Swim Team Volunteers

Hello! First off - Swim Practice starts THURSDAY, JUNE 4 at 9:30, 10:15, and 11:00! Swimmers will swim Thursday and Friday next week and then Monday-Friday the following weeks. If you have questions about practice times, please let me or Katie know.

Second, please contact Ginnie Hilt at ginniehilt@hotmail.com to volunteer for the home swim meets. Here is the volunteer information:

Hello Lexington Swim Team Parents- Again I have taken on the role of the Volunteer Coordinator for the 2009 swim team season. You will need to volunteer 2 times for each swimmer that you have swimming in order to get your volunteer deposit back. Here are the swim meets we have at Lexington this year you can choose from:

June 9- Practice/Fun Meet
June 11- Gridley at Lexington
June 18- ElPaso at Lexington
June 30- Dwight/Colfax at Lexington
July 7 - Pontiac at Lexington
July 9- Morton at Lexington
July 11- everyone will probably have to help somewhere for the Lexington Invitational so we don't normally count this one.

Here are the open positions for each meet:
12 Timers
2 Ribbon People
2-4 Runners
2 Bullpen
3 Lane Judges

Please let me know if you have an idea of what you might like to do and at what meet and I will start filling the openings and then let you know what we have open as it gets closer to each meet. I will also try to bring them to practices to catch all parents and the meets if there are still openings. If you have any questions feel free to contact me: ginniehilt@hotmail.com or (309)365-8659

Thanks-Ginnie Hilt

2009 Lexington Lakers Swim Team Information

Here is some important information for the 2009 Lexington Lakers Summer Swim Team!

Coach:
Clif Morlan is taking a leave of absence to teach in Ireland. He will be gone for two summers/one school year. Our Head Coach this year is Katie Sharrow. We have Lindsay Duzan returning from previous years as Assistant Coach.

Swim Team Signup Dates at City Hall (NOT Community Center):
Tuesday, 4/21 - 3:30-6:00
Wednesday, 4/22 - 3:30-6:00
Saturday, 4/25 - 9:00-11:00

Cost:
$35 Per Swimmer (no price increase!)

Volunteer Deposit:
$35 check per swimmer. We will continue with the volunteer deposit (similar to the baseball/softball concessions deposit) per the recommendation of the Park District. Once you volunteer TWO TIMES PER SWIMMER at a swim meet, your check deposit will be returned to you.

Schedule:
We are in the process of scheduling our dual and tri-meets. As soon as that is finalized, I will let you know. Here are the invitational dates to put on your calendar:
Saturday, 6/20 - El Paso Invitational (entire team)
Saturday, 6/27 - Pontiac Pentathlon (40 swimmers)
Saturday, 7/11 - Lexington Invitational (entire team + all parents to volunteer!)
Saturday, 7/18 - Peoria Journal Star Invitational (optional)

Swim Suits:
We will have swimsuits available at sign-up to try on, if you are interested in purchasing a new suit. This is the 2nd year of the 2-year suit. However last year's suit has been discontinued so this year's suit will be slightly different. You are welcome to keep last year's suit or you can purchase a new suit. The suits will still be purple/black and will be very similar!

Apparel:
We are working on new t-shirts, sweatshirts and possibly swim bags, towels, and other items to offer!

Volunteers:
We are also looking for other parent volunteers in the following season-long coordinator-type positions:
Facilities Coordinator - open
Ribbons/Awards Coordinator - Gina Lingle
Volunteer Coordinator - Ginnie Hilt
Invitational Committee - open - need many people to serve on this committee to plan for the Lexington Invitational on 7/11/09. Please mark this date on your calendar as we will need every available swim team parent to help make the 3rd annual Lexington Invitational as successful as it was last year!

Website:
Keep up to date on the website: http://lexingtonlakers.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in helping or know someone that is, please let me know. Also, please pass this on to any swimmers I missed or any potential swimmers that you know of. Also, we really, really need swimmers that are High School age and we need more boys! So go out and recruit! :) Remember swimming is a great way to cross-train and condition for other sports! As always, please let me know if you have any questions, input, comments, etc.! Thanks and Go Lakers!

Timing at a Home Swim Meet

Hi! Thanks to all of the parent volunteers that helped make today's swim meet a success! Great job Lakers!

Reminder - we have a swim meet at home on Tuesday vs. Roanoke. Warm-ups start at 5:30! The following swimmers are who I have listed as being absent: Ted, Hannah, Lauren, Kolten, Katie P, Kale, Tommy... Please let me know if you will be absent and are not on the list.

Also, at the last two meets, there have been some really close races which have had discrepancies in the stopwatch time and the lane judge's placement. I have put together some guidelines that will hopefully help to alleviate some of these problems. Please read and follow the guidelines below. Thanks!

Timing at a home swim meet:

• There are two timers per lane. You will be assigned one lane for the duration of the meet. One timer will be assigned to record the swimmer’s time on an index card clipped to a clipboard.
• Make sure your stopwatch is at 0.00. Listen for the Starter to start the race. Watch the starting system for the start of the race. There is a light that will flash and a beep that will sound when the race is started. Since light travels faster than sound, start your stopwatch as the light flashes. The Starters usually say “Swimmers take your mark!” Then the starting system will be activated.
• Check your stopwatch to make sure it started.
• As the swimmer approaches the end, stand as close to the pool’s edge as possible, and watch as the swimmer finishes his/her race. The race is finished when he/she touches the wall with ANY part of his/her body. This can be the head, hand, fingernail, etc.
• The moment the swimmer touches the wall, stop the stopwatch. It is even helpful to watch the wall being touched, rather than the hand touching the wall.
• Record both times on the index card. Write down both hand times even if they are the same. Do not round up or down the times (i.e. 48.10 and 1:00.74), write down all numbers. Do not circle any time. Scorekeepers take care of this. If you have any doubt that your time is accurate (e.g. if you are pretty sure that you were late in starting or that you missed the touch) don’t write down your time. Write NT (no time.)
• Check the Lane Judges positioned on the side of the pool for which lane has 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. Record this for your lane on the index card. If there is a discrepancy between the Lane Judges and Timers regarding a close race, talk to the timers in the other lane to compare which lane came in 1st. Sometimes the Lane Judges will see the race differently than what the stopwatch indicates.
• A Runner will pick up the cards and take them to the scoring table.
• Clear your stopwatch. You are now ready for the next race.
• Repeat.

Things to remind swimmers:

• Two-hand touch on the wall for breaststroke and butterfly.
• Don't dive off the block on a relay until the incoming swimmer touches the wall.
• IM = Fly, Back, Breast, Free
• Medley Relay = Back, Breast, Fly, Free

If you have any questions or any suggestion on improving our swim team, please let me know. Thanks!

Swim Team Update 6/10

Hi! I have lots of information below that was going to be covered tonight at the practice meet...but since it is cancelled, I will send an email with the information! Please read to the bottom! :)

#1 - File Folders: Please have your swimmer check their file folder in the swim team box at the pool for your 2008 swim team packet. This packet contains lots of useful information (especially for first-time swimmers!) This is also where you will receive your ribbons and other sources of communication!

#2 - Absences for Thursday, June 12 at Gridley: Please let me know if this is not right: Ashleigh, Kelly, Ted, Hannah?, Lauren?, Nick, Rachel, Kolten, Katie P, Brennan, Barin, Kale, Tommy, Becca,

#3 - Absences for Saturday, June 14 at HOME (hopefully!): Please let me know if this is not right: Ashleigh, Kelly, Hannah, Lauren, Katie P, Faith, Erin, Kaina, Becca, Amanda, Connor P

#4 - El Paso Invitational Update - please let me know if this is not right:
The following have let me know that they will NOT be at the El Paso Invitational on Saturday, June 21: Jack, Noah, Annika, Amanda, Connor P, Katie P, Lia, Erin, Courtney T, Kayleigh, Rachel, Bridget, Leslie, Kelly, Becca, Tommy, Tessa

You need to reply if you will NOT attend the meet. The Lexington Park District pays for each swimmer to swim and the cost is $16 for 4 events. If you do not let me know that you are not swimming or if you say you are swimming and do not show up, you will have to pay the $16 to the Park District.

T-shirts: If you want a t-shirt for $10, please bring your check ASAP! The t-shirts cost $10 per swimmer. The Park District does not pay for this. You need to get a check made payable to El Paso Recreation for $10 by Wednesday, 6/11 at 12:00! Note - The t-shirts will not be personalized as in years past!

El Paso Invitational Timers (thank you!!!):
9:00 - Winterland/Weis
10:00 - Hilt/Michal
11:00 - Kelley/Compton
1:00 - Shipley/?
2:00 - Heitzmann/?
3:00 - Surma/?

#5 - Parent Volunteers: Each parent needs to volunteer at least 2x per swimmer at the home swim meets. Once you volunteer, you will receive your deposit check back! If you have not volunteered to help out at a swim meet, you will need to contact Ginnie Hilt at "ginniehilt at hotmail.com".

#6 - For Sale: Yard Signs and Car Decals. Mark Pritchard has personalized yard signs for the swimmers. The signs say Lexington Lakers with a picture of a swimmer, and your swimmer(s) names. The cost is $20 and these need to be ordered. There are also Lexington Lakers Swim Team Car Decals - white is $3 and purple is $5. These are in stock. Please contact Tammy if you want to purchase. I will have these at practices and meets.

#7 - Concession Sign-Ups: There will be a concession sign-up sheet coming soon - we need parents to donate food, drinks, snacks, treats, etc. for each home meet! Look for this to come soon!

Any questions, please let me know. Thanks!

El Paso Invitational 6/21

Hello! I just received information for the El Paso Invitational held on Saturday, 6/21. Sorry for the short notice, but the information was mailed to me on 6/4 and the deadline for entries is 6/13. So, I will need to know the following from each swimmer by Wednesday, 6/11 at 12:00!

1. Will your swimmer attend the meet?
You need to reply if you will NOT attend the meet. The Lexington Park District pays for each swimmer to swim and the cost is $16 for 4 events. If you do not let me know that you are not swimming or if you say you are swimming and do not show up, you will have to pay the $16 to the Park District.

2. Do you want to purchase a t-shirt for $10?
El Paso is offering meet t-shirts for a cost of $10 per swimmer. The Park District does not pay for this. You need to get a check made payable to El Paso Recreation for $10 by Wednesday, 6/11 at 12:00!

3. What time will you volunteer to time a lane? We need a total of 12 timers - 2 each hour:
9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-end, beginning-2:00, 2:00-3:00, 3:00-4:00

Right now the following are NOT attending:
Jack, Noah, Annika, Amanda, Katie P, Lia, Erin, Courtney T, Kayleigh, Rachel, Bridget, Leslie

El Paso Invitational Information:
Meet is Saturday, 6/21 at South Pointe Pool in El Paso.
New this year - 19 and older events!
Clif and Katie will determine what events your swimmer will swim!
10& Under
8:00-8:45 warm-ups
9:00 meet starts
11& Older
12:30 warm-ups (approximate)
meet to follow

If you have any questions, please let me, Clif, or Katie know. Thanks!

Volunteers Needed at Home Meets

Letter to Parents:

Hello. I know several of you signed up at Swim Team sign ups or through email. Even with all of you signing up we still have several openings we need to fill. Here is a list of openings I have for our home meets for the 2008 swim team season. This doesn't not include the Lexington Invitational, there will be a separate sign up for that day. Please let me know if you can help us out with any of these openings. At the bottom of this email is a list of people that have not yet volunteered and how many times they need to sign up.

Saturday, June 14 vs. Bloomington Parks 8am warm up, 8:30am meet

1 timer1 ribbon helper1 bull pen2 lane judges

Tuesday, June 17 vs. Roanoke 5:30 warm up, 6pm meet

2 bullpen3 lane judges

Tuesday, June 24 vs. Fairbury 5:30 warm up 6pm meet

1 timer2 bullpen2 lane judges

Thursday, June 26 vs. Flanagan 5:30 warm up, 6pm meet

1 ribbon helper2 bull pen2 lane judges1 runner

Thursday, July 10 vs. Clifton 5:30 warm up, 6pm meet

6 timers1 ribbon helper2 bullpen3 lane judges1 runner

Saturday, July 12 vs. Eureka 8am warm up, 8:30 meet

4 timers1 ribbon helper1 runner2 bullpen3 lane judges

Thursday, July 17 vs. Washington 5:30warm up, 6pm meet

2 timers1 ribbon2 runners2 bullpen3 lane judges

If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Thanks, Ginnie Hilt

Volunteer Update!

Thanks to everyone for volunteering as a coordinator for the length of the swim team season or as a member of the Lexington Invitational Committee! Your help is very much appreciated! Without the help of our parents, our swim team and our 2nd annual Invitational would not be such a huge success! Please note - we still need two jobs filled: Facilities Coordinator for the season and Facilities Coordinator for the Invitational. Please, please consider helping out! Thanks!

Swim Team Season Volunteer Opportunities:

1. Parent Contact/Computer - T Baker
2. Concessions Coordinator - B Wilson, C Leake, G Compton
3. Facilities Coordinator - ?still open! - coordinate set up and tear down - diving blocks, flags, chairs, tables, starter, sound system, etc.
4. Ribbons/Awards Coordinator - G Lingle
5. Volunteer Coordinator - G Hilt

July 19, 2008 Lexington Invitational Committee

1. Main Contact/Computer - T Baker
2. Facilities Coordinator - ?still open! (Last year C Billingsley) - need someone to coordinate facilities (rentals, electricity, tents, portapotties, etc.) and oversee Sub Committee: Parking - D Lingle (confirmed), Signs - Pritchard (confirmed), Announcer - J Mohr (confirmed), Garbage - Boyd (not confirmed), Sound System - B Hayes (not confirmed)
3. Referees/Officials - C Kelley
4. Sponsors/Fundraising/Donations - B Hayes
5. Computer - T Baker, G Lingle, D Michal
6. Ribbons/Awards - G Lingle
7. Volunteers - G Hilt
8. Bull Pen - R Grunloh
9. Concessions -B Wilson, C Leake, G Compton
10. Swim Team Shop - J Mohr
11. T-shirts - S Compton

Volunteer Needs

Swim Team Season Volunteer Opportunities:

1. Parent Contact/Computer - T Baker
2. Concessions Coordinator - B Wilson, C Leake, G Compton
3. Facilities Coordinator - ?still open! - coordinate set up and tear down - diving blocks, flags, chairs, tables, starter, sound system, etc.
4. Ribbons/Awards Coordinator - G Lingle
5. Volunteer Coordinator - G Hilt

July 19, 2008 Lexington Invitational Committee

1. Main Contact/Computer - T Baker
2. Facilities Coordinator - ?still open! (Last year C Billingsley) - need someone to coordinate facilities (rentals, electricity, tents, portapotties, etc.) and oversee Sub Committee: Parking - D Lingle (confirmed), Signs - Pritchard (not confirmed), Announcer - J Mohr (confirmed), Garbage - Boyd (not confirmed), Sound System - B Hayes (not confirmed)
3. Referees/Officials - C Kelley
4. Sponsors/Fundraising/Donations - B Hayes
5. Computer - T Baker, G Lingle, D Michal
6. Ribbons/Awards - G Lingle
7. Volunteers - G Hilt
8. Bull Pen - R Grunloh
9. Concessions -B Wilson, C Leake, G Compton
10. Swim Team Shop - J Mohr
11. T-shirts - S Compton