from a race because they did not perform the proper stroke technique throughout the race.  This is a learning opportunity and you or your child can ask the coach to work on improving the stroke, using the feedback from the meet. 

A complete set of Herndon Swim League Rules can be found at     

http://hsl.swim-league.us/​ 

7. RELAY DO’S AND DON’TS

Relays are a fun, competitive event run at the end of the meet.  Each relay team has four swimmers.  Deciding  which swimmers make up each of the teams is not always as easy as you would think.  Coaches have to see who will be at the meet, they can’t put a swimmer in more than 2 relays, and they want to allow swimmers to rest in-between races.   It’s often not easy or possible to put another child in as a sub and can result in the relay team dropping out of the event all together.