Helloooooo Marlins!!!

The long-awaited time is here! Back to the pool and back to swim team!!! It’s been since July 2019 that we were all together. I, for one, am SO excited to see all of your swimmers’ faces. I am sure that many of them are now as tall as I am. This email includes a lot of information, so please read carefully.

First of all, we are sad to say good-bye to our assistant coach, Brendan Cline, who will be staying in Lancaster, PA for the summer. Very proud to report that he has qualified for the US Olympic Trials in the 50 free. Trials will be held in a few weeks in Omaha, Nebraska. Stayed tune for how we will send him our support, Bay Ridge-style. With Brendan’s departure, we are very excited to announce that our new assistant coach is Colleen Randolph! Colleen, a long-time resident of the hood, coached for the team before leaving to swim collegiately at the United States Naval Academy. Welcome home, Colleen!

Second of all, I want to be clear on my goals for the summer. My first goal is that every member of our community and every swimmer remains safe and healthy during this ongoing pandemic. Please do your part to help me with this goal by following all local guidelines as well as our team’s COVID guidelines so that we can create a nice bubble around our community and our swimmers. My second goal is that all of our swimmers are safe in and around the water. Living in Annapolis and on the water, water safety is a critical skill to learn. We are here to support that.

Thank you to the parents who came to our zoom meeting on Monday night. It was great to see you all! Here is an *important* summary of our discussion:

Meets: Guidelines and the league rules have been changing week to week. Your leadership team of Erin Jaeger, Brynn Hooper, and I have been attending league meetings since February to work through it all. As of this moment on May 28^th, we will be having two in-person meets (Davidsonville and Hunt Meadow) with two virtual meets (Hillsmere and Chase Creek). There will be a virtual championship meet on July 24^th. Virtual meets are held at our pool and then we convert times and compare our results to the opposing team’s result. As we discuss logistics with the other teams and the league, we will let you know what those in-person meets will look like. There will be attendance restrictions and other types of masking and social distancing restrictions to keep us all safe! Volunteer positions are already posted on the swimtopia Go to the calendar and click on the green links.

COVID guidelines: I am attaching a document about Bay Ridge’s COVID practice guidelines. Please share them with your swimmers before sending them to practice next week. Most of these guidelines should be familiar after the last year and a half. In short, please don’t come to practice if you are sick or awaiting results of a COVID test. Have your swimmers wear their suit to practice.  We are asking that all of our swimmers wear a mask as they enter and exit the facility. They will come in through the front doors and exit through the emergency exits. Please follow the directions of the coaches of wear to put your stuff and where to enter the pool. We will have cones and chalk to help the kids visualize social distancing (I know they’re experts by now!!). Our coaches will be masked unless they are in the pool. As the weeks go on, we may change our guidelines, but I am going with the conservative route as we begin to make sure we are in compliance with GASL guidelines and our insurance. I am fully vaccinated as is Coach Colleen.

Afternoon practices: Afternoon practices in particular are going to be challenging as the pool remains open to membership during that time. I recognize that you’re all members of the pool and are able to enter into the pool at that time, but I encourage you to keep off the deck to reduce the number of people on the deck as well as increase the space that the coaches will have to spread the kids out. I recognize this is a stressful situation especially for the parents of our younger swimmers, but the lifeguards are on deck at that time and our senior coaches are experienced. I also request that you ask your non-swim team neighbors to give the swim team grace and patience during the afternoon practices as we try to navigate the first few weeks. We may be able to have parents on deck during morning practices, but we have a few weeks to settle in before deciding.

6 & unders: All 6 & under swimmers must pass the swim test by June 4th (however, sooner is always better). No exceptions (all swim team members must be able to pass to be on the swim team, but this is critical for our younger swimmers). The swim test is given by the lifeguards at the pool, not the coaches. Please remember to sign up before next Tuesday for your cohort on the sign-up genius. Signing up for the cohort is very important; please do not show up without signing up.

Practice/meet attendance: Practice attendance is not mandatory nor is attendance taken beyond for contact tracing purpose. If you cannot make a practice, you do not need to tell me. If you need to leave early for camp, that’s ok! I am here to work with you as best we can. Meet attendance is open on the Swimtopia site. If you already know your schedule, please put it in. Please update your RSVP for meets by the Monday before the meet. It is MUCH easier to change from a “yes” to a “no” RSVP than it is to change from a “no” to “yes”. The league is strict about meet entries, and it is up to the opposing team if they will allow a swimmer to be entered after a certain time frame.

That’s “all” for now! Thank you for working with us to keep our community safe and healthy. Get your vaccine so we can get back to normal! I know this might one of the first “normal” things your family has done in a while, and I want to assure you that I take the health and welfare of your children very seriously. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me ([email protected]), Erin ([email protected]), or Brynn ([email protected]). I am looking forward to seeing everyone next week!!

Go Marlins!

Megan Reiter

Head Coach