Bearcat Swim Club

Families:
Here is an announcement for lifeguarding class to anyone interested.
Al Stephenson
Dec 2008 Lifeguarding Flyer.pdf

This weekend’s meet is at the McMinnville Aquatic Center 138 NW Park Dr McMinnville 97128
Fridays warm ups are at 4:30 with finals at 5:30 Sat and Sun 12 and under are 7:30 warm ups and finals at 8:30 13 and over warm up at 12:00 with finals at 1:15
Directions Distance Time Start: Depart Start on Mission St SE (East)

Dear Families:
Here is the latest of goings on with your favorite swim club. As always, feel free to pass on to anyone not on this list. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
1) Coach Kate will be taking down sign-ups for the Eugene City Invitational tonight (11/4). This meet is scheduled for 12/5-7/08 at Sheldon HS pool in Eugene. 2) At this weekend’s competition in McMinnville, we will need as many parent volunteer timers as possible. If you haven’t done it before, it’s really simply a matter of starting & stopping a stopwatch by pushing a button when the starting horn starts, and when the swimmer’s hand touches the finish wall. OK, you may get a little wet, but what better way to see how different swimmers swim, and interact with each other? We need everyone’s help to show our responsibility when we enter a meet. 3) Coach Kate also tells me that she will be accepting the best time cards only thru the end of the long course season (August ‘08). She will be ordering the plaques and shingles as soon as she can. New parents/swimmers, the time cards are the different colored cards showing your time improvements for each event/stroke. If you collect twenty (20) cards of any one color, you will receive a plaque from which to hang “shingles” for additional strokes. We have been doing this for several years, and it’s become a great motivator for our swimmers. 4) Oregon Swimming is always looking for meet officials. We, as a club, should also strive to provide as many officials as possible - especially when we enter competitions with up to 100 swimmers. I am asking anyone interested in becoming an official to volunteer their time and energy to learn officiating. The club will pay any registration fees, an official can deduct their mileage on their tax returns (unless the law/tax code has changed), and you provide a valuable service to all who participate. If we have enough volunteers, I am willing to coordinate an officials’ clinic here in Salem. Let me know if you’re interested. 5) The Thanksgiving practice schedule will be: NO PRACTICE on Thurs., 11/27 & Friday, 11/28. Senior practice will be decided by Coach Kate. 6) At last month’s Oregon Swimming mini-expo, some decisions were reached that will affect us all. Here are the main points of discussion: A) OSI has decided to abide by the USA Swimming competition suit recommendation that no 12 & unders will be allowed to swim with a suit that covers the shoulders, arms, and legs. This basically eliminates the Laser full body suit for 12 & unders. This was discussed at length, but the bottom line was to try and relieve the financial pressure at the young ages. B) Western Zone team funding will be reduced for next year - more to fall in line with other travel reimbursements (such as Jr. Nationals, Sr. Nationals, Olympics), and for budgetary reasons. The team will also be reduced in size, back to the original number of 8 per sex per age group - again, a budgetary reason as the team will travel to Hawaii next summer. C) Registration fees will increase next year (2010) by $5, and meet surcharges by $3. This was debated ad nauseum because of budget overages, and ranged from increasing surcharges, meet fees, event fees, registration fees, etc. As with the other budget cuts, this was decided as easiest and most cost effective. Whew!! 7) Billing statements have been printed and circulated in your swimmer’s folders. Please get your account balances met, as I will “backup” statements next month to reduce amount of paper used and minimize your statements. WSC & CST Inv. fees are printed at the bottom of the statements. 8) There will be a parents’ meeting, Thursday, 11/20, at 7:00pm in the Sparks Center multi-purpose room (the exercise carpeted room off the entrance to the pool balcony). An agenda for this meeting will be posted, but will include: club updates, Parents Association update (Pres. Joel Rumrill) & election, Pacific Crest Championships meet (scheduled to be here in Salem), and other information. 9) There will be a practice schedule change for Friday, Nov. 14th, due to university programming. Srs. and Sr. Preps will practice from 4-5:30, AG2 from 5-6pm (normal), and AG3 & 4 from 6-7pm. 10) We would also like to schedule a team pot luck, picture, and seasonal party day. If you have any ideas of where we could “host” this party day, let me know.
Thanks for everyone’s support, past, present, and in the future.
Al Stephenson

Families:
After much deliberation and consultation with the swimmers, there will be NO PRACTICE on Friday, Oct. 31st.
Because of Halloween, Friday nite playoff games, Coach Kate having a minor surgery done, and myself at a college function this was the decision we reached.
NO PRACTICE on Friday, Oct. 31st.
Thanks, and expect a large email in the next day or so.
Al Stephenson

Parents:
Here is some pricing information for embroidery on your swimmer’s sweatsuits.
Al & Kate

The meet this weekend is at the Chehalem Aquatic Center 1802 Haworth Ave. Newberg 97132
Warm ups for Fri are at 3:00 with finals at 4:30 Sat and Sun 10 and unders are at 8:00 with finals at 9:00 Sat and Sun for 11 and overs are 1:15 with finals at 2:30
Directions Distance Time Start: Depart Start on Mission St SE (East)

Dear Families:
Coach Kate will be taking down the entries for the McMinnville Invitational tonite. So, please insure your swimmer’s name is on the signup sheet.
Also, please indicate the age of your swimmer at the time of the meet. This will help Kate place our kids in the correct age group, especially with the “newer” swimmers. Although the computer should register the swimmers correctly, this is a safety measure for the first couple competitions.
New suits should arrive in the next couple days, and I hope the sweatsuits as well. Remember, the sweatsuits for screening go to Salem Emblem, on 12th St. S. I believe Randy Rasmussen has told them to expect people, and which screen to use.
Again, thanks to Russ & Lisa Chandler, Randy Rasmussen, Lisa Harnisch, and any others involved with getting the suits ordered. We do have a couple suits that were extras, so check for availability.
Those that attended the Kaitlin Sandeno clinic - I hope you learned some new technique, or maybe validified what your coaches have been telling you. There were a lot of Bearcats in the pool, which was awesome! And that you got a picture/autograph - for pictures contact Will Castanares. And we’ll try to get them on the website for anyone to print off.
For directions to the Willamalane pool, they can be found on the Oregon Swimming website,
The meet this weekend in Springfield, warmup times are: Friday, 12 & unders, 4-4:20pm, 13 & overs, 4:20-4:45pm. Sat. & Sun., 12 & unders, 7:45-8:30am, 13 & overs, 8:30-9:15am. Hope to see you all there!!
Al Stephenson

Families:
This is a reminder that there will be NO PRACTICE for our AG3 and AG4 levels on this Friday, 10/10, because of a training program for swim coaches.
Thanks,
Al Stephenson

Families:
Here are some more goings-on with the Bearcat Swim Club.
1) As most of you know, Kaitlin Sandeno will be here at Willamette next weekend doing a swim clinic for Oregon swimming. If you are 11 & over, you can still apply for a spot in her in-water session by downloading/printing the registration form and returning it to the OSI office. This is a great deal for $20.
2) This month’s billing statements will be in folders tonite. So, have you or your swimmer look for them.
3) Coach Kate will put up the rest of the season’s competitions and sign-up sheets in the next few days. So, you can look for them, and further plan your calendars.
4) Thanks to Randy Rasmussen, Lisa Harnisch, Russ Chandler and anyone else for taking care of the suit/warmup sizing and ordering. Because of their efforts (and Big 5), our members have realized a great savings in the purchase.
See you ’round the deck,
Al Stephenson

Parents:
I know there’s been a few questions re: the age appropriateness for Kaitlin Sandeno’s swim clinic next weekend (10/11/08). Here are some specifics:
The water segment with Kaitlin will be geared towards 11 & overs. However, I will open up the balcony for anyone who wants to watch, and possibly listen to her in-water session - at no charge. The only thing I ask is that distractions be kept to a minimum during the water session. I am also trying to arrange a photographer to be available for pictures with Kaitlin afterwards, and an autograph session as well.
To register for the clinic - visit the Oregon Swimming website and download, complete the form, and return to OSI as soon as possible. Again, the fee for the in-water session is $20.00 - a great deal!
Thanks,
Al Stephenson