Dear Tuckahoe Families; 

Below you will find very detailed information about how the swim team will be run for the first couple of weeks in accordance with the phase 2 guidelines. As you know, we should all expect this summer to be DIFFERENT.

These practices are designed to keep kids swimming and improving, not teach them swimming.

Basic Schedule: (Specific Details are shown further down this email and in attachment)

Monday through Friday

7am – 7:50am: 9-10

8am – 8:50am: 8-under

9am – 9:50am: 11-12

10am – 10:50am: 13-up

Saturday:

7am -750am: 8-under

8am -10am: 13-up

Important Details & Specifics:

All swimmers MUST bring their own goggles and please bring fins as well. There will be NO borrowing or sharing of equipment.

At the end of practice, coaches will call the kids out of the pool by lane to exit, in order to maintain social distancing. Swimmers will wrap their towels around them, gather their gear, and exit through the summer bathhouse gate to avoid contact with swimmers waiting to enter the next practice.

Swim Test (Also see attachment)

On Monday 6/15 we will be conducting swim tests for all 10-Under swimmers from 7 am-9 am - every athlete must take the swim test, no exceptions.

Each swimmer must be able to complete 2 lengths (50m) unassisted with only a brief stop at the wall. If an athlete is unable to complete this, they will not be able to begin practicing with the team. However, we want to encourage athletes to keep working towards this - if an athlete does not complete the test this week, they may retake the swim test each week of the season, and then join the team once they can complete 2 lengths. We recommend getting lessons to work on strength and some technique work to help accomplish this.

The swim test should not take longer than a few minutes to complete. We will bring groups of 10 onto the pool deck and have them go straight to their cars to leave once they are completed.

Athletes should only have their suits, goggles, and towels and be ready to jump in the pool when we bring them up to the pool. We are breaking up the arrival time for athletes into half-hour segments so that no one needs to wait around too long for their test - please see attachment below for your athlete(s) arrival time.

Practice Rotations

Currently, we have over 200 athletes registered which the coaches are thrilled about. In order to accommodate everyone and follow all VA Phase 2 guidelines, we have put together a practice rotation schedule. To do this, we have had to split the age groups up with the goal of giving equal practice time over the course of 2 weeks. Please see the attachment below to see which group your athlete is in and their practice schedule for the first 2 weeks of the season.

Please keep in mind that during the summer we may experience weather or other extreme circumstances that require practices to be canceled. We will do our best to make sure everyone gets the same amount of training over the course of the summer, but our schedule will remain consistent with what is posted regardless of cancelations.

6/15 - 6/27 Practice Schedule

Please refer to your practice group for dates you should be at practice. Please be advised that there are 3 8-under groups while the rest have only 2.

6/15: Swim Test/ Gold Team

6/16: Black Team

6/17: Yellow 8-Under/Gold Team

6/18: Gold 8-Under/Black

6/19: Black 8-Under/Gold Team

6/20: 7am Yellow 8-Under

8am: Black 13-U

9am: Gold 13-U

6/22: Yellow 8-Under/Black Team

6/23: Gold 8-Under/Gold Team

6/24: Black 8-Under/Black Team

6/25: Yellow 8-Under/Gold Team

6/26: Gold 8-Under/ Black Team

6/27: 7am Black 8-Under

8am Gold 13-U

9am Black 13-U

Future Plans

Our primary goal at this time is to get practices underway and having the kids in the water. We are not closed off to trying to do more and we will try to add on to this experience as we feel comfortable with what we are doing and confident we have the bandwidth to accomplish doing more. We appreciate everyone's flexibility and support and are ready to get things started!

We can’t wait to see all of you on deck soon!

Go Tuckahoe (Clap)!

Christina

Team Communications