Swim Lessons & JSI!

Hey everyone!

Swim team has been off to a great start! We saw even more new swimmers (and returning swimmers) this morning to kick off Week 2. If you didn't get the newsletter last week, we do have an official swim team email: sellwoodswimteam@gmail.com. If you would like to receive email updates, go ahead and shoot an email to that address, and I will add you to the list.

One thing our swimmers will be working on a lot this summer is building endurance - being able to swim long distances without stopping. It's always amazing to see how much kids will improve throughout the summer. In addition, we will be working on technique and doing the strokes correctly. With each coach overseeing 15-30 kids an hour, it can be challenging to do lots of individual stroke work each day. If your swimmer needs some extra assistance, a great option is to sign up for upper level swim lessons, in addition to swim team. Swimmers who want to work on competitive stroke work can sign up for the Piranha class (it's the pre-competitive level) - there's usually one offered in the mornings (generally at 9:25 AM) and one in the afternoons each session. Other upper level classes like Sea Lion, Dolphin, and Park Shark will also work on stroke development for freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke (and butterfly in Park Shark). These are great ways for swimmers to get individual attention. Usually even just one session will really boost a swimmer's performance by tightening their technique.

In addition, for older swimmers who may be interested in working for Portland Parks some day, Sellwood offers Junior Lifeguard and Junior Swim Instructor classes each session. These classes are a great way to check out the swim instructor and lifeguard programs and see if they are interesting and a good fit. You also get to learn vital skills, like CPR, and actually shadow a lifeguard or swim instructor while they are doing their job. The classes are conveniently in the morning after swim team. Jr Swim Instructor starts at 8:45 and goes until 10:45 and Jr Lifeguard starts at 11 and goes until 2 (includes a lunch break). You can register for all classes, swim lessons and JSI/JL, either at the pool, over the phone (503-823-3679), or online. As an employee who took these classes back when I was on swim team, I can testify that they really did provide valuable experience and help immensely when I was taking the actual Swim Instructor class to get certified to get a job when I was 15.

So those are great options to look into throughout this summer! See ya at the pool!

- Sarah

Sellwood Swim Team 2010!

Welcome to summer! We kicked off a great start to swim team yesterday morning (6/21), and despite the chilly June weather, it's looking to be a promising summer! With lots of old and new faces, we will have a great team this summer, and we should definitely be a competitive force at our meets! Last summer we placed 3rd at the City Championship Meet, and we can definitely do the same this summer...or better!

Practices are Monday-Friday from 7-8 AM and 8-9 AM. We encourage older swimmers (11 and up) to come to the earlier practice and younger swimmers (10 and under) to the 8 AM hour, but feel free to pick whichever hour works better with your schedule. So far, the 7 AM practice has been a little more crowded, but things should even out throughout this week and next.

Remember to register in these couple weeks so every child can receive a Sellwood team shirt and cap before our first swim meet (Saturday, July 10)!

Hey Everybody!

Just a few things we wanted to talk about in this update!

Firstly, excellent job at the meet this past Saturday at Creston. Everybody did fantastic. Our swimmers took first place in every event except for three! So superb job guys! Keep up the good work. Also a big thanks to all the parents who helped volunteer. You guys helped the meet run quick and smoothly!

Secondly, the city meet is coming up in only three weeks!! We have been working hard on the City Meet sign ups and it is SUPER important that you let us know ASAP if you wont be at city so that we can keep that in mind when setting up the relays!

Keep working hard guys!

Water!

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to let everybody know that it's supposed to be a hot one this weekend! It will probably be in the 90s and maybe hotter, so its super important that everybody is drinking lots of water. We don't want anybody to get dehydrated. So make sure that you are drinking lots of water before, during, and after the meet.

So the city meet is coming up the 15th of August, and we are working on getting the city meet entries together this Monday because they are due next week. So firstly, if you won't be at city please let Sarah, Kelsey, or I know as soon as possible! Secondly, each swimmer will be able to swim two individual events, and there are a limited number of relay entries. So it is not guaranteed that every swimmer will be on a relay. We will let the swimmers know if they will be on a relay when we have the city meet entries done.

We are super excited to see all you guys at the meet this Saturday at Creston Pool! Keep swimming hard guys!

-David

update

Howdy Swim Team!!

Just wanted to update y'all about everything Sellwood swim team related...

All the swimmers have been working super hard at practices. We have had some challenging workouts and all the swimmers have been working hard on completing them. Keep up the good work guys!

NEXT THURSDAY (7/23) don't forget to bring old clothes to practice (i.e. old shirts, pants, etc.) We are going to be working on swimming with drag, and then taking off the extra clothes and working on swimming fast. So bring some clothes to get wet and swim in!

We have a potluck this Friday! So make sure y'all bring some food to share.

SWIM MEET SATURDAY! We have our third swim meet this Saturday at Creston swim pool
(4454 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR‎). We hope to see all of our swimmers there!


IMPORTANT:

• Everybody needs to be registered A.S.A.P.
• The City Meet is Aug. 15th! Don't forget! We want as many swimmers there as we can!!
• Also, each swimmer must swim in one dual meet to be able to compete at city.
  

- David

Swim Meet Success!

Our second swim meet yesterday was a total success! I'm very proud of all our swimmers who came - I think we had around 80 at the meet! Despite a warm pool, I heard about lots of personal bests and I saw FAST swimming. :)

Some shout outs to swimmers who did awesome yesterday: thank you SO MUCH to Tanner, Maya, Brandon, Bradden, Ben, and everyone else who was willing to swim two legs of a relay so that their relays didn't have to be canceled! It was so fun to watch our swimmers step up to the challenge! I was also excited to hear about swimmers swimming their personal bests - Hannah Baggs took off 18 seconds on her 50 butterfly from her time last summer!

Also, I know for many swimmers, this was their first ever swim meet. First of all, thanks for showing up! It can be intimidating to think about competing when it's something you've never done before, but all our new swimmers did a great job yesterday and (hopefully!) had fun too. Three new swimmers that not only swam their events but were also willing to swim in relays were Rachel and Mimi Miller and Daphne. Thanks girls!

Just a reminder to all swimmers and parents that if a swimmer needs to leave the meet early, it is VERY important to tell coaches before the meet (if possible) or as soon as you know, because we often place swimmers in the freestyle relays, which are the final events of the meet, and when swimmers leave, it often means other swimmers don't get to swim their last event.

A couple announcements! Tuesday is our TEAM PICTURE DAY! Our team photos will be taken by Clayton Smith, one of our very own Sellwood parents, and you can either purchase them by writing a check to Clayton on Tuesday or you can order them online. Prices differ by size, but a 4x6 is only $2! This is much, much cheaper than the photos we have taken in previous years (which averaged around $13), and Clayton will also be taking pictures of our practice (including totally awesome underwater photos) that are available for purchase online.

Swimmers! Bring your team shirt on Tuesday for photos! Everyone needs to be there by 7:55, so we are ready to go at 8! (If you don't have a team shirt still, I will dig up extras. And, we will be getting the appropriate-sized shirts - not adult extra larges - before the next meet and will hand them out ASAP).

Thanks for your hard work, everyone! Oh, and GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP at the meet! And credit to my mom for taking photos. :)

Practice Makes Perfect!

Sellwood swimmers have been practicing hard these last 3 weeks! They've been learning new strokes and techniques and gaining endurance. We've had a few particularly hard sets in the past couple days, and I just want to thank all the swimmers for pushing themselves hard (shout out to those swimmers who thought they couldn't complete the workout today, but did! Logan, Owen, and everyone else)! I know this will pay off when we swim in meets and at the City Championship Meet!

Speaking of that, the City Meet is on August 15th this year, and I really, really, really want to see as many of our swimmers show up as possible! I know some people will already have vacations and such planned, and that's ok, but we will plan to have everyone there, unless you let us know otherwise. This year we have a really big team and lots of strong swimmers, so I am really hoping that we can place in the top three teams at City! But in order to do that, it's really important that kids show up to help us fill our events.

Swim meet this Saturday at Grant Pool! Please be there at 7:45, warmups start at 8, and the meet starts at 9.

Potluck on Friday! We're asking for everyone to come at 7 if you can (if you can only get there by 8, that's ok, but we'll be done with most of our swimming by then), and we will swim, do team stuff, eat (bring something to share!), and do meet sign-ups.

Note for all swimmers! Make sure to sign up for the meet at the potluck! Once you get your food, come to one of the coaches (we will be sitting in chairs, probably right outside the party room), line up, and tell us what you want to swim. I know last time there was some confusion, but hopefully it will make more sense this time. :)