TNT Newsletter
The New Team on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay
August 2008
WELCOME
Welcome to all new and returning TNT swimmers and families. We begin our fifth year of operation with approximately ninety swimmers and anticipate another fun and exciting year of USA Swimming. This year TNT welcomes three new coaches, including Phoenix Fisk and Elizabeth Vincent, who are both high school seniors and will be working primarily with levels 1 and 2. Barbara Collinsworth, who teaches Physical Education at CKCS, now works with the level 5 land training program. Additional coaches will be added to the staff as needed. Jan Mittemeyer is returning for his 5th year as the head coach of TNT Swimming.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
A warm welcome to new teammates who have recently joined TNT. Congratulations! You are going to have a lot of fun and learn to swim really, really fast.
COMMUNICATION
The primary source of communication for families of TNT is through email. Please make sure that we have your correct email address and that you check your email regularly for team updates, highlights, meet information, and schedules.
The most readily available and up to date source of information about TNT is the team website, located at www.swimtnt.com. Parents and swimmers are encouraged to check it regularly.
Family file folders can usually be located in the breezeway between the locker rooms and pool deck and should be checked either before or after every practice. Family account statements, meet notices, competition reviews, and meet awards can be found there. Hard copies of newsletters and important updates are also placed there to supplement the web site.
The TNT Parent Handbook is an essential tool for parents to stay abreast of pertinent information regarding our program philosophy, objectives, goals, as well as team policies, and procedures. Answers to most questions about our program can be found there. The handbook is located in the Parent Perspective section of the team web site.
WORKING WITH THE Y
TNT’s relationship with the YMCA has always been one of mutual cooperation. This year the YMCA has granted our program additional lane space, Monday through Friday from 3:30 – 5:30 PM. This additional space will help TNT better serve our growing membership and improve the quality of instruction.
The YMCA will soon begin a greeter system close to the front door. Parents and swimmers who are Y members will be required to display their membership cards upon entry to the building. Non – members will be issued a TNT program card which they will display when arriving at the Y for practice. Once you have received your membership card, please make sure that you have it with you when entering the Y.
The YMCA is also beginning a new policy regarding towel usage. Upon entering the building, program participants will be issued a single towel. There will no longer be an unlimited supply of towels located throughout the building. In order to help the YMCA reduce costs and workloads, TNT swimmers are asked to please bring their own towels to practice in order to help reduce costs and workload for the YMCA.
LOCKER ROOM ETIQUETTE
People who swim, play basketball, lift weights, take aerobics classes, etc. all eventually use the locker rooms at some point during their visit to the Y. For this reason it is very important that all of our swimmers treat the locker room and those who patronize it with respect. Swimmers should not leave towels on the floor, loiter, play, eat or socialize there. Swim bags must not be stored in the locker rooms, but instead should be taken out to the pool deck while swimmers are practicing. Swimmers must also take every precaution to leave the locker room floors dry. We receive very few locker complaints from the Y and want to keep it that way. Therefore, parents are asked to please talk to their swimmers about the above mentioned policies.
POOLSIDE POPULATIONS
The pool deck is a place where parents inevitably gather when arriving to drop off and pick up swimmers for practices. It is always good to see our families and we are happy to have moms, dads, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. visit to watch the swimmers perform. However, please be aware that the pool deck can become a crowded and noisy place, especially during the transition from one practice group to another. Spectators are asked to please help alleviate congestion and noise by congregating in the breezeway between the locker room and pool deck, or if you find it necessary to be on the deck, along the length of the pool and never directly behind the lanes where most of the instruction is occurring.
NEW PARENT MEETING
At least one parent from each family of new swimmers is asked to please attend a meeting with Coach Jan Mittemeyer on Thursday, September 4 from 7:30 – 8:30 PM in the multi purpose room of the Bounds Family YMCA. Coach Jan will explain USA Swimming structure, TNT’s program philosophy, policies and procedures regarding practices and meets, as well as answer questions. Parents of new swimmers are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to meet the head coach and to gain valuable perspective regarding swimming at TNT.
NEW FAMILY POOL PARTY
TNT will kick off the new short course season with a pool party in honor of our new families on Saturday, September 2 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM at the Rock Creek Club swimming pool. All TNT swimmers and family members are invited. Returning team members will be asked to provide drinks and desserts. Coach Jan will call a meeting of all parents in attendance beginning at 7:00 PM to discuss the state of the program and specifics regarding plans for the upcoming short course season.
SOUTHEASTERN SWIMMING SWIMPOSIUM
TNT is hosting the 2008 Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame and Swimposium weekend, October 4 – 5 in Gulf Shores / Orange Beach. The weekend includes seminars for swimmers, parents and coaches, as well as a beachside banquet and dance. INFORMATION
Swimmer seminars will be presented by two of swimming's top motivational speakers and swim technique clinicians; Rowdy Gaines and Kicker Vencill. Both Rowdy and Kicker teach swimming technique and have stories to tell that will serve to inspire and motivate swimmers of all ages.
Parent seminars will be presented by USA Swimming Sports Consultant, Dave Thomas and Genadijus Sokolovus, USA Swimming Sport Science Director. Both presenters will present seminars designed to provide parents with a road map to help guide their swimmers toward their ultimate potential.
Included in the weekend festivities is the 2008 Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame induction banquet and dance. The event recognizes swimmers, coaches and volunteers who made a significant impact on Southeastern Swimming from 2006 through the summer of 2008. The banquet and dance will be held beachside at the Gulf State Park Pavilion in Gulf Shores.
USA swimmers and families from throughout Southeastern Swimming will be attending the event and all TNT families are enthusiastically encouraged to attend.
FALL FEAST, FUN AND FESTIVITIES
All TNT swimmers and family members are cordially invited to our 5th Annual Fall Picnic, scheduled to be held Sunday, November 2 from 1:00 – 5:00 PM at Beckwith Camp and Conference Center. Admission to the center is $5.50 per person ages 6 and older; $2.75 for ages 3 – 5 and children under the age 3 are free. Activities include swimming, fishing, hiking, canoeing and kayaking. Families will be asked to bring a dish.
SHORT COURSE MEET SCHEDULE
Listed below is the tentative TNT schedule of swimming competitions for the 2008 – 2009 Short Course season. Meet notices will be emailed to families once meet invitations are received by TNT from the host teams.
LONG COURSE RE-CAP
The 2008 Long Course season included several new highlights for TNT Swimming and includes hosting our first meet, sending a record number of swimmers to the Southeastern Long Course Championships and qualifying our second team member for the Southeastern All- Star Team.
Our first team hosted meet was held June 27 – 29 at the Biloxi Natatorium. The meet was attended by 11 teams from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. The meet was very successful as a result of the volunteer effort of our team parents, including eight TNT parents serving as meet deck officials. Read more about TNT’s terrific parent volunteers HERE.
TNT also sent a record 19 swimmers to the Southeastern Long Course Championships meet, finishing 17th place out of more than 40 teams from throughout Alabama, Tennessee and the Florida Panhandle. The swimmers had a great meet, accounting for 1 SES Zone Team Qualifier, 3 Championship Finalists, 18 Improved Time Standards, 22 New Team Records, and 55 Improved Times. TNT swimmers earned 16 medals. Read the news article HERE.
Finally, TNT swimmer Ashley Szydel, age 12 from Fairhope, qualified for the 2008 Southeastern Zone All – Star Team and competed at the Southern Zone Championship Meet, August 1 – 4 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA, the swimming venue of the 1996 Olympic Games. The meet featured the fastest age group swimmers from 14 All – Star teams throughout the South. Ashley had a great meet, earning a medal with a 10th place finish in the 50 meter backstroke. Read the news article about Ashley at Zones HERE.
GREEN IS ALSO A TEAM COLOR
Fundraising is a normal function of most privately funded organizations, and supplements TNT’s comparatively low training fee structure. TNT offers several options for families to meet fundraising requirements and applies a fifty percent credit to family accounts for funds raised beyond the minimum required amount.
TNT’s online magazine subscription program begins September 1 and our highly successful Christmas wreath fundraiser begins September 15. Another effective and relatively painless way of fundraising available to our membership is advertising local businesses through TNT’s multi-level advertising program. This program includes ad space on the team website, the team advertising banner and on the team’s SES Spring and summer championship tee shirts. Details were included in team registration packets.
Please contact Debbie Anderson for answers to fundraising questions: 990-2640, or email at wande1964@aol.com
WE PRACTICE UNLESS…
TNT holds practices during regularly scheduled hours unless the YMCA is closed for holidays and weather emergencies. If the pool is
closed during practice because of electrical storms, coaches normally find alternative activities for the swimmers. Please call the YMCA at
626-0888 if you have questions about whether or not the facility is open. If it is necessary for TNT to cancel practice for reasons other
than the YMCA being closed, families will be notified in advance via phone and/or email.
THE GOOD GUYS
TNT thanks those supporters who advertise their business on our web site. Proceeds from advertising sales help us with operational expenses and allows TNT to provide low cost, competitive swimming instruction to children of all ability levels. Please visit http://www.swimtnt.com/advertisers_page_07-08.html to learn more about the services our advertisers offer.
