Our Coaching Staff

Welcome back Gator Coaches Brendan Betts, Ava Berry, and Claire Owens and would like to welcome our new coach Michaela Bridges!

Swim Team

This year we will again be running off the Swimtopia platform for all things Gator Nation. Our website can be found here: https://greystonegators.swimtopia.com. This will be the place you will go every Sunday to see new information, news, and events. I will not be sending out weekly emails as in the past. Everything will be on the website. Please get used to checking the website. A TON if information is already posted. The "Meets & Events" tab has the schedule of events for the entire summer as it stands right now. The "Practices" tab has the practice schedule for the upcoming swim season.

Please also take a look at our "Sponsors" tab. These Swamp Supporters have been more than generous in their donations! It is not too late to sponsor the best swim team in North Raleigh. If you are willing to sponsor you will get your logo and information posted in our awesome “Sponsors” section of our new website. Please contact Sarah Cooke at [email protected] are looking for at least 2 more individuals to help with sponsorships. You can help by delivering t-shirts to our sponsors, reaching out to get sponsors' logos, or helping organize the banner that we hang every year. Please reach out to Sarah or myself if you are willing to help with this key component of our summer swim team.

Registration

If you participated in the swim team last year, please use the same login information so that your swimmer's data populates into this year’s registration. Please also note the following instructions:

There are two athlete groups. All swimmers from last year will be enrolled as Greystone Gators. New swimmers to the team will have the option to join the Mini Gators. Please refer to the description and see if this is the right group for your young child. Any questions about assessment and placement can be sent to [email protected]

Registration fees will remain the same, $135 per swimmer this year, with a per-family cap of $350. The cost of operating the swim team continues to rise and we are thrilled to be able to stay at the same pricing this year. Along with a cap all swimmers will receive a team t-shirt with their registration. This is due to our amazing Gator Sponsors! Please make sure to select the correct size. There will be no charge added to your registration for the t-shirt. You must register by no later than May 25th to receive a free team shirt. This is to ensure they are here for the start of the season.

Payment is by credit card, via Stripe, and will include added processing fees. Welcome to the team, and GO GATORS!!!

Any questions about registration can be directed to: [email protected]

Mini-Gators

This year we will again be offering the Mini-Gators. You can register your child for the Mini-Gators on the website registration page. The cost is only $85. The Mini Gators is a program geared towards children under 8 who are new to summer league swimming. This is designed for kids who do not know how to swim at all. Think of it as swim lessons. Your child will be grouped with other kids of similar ability. Once your child is able to do a 25 of free and 25 of back, we will move them to the regular Gator swim team. The only requirement for this group is that your child be 4 years old, potty-trained, and willing to be away from their parent for the duration of the practice. This group will run from June 16th thru July 15^th, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings from 10:20-10:50am only. There will be no PM practices. We want to continue to build excitement and a love of swimming for the Gator swim team without the pressure or stress of having to attend meets for your little one. Go Mini-Gators

Trophies

We are staying "trophy optional" this season! While we will still have an awesome end of season awards ceremony where every swimmer will be recognized, we are offering trophies as an optional add-on this season. This is to reduce waste at the end of the season with unclaimed trophies. Please talk it over with your swimmer and determine together if you want a trophy. (We don't want any surprised/ disappointed gators!) For each swimmer, if you do not want a trophy, leave this section blank. If you do want to order a trophy, check the box next to Add, then enter your swimmer's name as you want to appear.

Start of the season

The board agrees that swimmers must be able to safely swim 25 yards and exit the pool without hands on assistance from coaches. For those of you who are not sure if your child can do this, we will offer an assessment before formal practices start. Swim assessment for first time swimmers will be held on May 22nd following the ice cream social and meet the coaches event. This all starts at 5:30pm

Our coaches will be offering swim lessons this summer if you want your child to work on being able to swim 25 yards by themselves. If at any point during the 8 weeks of swim season your child is able to swim the length of the pool, they are immediately eligible to join the team.

It might also be a good time to look into building swim skills at spring clinics offered by year-round teams such as MOR, WAVE, RSA, TAC, YOTA or to look at lessons at local swim schools. I have information from MOR if you are interested.

Swim Team 101

Meet the coaches and ice cream social will be held on May 22nd at 5:30pm. During the ice cream social there will a “swim team 101” session provided. For those parents who have not been part of summer swim before, we are excited to have you, but we want you to be informed! This will provide you all the information you need to make swim team enjoyable for you, as it can be a lot, your first year on the team. If you are signing your child up for the swim team for the first time, I highly recommend you attend this session. It will be very informative and helpful for you. If you are a current swim team member and know someone who is joining for the first time, please pass along this information. Please also review the Swim Team 101 section under the “Meets and Events” tab on the website. This gives you all the information you need for a successful swim meet for you and your child(ren).

Volunteers

All parents are required to volunteer to help run the swim meets. Instructions for signing up are included in the website. The jobs will be posted once the season is officially under way. If you are new and not sure what to do, we are here to help and will make sure you are comfortable in your role.

Merchandise

We have a whole new line up of merchandise this year. I will be posting a link to our new team store on the website. It isn’t quite ready yet, I will send out an email when it is. It will be posted on the main page of the website. All orders this year will be processed by Progressive Graphics.

Team Handbook

The team handbook is posted to our website under the “About” tab. This is wealth of information and all parents are encouraged to read it as reminder of how we should carry ourselves as Gators at the swamp and in the community. We pride ourselves on being welcoming to opposing teams and having great sportsmanship. We have been complimented numerous times by other teams so let’s keep this going. It’s what makes a Gator a Gator!

Swim Suits

Kiefer Aquatics, formerly All American Swim, in Cary is once again helping up with our suits this year. The suits are black and will have the all new Gator logo embroidered on them. We like to support our local businesses but any black swim suit can be ordered for your swimmer.