Hi all!!!  I have learned a lot about our team over the last 7 days:

1. Our coaches are awesome.  They managed 5 days of practice, 2 B meets, 1 A Meet and a Relay Carnival.  They also carved out some time to meet with the parents at the Parent Social.  Thanks Julia, Sara, Nic and AJ!  I really appreciate everything you are doing, and how easy you make my job!

2. Our parents are the best in the MCSL.  We had three road meets in the past four days and our parents showed up at all of them in large numbers.  If you looked around at the meets you saw not only our volunteers, but a cheering section that dwarfed our competition.  Then we had 6 parents ready to swim in the parent relay at Relay Carnival, and we had 20-30 parents show up for the social at Vineyard 61.  It is awesome!

3. After tonight we realize how great our Queen of Concessions, Allison Lynch, truly is.  Allison does a tremendous job providing a large selection of food options at each meet.  As we all looked for food tonight it was clear how fortunate we are to have Allison on our team!!

4. Finally, our swimmers are real team players.  They are always cheering loudly, supporting their teammates even when the are not swimming or cannot swim.  Of special note is Hannah Douglas attending every meet to cheer her mates on despite what appears to be a season ending arm injury.  Most importantly, they are having fun just being together and that is fantastic!

This next 10 days will be a little lighter (one swim meet) until we have another busy stretch at the end of the season!!!

WEEKLY MEET SCHEDULE:

1. Third A- Meet:

WHEN: Saturday, July 2nd @ 9am; warm-ups at 8:00am. Arrive by 7:50am and Check-in with Coach Julia or Coach Sara.

CHALK IT UP: Arrive at 7:30am if you would like to decorate the walkway outside the gate with some artwork welcoming Diamond Farm to our pool. Chalk is provided, but feel free to donate.

WHERE: Plantations II Pool

WHO: Diamond Farm Stingrays

DECLARE YOUR SWIMMERS: Please go on-line and declare your swimmers either AVAILABLE or NOT AVAILABLE for the meet. You must be declared by 6pm, Wednesday, June 29th, so that the coaches can prepare the meet line-up.

VOLUNTEER: While you are declaring your swimmer is AVAILABLE, SIGN-UP to volunteer for a position at this week's meet.

MEET LINE-UP: The meet line-up will be posted Friday, July 1st.

2. Meet Schedule for the Remainder of the Year:

a. Saturday, July 2nd - Diamond Farm @ Home

b. Saturday, July 9th - North Creek @ Home

c. Wednesday, July 13th - Lake Marion @ Home

d. Thursday, July 14th - B Relay Carnival @ Quail Valley

e. Saturday, July 16th - @ Upper County

f. Sunday, July 17th - Piranha Team Relays @ Home

g. Wednesday, July 20th - Flower Hill @ Home

h. Saturday, July 23rd - DIVISIONALS @ West Hillendale

TEAM EVENTS:

1. Piranha Frenzy

WHEN: Friday, July 1st; Practice for all ages except pre-team 8:30-9:30am; Water Polo 9:30-10:30am; Breakfast and Tie-dying for all swimmers including pre-team: 10:30-??

2. Piranha Frenzy

WHEN: Friday, July 8th with the same schedule as above except we will have all swimmers including pre-team arrive at 8:30am for our team picture

3. Damascus Parade

WHEN: Friday, July 8th.  We are still looking for parents with pick-up trucks or a trailer to carry our swimmers in the parade.  Feel free to stay for fireworks after the parade.  More details next week!!!

4. Swim Team Bowling

WHEN: Friday, July 15th 4-6pm

WHERE: Mt. Airy Bowling Lanes, 304 Center St., Mt. Airy, MD 21771

WHO: Swimmers only with Parent Supervision for Swimmers under 10. Please visit the team calendar for event details and to RSVP.

COST: $16/swimmer

TEAM EVENTS THIS WEEK

1. PRACTICE:

Practice continues using the following schedule with the exception of the Frenzy on Friday, July 1st:

a. 11-18 year olds: 8:00-9:30am

b. 10 and under: 9:30-10:30am

c. Pre-team: 10:30-11:00am

2. WE WILL PRACTICE ON MONDAY, JULY 4th with Donuts after each practice!!

GO PIRANHAS!!!!

Mike, Katie, and Cindy