Handbook of the Greystone Gators Swim Team

Coaching Staff

Head Coach Brendan Betts

[email protected]

Assistant Coaches

Claire Owens

Michaela Bridges

Avery Culley

Swim Lessons with the Coaches

Coaches are available for private swim lessons at the pool. This is a great opportunity to get focused attention on improving specific aspects of swimming. Coaches are available for swim lessons.  Lessons are typically given on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in the time between morning and afternoon practices. Payment is directly to the coaches. There may also be group-based starts and turns clinics offered during the season.

Parent- Coach Communication

Coaches are on deck during practice for the swimmers. During practice and/or during meets is not an appropriate time for parents to address concerns with the coaches. There is very little time available to discuss issues in private or in depth. Often, immediately after practice, coaches are conducting private lessons. If you have a swim team concern, please contact head coach Brendan Betts by email at this address: [email protected]  He will work with you to set a face to face meeting time or call to discuss matters further.  If your concern is not fully resolved by the head coach, please contact the board president, Christian Sito, at [email protected].

Practice Times

Practice time are under the Practice tab on the main page of the website.

Safety Rules for Practices

Please see Club rules for safety information. These rules apply to our swimmers at all times. Some morning practices occur before the pool is open, and while there is an attendant on duty, there may not be a lifeguard on duty. For this reason, swimming is not permitted prior to the official pool opening time, except for swim team members currently practicing. For morning practices, there will be a lifeguard on duty earlier than in past years. Once there is a lifeguard on the stand, the shallow end of the pool will be open for younger siblings and families to use The deep end, slide and the rest of the pool will not be open for general use during this time.

Text message Weather Updates

Text messages will be sent by our coaches if there is a weather delay for meets or practice.

Text messages will be sent out via Swimtopia, to the cell number you designated during registration.  Make sure you enter your cell number, SMS, and follow the directions to confirm.

Team Caps

Per TSA guidelines, swimmers must wear a Greystone Gators team cap, or a solid yellow, green or blue cap. Swimmers may not wear a cap representing another team, or year-round team. Silicone team caps will be provided as part of your registration fee. Additional caps are available for purchase.

Swim Meet Survival

Swim meets are a lot of fun, but can be confusing to a new swimmer. Veteran Gator parents have compiled the following info to help new Gator families prepare for the organized chaos of swim meets. If you’re confused about something, just ask!

Swim meets are exciting, fun, and often long. Meets start at 6 p.m. and, depending on the size of the teams, can last until 10 p.m.. Our main goal is to let every swimmer have the opportunity to compete. Please be patient and understand that our first and primary goal is a fun, inclusive, competitive, family-friendly swim meet in which all swimmers have the chance to participate.

Warm ups are at 5 p.m. for home meets and 5:30 p.m. for away meets. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early, with plenty of time to get your swimmer settled so they are ready to jump in for warm ups on time!

6-and-under swimmers must have their number written on both arms with a marker. (This number remains the same all season, and is available on the line up sheets. Feel free to mark your swimmer yourself once you know their number. Otherwise the age group parents will take care of this task.) Swimmers should report to their age group section, and wait with the group for warm ups to start. Swimmers may also have their name on their arm.

During meets, swimmers are asked to stay with their designated age group at all times. If a swimmer needs to leave the age group area for any reason, they must inform the age group parent before doing so. This is for safety as well as to ensure swimmers do not miss their event.

Checklist for meets

Here’s a checklist to help your swimmer (and you) cope with the fun and fury of a swim meet:

• Pack plenty of towels and save a thick one for the final dry-off.
• Pack chairs for yourself and your swimmer. Much of the poolside furniture will be in use or moved.
• Enforce a Tuesday afternoon rest period. No team swimmer is allowed at the pool on Tuesday afternoons. That’s one of the reasons for our Tuesday gators on the go social activities.
• Feed your swimmer power food: mac & cheese, pasta, or some other complex carbohydrate after morning practice for energy.
• Pack cards, hand-held games, markers, etc., to that swimmers can share and enjoy together between races. Go low-tech.
• Check the Gator Gossip to see if the host pool has a snack bar. Many pools have food available, but it’s best to plan ahead with subs or another easy-to-carry supper in case food is not on site.
• Consider a babysitter for younger siblings who cannot participate. Nights can be warm and long.
• Decide ahead of time how much junk food you’ll allow.
• Stay with your younger swimmer until he’s comfortable.
• Be at the end of the lane with a towel, hugs, and congratulations on a job well done.

Weather Policy for swim meets

Rain alone is not grounds for rescheduling or delaying a meet. Please plan to arrive at the meet at the proper time even if it appears likely that weather will impact the event. Every attempt is made to run a meet as scheduled because of inconvenience to the host club and staff to reschedule to the following night, and the difficulty in getting swimmers and families (volunteers!) back due to conflict with other activities. This results in changes to the lineup, which could potentially impact the outcome of the meet. If a meet is postponed to the next day, communicate with coaches if your child cannot come back to swim.

Meet Absences

Summer is a busy time for families with vacations and other wonderful activities. Understanding that swim team is just one of many fun activities in your plans, we still hope for your participation at as many meets as possible. If your swimmer will miss a meet please log into Swimtopia and choose “MEET ENTRY” click on the green MEET ENTRY tab, and then click the green EDIT tab under your athletes' names.. If your swimmer will be able to attend part of the meet, please choose “Attend” and let Coach Brendan know well before the meet so he can create appropriate heats the day of the swim meet.

Coaches need this information no later than 6pm on the Sunday prior to the scheduled meet. If you find out after the deadline that your child cannot attend, please contact a coach as soon as possible. Email any changes to [email protected]

The scoring system of competitive swimming is based on individual events. Each swimmer is entered electronically into the events well before the start of the meet. This information is distributed to meet officials and volunteers, and is used as the building blocks for a successful, smoothly run met. If your child is a no-show or leaves early without signing out, it can affect scoring of the individual event, the line up of their fellow swimmers, can put relays in jeopardy, and cause frustration among volunteers and teammates.

Volunteer Policy

Swim meets require 70 + parent volunteers to run a home swim meet, fewer for an away meet. Swim team families are required to volunteer at time trials and three meets. Your swimmer’s registration will not be considered complete until the volunteer requirements for each family have been met. Should you sign up for a volunteer slot that you cannot fill, please first attempt to find a friend who can fill your spot for you. If not, please contact the volunteer coordinators to help you.  Volunteering is managed through Swimtopia. Go to our website and click on “Meets and Events” tab.  You will see three different choices across the top.  Click on Signup Calendar to sign up.  For instructions on what to do, click on the  Signup Instructions tab.

Ribbons

Ribbons for main event swimmers who place first through sixth are distributed on Wednesday mornings, at Ribbons and Donuts. At the meet, Heat Winner ribbons are given to the first place swimmers for all heats held after the main heat. Participation ribbons are available for all other swimmers who would like one. If your child is not handed a ribbon after their swim, but would like one, please see a ribbon volunteer at the end of the pool opposite the starting blocks. Typically, swimmers ages 11-and-up do not want participation ribbons, but they are available.

Ribbons and Donuts occurs at 10 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. (Sometimes at 9am, if there is another fun swim team event to follow!) This is a fun chance to celebrate our success and congratulate our swimmers. Coaches identify personal best swims, as well as recognize two swimmers who have shown the most “Gator Guts” during the previous week by awarding two Gutsy Gator trophies.

Ribbons that are not picked up are placed in a filing box at the lifeguard stand and are available for pick up there.

Gator Grill Donations

The Greystone Gators have a great reputation of serving delicious, affordable food during our home meets. Our Gator Grill volunteers do an excellent job of hospitality as well as cooking delicious food. They always welcome new volunteers: smiling faces who enjoy grilling and don’t mind the heat! The Gator Grill is a successful fundraiser for our team, so please support them when you can.

Parking at Home Swim Meets

As a courtesy to the visiting teams families and swimmers, please leave the swamp parking lot open for their use. Remember that they have a later warm-up time than we do, so they will always be coming to the Swamp later. Feel free to drop off your swimmer and stuff in the parking lot, then please move your car to Sawmill Road or one of the adjacent roads. Carpooling and walking are encouraged. Late arrivals often park in the church across the street. There is a marked and lighted walking tunnel under Sawmill Road for your safety.

Time trials

On Saturday, June 11, 2022, we will conduct time trials. Time trials is a way to practice holding a “real” meet. Parents and have the opportunity to learn new volunteer roles, and swimmers get a chance to swim each event and measure their speed. These times will be used to seed swimmers at the first meet. There will not be timed relays at time trials. If you cannot attend, please choose “decline” under event sign up, and ask a coach if there is a time during practice that you can be timed.

The team photo will be taken at 8:30 before time trials. Order forms will be available for both team and individual photos.

There will not be food served at time trials, so plan accordingly.

TSA Championship meet

The Greystone Gators will be participating in one championship meet this year. We hope to bring as many qualified swimmers as possible and make an excellent showing at this meet. This very competitive meet brings together a large number of swimmers from teams across the TSA. It is held at the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC), an indoor facility, at 275 Convention Drive, Cary, NC 27511.  For 2022, the TSA Championship meet will be held on the first Saturday after the season. Swimmers 10-and-under will swim at the morning session (arrival time is usually about 6:45 a.m.) and swimmers 11-and-up will swim at the afternoon session (arrival time is usually about 12:45 p.m.)

This is an opportunity to end the season with a personal best, swim in a state-of-the-art indoor facility, and get a feel for what it’s like to compete in an environment similar to that which is experienced with year-round swimming. Medals and ribbons are given to the overall top sixteen swimmers in each event.

As with all meets, line-ups and relays for the TSA Championship will be chosen by the coaching staff.  Information about deadlines and line-ups will be provided as the meet draws closer. Note that parents must sign a release of liability for each participant.

For more information about any swim clubs, rankings, and records, as well as information about the Triangle Swim Association, visit the website www.tsanc.org

Volunteer Positions- What can I do to help?

New families are encouraged to begin learning how swim meets work by signing up as an age group parent. However, once you have become comfortable in this role, please expand your horizons and sign up for a different volunteer role! Every position is easily learned, and requires little prior experience. You will never volunteer in a position alone. Please always ask if you have questions.

The following are general descriptions of each position.

1. Clerk of Course - Lines up our swimmers in the order that they swim. The announcer calls for each gender/age group to report to the clerk of course for each event. You will organize the swimmers according to the event sheets and lineup prepared in advance by the coach. You will get to meet all the swimmers and give them a word of encouragement as they line up to swim. There is clerk of course each for boys and girls, and you will be stationed at the starting blocks end of the pool. You will be responsible for the final lining up of relays and verifying that first heat swimmers are lined up correctly.
2. Ribbon Write - Records the swimmers name and event on the back of each place ribbon. You will receive the results on the main event sheets after the recorder has recorded the necessary information. You will have a supply of ribbons and will work at the scorer’s table with a ribbon writer from the opponent’s team. Ribbons are given to the coaches at the end of the meet for distribution the next day at Donuts and Ribbons.
3. Scorer - Keeps a running total of points earned by each team. You will work with the other team’s scorer, and be seated at the scorer’s table. You will receive results for each main event, and record results on a pre-printed scoring sheet.
4. Place Judges - Observes the finish order for the main events. The first place judge uses a stopwatch to record the first place times (for the purposes of pool and team records). You will work with three place judges from the opposing team to determine the finish order, and communicate the finish results to the recorder. You have no duties during non-scoring heats. You will be moving about the pool deck throughout the meet.
5. Recorder - Receives sheets from the clerk of course and records the order of finish (for main heats) as determined by the place judges.
6. Runner - Takes event sheets from the clerk of course to the recorder, and from the recorder to the scorer’s table. Wear comfortable shoes as you will do a good bit of walking.
7. Stroke and Turn Judge - Has completed a training class as required by TSA. Observes the main event swimmers for disqualifying motions. Each team provides one stroke and turn judge per meet. Anyone interested in becoming certified as a Stroke and turn judge, please contact our TSA reps for more information.
8. Ribbon distributor - For non-main heat swims, passes out heat winner ribbon and participant ribbons.
9. Starter
10. Gator Grill - help with cooking the food served at home meets..
11. Gator Grill set up - Arrive early (well before the meet) to help with set up of the grill and the bake sale. A good position for families of 6-and-unders because your responsibilities end before the meet starts.
12. Age Group Parents - Supervise swimmers when not in the pool. Make sure they are ready to swim and at the clerk of course at the requested time. Check swimmers in before warm ups and check swimmers out to parents when the meet ends. Assist swimmers to line up correctly for relays. Cheer on and encourage all swimmers.

Be A Better Swimmer

Ways to measure improvement

• New best times
• Stroke has become legal
• Strong finish
• Swimmer tried something new that the coach suggested
• Stroke has become more efficient/ smooth
• Dive improvement
• Swimmer gave 100% effort

Ways to be a Team Swimmer

• Put the team’s needs first
• Swim how and when your coaches ask you to swim
• Support a younger or newer swimmer
• Accept compliments graciously
• Show Tator spirit throughout meets
• Congratulate your opponents on a good swim
• Be a gracious winner
• Keep cheering positively
• Include every swimmer on your team
• Be respectful of the parent volunteers

And as always HAVE FUN!!!

Go Gators!!