Swim Team News

Hello LNST,

Congratulations to all of our swimmers that competed in the All-Stars meet today. You all swam very well. I don't have all of the results yet, but I know our swimmers broke at least one league record today. And there were at least ten new league records set in our pool.

Of course this meet would not be the huge success it is for our team and a celebration for all of the league swimmers without all of the help we got today from our volunteers. Thanks to everyone that came out and worked for two hours or two days. I won't begin to thank individuals because I would surely miss someone. But whether I thanked you personally or you did your work and moved on, Carole and I thank you very much for your time and effort.

Watch WAVY sports news on channel 10 tonight for a report from our very own Chris Reckling. Results will also be in the Virginian-Pilot tomorrow and an article will be either in the main paper or the Beacon soon.

For our swimmers that made it into the meet today because of the added heat of relays, did you like that or would you have rather gotten on with your summer? This was a trail run for this extra heat of relays and the league will discuss and decide if we want to do that again next year, so I am interested in your feedback.

We are making one more call to anyone that might be interested in helping run the team as Team Reps. We have three people that have expressed interest, but we don't want anyone to be left out if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity. We are planning to have a meeting with all interested on August 19th at 8pm. Let me know if you plan to attend to come learn more.

I am off to enjoy a little R&R. If you have any issues, please contact Carole or get with me in a couple of weeks.

Thanks and congratulations to everyone on a tremendous season!

Bill

Hello LNST,

Here is some information about the All-Stars meet for swimmers, parents and volunteers.

Friday Set-Up Crew - Set-up volunteers we will need you at 5pm (not 3pm as stated on the volunteer list) on Friday. We are going to push the pool closing time back a little bit to give as much time as we can to the general membership.

Swimmers - Warm-ups will be by age (not by team). Warm-ups are as follows: 8 & younger swimmers from 7:30 - 7:45; 9-12 year olds from 7:45 - 8:00; 13 & older swimmers from 8:00 - 8:15. The meet starts at 8:30. Please be at the pool by 7:15 for warm-ups if you are in an event before the intermission. After the trophy presentations at the break, the pool will be opened for warm-ups for 10 minutes for swimmers in the second half of the meet.

The team areas will be on the lawn out back. LN will have a tent set-up out there.

All swimmers must report to the Clerk-of-Course or risk being replaced by an Alternate.

Everyone - The LN parking lot will be closed to everyone (including our parents) that does not have a pass. I highly encourage you to walk or bike to the meet (swimmers, spectators and volunteers). We need to leave the parking areas around the pool for those families coming from further away. Save some gas and use those pedals.

Aquawear is having a huge sale on suits starting Friday. Go by the store or come by the pool Saturday if you want to stock up on suits. This weekend is the Tax Free Weekend and that applies to suit sales.

Thanks again to everyone that has signed up to help at the meet. We can still use more volunteers. (Webmaster edit: The Volunteer List appears under the 7/29/2008 entry below.)

Thanks,

Bill

Congratulations LNST!!!!

OK folks, I knew it was going to be close, but not this close. Final Team Scores:

LN 387.5, PM 387, CB 286.5, PA 282, GCC 280.5, ALN 222.5.

Way to pull out that victory today LN. All of our swimmers and coaches should feel really good about the meet today and our entire season.

Results are attached. (Webmaster edit: Divisional Results By Name and Divisional Results By Event.)

Thanks to all of the LN parents that helped out today!

We will call the swimmers that qualify for All-Stars tonight or in the morning depending on how fast the meeting runs this evening. I will send out practice times for the week tomorrow.

Parents, we still need volunteers to help out at All-Stars next weekend. Please help out if at all possible.

More to come.

Awesome swimming Blue Dolphins!

Bill

Hello LNST,

Here is information about the Divisional Meet on Saturday.

The meet will be at the Alanton-Baycliff Recreation Center. You can find directions on the VBSL.net web site. Please have your swimmer at the pool by 7:15. You will need to park in the school lot or on one of the side streets. Do not park at the house on the corner of Stephens and Cooper Rd (the gentleman that lives there is not a swim meet fan). Also, do not attempt to drive down the hill (drive way) to the pool.

Our team area will be the same as last year next to the baby pool. We ask that all swimmers stay in this area so that we can find them easily when needed.

We will need volunteers for the following positions: We need three timers per half (6 total) and one clerk-of-course person in the central clerk-of-course each half. We will need help clerking our relays both at the beginning and the end of the meet as the relays will be clerked in our team area. We will also need ribbon table workers. We only have 59 athletes in the meet, so please step up in advance or be prepared to help if asked at the meet. We already have volunteers for our officials positions.

Results will be posted outside the main gate. Once again this will be an extremely close meet. Please make sure your swimmers are on time to the meet and to their events. Also, please make sure they get a good night's rest and a good dinner and breakfast. With some fast swims and a little luck, we have the opportunity to win this meet. Please cheer loudly for our swimmers.

Of course if anyone gets ill between now and the meet, please call as soon as possible so that we can work on finding a qualified substitute swimmer.

See you at the pool.

Bill

Hello LNST,

Attached are the results from the meet yesterday. (Final score of the meet was LN 398, PM 360.) Again, congratulations to all! (Webmaster edit: Meet Results By Name and Meet Results By Event.)

Attached also are the entries for Divisionals. (Webmaster edit: Divisionals By Name.) The coaches worked hard into the night to confirm this line-up. Congratulations to all that will represent LN at the Divisional meet. If anyone has questions about this, you can talk to me or Coach Virginia or Coach Abby.

Practice for the Divisional swimmers will be:

6:30 - 7:30 - Early Bird, 7:30 - 8:30 all 10 & younger swimmers, 8:30 - 9:30 - all 11 & older swimmers.

Anyone that wants a Divisional T-Shirt needs to contact Carole today during the day or at the banquet tonight. They are $14 and you can make your check payable to LNST.

A few final reminders for tonight. The banquet starts at 5pm. Bring chairs and feel free to bring your tents if you want them and share the space underneath. Boys should wear collared shirts and girls should wear sun dresses, skirts or the like. Please no bathing suits during the banquet. You can bring suits to change into for playing in the pool after the banquet is over. Also please remember to bring a side to share so that we have food to feed the 500 guests we are expecting. It should be a fun evening.

See you in a few hours.

Bill

Hello LNST,

Attached are the entries for Saturday at Pembroke Meadows (PM). (Webmaster edit: Meet Entries By Name) Please let us know if there are any errors in the attached information. PM is another 5 lane pool. The coaches have worked hard to get swimmers as many entries as possible; however, the PM team has a hard stop time for the meet, so we must respect their timeline.

This meet will be even closer than the one against Club Brittany. Both teams are undefeated and we ended our meet with PM last year in a tie. Please make sure that your swimmers get plenty of rest tomorrow and a good night sleep. Every race will be important, so cheer loudly and encourage the swimmers to do their best.

Swimmers need to be at the pool, checked in and ready to swim by 7:15am. You can find directions to the pool on VBSL.net. Please make sure that you pay attention to the no parking signs near the pool and do not block any driveways. There is no parking in the lot at PM, so please carpool if you can.

Thanks to Amy Robinson and crew for another fun pancake breakfast yesterday. Tomorrow is T-shirt decorating at 1pm. Send your swimmer with a shirt to decorate.

The coaches will be making their selections for Divisionals on Saturday evening after the meet. We are allowed two swimmers per individual event and one relay team per event. The selections will be based on times swum during the regular season meets. You have to have swum in three meets to be qualified for Divisionals (this does not mean that you have to have swum an individual event three times). If you have any questions about this process, please ask. If your swimmer will not be available for Divisionals, please make sure that you sign the Red Book by the end of the meet Saturday.

Our team banquet is Sunday at 5pm. We have almost 500 RSVPs at this point. I have been asked to remind you that each family is expected to bring a side item to share. If you did not select a side to bring when you put in your RSVP via Evite, please bring a side that is NOT a dessert. We have plenty of desserts at this point. For the banquet, you will need to bring your own chairs. We will be set-up on the back lawn. Water, lemonade and tea will be provided. Bring any other beverages your crew wants.

Let's get ready for a great weekend!

Bill

Help LNST!!!

Attached is the list of volunteers we currently have for the All-Stars meet on August 2nd. (Webmaster edit: Volunteer List for All Stars)This list is extremely light. We need all of the spaces filled that are on these sheets.

All-Stars information for our new families and a refresher for our returning families:

LNST has been chosen for the 5th year in a row to host this season ending meet for the league. This is a testament to the facility we have and how well we run our meets.

This meet has been hosted at many pools throughout the history of the league, but none are better suited for this meet than LNSRC. We have a 'fast' pool and many league records are broken at the All-Star meet. We have the best ability to accommodate spectators around the pool. We have the best parent support to make the meet run smoothly.

As Host's we get to sell T-shirts and run the concessions. This is great money maker for our team. In return we must provide the facility and manpower. This is where your help is needed. We need parents to step up and help out. If you have not fulfilled your 4 session volunteer commitment, this is the last opportunity of the season to do so. If you have done your 4 (or more as many of you have - thank you) please help out anyway. Most of our families will not have swimmers in this meet. But we still have to supply the labor to get the benefit and to provide all of the swimmers an opportunity to swim fast.

This is a really neat event if you have never witnessed it. Imagine 550 athletes and 2000+ spectators at our pool. And the best part is that this is a quick meet because we only have 2 fast heats of each event. You can spend a couple of hours volunteering while we show off our facility to the families from the league and watch a little fast and fun racing.

So please let this be the last e-mail I have to send out about this topic. The sign-up sheets will be in the attendance book at the entry pavilion.

Thanks for your support!

Bill

Congratulations LNST,

Way to go LN swimmers and coaches for another victory today. The final score was LN 431, PACC 315. Attached are the results. (Webmaster edit: Meet Results By Name and Meet Results By Event.)

Thanks to all of the volunteers for working hard today and again finishing ahead of schedule. A special thanks goes out to the set-up and clean-up crews for getting the job done and allowing me to go at my available pace. Thanks also to Elizabeth Vittone for doing the nail and tattoo painting yesterday.

We have another fun and busy swim week ahead of us as we go into our last regular season dual meet next Saturday at Pembroke Meadows. On Wednesday Amy Robinson is organizing another teen breakfast for our 13 and older swimmers. Please sign up for this by Tuesday at the pool. On Friday our team activity will be T-shirt decorating. Bring a shirt to decorate. The time for this event will be sent out later in the week.

If your swimmer will not be available for the meet next weekend or for Divisionals (if they are selected), please sign out of the Red Book by Tuesday at the end of morning practice.

Sunday is our team Banquet. Please respond to the Evite if you have not done so already. You can find a link to the Evite on the home page of LNSRC.org.

If you are still collecting money for the SOS swim, please wrap that up and turn it into Joy Manock.

Kris and Anne Marie who have been running concessions for as long as Carole and I have been the Team Reps are also ready to turn their duties over to a new crew. They are looking for a couple of people they can train to take over this very important team job. If you are interested, please talk to one of them or send me an e-mail. They would like to start the training process with the All-Star meet we host on August 2nd.

Thanks to everyone that has given money to Elizabeth Vittone for the project she is collecting for. If you have not done so already, please catch up with her early this week.

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST,

Attached are the entries for Saturday as we have them now. (Webmaster edit: Meet Entries By Name.) Please confirm that your swimmer is entered if they plan to swim and not on the list if they will not be there. Please let us know immediately if there are any problems.

Swimmers need to be checked in at the pool by 7am on Saturday. Our projected timeline has us ending around 1:15pm. We are swimming everyone a lot in order to make up for our last and next meets which are/were in five lane pools.

Don't forget about our pre-meet activity tomorrow from 3-5pm at the pool which is nail painting and tattoos.

You should have received an E-Vite today for the team banquet next Sunday. Please make sure that you respond to the invitation by Monday. If you did not get the E-Vite, you can find it on the club website homepage at LNSRC.org. Remember to sign up for a side item to bring.

Please remember to see Elizabeth Vittone regarding her special assignment.

Get ready to have fun on Saturday!

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST,

Thanks to Jennifer Sowa for organizing today's Ocean Breeze fun day. I'm sorry the weather wasn't better, but my daughter told me she had a great time anyway.

Thanks also to Geri Clark/PortraitEfx for organizing our team picture this morning. That was a very well run event and I am sure you all will be pleased with the result.

Friday (July 11th) we are having a team activity from 3-5pm at the pool. Elizabeth Vittone and team will be painting nails for the girls and doing Blue Dolphin stencil tattoos (non-permanent of course) for the boys. If a girl wants a tattoo or a boy wants their nails done, they will not be turned away.

COACHES PLEASE DO NOT READ BELOW!!!!

Elizabeth Vittone has graciously agreed to be the arm twister and organizer of the coaches gifts again this year. She will be collecting from now through the banquet and would love to have your donation at the meet on Saturday. The suggested amount is $5 per child or $10 per family; however, there is no limit to the amount of generosity you can bestow on this awesome group of coaches we have this year.

We will send out meet event information tomorrow.

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST Parents,

As Carole and I mentioned at the beginning of the year, we are planning for the
summer of 2009 to be our last at the helm of LNST. That will be our sixth year
as Team Reps and our very supportive families are ready to have us available a
little more.

We would like to talk to anyone that has an interest in taking over the team so
that we can begin training you when the 2008 season is over. We intend to give
you a full year of training so that no one has to walk into this job cold.

Carole and I have worked well together with Carole being in charge of the ‘dry’
(administrative) side of the team while I have handled the ‘wet’ (rules,
coaches, communications, etc..) side. This is not to say that this has to be the
formula for the future, but it has worked well for the two of us. With the
current size of our team we recommend that at least two people step up to take
on the Team Rep duties. There is no requirement that the new Team Reps continue
for six years either; however, for continuity sake, I would plan on at least
three years.

We really do want to give a full year of training and involvement to the new
Team Reps. How many other places can you get a full year of OJT? And the other
good news (or bad – depending on how you see it) is that I do not plan on going
anywhere anytime soon. I will still be involved and available to consult and
help, I just won’t be the one writing all of the e-mails.

So if you are interested, we would like to sit down to talk to you about what
really goes on behind the scenes to make this team the biggest and best team in
the league. Please give one of us a call, e-mail or grab us at the pool so that
we can plan a time to get together.

Thanks,

Bill & Carole 7/7/2008

Congratulations LNST!!!

Final score of tonight's meet: CB 377, LN 382! That's right, a narrow five point victory. The coaches and swimmers earned this hard fought victory. A special congratulations to every swimmer that made a fourth place finish a third, a third place finish a second and a second place finish a first. Every single point made a difference in the outcome of the meet and the swimmers are congratulated for cheering and racing hard all the way through the meet.

A special thanks goes out to Abby, Virginia and Carole for all of the hours put into doing the line-ups this week to get our swimmers in as many swims as possible this week!
Here are the result files from the meet last night. (Webmaster edit: Meet Results By Name and Meet Results By Event.) Again, congratulations to all of our swimmers for a great meet.

Ribbons are in the boxes next to the club house. Carole asks that you please pick up your ribbons because the boxes are getting too full. If you have a missing or incorrect ribbon, please note it on the 'ribbon issue' sheet in the
attendance book.

For our meet next Saturday, please sign the Red Book by the end of practice Tuesday if your swimmer will not be available.

The following is from Joy Manock:

This is just a reminder to finish collecting those pledges/donations over the 4th of July weekend!

The Swimathon benefits the educational programs of the Red Cross. We are privileged to be able to belong to a swim club – where we have access to a pool and swimming lessons. This is not the case across Hampton Roads, where we know water abounds. Let’s help keep others safe around water.

I look forward to your participation in the Swimathon….look what you get:

*You’re helping out the less fortunate

*You’ll get a cool t-shirt and other goodies if you raise a minimum of $25

*For those who need community service hours, you’ll get at least one

*This is a great way to show our LNST spirit

*The highest fundraiser in each age/gender swim level, will get a movie pass

Your regular practice time of Tuesday, July 8 is dedicated to this worthy cause. If you have gotten pledges, you know the more laps you swim, the more money you will raise. You may also ask for straight-forward donations. If you have any questions, please contact Joy Manock, your Swim on for Safety coordinator (joyatlast@cox.net or 463-1342). (Webmaster edit: Please download a copy of the Swimathon Waiver & Pledge Form and print it out if you misplace, or didn't receive, a pledge form.)

Happy 4th of July!

Bill

Hello LNST, Attached are the preliminary entries for the meet on Thursday. (Webmaster edit: Meet Entries By Name and Meet Entries By Event.) As mentioned previously, this meet is in a five lane pool and is at night. We have been limited to the number of heats we can swim as is the right of the home team. Club Brittany (CB) has worked hard to accommodate our large team but many of our swimmers will be swimming less than they will at our home meets. The coaches have spent a lot of time preparing and going over line-ups to give everyone as many possible swims as they can. Directions to CB can be found at VBSL.net. There is very little close parking to this pool. Please carpool as much as possible. There is also very little deck space, so please minimize your foot print to give everyone a chance to have a space. Our team area will be on the deck at the far end of the pool. Please leave room around the deck for the officials and for the swimmers that need to get to the starting line. Also, this pool is situated on Tidal water and has a fresh water lake on the other side – bring bug spray! You need to have your swimmers checked in and ready to swim no later than 4:15. Please allow enough time to get to the pool and park. Our warm-ups will begin at 4:30 and the meet will start at 5:00. Once I have the meet program, I will send it to you so that you can print a copy to bring with you. CB will not be selling programs. CB will be selling dinner food, so feel free to plan on eating dinner at the pool. Just as a reminder, despite this being a holiday weekend and a night meet, VBSL rules do not allow alcohol on deck during a meet. If for some reason we have to cancel the meet because of weather, the make-up will be on Saturday morning. With all of the people we have away for the Holiday weekend, I expect this to be a very close meet. Please cheer the kids on and enjoy the evening. See you there. Thanks, Bill

Hello LNST,

Attached are the preliminary entries for Saturday. (Webmaster edit: Meet Entries By Event and Meet Entries By Name) As usual we may have changes up to and even during the meet. For all of the 8 and older swimmers, Please let Coach Abby or Virginia know when you are leaving the pool if it is before the end of the meet. Sometimes we have to make last minute substitutions and it is easier if we know who is here and who has left. If you see any errors in these entries, please let us know ASAP.

The meet on Saturday is going to be much larger and it will be longer. Between the two teams we will have about 200 more swimmers than last week in the meet. Because this is a home meet, we are still trying to swim everyone as much as we can/is practical. This means that the current projected end time of the meet is 2pm. Alanton has the second biggest team in the league behind us. Please plan accordingly for the longer time frame. We will need everyone to be on their toes to keep things moving as quickly as we can.

Don’t forget about the Ice Cream social and the Pasta Party (for the 13 and older swimmers) on Friday.

Saturday swimmers need to be at the pool and checked in by 7:00am. We will have warm-ups beginning at 7:15.

Next week our meet is an away meet at Club Brittany on THURSDAY evening. We need Red Book sign-outs by the end of the meet on SATURDAY. The meet will likely start at 5pm and we will need to be at their pool no later than 4:15. CB only has a 5 lane pool and it is a night meet. Those two factors will mean that many swimmers will not swim as much as they would at a home meet.

Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the swim team will be hosting Olympic Trials viewing nights at the club from 8-9pm. Please come up and cheer on our Olympic hopefuls. Please feel free to bring a not too messy snack to share. No wet bathing suits in the clubhouse please.

Thanks,

Bill

Swimmers -- Good News! Our swim team has agreed to participate in the Red Cross Swim on For Safety Program again this year. You may recall it is a fundraiser for the American Red Cross Education Programs providing funds for instruction where it is desperately needed. Every year most swim teams in the area participate. Last year, the LNST Dolphins raised the highest dollar amount! The second place team was Great Bridge and rumor is they're gunning for us this year. Let's show our support of this worthy program and be winners at the same time!

So, how do I participate?
On Tuesday, July 8 come to the pool at your normal practice time. (There are separate sessions for both the morning and evening practices.) Give your pledge form to your Swim on for Safety Coordinator (Joy Manock) and....swim laps! You may collect pledges based on the number of laps you swim or you may collect straightforward donations. The fundraising/pledge forms will be in your mailboxes on Monday 6/23 -- so you can begin collecting pledges right away. (Webmaster edit: Please download a copy of the Swimathon Waiver & Pledge Form and print it out if you misplace, or didn't receive, a pledge form.)

A minimum of $25 will get you a cool "SOS" t-shirt and other goodies. In addition, a movie gift card will be awarded for the highest fundraiser in each age level....(6 and under boy, 6 and under girl, 8 and under boy, 8 and under girl, etc.)

Remember parents and coaches - you may participate in this worthy cause too!
If you have any questions, please contact Joy Manock at either joyatlast@cox.net or 463-1342.

Congratulations LNST!

Congratulations to all of our LNST swimmers and coaches on a great meet today. It was really fun to watch all of the swimmers have such a great meet. The final score was LN 396 and GCC 356.

I want to thank all of our awesome volunteers for your efforts today. Everyone stepped up when asked or even without being asked. Thanks to our officials and timers and scorers, concessions workers, set-up and break down crews, clerk-of-course workers and zookeepers, runners and everyone that stepped in to make today’s meet run smoothly for our kids. Thanks also to the staff for keeping the place clean and everyone safe.

I also want to thank Travis Redmond for singing the National Anthem.

Attached are the results from the meet. (Webmaster Edit: Meet Results By Name and Meet Results By Event) One report is a listing by name and it shows the swimmers final time and any improvement. Any swimmer that had a 2 second or greater improvement in an event will get a Personal Best ribbon.

The other file is a meet results report and it shows both team’s final times. An 'x' next to a time only means that swimmer did not score. Only the two top swimmers from each team score in each event. A DQ next to a swimmer means that swimmer was disqualified. The top 12 finishers in each event will receive a place ribbon. Swimmers that finish in place 13 or higher with a legal swim will receive a participant ribbon. Ribbon boxes will be in the Entry Pavilion at the club. Each family has a folder in one of the boxes. Sometimes we have ribbon errors. If you find that to be the case, just let us know and we will get it corrected for you.

This upcoming week:

Please sign the Red Book by the end of practice on Tuesday if your swimmer will
not be available next weekend.

Wednesday is Movie Day. Here are the details:
Little Neck Swim Team Movie Day:
When: Wed., June 25
Where: Cinema Cafe at Pembroke Meadows Shopping Center
What: Choose between "Horton Hears a Who," rated G, and "Nim's Island," rated
PG. Both movies will be shown.
How much: Cheap! Only $3.75 for admission, popcorn, and a soda (fruit punch).
Time: Arrive at 10 a.m. Movie is 10:30-12:00 approximately.
RSVP: Nancy Speer - thespeers@cox.net . Let me know how many are coming and
which movie you want to see.

Come join in the fun! We have the whole theater just for us!
Nancy Speer and Martha Swirzinski

We will have another pre-meet activity on Friday. Stay tuned for more details.

Thanks and great swimming LN,

Bill

Hello LNST,

Here is the meet information for our first meet on Saturday and other important news.

-Our first meet is home versus Greenbrier Country Club. Please have your swimmers at the pool, checked-in and ready to swim by 7:00am. The meet starts at 8am. Please make sure you check-in when you arrive. After you get your swimmers ready to swim, please report to your volunteer position if you have one for this meet.
- Our friends at Kings Grant Baptist Church, who kindly allow us to use their parking lot for home meets, have a function tomorrow late morning and they will need some of their parking spaces in the rear of their lot. Please do not park in any reserved spots in their lot. Also please do not park in any reserved spots in our lot or along the driveway in any non-marked parking spaces.
-The volunteer sign-up sheets are in the attendance book at the pool. If you did not get your four volunteer sessions, I have two (one for each half) fun jobs available for this Saturday.
-For our home meets we use the bleachers on the right side/tennis court side of the pool. The parking lot bleachers are reserved for the visiting team.
-Bring chairs, sunscreen, towels, goggles, caps, Sharpie pens and something to keep your swimmers entertained.
-We will send out meet entries as soon as they are complete; however, please remember that the final list will be posted at the pool on Saturday.
-Please do not allow your swimmers to write on each other’s backs. When they do and then sit in the chairs, the writing comes off on the chairs and is very hard to get off.
- Please keep your swimmers on deck. The clubhouse and the tennis courts are off limits. The tennis courts are off limits at all times unless you have a court reserved and are in appropriate tennis clothing.
-In case of bad weather (which is not expected for this Saturday), please do not assume that the meet has been canceled. We will make every effort to complete the meet. It is very difficult to reschedule these meets. If we have bad weather that occurs during the meet, we may send you to your cars for safety, but please do not leave unless the coaches or I tell you that we will not continue.
-If for some reason you have to leave before the end of the meet, please check out with the coaching staff.
-If you have forgotten to sign your swimmer out of the meet in the Red Book please e-mail me immediately and tell Coach Abby or Virginia.
-If your swimmer becomes ill Saturday morning and cannot make the meet, please call me at 577-2990.
-Ribbons will be available at the pool Saturday afternoon. There will be two file boxes kept in the guard shack that will have a folder for each family. You can find your swimmers ribbons in the boxes. The 6 & under coaches may hold their ribbons until Monday so that they can recognize their efforts. We do sometimes have ribbon errors. Please let us know and we will get it corrected for you.

***Unfortunately no one signed up to be in charge of a fun pre-meet activity tomorrow. If there is a parent willing to do this at the last minute, please call me and we can talk about it.***

If you are not clear about anything, please speak up. We have many new families and they probably have the same questions.

Thanks,

Bill

LNST: Please read the following information about Movie Day next week: Little Neck Swim Team Movie Day: When: Wed., June 25 Where: Cinema Cafe at Pembroke Meadows Shopping Center What: Choose between "Horton Hears a Who," rated G, and "Nim's Island," rated PG. Both movies will be shown. How much: Cheap! Only $3.75 for admission, popcorn, and a soda (fruit punch). Time: Arrive at 10 a.m. Movie is 10:30-12:00 approximately. RSVP: Nancy Speer-thespeers@cox.net . Let me know how many are coming and which movie you want to see. Come join in the fun! We have the whole theater just for us! Nancy Speer and Martha Swirzinski Many thanks to Nancy & Martha for organizing this event for the kids! I also want to thank Jennifer Sowa for stepping up to run our Ocean Breeze day. Look for more information to come about this. Thanks, Bill

Attached is the volunteer list for the meet this upcoming weekend. (Webmaster edit: June 21st Swim Team Volunteer Shifts.) Please review to see if you signed up to work. We still have a few holes that need to be filled. We will have the list at the guard shack this week. Remember that all families are required to put their name in and work four slots. Some officials and other key positions will be needed more than four shifts.

Please remember that we need Red Book sign-outs by the end of practice tomorrow.

We are still in need of a volunteer to run Ocean Breeze Day. This can be one person or a team. This is not a tough job, it just requires some time. If we cannot get someone to take on this task, we will have to cancel this fun day for our swimmers

Hello LNST,

Thanks to everyone for making Time Trials so successful yesterday. While it was a long event with our 325+ swimmers, I thought it ran very smoothly thanks to all of the help we received. The swimmers and coaches should now be in good shape to begin competition next weekend when we host the Greenbrier County Club. More to follow about that meet.

I am very excited about our new scoreboard. I know we will all appreciate the instant gratification of seeing the times posted as the swimmers finish. It is also nice to be able to see the event and heat number as the meet progresses. Thanks again to the Komives and Hall Acura Virginia Beach for being the sponsor of this new piece of equipment and thanks to all of our families for the hard work at past All-Star meets to make these kind of purchases possible. Finally thanks to Matt Sharpe for getting the scoreboard ready to use.

The results from Time Trials are posted. (Webmaster edit: 2008 Time Trials Results By Name and 2008 Time Trials Results By Event.) Carole has asked that you all look over the times and let her know if anything looks incorrect. Next to the times most of the swimmers will have an 'x'. The 'x' only means that the swimmer did not score. Only the top two finishers score in a regular dual meet. Also note that we did not officially dis-qualify any swimmers yesterday. So while everyone received a time yesterday not everyone was 'legal'. Our officials training yesterday have turned their notes into the coaches who will use this information to work on areas of need during practice and will use the information to seed the next meet.

This week coming up:

- Please sign out of the Red Book any swimmers that will not compete next weekend by the end of practice on Tuesday. The Red Book is in the guard shack.

- Wednesday there will be a breakfast for all of the 13 and older swimmers at 10:15. Please have your swimmers sign up for this event on the sign-up sheet in the guard shack by the end of practice Tuesday. Amy Robinson is organizing this event. Amy needs a few more electric griddles. Please let me know if you have one that you can lend Amy.

- Remember that the deadline for ordering a team suit is the end of practice Tuesday (seeing a theme here yet?). Please contact Carole if you still need to order one.

Finally - Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there.

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST,

Time Trials are this Saturday, June 14th. Please arrive between 7:00 and 7:15am. The coaches will run a normal meet warm-up from 7:30 until 7:45. The trials will start at 8:00. The cookout will begin at approximately 11:00. We will have free swim from the time the trials are complete until the pool opens if we finish in time.

Time Trials are a mini version of a meet. The coaches use the times from the trials to help seed the first meet. We will only run individual stroke events; no relays and no Individual Medley events. We are only going to run the 25M freestyle events for the 8 & unders and 10 & unders in order to make things move a little faster. We will run the events in the order they are normally swum in a meet. This means we will begin with Freestyle, then Breaststroke, Backstroke and finally Butterfly. The one exception will be that we will run the 6 & under Backstroke event immediately after we finish the freestyle events so that families with only 6 & unders can leave early if they wish. You are welcome to come back for the cookout a little later.

All swimmers are encouraged to swim each stroke available for their age group. Do not worry if they have an illegal stroke. The coaches use the trials to evaluate who is legal and who is not and also as a guide for what they need to be focusing on in practice. 7-8 year old swimmers who have not learned Breaststroke will not be required to swim it on Saturday. The same goes for Butterfly for any age swimmer; however, all are encouraged to swim these strokes so that the coaches can determine where they need to focus their coaching efforts.

We will be using a clerk-of-course and assigning swimmers to a heat and lane. All swimmers are expected to go to the clerk-of-course located under the first shade pavilion prior to their event.

We will need volunteers to be timers, clerk-of-course workers and zookeeprs. (Webmaster edit: The Volunteer lists that you signed up for during registration are found here - page 1 and page 2.) We will need additional help so please step up to help when asked. We will not be able to begin until we get all of the timers in place. We will also use the trials as a refresher/training session for all of our officials. Please be poolside to train and lend the coaches a hand in picking out legal and illegal strokes.

During the trials the club snack bar should be open. We will not be running concessions, so please make sure you send food and drink items with your swimmers. For the cookout we will be providing the burgers, dogs and chips. Please bring your own drinks or purchase them from the snack bar.

If your swimmer will not be at Time Trials and you have not signed out in the Red Book yet, please send me an e-mail immediately. For those that are missing Time Trials, please ask the coaches to get times on your swimmers at a practice.

See you on deck early Saturday.

Bill

Hello LNST,

I hope your swimmers have enjoyed the start of the swim season. From my perspective things have gone very smoothly. If you or your swimmer have a different opinion, please let me know so that we can address issues quickly.

I want to take a minute to remind you of a few safety items:

-NO GLASS – No glass products of any type are allowed on the pool deck at any time. This goes for beverage bottles as well as serving dishes. On a rough concrete deck like we have, there is no way to get up all of the shards if something glass breaks. Please do not bring these type items to the pool. Please transfer your food and beverages to a plastic or metal container at home.

-No Ceramics - Ceramics are the same as glass if they shatter. Please remember to put your morning coffee into a plastic or metal container once we go to morning practices.

-Driving – Please be careful in the parking lot. Watch for small children and kids/adults on bikes. Also remember to watch for pedestrians and bikers coming from the right on the bike/walking path when you are leaving the club. It is easy for them to come up fast from this direction while you are looking left for traffic. Also remember that our normal driving pattern is counter-clockwise around the center parking spaces in the parking lot.

New parents meeting: We will hold a more in depth new parents meeting on Tuesday, June 10th at 6:45pm in the club house. We will explain more about how swim meets operate and give you as many tips as we can and answer any questions that have come up in the first couple of weeks. Veteran families are welcome to attend or to come help share your knowledge.

A reminder about the upcoming Official’s training sessions:

Volunteer Training Dates:
For those parents that are or want to be Officials, Starters, Referees or Meet Manager Operators, here is the training schedule. Yes, even you seasoned veterans and USA Swimming officials are expected to go to a training session. If you have never done any of these jobs before but are interested in doing so, we welcome you to go to one of these sessions to learn more. Please feel free to talk to me about these jobs if you have questions. They do give you the best view of the pool at the meets.

June 7 (Saturday) - Referee/Starter/Stroke & Turn Clinic @ Green Run Clubhouse Pool (NOTE - Referee/Starter Training will run from 8:00-9:00 AM inside the clubhouse, and Stroke & Turn Training will run from 9:00-11:00 AM on the pool deck) – Please see me if you need directions to this pool. It is not the one listed on the VBSL.net website for Green Run.

June 9 (Monday) - Meet Manager Scoring Clinic @ Green Run @ 7:00 PM (NOTE - this is optional training for new Meet Manager Operators & Team Reps)

June 11 (Wednesday) - Make-up Officials Training @ Mallory Country Club (NOTE - Referee and Starter Clinic will run from 6:00-7:00 PM, and Stroke & Turn Training will run from 7:00-9:00 PM)

RED BOOK – The Red Book is now available in the Guard Shack for you to sign your swimmers out of any meets they will miss including Time Trials. Please make sure you carefully enter this information.

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST,

Welcome to the start of the 2008 swim season. The coaches, Carole and I are very excited to finally get the swimming started. As of the latest count we have 285 Blue Dolphins. Welcome to all of our new swimmers and their families.

Here is some key information for the next couple of weeks:

Tuesday – Swimmers will NOT be in the pool. We will have two informational meetings on the back lawn. From 6 – 7pm will be the meeting for all 10 & younger swimmers and their families. All 11 & older swimmers and families will meet from 7 – 8pm. If you have swimmers that are in both of these groups you only need to come to one of these two meetings. If for some reason you cannot make it to either meeting, please ask a friend that was there for the information (you do not need to tell me if you cannot make it). At the end of the second meeting Amy Robinson and Lori Schrand will have a special social planning session with the 13 & older swimmers that are available to meet and help plan some events for this group. Before and after the two meetings we will have LNST spirit wear and suits available for purchase. Remember your bug spray!

Wednesday – In the water practices start. The schedule is as follows:
May 28 – June 13: Practice times Mon. – Fri.:
5:45-6:15 pm 6 & younger – Group #1 (new swimmers to the team)
6:15-6:45 pm 6 & younger – Group #2 (returning swimmers)
6:00-6:45 pm 7-8 year olds
6:45-7:30 pm 9-10 year olds
7:30-8:15 pm 11-12 year olds
8:00-9:00 pm 13-18 year olds

Things to remember about evening practices:
-They are crazy and chaotic – please be patient.
-Safety is critical. Parents of young swimmers, please make sure they are sitting on the side when asked and not jumping in on top of other swimmers. If you see something that is unsafe, please bring it to the coaches’ attention or find me or Carole.
-They are cold. Bring extra towels and warm clothes to put on afterwards. Aquawear sells rash guards and thermal suits if you think this will make your swimmer more comfortable.
-The coaches are very busy. Please hold questions until the end of practice and preferably e-mail Coach Virginia at vdonnal@gmail.com or Coach Abby at barneya@vt.edu.

-The snack bar schedule is not firm at this time of year. Please check the schedule if you plan to get dinner at the club.
-Bring bug spray. The ‘No-See-Ums’ can be vicious.
-If your swimmer is part of a USA swimming team, for these first three weeks of evening practices, please continue to attend those practices primarily and fill in when possible with LNST. (We will expect to see those swimmers at morning practices once they start.)
-If your swimmer will do better in a practice group other than their age group, they are welcome to come to one that better meets their skill level during these first three weeks. For a majority of swimmers, this will not apply.

**** Any parents or responsible 13 and older swimmers that would like to lend a hand in the water with any of the 6 & under and 7-8 practices, we would love your help. Please see Coach Abby or Virginia Tuesday evening or send them an e-mail. Thank You! ***

We will have spirit wear and suits available at many of these practices. If you plan to purchase a team suit and have not done so yet, please make this a priority so that we can get those on order if we do not have your swimmer's size in stock.

Red Book – Here is the first of many pleas to start filling out the Red Book as soon as you know that your swimmer will not be available for a particular meet(s). Remember out rule that if you neglect to sign out in the Red Book for a meet and your swimmer does not show up, we will take them out of all remaining meets until we here positively from you that your swimmer will be in the next meet. More on this Tuesday.

Volunteer Training Dates:
For those parents that are or want to be Officials, Starters, Referees or Meet Manager Operators, here is the training schedule. Yes, even you seasoned veterans and USA Swimming officials are expected to go to a training session. If you have never done any of these jobs before but are interested in doing so, we welcome you to go to one of these sessions to learn more. Please feel free to talk to me about these jobs if you have questions. They do give you the best view of the pool at the meets.

June 7 (Saturday) - Referee/Starter/Stroke & Turn Clinic @ Green Run Clubhouse Pool (NOTE - Referee/Starter Training will run from 8:00-9:00 AM inside the clubhouse, and Stroke & Turn Training will run from 9:00-11:00 AM on the pool deck) – Please see me if you need directions to this pool. It is not the one listed on the VBSL.net website for Green Run.

June 9 (Monday) - Meet Manager Scoring Clinic @ Green Run @ 7:00 PM (NOTE - this is optional training for new Meet Manager Operators & Team Reps)

June 11 (Wednesday) - Make-up Officials Training @ Mallory Country Club (NOTE - Referee and Starter Clinic will run from 6:00-7:00 PM, and Stroke & Turn Training will run from 7:00-9:00 PM)

Sponsors:

I am happy to announce an addition and a change to our sponsor ranks. We are very thankful to Theresa and Michael Komives for upgrading their sponsorship from Hall Acura Virginia Beach to the Diamond Level. The Diamond Level is our scoreboard sponsor and we have placed the order for our new scoreboard that should be here in time for Time Trials. We are also excited to have Geri Clark's business, PortraitEfx of Virginia Beach, as a new sponsor. As many of you know, Geri is our team photographer. Go ahead and put on your calendars now that our team picture will be taken on the morning of Wednesday, July 9th which also happens to be Ocean Breeze day.

Finally, as our veteran families know e-mail is our preferred method of communication. All e-mail addresses that we have should be in the system and you should have received this message with no problems. If that is not the case or you have changes, additions or deletions to make, please send them to me.

Have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend and we will see you at the pool next week.

Thanks,

Bill

5/14/2008

Hello LNST Families,

OK folks the time has arrived to officially think about summer league swimming. The first registration day is this Sunday from Noon – 2:00pm at the club. We will also have registration days on May 7th and May 17th.

At registration you will register your swimmers, get fitted for the new team swim suit, sign-up for your work shifts and purchase any spirit wear you want to buy.

Please note that Speedo has come up with new swim suit cuts for youths and adults. The youth suits are now shaped to fit a youth’s body. Because of this change we are going to do suits a little differently this year. All of the swimmers will need to come and try on a suit to make sure they get the appropriate size and cut. Do not assume that since your swimmer wore a 28 last year, that will be the same size they need this year. After determining the correct size, we will take your money and order your suits and the suits will then be delivered close to the time we start practice.

I have attached a registration form so that you can fill that out in advance if you want to save yourself a little time at registration. Please do not write your check until after you make your suit and spirit wear purchases. We still are not able to take credit cards, so please plan to pay by check or with cash.

The club will also be happy to take your dues check and take your picture for the entry card system they are implementing this summer. As always, you must be a member of LNSRC for your kids to swim for LNST.

We are very excited to announce that Abby Barney and Virginia Donnal will be our Co Head Coaches for the summer. Both Abby and Virginia have swum for LNST for most of their lives and they have both been assistant coaches for the past few years. Your swimmers will be in excellent hands this summer.

I want to thank John and Lynne Murrell and their business Quality Enterprises and dentist Dr. Vernon O’Berry for stepping back up to the plate as sponsors again this summer. I am also excited to welcome to our sponsor ranks, Chris Hendrix and his business Covington Hendrix Anderson Architects, Realtor Mona Ghobrial from William E. Wood Realty, and Keith Carlson and his creative branding business ID America. All of these folks are parents of swimmers and we welcome their support along with our other current sponsors, Hall Acura Virginia Beach, Coast to Coast Construction, Inc. and Resort Pools and Fences.

Of course if you have questions, feel free to send me or Carole an e-mail or give us a call.

See you soon.

Thanks,

Bill

Hello LNST, I hope those of you on Spring Break this week are enjoying the warm weather. It is almost warm enough to think about summer league swimming. Along those lines I want to give you the registration dates for 2008: April 27 - Sunday 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (at LNSRC) May 7 - Wednesday 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (at LNSRC) May 17 - Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (at LNSRC) At registration you will be able sign-up for the team, buy our new 2008 team suit, buy spirit wear and sign-up for volunteer shifts. I will send out more details as we get a little closer, but go ahead and put one of these dates on your calendar. If you would like to be a LNST sponsor and get your company's name on any shirts we have printed for this season, please contact me soon. Contact me for more details. Also please remember that the club is sponsoring a Family Day on Sunday, April 6th. There will be information about the renovation and more importantly, there will be a vote on the bylaws that desperately need to be updated. This cannot happen without our Regular members' vote. Please let Carole or I know if you have any questions and be sure to pass on this information to any new neighbors that might be interested in joining the LN Blue Dolphins. See you soon, Bill