Dear Seahorse Families,

It’s hard to believe our first meet of the season is a little more than a week away! We are looking forward to seeing all of you for Time Trials this Sunday, May 18. Time Trials is your swimmer’s opportunity to establish base times for the 2025 season, and the best way to start achieving pops (“popping your time” = beating your personal best time in a stroke), so it is really important to attend!

For many swimmers and families, it is also the first opportunity to experience a swim meet. THANK YOU in advance for reading this email thoroughly and carefully so that you know what to expect.

Declare for Time Trials

Please make sure you declare your swimmer for Time Trials by tomorrow (Weds) night at 11PM. Due to the size and length of this meet, there will not be any late additions. If you prefer your swimmer NOT to swim specific events, please put that info in the notes when you declare. We are happy to honor those requests in advance.

100 Yard IM (7&up)

The IM for NEW swimmers is optional. Please add notes when you declare if you do NOT want your swimmer to swim this event.

15&18 Freestyle

We have two freestyle events for the 15-18 age group: 50 Yard Freestyle (Events #1 and #2), and 100 Yard Freestyle (Events #34 and #35). When you declare for your 15-18, please indicate in the notes whether they’d like to swim the 50, 100 or both! If no notes are entered, the swimmer will be entered in BOTH events.

Meet Program

You will be receiving a meet program via email from our Desk Team by this upcoming Saturday. In that email, instructions will be provided regarding how to read the meet sheet, and how to mark your swimmer(s) with their heat and lane assignment.

Meet Timeline

Order of stroke events: 50 yard Freestyle for 15-18s; Individual Medley (IM - 7-8s and up); Freestyle; Breaststroke; Backstroke; Butterfly. All strokes begin with 6&unders, followed by 7-8s, and so on through 15-18s (exception for 50 yard Freestyle for 15-18s and no 6&U IM).

7:45 AM - Pool is open for 15-18 age group early warm-up, in case they would like to have more than 10 minutes of warm-up time.

8:00 AM - Warm-ups officially begin with the 15-18 swimmers first. All swimmers should be ready to get in the water when their age group is called.

9:00 AM - Meet begins

2:00 or 3:00 PM - Estimated end time.

Parking

We are NOT allowed to park in the church parking lot across the street on Sunday, as they will be holding their weekly services. Please plan to park in the surrounding neighborhoods if the LT parking lot is full.

Name Tags

With 27 new families, there will be many new faces on the pool deck this year! Let’s introduce ourselves to one another— name tags will be available at the Parent Jobs Check-In table.

LTST Yard Signs

We have yard signs for families who are new to LTST. If you are new to LTST, please stop by one of the fundraising tables to pick up your yard sign to show your Seahorse Pride!

Fundraising & Apparel

Our Fundraising Coordinator Colleen Mahoney has been hard at work organizing some fun experiences you won’t want to miss! Time Trials is our most important fundraising event of the year, so come check out some of the cool stuff offered! There will also be a table with new merchandise, thank you Marisa Lynn & Meghan Curtis!

Time Trials Parent Jobs

If you’re working Time Trials this season, you will be receiving a confirmation email from our Parent Job Coordinators Kelly and Kaitlin. Please refer to their email for specific instructions.

Some friendly reminders:

1. You MUST email Kelly and Kaitlin at least 24 hours in advance if you are hiring a sub.
2. You MUST check in at your “check in time” and be working for your ENTIRE shift time, or you may be subject to a late or no-show fine.
3. Certain jobs do NOT allow subs! Be sure to read the sub guidelines and fine policies!

Snack Shack

The Snack Shack will be open for Time Trials, and two of our parent volunteer grillers Keith Wohlert and Stan Hsing are excited to flex their grilling muscles on our brand spankin’ new flat grill… Rumor has it there may be pancakes and sausages for breakfast, and SMASH BURGERS for lunch! The Snack Shack accepts cash, Venmo, and credit cards.

Technique References

The following YouTube videos were produced by USA Swimming, the governing body for the sport of swimming in the United States. They are a great resource for learning more about the technical requirements for each stroke. Originally intended as training videos for Stroke & Turn Officials, these videos are also helpful and interesting for parents who want to learn more about the specific details Officials are looking for during races. If you are new to the sport, or want a refresher course on the rules, check out these videos for Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke and Butterfly.

Private Swim Lessons

Just a reminder, registration for Private Lessons will open on Monday (May 19th) at 8pm for swim team members, and May 26th for non-swim team members. Signups will remain open until all slots are filled.

The recommended age for Private lessons is 5 and older (age 5 by June 15, 2025). Please note that these are not “learn to swim” lessons, but rather instruction aimed at technique and to help swimmers improve for a competitive swim environment. Areas of focus may include diving, turns, and specific arm and leg work. Please see more information on the Private Lessons page of our website.

Mom’s Night Out - New Date

Due to the Devil Mountain Pentathlon now starting on a Friday, Mom’s Night Out has been moved to Friday, June 13th (one week earlier). More information to come soon about this fun event!

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to seeing you Sunday,

Amy & Heather