Weekly Announcements for Week of 2/26-3/4

Dear SBSC families, Practice Schedule Riley HS Group 1 Monday and Thursday 6:00-7:30 G1 Elite Wednesday 5:30-7:00 Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:30-7:00 Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 3:45-5:30 New Prairie HS Group 1 Monday and Thursday 5:00-6:30 PM CST Group 2 Next Practice April 10 Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 4:00-5:45 PM CST Practice Notes: Due to coach availability the first RHS Group 1 practice each week will be on Monday. This will be for the rest of this season and possibly into the spring. No practice on Friday due to Divisionals. Riley families please use door #22. This is the door on the northwest corner of the building and faces Fellows Street. If you are planning to stay to watch practice there is a stairwell that is adjacent to this door, and this will lead you to the seating area. New Prairie families continue to use door N18. New Prairie swimmers are always welcome to attend their corresponding group's practice at Riley. New Email I am in the process of switching internet service providers for my home. Sometime in the coming months I will lose access to my embarqmail.com email address. Please use coachvandriessche@gmail.com moving forward. CON Last Chance Showdown If your swimmer achieved a new Divisional cut this weekend please send me an email. I will post our results to our website the first of this week. Divisional Championships – March 3-5 – Elkhart Aquatic Center Our most recent entry is posted here (this does not include any times from this weekend). It does include relays. This is the tentative list. Our final relay selections will be made after I receive the results from the Last Chance meet. I can update our entry through tomorrow evening. I will be sending our final update before 6:00 PM. If you see any mistakes or errors please let me know immediately. I will be the coach on deck for the entire meet this weekend. If you are running late please call or text me as early as possible. (574-276-6057). Here are the pertinent times for this coming weekend’s meet. Friday (Events #1-#16) Warm-ups 3:30-4:45 – our athletes should be on deck by 3:30 Meet Starts 5:00 Saturday and Sunday 11 & Over Prelims Warm-ups 6:45-7:45 – our athletes should be on deck 6:30 Meet Starts 8:00 Saturday and Sunday 10 & Under Timed Finals Warm-up 11:15-11:45 – our athletes should be on deck by 11:00 Meet Starts 12:00 Saturday and Sunday 11 & Over Finals Warm-ups 2:15-3:00 – our athletes should be on deck by 2:15 Meet Starts 3:15 Last Practices of the Season Here are the tentative dates of the last practice for all of our training groups. Some of these dates may change based on coach and/or pool availability. NP Group 1 Thursday March 16 NP Group 2 Thursday February 16* NP Group 3 TBD* RHS Group 1 – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 2/G1 Elite – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 3 – Wednesday March 22 We will post the end date for NP Group 3 once we determine how many of those swimmers are returning after the high school season and how far into the championship season they intend to compete. Spring and Summer Season/Registration Our first practice for the spring and summer season will be Monday April 10. The on-line registration will open on or around March 15. If you are currently registered for the fall/winter season your membership will just roll into the next month and you will need to do nothing more. If you selected the seasonal fee for the fall/winter you will be charged the seasonal fee for spring/summer. If you are on the monthly payment plan you will continue to be charged on the first of each month. There will be the additional seasonal charges for spirit wear ($20) and meet surcharge ($15) placed on your account for the May 1 payment date. If your athlete is not swimming in the spring or summer you will need to notify me by email (coachvandriessche@gmail.com) no later than March 26. If you fail to notify me after this date that your swimmer is not participating for the spring/summers and are billed your account may be credited the amount charged but you will not be given a refund. Volunteer Hours For Group 3 Athletes We are in need of several lifeguards this month at Riley. If you have not volunteered yet please do so. The job sign-up for all volunteering has been set up for Riley. All athletes in this group will be required to volunteer 4 hours between now and the end of the winter season. Due to practices at NP running simultaneously we may not be able to offer volunteer opportunities at that site until high school season begins. College Swimmers Returning This Summer If you have a college athlete returning home and they plan to train with SBSC there will be a new fee structure for them. College athletes will now be charged $100 per month but will be given up to $50 in meet entry fee credits per month. If they attend one full meet each month while they are home their training fees will be essentially the same as they always have been. We have had a large percentage of our college athletes come back and train with the club but very few have been willing to swim for us at meets. This is not to discourage our college athletes from returning. I hope it results in the exact opposite. There are a couple of reasons why I am instituting this change. One, I believe competition is extremely important for the continued development of all athletes. Two, and probably more important, our high school athletes look up to the college athletes. If our college athletes are attending meets it will set the appropriate example for their younger teammates. Third, I think these athletes should still take pride in their club and I believe the best way to show that is to represent us at meets. USA Swimming Memberships All athletes need to complete the USA Swimming Registration. Here is a link to the document with instructions on how to register with USA-S. A few of our members have had trouble adding their swimmers once they created their own account. If you have trouble after creating a parent account, try using this link. If your swimmer qualifies for the Outreach Membership (free/reduced lunch at their school) click on this link. Remember, if you use this link you will need to provide documentation to me that your athlete qualifies. If your athlete has never competed in a meet for SBSC (or another USA Swimming club) you will need to send me a copy of their birth certificate. The preferred way is to electronically send a pdf. If that is not possible you can email a pic or bring a hard copy to the practice. USA Swimming Guidelines - MAAPP/Safe Sport USA Swimming issued a directive with regards to electronic communication and social media contact between coaches and athletes. Most of what is being implemented is common sense and falls in line with our club's policies. One new requirement we will need to adhere to is how your minor child communicates with me. For several years I have asked swimmers in Group 2 and Group 3 to text/email me if they would be missing practice. Moving forward, swimmers will be instructed to include a parent on all communication with me.
 If you are the parent of a Group 2 or Group 3 swimmer, and have never sent me a text before, please text me so I have your contact info in my phone. This way if I need to contact your swimmer about missing practice I can be sure to include you. My cell phone number is 574-276-6057.
 I encourage all parents and swimmers to read the full policy. We are required to keep this policy on our website, here is the link. Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit Below is our fall/winter meet schedule. The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit. Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines are based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the available notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend. Meets marked with an * require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. All pool locations can be found on our website under the "Pools" tab. Intra-Squad Meet/Riley High School/Tuesday October 4/ Swim-A-Thon/Riley High School/Saturday October 15/ WAR Monster Splash/Warsaw Community High School/Saturday October 29/Our Results NASA Sprint Meet (10 & Under ONLY)/Northridge High School/Nov. 5 & 6/Our Results CON Skypoint Invite (11 & Over ONLY)/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov 11-13/Our Results ELK Rudolph Romp/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Dec. 2-4/Our Results DUNE Rumble IN the Region/Chesterton High School/Sat. Dec. 17/Our Results IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 6-8/Our Results CON IMXtreme Challenge/Concord High School/ Jan. 20-22/Our Results CON Last Chance Showdown/Concord High School/Feb. 24-26/Our Results coming soon *IN Swimming Divisional Championships/Elkhart Aquatic Center/March 3-5/Entry Sent-see above *IN Swimming Senior State Championships/Pike High School/March 10-12/Tonight Sunday February 26 *IN Swimming Age Group State Championships/IUPUI/March 17-19/Next Sunday March 5 ELK 8 and Under Super Star Championship/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Saturday March 18/Next Sunday March 5 *USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Championship/IUPUI/March 23-26/Entry Sent As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. -- John VanDriessche Head Coach South Bend Swim Club South Bend Riley High School (574)276-6057 www.southbendswimclub.com #SBSCForLife

Weekly Announcements for Week of 02/19-02/25

Dear SBSC families, Practice Schedule Riley HS Group 1 Monday and Wednesday 6:00-7:30 G1 Elite Tuesday 5:30-7:00 Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:30-7:00 Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 5:30-7:15 PM, and Thursday 5:30-7:15 AM New Prairie HS Group 1 Monday and Thursday 5:00-6:30 PM CST Group 2 Next Practice April 10 Group 3 Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:45 PM CST Practice Notes: Due to coach availability the first RHS Group 1 practice each week will be on Monday. This will be for the rest of this season and possibly into the spring. Group 2 practices will now be 90 minutes in length until the end of the season. No practice on Tuesday at NPHS due to coach availability. Group 1 is practicing on Monday and Wednesday this week due to coach availability. Group 3 is practicing on Thursday morning due to coach availability. No practice on Friday due to the Last Chance Invite. Riley families please use door #22. This is the door on the northwest corner of the building and faces Fellows Street. If you are planning to stay to watch practice there is a stairwell that is adjacent to this door, and this will lead you to the seating area. New Prairie families continue to use door N18. New Prairie swimmers are always welcome to attend their corresponding group's practice at Riley. New Email I am in the process of switching internet service providers for my home. Sometime in the coming months I will lose access to my embarqmail.com email address. Please use coachvandriessche@gmail.com moving forward. CON Last Chance Showdown – February 24-26 – Concord High School Our entry has been sent. You can click here to see your swimmer’s events. You can also use the On Deck app or by logging into our website. Coach Carol (574-292-0553) will be the coach on deck for Friday and Saturday. I (574-276-6057) will be the coach on deck for Sunday. If you are running late or will be unable to make it please call or text the appropriate coach. Here are the pertinent times for this weekend’s meet: Friday (events #1-#12) Doors Open 3:30 Warm-ups 4:00-5:00 – our athletes should be on deck by 3:45 Check in closes 4:15 Meet Starts 5:10 Saturday and Sunday AM Sessions (9-12 year olds) Doors Open 7:00 Warm-ups 7:30-8:15 – our athletes should be on deck by 7:15 Check in closes 7:45 Meet Starts 8:30 Saturday and Sunday PM Sessions (8 & Under/13 & Over) Warm-ups 13 & Over 12:30-1:15 – our athletes should be on deck by 12:15 8 & Under 1:15-1:35 – our athletes should be on deck by 12:45 Check in closes 1:00 Meet Starts 1:45 Divisional Championships – March 3-5 – Elkhart Aquatic Center Our deadline to commit to this meet is tonight. I have sent our initial entry, you can view it by clicking here. If you committed your swimmer but they are not entered in events it is because they have not yet achieved any of the time standards. We will be able to enter relays for each age group, which do not require a minimum time standard. So even if you know your swimmer does not yet met one of the standards but you would allow them to attend for a relay swim please commit them to the meet. If you notice any errors in the entry please let me know. I can make changes and continue to update if new best times are posted. Last Practices of the Season Here are the tentative dates of the last practice for all of our training groups. Some of these dates may change based on coach and/or pool availability. NP Group 1 Thursday March 16 NP Group 2 Thursday February 16* NP Group 3 TBD* RHS Group 1 – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 2/G1 Elite – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 3 – Wednesday March 22 *NP Group 2 ends in February due to the middle school season starting. We will post the end date for NP Group 3 once we determine how many of those swimmers are returning after the high school season and how far into the championship season they intend to compete. Spring and Summer Season/Registration Our first practice for the spring and summer season will be Monday April 10. The on-line registration will open on or around March 15. If you are currently registered for the fall/winter season your membership will just roll into the next month and you will need to do nothing more. If you selected the seasonal fee for the fall/winter you will be charged the seasonal fee for spring/summer. If you are on the monthly payment plan you will continue to be charged on the first of each month. There will be the additional seasonal charges for spirit wear ($20) and meet surcharge ($15) placed on your account for the May 1 payment date. If your athlete is not swimming in the spring or summer you will need to notify me by email (coachvandriessche@gmail.com) no later than March 26. If you fail to notify me after this date that your swimmer is not participating for the spring/summers and are billed your account may be credited the amount charged but you will not be given a refund. Volunteer Hours For Group 3 Athletes We are in need of several lifeguards this month at Riley. If you have not volunteered yet please do so. The job sign-up for all volunteering has been set up for Riley. All athletes in this group will be required to volunteer 4 hours between now and the end of the winter season. Due to practices at NP running simultaneously we may not be able to offer volunteer opportunities at that site until high school season begins. College Swimmers Returning This Summer If you have a college athlete returning home and they plan to train with SBSC there will be a new fee structure for them. College athletes will now be charged $100 per month but will be given up to $50 in meet entry fee credits per month. If they attend one full meet each month while they are home their training fees will be essentially the same as they always have been. We have had a large percentage of our college athletes come back and train with the club but very few have been willing to swim for us at meets. This is not to discourage our college athletes from returning. I hope it results in the exact opposite. There are a couple of reasons why I am instituting this change. One, I believe competition is extremely important for the continued development of all athletes. Two, and probably more important, our high school athletes look up to the college athletes. If our college athletes are attending meets it will set the appropriate example for their younger teammates. Third, I think these athletes should still take pride in their club and I believe the best way to show that is to represent us at meets. USA Swimming Memberships All athletes need to complete the USA Swimming Registration. Here is a link to the document with instructions on how to register with USA-S. A few of our members have had trouble adding their swimmers once they created their own account. If you have trouble after creating a parent account, try using this link. If your swimmer qualifies for the Outreach Membership (free/reduced lunch at their school) click on this link. Remember, if you use this link you will need to provide documentation to me that your athlete qualifies. If your athlete has never competed in a meet for SBSC (or another USA Swimming club) you will need to send me a copy of their birth certificate. The preferred way is to electronically send a pdf. If that is not possible you can email a pic or bring a hard copy to the practice. USA Swimming Guidelines - MAAPP/Safe Sport USA Swimming issued a directive with regards to electronic communication and social media contact between coaches and athletes. Most of what is being implemented is common sense and falls in line with our club's policies. One new requirement we will need to adhere to is how your minor child communicates with me. For several years I have asked swimmers in Group 2 and Group 3 to text/email me if they would be missing practice. Moving forward, swimmers will be instructed to include a parent on all communication with me.
 If you are the parent of a Group 2 or Group 3 swimmer, and have never sent me a text before, please text me so I have your contact info in my phone. This way if I need to contact your swimmer about missing practice I can be sure to include you. My cell phone number is 574-276-6057.
 I encourage all parents and swimmers to read the full policy. We are required to keep this policy on our website, here is the link. Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit Below is our fall/winter meet schedule. The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit. Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines are based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the available notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend. Meets marked with an * require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. All pool locations can be found on our website under the "Pools" tab. Intra-Squad Meet/Riley High School/Tuesday October 4/ Swim-A-Thon/Riley High School/Saturday October 15/ WAR Monster Splash/Warsaw Community High School/Saturday October 29/Our Results NASA Sprint Meet (10 & Under ONLY)/Northridge High School/Nov. 5 & 6/Our Results CON Skypoint Invite (11 & Over ONLY)/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov 11-13/Our Results ELK Rudolph Romp/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Dec. 2-4/Our Results DUNE Rumble IN the Region/Chesterton High School/Sat. Dec. 17/Our Results IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 6-8/Our Results CON IMXtreme Challenge/Concord High School/ Jan. 20-22/Our Results CON Last Chance Showdown/Concord High School/Feb. 24-26/Our Results coming soon *IN Swimming Divisional Championships/Elkhart Aquatic Center/March 3-5/Tonight Sunday February 19 *IN Swimming Senior State Championships/Pike High School/March 10-12/Sunday February 26 *IN Swimming Age Group State Championships/IUPUI/March 17-19/Sunday March 5 ELK 8 and Under Super Star Championship/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Saturday March 18/Sunday March 5 *USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Championship/IUPUI/March 23-26/Entry Sent As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. -- John VanDriessche Head Coach South Bend Swim Club South Bend Riley High School (574)276-6057 www.southbendswimclub.com #SBSCForLife

Weekly Announcements for Week of 2/12-2/18

Dear SBSC families, Practice Schedule Riley HS Group 1 Monday and Wednesday 6:00-7:30 G1 Elite Tuesday 5:30-7:30 Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 5:30-7:30, and Friday 5:00-6:30 Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 5:30-7:15 PM, Thursday, 5:30-7:15 AM, and Friday 5:00-6:30 PM New Prairie HS Group 1 Monday and Thursday 5:00-6:30 PM CST Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-7:00 PM CST Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:45 PM CST Practice Notes: Due to coach availability the first RHS Group 1 practice each week will be on Monday. This will be for the rest of this season and possibly into the spring. RHS is hosting the IHSAA Sectional meet on Thursday so we will not be holding evening practices at Riley. We will offer a Group 3 practice from 5:30-7:15 AM on Thursday. Riley families please use door #22. This is the door on the northwest corner of the building and faces Fellows Street. If you are planning to stay to watch practice there is a stairwell that is adjacent to this door, and this will lead you to the seating area. Thursday is the last practice of the winter season for NP Group 2. Middle school swimming will be starting next week. New Prairie families continue to use door N18. New Prairie swimmers are always welcome to attend their corresponding group's practice at Riley. New Email I am in the process of switching internet service providers for my home. Sometime in the coming months I will lose access to my embarqmail.com email address. Please use coachvandriessche@gmail.com moving forward. CON Last Chance Showdown – February 24-26 – Concord High School Our entry has been sent. You can click here to see your swimmer’s events. You can also use the On Deck app or by logging into our website. Divisional Championships – March 3-5 – Elkhart Aquatic Center I have sent our initial entry, you can view it by clicking here. If you committed your swimmer but they are not entered in events it is because they have not yet achieved any of the time standards. We will be able to enter relays for each age group, which do not require a minimum time standard. So even if you know your swimmer does not yet met one of the standards but you would allow them to attend for a relay swim please commit them to the meet. If you notice any errors in the entry please let me know. I can make changes and continue to update if new best times are posted. Speedo Sectionals The entry process for the upcoming Speedo Sectionals has been changed. Typically meets at this level were all done through the USA Swimming website. Since their new site was launched back in September it has been plagued with issues as I am sure some of you experienced when registering for the USA-S membership. Since the OME (on-line meet entry system) is not operational the meet entry procedure for Sectionals will be the one used for most club’s invitationals. One of the drawbacks of this type of system is entries have to be “manually” entered. The OME system, when operational, could calculate automatically if the total swimmers entered reached the meet limit for number of athletes. Since this automation will now have to be calculated manually the entry deadline has been moved up. The new deadline to declare for this meet is TONIGHT Sunday February 12. If an athlete qualifies after this time they may still be able to enter the meet if the total cap number for athletes has not been reached. Last Practices of the Season Here are the tentative dates of the last practice for all of our training groups. Some of these dates may change based on coach and/or pool availability. NP Group 1 Thursday March 16 NP Group 2 Thursday February 16* NP Group 3 TBD* RHS Group 1 – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 2/G1 Elite – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 3 – Wednesday March 22 *NP Group 2 ends in February due to the middle school season starting. We will post the end date for NP Group 3 once we determine how many of those swimmers are returning after the high school season and how far into the championship season they intend to compete. Spring and Summer Season/Registration Our first practice for the spring and summer season will be Monday April 10. The on-line registration will open on or around March 15. If you are currently registered for the fall/winter season your membership will just roll into the next month and you will need to do nothing more. If you selected the seasonal fee for the fall/winter you will be charged the seasonal fee for spring/summer. If you are on the monthly payment plan you will continue to be charged on the first of each month. There will be the additional seasonal charges for spirit wear ($20) and meet surcharge ($15) placed on your account for the May 1 payment date. If your athlete is not swimming in the spring or summer you will need to notify me by email (coachvandriessche@gmail.com) no later than March 26. If you fail to notify me after this date that your swimmer is not participating for the spring/summers and are billed your account may be credited the amount charged but you will not be given a refund. Volunteer Hours For Group 3 Athletes We are in need of several lifeguards this month at Riley. If you have not volunteered yet please do so. The job sign-up for all volunteering has been set up for Riley. All athletes in this group will be required to volunteer 4 hours between now and the end of the winter season. Due to practices at NP running simultaneously we may not be able to offer volunteer opportunities at that site until high school season begins. College Swimmers Returning This Summer If you have a college athlete returning home and they plan to train with SBSC there will be a new fee structure for them. College athletes will now be charged $100 per month but will be given up to $50 in meet entry fee credits per month. If they attend one full meet each month while they are home their training fees will be essentially the same as they always have been. We have had a large percentage of our college athletes come back and train with the club but very few have been willing to swim for us at meets. This is not to discourage our college athletes from returning. I hope it results in the exact opposite. There are a couple of reasons why I am instituting this change. One, I believe competition is extremely important for the continued development of all athletes. Two, and probably more important, our high school athletes look up to the college athletes. If our college athletes are attending meets it will set the appropriate example for their younger teammates. Third, I think these athletes should still take pride in their club and I believe the best way to show that is to represent us at meets. USA Swimming Memberships All athletes need to complete the USA Swimming Registration. Here is a link to the document with instructions on how to register with USA-S. A few of our members have had trouble adding their swimmers once they created their own account. If you have trouble after creating a parent account, try using this link. If your swimmer qualifies for the Outreach Membership (free/reduced lunch at their school) click on this link. Remember, if you use this link you will need to provide documentation to me that your athlete qualifies. If your athlete has never competed in a meet for SBSC (or another USA Swimming club) you will need to send me a copy of their birth certificate. The preferred way is to electronically send a pdf. If that is not possible you can email a pic or bring a hard copy to the practice. USA Swimming Guidelines - MAAPP/Safe Sport USA Swimming issued a directive with regards to electronic communication and social media contact between coaches and athletes. Most of what is being implemented is common sense and falls in line with our club's policies. One new requirement we will need to adhere to is how your minor child communicates with me. For several years I have asked swimmers in Group 2 and Group 3 to text/email me if they would be missing practice. Moving forward, swimmers will be instructed to include a parent on all communication with me.
 If you are the parent of a Group 2 or Group 3 swimmer, and have never sent me a text before, please text me so I have your contact info in my phone. This way if I need to contact your swimmer about missing practice I can be sure to include you. My cell phone number is 574-276-6057.
 I encourage all parents and swimmers to read the full policy. We are required to keep this policy on our website, here is the link. Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit Below is our fall/winter meet schedule. The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit. Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines are based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the available notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend. Meets marked with an * require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. All pool locations can be found on our website under the "Pools" tab. Intra-Squad Meet/Riley High School/Tuesday October 4/ Swim-A-Thon/Riley High School/Saturday October 15/ WAR Monster Splash/Warsaw Community High School/Saturday October 29/Our Results NASA Sprint Meet (10 & Under ONLY)/Northridge High School/Nov. 5 & 6/Our Results CON Skypoint Invite (11 & Over ONLY)/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov 11-13/Our Results ELK Rudolph Romp/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Dec. 2-4/Our Results DUNE Rumble IN the Region/Chesterton High School/Sat. Dec. 17/Our Results IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 6-8/Our Results CON IMXtreme Challenge/Concord High School/ Jan. 20-22/Our Results CON Last Chance Showdown/Concord High School/Feb. 24-26/Entry Sent *IN Swimming Divisional Championships/Elkhart Aquatic Center/March 3-5/Next Sunday February 19 *IN Swimming Senior State Championships/Pike High School/March 10-12/Sunday February 26 *IN Swimming Age Group State Championships/IUPUI/March 17-19/Sunday March 5 ELK 8 and Under Super Star Championship/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Saturday March 18/Sunday March 5 *USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Championship/IUPUI/March 23-26/Tonight Sunday February 12 As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. -- John VanDriessche Head Coach South Bend Swim Club South Bend Riley High School (574)276-6057 www.southbendswimclub.com #SBSCForLife

Weekly Announcements for Week of 2/5-2/11

Dear SBSC families, Practice Schedule Riley HS Group 1 Monday and Thursday 6:00-7:30 G1 Elite Wednesday 5:30-7:30 Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 5:30-7:30, and Friday 5:00-6:30 Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 5:30-7:15, and Friday 5:00-6:30 New Prairie HS Group 1 Wednesday and Thursday 5:00-6:30 PM CST Group 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-7:00 PM CST Group 3 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:00-6:45 PM CST Practice Notes: Due to coach availability the first RHS Group 1 practice each week will be on Monday. This will be for the rest of this season and possibly into the spring. Riley families please use door #22. This is the door on the northwest corner of the building and faces Fellows Street. If you are planning to stay to watch practice there is a stairwell that is adjacent to this door, and this will lead you to the seating area. New Prairie families continue to use door N18. New Prairie swimmers are always welcome to attend their corresponding group's practice at Riley. New Email I am in the process of switching internet service providers for my home. Sometime in the coming months I will lose access to my embarqmail.com email address. Please use coachvandriessche@gmail.com moving forward. Last Practices of the Season Here are the tentative dates of the last practice for all of our training groups. Some of these dates may change based on coach and/or pool availability. NP Group 1 Thursday March 16 NP Group 2 Thursday February 16* NP Group 3 TBD* RHS Group 1 – Thursday March 16 RHS Group 2/G – Elite Thursday March 16 RHS Group 3 – Wednesday March 22 *NP Group 2 ends in February due to the middle school season starting. We will post the end date for NP Group 3 once we determine how many of those swimmers are returning after the high school season and how far into the championship season they intend to compete. Spring and Summer Season/Registration Our first practice for the spring and summer season will be Monday April 10. The on-line registration will open on or around March 15. If you are currently registered for the fall/winter season your membership will just roll into the next month and you will need to do nothing more. If you selected the seasonal fee for the fall/winter you will be charged the seasonal fee for spring/summer. If you are on the monthly payment plan you will continue to be charged on the first of each month. There will be the additional seasonal charges for spirit wear ($20) and meet surcharge ($15) placed on your account for the May 1 payment date. If your athlete is not swimming in the spring or summer you will need to notify me by email (coachvandriessche@gmail.com) no later than March 26. If you fail to notify me your swimmer is not swimming and are billed for the spring/summer your account may be credited the amount charged but you will not be given a refund. CON Last Chance Showdown – February 24-26 – Concord High School This is our last regular season meet. If your athlete does not qualify for Divisionals or State this will be their last opportunity to compete until May. Please, if your schedule allows, commit your swimmer to this meet. Our final deadline for this meet is tonight Sunday February 5. Volunteer Hours For Group 3 Athletes We are in need of several lifeguards this month at Riley. If you have not volunteered yet please do so. The job sign-up for all volunteering has been set up for Riley. All athletes in this group will be required to volunteer 4 hours between now and the end of the winter season. Due to practices at NP running simultaneously we may not be able to offer volunteer opportunities at that site until high school season begins. Speedo Sectionals The entry process for the upcoming Speedo Sectionals has been changed. Typically meets at this level were all done through the USA Swimming website. Since their new site was launched back in September it has been plagued with issues as I am sure some of you experienced when registering for the USA-S membership. Since the OME (on-line meet entry system) is not operational the meet entry procedure for Sectionals will be the one used for most club’s invitationals. One of the drawbacks of this type of system is entries have to be “manually” entered. The OME system, when operational, could calculate automatically if the total swimmers entered reached the meet limit for number of athletes. Since this automation will now have to be calculated manually the entry deadline has been moved up. The new deadline to declare for this meet is NEXT Sunday February 12. If an athlete qualifies after this time they may still be able to enter the meet if the total cap number for athletes has not been reached. College Swimmers Returning This Summer If you have a college athlete returning home and they plan to train with SBSC there will be a new fee structure for them. College athletes will now be charged $100 per month but will be given up to $50 in meet entry fee credits per month. If they attend one full meet each month while they are home their training fees will be essentially the same as they always have been. We have had a large percentage of our college athletes come back and train with the club but very few have been willing to swim for us at meets. This is not to discourage our college athletes from returning. I hope it results in the exact opposite. There are a couple of reasons why I am instituting this change. One, I believe competition is extremely important for the continued development of all athletes. Two, and probably more important, our high school athletes look up to the college athletes. If our college athletes are attending meets it will set the appropriate example for their younger teammates. Third, I think these athletes should still take pride in their club and I believe the best way to show that is to represent us at meets. USA Swimming Memberships All athletes need to complete the USA Swimming Registration. Here is a link to the document with instructions on how to register with USA-S. A few of our members have had trouble adding their swimmers once they created their own account. If you have trouble after creating a parent account, try using this link. If your swimmer qualifies for the Outreach Membership (free/reduced lunch at their school) click on this link. Remember, if you use this link you will need to provide documentation to me that your athlete qualifies. If your athlete has never competed in a meet for SBSC (or another USA Swimming club) you will need to send me a copy of their birth certificate. The preferred way is to electronically send a pdf. If that is not possible you can email a pic or bring a hard copy to the practice. USA Swimming Guidelines - MAAPP/Safe Sport USA Swimming issued a directive with regards to electronic communication and social media contact between coaches and athletes. Most of what is being implemented is common sense and falls in line with our club's policies. One new requirement we will need to adhere to is how your minor child communicates with me. For several years I have asked swimmers in Group 2 and Group 3 to text/email me if they would be missing practice. Moving forward, swimmers will be instructed to include a parent on all communication with me.
 If you are the parent of a Group 2 or Group 3 swimmer, and have never sent me a text before, please text me so I have your contact info in my phone. This way if I need to contact your swimmer about missing practice I can be sure to include you. My cell phone number is 574-276-6057.
 I encourage all parents and swimmers to read the full policy. We are required to keep this policy on our website, here is the link. Fall and Winter Meet Schedule/Dates of Meet/Location/Deadline to commit Below is our fall/winter meet schedule. The first date listed is the day(s) of the meet and the second date is the deadline to commit. Swimmers wanting to compete will need to commit to those meets. The deadlines are based on deadlines that were set in previous years. They may change once the meet hosts posts the meet information. When committing to multiple day meets if the option to select the days you want is not available, leave a message in the available notes section stating the specific days you would like to attend. Meets marked with an * require swimmers to meet minimum time standards. All pool locations can be found on our website under the "Pools" tab. Intra-Squad Meet/Riley High School/Tuesday October 4/ Swim-A-Thon/Riley High School/Saturday October 15/ WAR Monster Splash/Warsaw Community High School/Saturday October 29/Our Results NASA Sprint Meet (10 & Under ONLY)/Northridge High School/Nov. 5 & 6/Our Results CON Skypoint Invite (11 & Over ONLY)/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Nov 11-13/Our Results ELK Rudolph Romp/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Dec. 2-4/Our Results DUNE Rumble IN the Region/Chesterton High School/Sat. Dec. 17/Our Results IA Tim Welsh Invite/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Jan. 6-8/Our Results CON IMXtreme Challenge/Concord High School/ Jan. 20-22/Our Results CON Last Chance Showdown/Concord High School/Feb. 24-26/Tonight Sunday Feb.5 *IN Swimming Divisional Championships/Elkhart Aquatic Center/March 3-5/Sunday February 19 *IN Swimming Senior State Championships/Pike High School/March 10-12/Sunday February 26 *IN Swimming Age Group State Championships/IUPUI/March 17-19/Sunday March 5 ELK 8 and Under Super Star Championship/Elkhart Aquatic Center/Saturday March 18/Sunday March 5 *USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Championship/IUPUI/March 23-26/Next Sunday February 12 As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. -- John VanDriessche Head Coach South Bend Swim Club South Bend Riley High School (574)276-6057 www.southbendswimclub.com #SBSCForLife