Nothing to do? Go to Water World

Gators,
Now that swim team is over and you don't know what to do with your time think about going to Water World.  We still have discounted Water World tickets for sale.  These can be used any day of the 2014 Water World Season.  These tickets are just $30.00 each.  Please spread the word to your family and friends.  Once these tickets are gone they are gone, don't miss out!
Please contact Jennifer Friedrichs at 303-358-8721 or cjmfriedrichs@aol.com to make arrangements to get these. 

Un-Believable

Gators,

I just wanted to take a moment this morning to congratulate everybody on a fantastic season.  But this wasn't just your typical season at Green Mountain.  We've accomplished one of the biggest feats in team history

In case you missed the big news - your Green Mountain Gators took home the 3rd place trophy for Division 1 at state yesterday.  I can't state in words how HUGE this is.

Historically, I don't know if the Gators have ever placed this well, but the coaches couldn't be any more proud of you all. When I first began swimming for this club we would take a handful of swimmers to the state meet. I've been on and with the swim team for 10 years now; it's unbelievable to see that we have become one of the big titans at the state meet.

We had some outstanding swims all three days and there are simply too many of you to mention individually, but I applaud all of you that did swim at this meet.

To all swimmers - thank you for your efforts at the pool this year.  I've been so lucky to be a part of this team as long as I have and every single one of you makes it worth coming back each year.  The amount of pride I have being a coach of the Green Mountain Gators is something I simply cannot put in words.  On average, my summers are almost always the most chaotic part of my year.  It would be easy in theory to hang up the stopwatch and eliminate early mornings and long Saturdays in order to find some down time.  The truth is, coaching is one of the most rewarding parts of my life.  Getting to watch all of you swimmers conquer yourself and grow up gives me all the incentive I need to keep coming back.  Point in fact below:

Dylan, Brady, Hannah, Inez & Coaches 2014

Dylan & Coach Josh - 2009

Hannah & Not-Yet-Coach Josh 2007

A moment for some special thank you's:

• Parents - You are perhaps the most under-recognized group that makes this swim team what it is.  Your dedication to getting your kids to the pool, motivating them, timing at meets, working alongside the coaching staff, helping set up the pool on meet days, running the heating shed, and all of the various other roles you take on, make our season flow as smoothly as it does.  So thank you, for all that you do for your kids and for our team - we are unbelievable lucky to have you.
• Board Members - These people are who make the season possible. A lot of people don't realize how much effort goes into planning the summer season alone, let alone planning activities like fall/winter clinics (more on that later). More importantly they are the coaching staff's support net and gave us all the opportunity to be here this summer.  It's an indescribable feeling to be able to share our knowledge of a sport we're passionate about with these athletes, and you all make that possible.
• My Fellow Coaches - Porter, Jaimie and Ethan deserve a standing ovation for their efforts this season.  I've been so fortunate to share this pool deck with some great minds and phenomenal coaches including Rich, Shelby, and now these three. 
•  I first got to meet Porter in an on-the-job interview of sorts over the spring while finishing up winter-clinics.  It was admittedly a sink-or-swim scenario when I let him take the reins with minimal guidance, just to see how he would do.  He took the opportunity and ran with it. His amount of knowledge in this sport has made a significant impact on this team and I'm lucky to be able to have him as a colleague. I want to wish him the best in this coming year as a freshman at CU (Go Buffs!)
• Jaimie - I don't even know where to begin. Jaimie has dedicated an incredible amount of time and effort this season and is undoubtedly responsible for much of the success we've had.  Not only did she take on an incredible amount of responsibility with this team, but she also had another job to tend to this summer. She managed her time wonderfully and never once showed up to practice with anything but a smile.  Her ambitions to see this team succeed drove us to being able to hold that 3rd place trophy.  While Porter will be just starting his college career, Jaimie's is drawing to a close this year as she finishes up her nursing degree.  I want to wish her an expedient yet fun-filled final year.  Best of luck in what will surely be a challenging year.
• Ethan - I look at Ethan and it's hard to believe he's only going to be a senior in high school.  He is one of the most well put together 17 year old's I have ever met.  I look at myself when I was his age and he is eon's ahead of where I was in cognizance and composure.  As a swimmer there's not enough I can say about Ethan. To watch him progress from when I first started coaching to the remarkable athlete he is now makes me immensely proud.  Perhaps the more outstanding feature of this season though is watching Ethan develop as a coach.  He has a natural confidence in coaching the lower division and was crucial in taking on the 8 & under division this year. Thank you for your dedication this year and I hope your senior year is nothing but amazing.

Best of luck to you all in this coming year!  Keep in touch with the Gator Blog.  We will be posting information about the Fall/Winter Clinics sometime soon.  I hope to see you there!

-Coach Josh

State Meet

The time has come, Gators! I hope you're all ready to swim fast at State this weekend!! I just had a couple notes for you all about the meet:

Friday: 400 swimmers should still come to practice at 8am to do a wake up swim and some pacing. It won't be anything hard, but it is important to get a warm up in. Warm ups for the 400s on Friday will start at 2:00pm, and the meet will start at 3:00pm. 

There is still practice for all the State swimmers on Friday morning. 

Saturday: 12 and Unders Since there will be limited lane space at Splash, we have decided to hold warm ups at Green Mountain again this weekend (it worked well for League!). We will be warming up at GMSC from 7:00-7:30am, then we will head over to Splash to do some starts. The meet will start at 9am.

Sunday: 13 and Up We will also be doing our warm up at Green Mountain so the lanes aren't as crowded. Warm up will be from 7:00-7:30am, then we will head to Splash to do some starts. The meet will start at 9:00am. 

There will be NO PARKING in the parking lot, but there is plenty of parking in the parking lots across the street!

Will they win?

To keep with tradition, the coaches have agreed to a relay swim tonight.  If there is time after the awards are completed tonight the coaches will challenge other age groups as well as parents to a relay swim.  So swimmers and parents bring your swimming suits and be ready to swim fast. Hope we can all witness this event.  We can't wait to see if the coaches have what it takes to swim with the Gators!

End of year banquet

As we bring our swim season to a close we would like everyone to join us for our end of the season banquet on Wednesday evening.  We will be having a "pot luck" dinner at the pool beginning at 5:30 p.m.  We will begin dinner at 5:30 p.m. and awards will follow shortly after.  We ask that each family bring a side dish or dessert to share (depending on your last name).  Please make sure you bring a serving utensil for your dish if necessary.  We will be serving pizza and water.
If your last name begins with A-P please bring a side dish to share
If your last name begins with Q-Z please provide a dessert

Weekly Update

AWESOME JOB GATORS!!! We won SECOND PLACE at League, which is very exciting! We had some unbelievable time drops, best times, broken records, and new State cuts. I could not be more proud of any of you!

Even though you already got to push the coaches in, I would also like to reward you by letting you sleep in tomorrow, so there will be NO PRACTICE Monday morning!

Practices this week will be for State swimmers and will be held from 8-10am. Swimmers ages 13&up will practice from 8-9, and swimmers ages 12&under will practice from 9-10.

The coaches will be making State entries tomorrow morning, and I will be sending in the final entries before I go to work tomorrow morning at 10am. There will be NO late entries accepted, so if you have not signed up online or on the papers I had today, you need to sign up this afternoon. I would also appreciate it if you could let me know if you will not be at State so I know not to put you in a relay.

We still need swimmers who are willing to swim on relays at State, so if you are available, PLEASE sign up!!

State Entries

The links for State entries are up!! I will let the swimmers choose whatever they want to swim at State since I chose what they swam at League. Please make sure to sign up by Sunday night so the coaches can check times and make relays before the entries are due on Monday morning. The host team will not accept late entries for the State meet.

If you have not qualified for State, but are available for relays, please make sure to sign up as well!

Thanks!

Important Information About This Weekend

Hi Gators! I have a few important announcements about practice this week, warm up times, and parking for League:

• This Friday, Upper Division swimmers will start at 7am instead of 6:30am. Swimmers who will be competing in the 400 at League will be expected to show up to the pool at 9am to do a wake up swim and some pace work. All other practices will be at the normal times. 
• On Friday, 400 swimmers will need to arrive to the Stingrays' pool at 4pm. Positive check-in and warm up will start at 4:15pm, and the meet will start at 5pm. 
• Saturday and Sunday's warm ups will be held at Green Mountain from 6:15-6:45am. At 6:45 we will get out of the water and head over to Columbine Knolls. All swimmers will need to arrive at Columbine Knolls by 7:30am at the latest in order to do a few starts before the meet begins. The meet will start at 8am. 
• The reason for this is that at Columbine Knolls, we would only have 3 lanes and 20 minutes for our 79 swimmers to warm up. We will get a much better warm up in at Green Mountain.
• On Saturday and Sunday there will be no parking in the parking lot at Columbine Knolls. The parking lot is only for coaches. There will be parking just north of the pool at Normandy Elementary School. There is also neighborhood parking, but I have been asked to let you all know that they will be ticketing any cars that are blocking driveways. 

Here is the League psych sheet. I hope all you swimmers are getting excited! It's going to be a great meet and I can't wait to see all of you swim fast :) 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_AXeYFOZE3xVExwb1NMTWZZX3BaZGYzT1ROYUtEc3hSVXcw/edit?usp=sharing

No Night Practices This Week

There will be no night practices this week leading up to League, or next week leading up to State. Upper division swimmers will be able to work on their strokes at morning practice with Josh, Porter, or me since there are less swimmers at practice now. See you all in the morning and tomorrow night for the tye dye party!

Tie-Dye Party

Tomorrow we will be having our Gator tie-dye and ice cream party. We will begin at 5:30. You will need to bring your own item to tie-dye. We will also have white Green Mountain Gator swim team t-shirts and tank tops available for purchase($12.00 each) to be dyed. We ask that you bring your items already rubber banded in the design you would like. We will have yellow, green and blue dye.
We will also be serving ice cream. We would like a few parents help to help scoop ice cream and monitor the ice cream toppings.
If the weather cooperates the kids will be allowed to swim in the pool.
And last, there was a note in each swimmers folder regarding collecting new/unopened school supplies.  Please consider donating new school supplies tomorrow. These will be collected and donated to less privileged families.

Weekly Update- IMPORTANT LEAGUE INFORMATION

Awesome job this season Gators! After yesterday's dual meet against AAC, we are UNDEFEATED in dual meets for the summer! We also had some swimmers make new League and State times today at the Last Chance meet, which is great.

Practices this week will only be for swimmers who have League qualifying times or are swimming in relays at League. Everyone else gets to sleep in and I will see you all for the tye dye party this Wednesday and the banquet next Wednesday!

The revised League entries will be available on Tuesday. Please make sure to look at them. Thank you!

Deadline for photos 7/14

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We had a lot of swimming going on this weekend.  I just wanted to remind you that if you would like to purchase an age group photo or any additional photos from the photographer I will need all orders and money by tomorrow (Monday 7/14).  If you would like to see what these pictures look like they are posted on our photo board at the pool.  Please let me know if you have any questions.
You can also contact me at 303-358-8721 or cjmfriedrichs@aol.com if you have questions.

Last chance to volunteer

Here is your last chance to volunteer.  Parents we need your help!  We are hosting the last chance meet at our pool tomorrow.  We are in need of some volunteers to help run this meet.  If you child is swimming in this meet we would like you to volunteer your time.  And if you can't think of anything better to do on a Sunday morning you are welcome to stop by the pool, we could always use your help too.  Below is the link to the sign up for the positions we are responsible for.  We may also have additional timer slots available depending on the other teams turn outs.


http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054caba822a75-last1




Thanks so much for your help on this meet and in previous meets.

League Meet Information

Hi Gators! I can't believe that next weekend is already League weekend! Since it is only a week and a half away, and since the coaches will be sending in the entries for the meet this Sunday afternoon, I have a couple notes for all you swimmers and parents:

• Most importantly, I expect everyone who is available next weekend to swim at the League meet. We have very high goals as a team, and in order to do as well as we would like to, we need as many swimmers as possible. Everyone with League qualifying times should be swimming, even if you already have your State times. There will be plenty of time to rest in between the two meets.
• Josh, Ethan, Porter, and I will be deciding on entries, and we would like to have a swimmer in every event. This means that swimmers may not be swimming their favorite events. We want all of our swimmers to do really well, and we will choose events that you will do well in. 
• Every swimmer needs to use the sign-up link to indicate 'yes' or 'no' to swimming at the meet by Saturday evening. There is also an option for swimmers who have not made the qualifying times yet to swim on relays. Relays are worth double points, so I would love to bring as many relays as possible. If you do not have qualifying times, but are available to swim, please say yes to relays.

On Friday, July 18th, the Upper Division swimmers will swim their 400s at the Stingray's pool. Warm-up will start at 4:15pm, and the meet will start at 5:00pm. Upper division swimmers need to talk to me at practice if they are unable to make it to the meet on Friday so I know not to sign them up for the 400. If you do not talk to me, I will assume you are available on Friday if I need 400 swimmers.

Saturday, July 19th will be events 7-64. 

Sunday, July 20th will be events 65-110.

Both Saturday and Sunday, the meet will be held at Columbine Knolls. We will have warm up from 6:20am-6:40am, with the meet starting at 8:00am. 

We will have more information about volunteer duties by early next week.

If there are any questions, do not hesitate to email me at jaimiestevens27@gmail.com or text me at (612) 810-7879. :)

Tuesday's Night Practice Canceled!

Since no coaches are able to make it back to the pool tonight, night practice has been canceled. See you in the morning!

Water World tickets still available

We still have Water World tickets available.  These tickets can by used by anyone for any day in the 2014 Water World season.  These tickets are sold at a discount price of $30.00 per ticket.  Please spread the word to your family and friends.  Please see Jennifer Friedrichs to purchase these tickets.  Once they are gone they are gone! 

Age group photos

Last week when we had our team photos taken the photographer also took age group pictures.  If you purchased a package this age group photo will be provided to you as a gift.  If you would like to purchase your child's age group picture you still can do this.  These pictures are each $7.00.  Please let Jennifer Friedrichs know by Friday, July 11th if you would like to purchase one.  You will need to have the money turned in before the order will be placed (if you are writing a check please make this payable to Mardell Studios).  We apologize for the delay in information about ordering these, but we were not sure if the time would allow the photographer to take separate age group photos.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

This Week's Clinics

Clinics this week will be breaststroke on Tuesday, and starts and turns on Thursday. Please remember each swimmer is limited to 2 clinics for the summer so that everyone gets a chance to work on their strokes. Here is the link to sign up:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PgHoEdCkC-85qkJ5bksL0Buuy0VyFwquK9FsCljDtXA/edit?usp=sharing

Fourth of July

Just a reminder there is no practice tonight or tomorrow morning, and no meet on Saturday. I hope everyone is doing something fun this weekend! See you on Monday!!