Championship Season is Upon Us!

CPSA Championships & Championship part of season explained:

We are getting to the part of the season where all that hard work the swimmers have been putting in since September is hopefully going to pay off, and our swimmers will REALLY shine! For those who are new, this should hopefully explain a lot with how this part of the season works. For the veterans, it's a good refresher. The bottom line is, these championship meets are hugely important. Practice is like studying, dual meets are like quizzes, and CPSA Championships and the qualifying meets are the big tests! So they really should be attending at least one of these championship meets. Qualifiers are on the front page of the website. A cheat sheet, in order they appear on the schedule: All meet info can be found on our meet schedule.

CPSA Championships - Serves as a "last chance" meet for those trying to qualify for the March meets, and THE big meet for those who do not qualify for the meets in March. Think of it like Divisionals in the summer. ALL swimmers are expected to attend just like with our dual meets. The club covers the entry fees so this is NOT an extra expense. Friday night is a distance session for 11 & up so it won't apply to everyone. Most attend both Saturday and Sunday, with some doing all 3. If you can't make it to a certain day, or all of it, please let us know via email by 2/1 or they WILL be entered. If a swimmer fails to show up and we weren't notified of an absence, that family will be responsible for paying the club the fees for all events missed, and the entire relay fee of any relays that had to be scratched as a result of the no-show. If you can attend all, you don't need to do anything.

For 11 and up swimmers on Sat/Sun, they swim in prelims in the morning, and the top 16 make it back to finals in the evening. Swimmers who make finals are expected to swim in finals unless it has been discussed with the coach. Legitimate reasons for this may include not ruining a taper for HS districts/JOs etc, illness, unavoidable conflicts.

9-10s and 8 & unders swim midday on Sat/Sun and are timed finals, as in they swim the event only once.

Also, there is a cool medal ceremony during this meet for the top 8 finishers during the 10 & under session and finals.

Junior Olympics - This is for swimmers age 14 and under and is qualify-only. The times are pretty tough... we currently have 7 qualified. This is pretty much the aspiration for a lot of the kids when setting goals. Partly because of the jackets and other apparel, ask any of them. But awesome meet for the kids and they are SUPER excited when they qualify.

Mini Champs - The big meet for 8 & under swimmers, and a neat experience as it's a multiple day meet (you don't have to attend all 3 days but many do 2 or 3 days). Lots of events are offered, including 25s/50s/100s, 200 free and IM... lots of fun!! No qualifying is necessary, the only requirement is that a swimmer has a time in an event, so no "no-time" entries.

Silver Champs - This qualify-only meet is for all ages, with a couple catches. We tend to have tons qualify for this meet, which requires times faster than the Silver Champ cut time but slower than JO cut times. 8 and unders CAN qualify if they achieve the 10 & under time standard. 15 & over don't have to make qualifying times so they can pretty much enter anything as long as they have a time and it's slower than the senior champs time.

Senior Champs - Sort of like JOs, but no age groups for qualifying times.. It's "open" so a 12 year old and a 17 year old have to beat the same time standard. It can be a lot tougher to make though when you consider it's mostly high school kids making it, with some middle schoolers.

Zones- This is a huge deal to make since it's a qualifier-type meet for the whole Eastern Zone of USA Swimming. The Eastern Zone includes not only Middle Atlantic, which were are a part of, but the areas from Virginia to Maine. Unlike in the past, such as in the summer, Winter Zones will not have a Middle Atlantic team, rather individual teams will enter their swimmers like any other meet.

**You DO need to still sign up your child via the meet sign up form for the qualifying-type meets to attend. Please talk with your child's coach as necessary about championship meets**

Parent meeting: December 28, 2017

President Michael Wilson chaired the meeting.

1.  The Board met with Police Chief Anders on 12/6/17 to address a few issues:
     A.  Friday, 11/17/17 incident where swimmers saw someone suspicious at Pucillo: CCTV cameras are all over the lobby area, police checked camera footage, and there were multiple events going on that night. Couldn’t see anyone who fit the description that was given.
     B.  What to do to report future issues: Parents and swimmers are permitted to go to the police department to view video footage if they suspect something.  Police department is open 24/7, but would prefer to meet during day or evening. Contacts:  Peter.anders@millersville.edu.  717-871-HELP (4357), department info desk.  911 will dispatch for emergencies.

2.  Dropping off swimmers for practice:  
     A.  It is the responsibility of the parents to walk swimmers in to the pool deck, unless parents are comfortable letting them walk in on their own.  Marauder Aquatic Club's responsibilities begin once the swimmer is in the pool area.

           B.  A parent asked a question about who is responsible after practice if coaches leave before all kids are gone. The Board will discuss this with coaches, as they should not leave until all swimmers have been picked up.  One suggestion is to tell swimmers to wait inside the Pucillo lobby for parents, not outside. Parents must pick up on time.

3.  Locker rooms:  The doors from the bathrooms to the locker rooms should be locked at all times.  Parents should not be in the locker rooms at anytime.  If swimmers need parental supervision to change, please use the bathrooms.

4.  Slippery bleachers. The bleachers are getting painted with non-slip paint.  We strongly suggest that wet swimmers should not be on the bleachers at all due to the potential safety issue for both swimmers and spectators.  If swimmers want to meet up with parents, please do so in the lobby after their events.

5.  ALL safety issues must be immediately reported to Kyle Almoney since he is the club's liaison to the university.

6.  Longsword Meet: We have an urgent need for people to sign up for volunteer positions. Jen Clow, Meet Director, explained that we must have specific jobs filled in order to pass a surprise inspection that could happen at anytime. We also must have volunteer positions filled in order to run a successful meet. Timers and Safety Marshals are of greatest need right now.  Anyone age 10 and over can time.  Any adult can be a Safety Marshal--no training required. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions are most needed.

7.  Volunteer requirement:  At the beginning of the season, the Board decided not to implement the volunteer point system since we were having no issues getting families to volunteer.  However, since volunteering has started to slip, we will be going back to a point system. The Board will discuss at the next board meeting and get information to parents soon.

8.  Booster Club updates (Deb Root):
    A.  An email was sent about lodging for the Cumberland Valley meet on January 12-14 for those who are interested.
    B.  Pizza cards fundraiser money and/or unsold cards are due to Deb Root's mailbox by January 15.  Cash or check is acceptable.  The Boosters are giving options for fundraising so everyone can participate in something.
    C.  Swim-a-thon on March 10 in the AM. Donations can come in by lump sum or by lap. Will be planning fun activities too. More info to come.
    D.  Banquet will be at Millersville University on April 8 (luncheon at 12 noon).  More info to come.
    E.  Weekly Booster emails will be the typical form of communication from the Boosters.

Swimmers' seating area

Parents:  Before leaving a swim meet, please meet your swimmer at the swimmers' seating area to make sure all trash has been cleaned up and all belongings have been collected.  This is particularly important at away meets because we are guests of that facility.  The swimmers' seating area should be left in the same condition as when you arrived.

Events this weekend: dual vs. Hershey, Fitter & Faster Tour clinic

Families,

Please see below for details regarding:

• Meet results from this past weekend
• Hershey dual meet on Sunday (PLEASE especially pay attention to this!)
• Fitter & Faster Tour on Sunday

Past weekend's meets
Great job to all our swimmers who competed this weekend, whether in the Gator Classic or the dual meet! We won the dual vs. CYA 387-350 and we had many best times. The swimmers at the SJAC Gator Classic had a meet for the ages and blew away their times. Congrats to all! Several records were broken and qualifying times were made. Results for both meets are attached.

Hershey dual meet - this Saturday

Location: Derry Township Rec Center... 605 Cocoa Ave. Hershey

Seating: Swimmers sit in gym that overlooks the pool. Parents cannot hang out in there unless they are stagers. That is for swimmers only, there just isn't room. Parents can hang out in the lobby or the pool area (bleacher seating). Locker rooms are for athletes only- adults should use lobby bathrooms.

Times:

Gold: Arrive 7:05, warm up 7:20-7:45

Black: Arrive 7:20, warm up 7:35-7:55

Novice & Beginner: Arrive 7:30, warm up 7:45-8:00

Meet starts: 8:15

Volunteers: We have a lot of open slots- please sign up ASAP, there are not nearly as many spots to cover but we need to get them filled. We don't want to have to return to a system of required volunteer units as people have been stepping up, but if we start having problems filling jobs, we may have to. Currently we just have the expectation that if your swimmer is attending, someone from the family will volunteer. Thanks to those who already signed up!

SIGN UP HERE

*Entries, psych sheet, and timeline are attached!* PLEASE share with your swimmer what he/she is swimming. This meet will be on Meet Mobile I believe.

Post-meet get-together:

As is tradition, after the meet, many of the families meet at Troegs, 200 E. Hersheypark Dr., Hershey. It is family friendly and has a snack bar with really good food! I am happy to say they expanded the parking lot so parking is a lot easier now :)

Fitter & Faster Tour clinic with Olympian Molly Hannis: this Sunday at Pucillo

You can still sign up for this if your swimmer wants to attend... makes a great gift! The topic is "beast-mode breaststroke and butterfly." Details here

We are desperately seeking volunteers for this, especially in the afternoon session. We don't have anyone signed up for that. You get a shirt and a picture for helping. Thanks!

VOLUNTEER SIGN UP HERE

See you at the pool!

Coach Jillian

Upcoming meets: home dual vs. CYA and SJAC Gator Classic

Families,

I hope you all had a nice weekend!

Team Blog- just a heads up that our team blog, which you are currently visiting, is linked on our website's home page, and will be updated more frequently. The goal is to post some info from the emails that are sent on there to make it easy to find the info in one place, and also to take the place of doing a newsletter. 

Please see attachments in the email that was just sent for entries for the HOME dual meet next weekend (12/3) vs. CYA, and entries/fees the SJAC Gator Classic. Remember that the fees listed are for informational purposes only, as those fees will be drafted from your account (so please don't send in a check!). PLEASE share what your child is swimming with him/her. This helps swimmers prepare for their races better.

Most of our team is attending the dual meet, but a bunch will be at NJ this weekend and some are doing both. Please refer to times in the meet info packet for the SJAC meet at this point- I have not been told of any changes. For the dual meet on Sunday, it will be much like the meet against EPAC:

Warm up:

Black & Gold: 6:45 AM (be ON DECK in time for warm up, no need to be super early though...)

Novice & Beginner: 7:05 (arrive by 6:55 to have swimmers ready to be on time for warm up)

Swimmers will sit upstairs with their teammates. Please remind your child to pay attention to the stagers who will be calling for them but might not know them personally very well.

Meet starts: 8:15 AM

*It should move pretty quickly. Both teams have some swimmers at invitationals so numbers will be fewer.

Also, here are the links again for volunteers and concessions. They're always on our meet schedule too. Please make sure if you can't volunteer at the dual meet due to being at the NJ meet, your name isn't in volunteer slots on the sign up for the dual meet or else we might end up having to scramble at the meet to fill those spots. Thank you for the generous donations for the concession stand- almost everything is covered, but there are a couple holes. If you can help with any of the items, please sign up. Thanks!!

Volunteers

Officials

Concessions

Team Store

TODAY is the final day to order from the team store to ensure delivery before Christmas. Visit the store here

Have a wonderful evening!

--

Coach Jillian Almoney

Head Age Group Coach

Marauder Aquatic Club

www.marauderaquaticclub.org

My First Race

I had quite the interesting first race in a long swimming career. I swam from age 5... the summer before starting kindergarten... though my senior year of college at East Stroudsburg University. I also have done some masters meets as an adult. I tell the kids I coach that we all have to start somewhere, and even the Olympians like Phelps were beginners once, and we all do something to get ourselves DQed at some point. My first race went something like that...

My dad was coaching and managing Woodridge at the time and I was a little pool rat who finally was able to join the swim team. Overlook Relays were coming up and my dad needed an 8 and under girl to complete a relay, so I got to make my competition debut at that meet. I remember getting a team suit at the meet and that's about it... I don't even remember the race itself (Did I block it out of my memory out of embarrassment? Haha! IDK... I was 5!) so I'm going on what people who witnessed it said. My teammate was swimming down the pool and people around me must have been saying "Go Jillian!" and I guess I thought they literally meant "GO!" because... I went! Dove in and swim past my teammate. Yep, I DQed my relay on my first-ever swim. At least I showed up for my relay... ask my sister, Kendall, sometime how she made our other sister Sarah, and the rest of their relay not be able to swim because she was nowhere to be found (both were 8 & unders at the time). But that's her story... you only get to hear mine!  :)

-Coach Jillian Almoney

My dad and me

Meeting Olympians: By Cameron

I, Cameron, had the honor of meeting and being coached by Gold and Silver medalist Jeremy Linn and Olympian Molly Hannis this past Saturday, Sept 17. Not only did I get to wear their medals and get a picture with them, but I also received over 2 hours of coaching to improve my approaches and turns in breaststroke. I was able to ask questions about their lives and routines. I, along with about 20 other swimmers were there. Each swimmer had the pleasure of racing one of the Olympians. I raced against Jeremy in the breaststroke and he won after waiting to dive in after everyone else was in the water.

The Olympians were very kind and helpful.  This happened with the Fitter and Faster Swim Tour in Northampton PA.  I am excited for the next clinic on Sept 25th with two more Olympians.  They were very inspirational and they challenged us as they were in the water with us and showed us exactly what they wanted us to do. They were all super nice!

It was a great time!

Cameron MacKilligan