Welcome Email - Please Read!
Hello and Welcome to 2024 Windermere Dolphins Swim Team!
A note from Coach Emily: I will be gone on Thursday, May 30th as it is my last day of teaching in Westfield. I cannot wait to be back on Friday for the Mock Meet!
We are so happy to have you and your family be part of the swim team this year! We hope you and your kid(s) will really enjoy the experience and have a fun summer at the pool. We have 105 swimmers this year which will make it an awesome season!
The rest of this email has LOTS of information organized as indicated below, but always feel free to check out the website for additional info: https://
Items included in this email:
- Swim meet sign up information – ACTION REQUIRED
- Team swimsuits
- Coaches
- Swim practices
- Committee and shift assignment information
- Inclement weather information
- Team shirts
- Conduct expectations
- Other
Swim Meet Sign Up Information – ACTION REQUIRED
If you haven’t had a chance, please be sure to check the schedule tab for the dates of our swim meets this season. Note that the final meet, an invitational for all the teams, will take place on Thursday, June 27th during the day (typically from about 8am - 3pm).
In order for your swimmer(s) to be eligible to add to any meet line-up, there are a few steps you must take. First, you need to add your swimmers in Swimmingly using the instructions directly below. Then, when the meets are opened in the system, you will receive an email indicating that you can declare them for each of the meets so that our coaches know to include them in the meet line-up.
Parent/Guardian instructions to add swimmers in Swimmingly:
1. Sign-up or sign-in (if you are a returning family) for your Swimmingly Clubhouse account at clubhouse.swimmingly.app
Go to the Windermere sign up page or if the link doesn't work for you, you should be able to use the following code to continue: 2682e4fa-3afc-11eb-83f7-
2. Choose the 2024 Suburban Swim League season
3. Select your children. If you have any children that are new to the team or that you don't see listed, you can click the 'Add Swimmer' button to add them, and you will just enter name, gender, and birth date.
4. Click submit!
Our coaching staff will be setting the lineup for meets, and they will need to know who will be attending each meet before setting the lineup. When you receive an email indicating a meet is open for sign-up, you will need to indicate if your swimmer is available to swim in the meet (otherwise they will not get included in the line-up!). Our league rules limit the number of heats for each event, so all swimmers do not swim all events and some age groups will have less flexibility than others due to group size.
Team Swimsuits
You can purchase the team suit from Elsmore Swim Shop at 4705 E. 96th Street. You are welcome to visit the shop to try on suit sizes and purchase in person. They should have our logo in the store and can apply to the suit while you wait in store. The website below shows the suit styles and allows you to order directly (but we recommend shopping in person as shipping may take longer than desired). Note that team suits are NOT required, so purchasing a suit is at your discretion. Most swimmers do wear a team suit or a dark blue or black suit at meets.
https://elsmoreswim.com/
Coaches
We are pleased to welcome back a few coaches this year and introduce some new ones! Emily Ratliff is returning as our head coach, and Keaton Chop as an assistant coach. We would like to welcome Chris Tran, Tristan Stivers, and Maddy Page as new assistant coaches, and Sophie Blue and Lyla Cook as new junior coaches. Also, Graham Weir and Luke Cochran will be serving as lifeguards throughout the season. The coaching staff will be interacting with all the kids as they are responsible for running practices, teaching the swim strokes, setting meet line-ups, and encouraging the swimmers during the meets. As this is a recreation league, there will be a balance of friendly competition during the meets and safe swim fun all season! More about the staff here: https://windermeredolphins.
Swim Practices
Swim practice will take place every weekday morning beginning on Thursday, May 30th and ending Wednesday, June 26th.
For practice, swimmers should wear a swimsuit and bring goggles and a towel. We also recommend shorts, sunscreen, water bottle, and tennis shoes to practice (sometimes they warm-up with games outside the pool).
Practice times are by age Monday – Thursday, and all ages together on Friday. Your child’s age group is determined by their age on June 1st, 2024. You can find practice times on the website here: https://
Committee and Shift Assignment Information
Attached is a roster of the Windermere Swim Team for 2024 and a list of your Committee and Shift assignments. For your committees, a board member will be reaching out to your committee team with instructions as the season begins.
We realize things come up and plans change, however, these are the assigned shifts that you chose. If you are unable to work your shift, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to contact and switch with another family or to find a replacement for your shift. If needed, we can share a list of local teens and young adults who may be available to hire for $30+ per meet.
Inclement Weather Information
In the event of inclement weather, we may cancel practice or meets. We will post this information on Swimtopia. You will also receive an email to your email addresses on file.
Team Shirts
Team shirts have been ordered for all registered swimmers and will be passed out the first full week of practice. Please put your swimmer’s name on their shirt ASAP since they all have the same design. We will be wearing these for meets and the invitational.
Conduct Expectations
While the swim team is competitive with other neighborhood teams during our meets, the primary mission of the team is to support fun and a sense of community for our families. We expect swimmers on the team to be kind and supportive to each other, and we expect adults to be great role models by positively cheering for your kids and being respectful to coaches and other families, including those from the other teams.
Other
For pool fun all summer long, the Windermere pool is a great pool and lots of swim team families can be found there on any given day throughout the summer. If you would like to join the pool, visit http://www.
We will have a closing party after the end of the season on Sunday, June 30th in the evening. This is an opportunity to celebrate each swimmer's accomplishments and enjoy some food and fun together! More details will be available later in the season.
Lastly, we want to emphasize that this is a volunteer organization and we need the help of parents like you to keep it fun and exciting for our kids for years to come. Your volunteer commitments during the meets are extremely important and we cannot do it without you! The board volunteers time because they love supporting the team and the community, and seeing all the fun and smiles from the kids during the season is very rewarding! If you are ever interested in becoming more involved, reach out to any of the board members for more information. The current board is Dan Zone, Dave Tocco, Kelly Blue, Erica Seabaugh, Brittany Luebke, and Jeff Heinzmann.
A note from Coach Emily: I know this was a long email, I tried to keep it brief while touching on some "most asked" topics of our season. With all of the above being said, I am so truly lucky that your family has chosen Windermere Dolphins for your summer swim team. We promise to make this an encouraging, enjoyable summer. We want your swimmers to enjoy swimming but also enjoy being with friends/coaches who support them! We are looking forward to a GREAT summer.
