W E L C O M E Welcome to the Arden Manor Pirates Swim Club! We are a recreational swim team that focuses on developing aquatic skills in a fun and team oriented environment. We are members of the Valley Foothill Competitive Aquatic League, which is comprised of other teams that fall under the umbrella of a community parks and recreation department. We swim against league teams from Auburn, Orangevale, Placerville, Roseville and Rancho Cordova. Our season begins the first week of May and ends in late July with league championships. P R A C T I C E Our team will practice and swim home meets at Deterding Pool, located at 1415 Rushden Drive in Sacramento. Practice schedules may be adjusted during the season depending on the size and make-up of each age group. Swimmers should be prepared to be in the water at the scheduled start time. During the course of the season there may be cancellations due to weather, equipment failure, or other unforeseen circumstances. In the event of a cancellation, an email will be sent, and our Facebook page (facebook.com/ardenmanorpirates) will be updated. Swim Practice what you will need: 1. Practice swim suit 2. Goggles Make sure they fit properly prior to start of practice. 3. Swim Cap Latex caps are the most affordable. 4. Towel Make sure your swimmer dries off thoroughly after practice, as it will help to warm them more quickly. 5. Warm clothes The start of our season and morning practices can be a bit cool, so pack warm clothes to change into after practice. 6. Coachable attitude You will get out of practice what you put into it, so come ready to listen and work! 7. A desire to work hard and have fun - Your results will show on race day!
C O M M U N I C A T I O N We strive to make communication a top priority between parents, coaches, swimmers and the Arden Manor staff. Important meet and practice information will be emailed out to parents. Hard copies of flyers will be posted at the pool and available for pick up at practice. The Arden Manor district office is open from 9:00am 5:00pm Monday-Friday Email will be the main form of communication for the season. If you prefer phones calls to email please let Maria know. C O N T A C T I N F O R M A I T O N For any questions regarding your swimmer please talk to the Coaches before or after practices. For questions regarding payment, volunteer responsibilities, meet locations etc. Please contact Maria Boland, Maria Boland, Recreation & Aquatics Supervisor (916) 487-7851, maria@amrpd.org M E E T S We will compete in two different types of meets during the season. Our league meets are called Dual Meets, and will be one-on-one competitions against other league teams (Auburn, Orangevale, Rancho Cordova, Placerville). We will end the season with Championships, where our swimmers will compete concurrently against all other teams in our league. Meets will be held on Saturdays and will begin at 8:00am. Swimmers will need to arrive before the meet to check-in and warm up. Coaches will provide more information on meet days and arrival times as the season progresses. Meet information will also be updated via email and Facebook. It is the goal of our coaching staff to have each swimmer compete in all events available in his/her age group at least once throughout the season while providing as much variety as possible from meet to meet. Final event selection is made at the discretion of the coaches. MEETS CONTINUED
Swim meets can last up to 8 hours depending on meet type. Being prepared for a full day outdoors is crucial. Here are a few suggestions as to items to pack for a meet: Sunglasses, hat, sunblock Flip flops, shoes Goggles Sweatpants, sweatshirt, t-shirt Suit and swim cap Towels, sleeping bag, blanket Chairs Radios with headphones Cooler with drinks and snacks Games, cards, books We will hold our Time Trials on Saturday, May 21 st. This will serve as a mock swim meet to allow all parents and swimmers to practice and get comfortable with swimming and volunteer procedures. When a swimmer is signed up to attend a meet and does not show up, relay teams are affected, scratch sessions are lengthy, and the start of the meet becomes delayed. If something unexpected comes up and a swimmer cannot attend a meet please contact a swim team representative as soon as possible. P A R E N T P A R T I C I P A T I O N As with any swim team, parent participation is crucial. Meets cannot run without parent volunteers. All parents are required to volunteer for at least four league meets and Championships. Volunteer information sheets will be passed out at the beginning of the season. Before each meet, parents will have the opportunity to sign up for positions either in the meet binder during practice or via email to the Parent Volunteer Coordinator. We will be keeping track of volunteer shifts per family this season to make sure that everyone is pitching in! A midseason fine will be charged to any families who have not fulfilled their volunteer requirements. PARENT PARTICIPATION CONTINUED
And one more thing The most important aspect of your participation as a parent is to support your children and the team by being positive, supportive, respectful, and loud! Show great sportsmanship and always be gracious in victory and defeat. It s the Pirate Way. S W I M M E R P A R T I C I P A T I O N Each swimmer will be provided with the tools and coaching to help them reach their potential. All we ask for in return is that our swimmers come to practice and meets with a positive attitude and respect for coaches, teammates, competitors, and themselves. Coaches have the ability to remove a swimmer from practice should they become, or continue to be, disruptive or detrimental to the team. A parent conference will be scheduled should problems persist. Suspension or removal from the team without refund may occur if behavior does not improve after a parent conference. G L O S S A R Y O F T E R M S As with everything else there is lingo or jargon, same in swimming. This is a partial list of some of the terms you will hear and may not know. Never hesitate to ask another swim parent if you hear something you're unfamiliar with. Remember, we were all first-year parents once. Backstroke Commonly abbreviated as BK. The swimmer start the event in the water and swim on their backs the entire time with some part of the body above the water line at all times. The flutter kick and an upward backward rotating arm stroke are used. This is the only stroke swum on the back. Breaststroke Commonly abbreviated as BR. The swimmer starts with a dive and swims face down. The arms sweep out from the chest underwater and bend at the elbows to complete the stroke. A breaststroke (whip) kick is used. This stroke looks very graceful. At any time the swimmer comes to the wall, both hands must always touch the wall together.
Butterfly Commonly abbreviated as FL. The swimmer starts the event with a dive and swims face down. The arms swing together, forward above the water, and pull back to the legs. Two dolphin kicks are made during each stroke. This stroke requires great strength. At any time the swimmer comes to the wall, both hands must always touch the wall together. DQ Occasionally swimmers are disqualified or DQ'd from their event. This may be for an improper start, turn, or stroke completion. It happens to every swimmer sometime and it is part of the learning experience. The penalty is the swimmer will not get a time, a ribbon and the team will not get any points (if in the first heat). Event Numbers Each event is numbered separately by gender (boys or girls) and age groups. The order in which events are swam in dual, time trials or championship meets vary slightly. Exhibition Race When a coach enters a swimmer into an event where an open spot in available, with the sole purpose of achieving an official time. The swimmer will not achieve a ribbon or gain team points; and an "X" is usually placed next to their final time for clarification purposes. Don't let your child get discouraged if he or she swims an exhibition event. Everyone does, usually several times, during the season. Remember that the time is what is important! False Start The swimmer leaves the diving block before the race officially starts. This is like jumping the gun and happens to every swimmer at some time. The penalty is DQ. This is handled in various ways from not getting to swim the race at all to being allowed to swim the race, but not scoring any points. False starts are decided on an individual meet basis. Final Meet Program This final report is created once the scratch session for teams is completed. The program is sorted sequentially by event number, listing swimmers and assigned heats and lanes. This becomes the final document all officials use during the meet.
Freestyle Commonly abbreviated as FR. This means literally any style, but most swimmers choose the front crawl. The swimmer starts the event with a dive and swims face down. The arms move in a steady circular motion as the legs do a flutter kick. This is the fastest stroke of all strokes. Freestyle Relay Four swimmers, each swimming freestyle for 1/4 equal lengths of total length of event. No person shall swim more than one leg of the relay race. The swimmer in the water must end their leg of the race before the next swimmer is allowed to start the next leg. Heats If an age group has more swimmers participating in the event then there are lanes in the pool, the event must be divided into groups. These groups are called heats; a swimmer s seed time is what dictates which heat they will swim in. Swimmers posting the fastest times swim in the last heat and swim in the middle lanes. Individual Medley Commonly abbreviated as IM. The swimmer swims a combination of the strokes in 1/4 equal lengths of total length of event in this order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle (which must be the front crawl and cannot be any form of the other strokes). The swimmer must comply with the rules of each stroke. Transition turns between the strokes shall conform, before the touch, to the finish rules for the stroke being completed and, after the touch, to the turn rules for the stroke about to be swum (note: strike order is different from the medley relay stroke order). Medley Relay Similar to the freestyle relay, except each swimmer swims a different stroke in the following order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle (note: alphabetical order and different from the individual medley stroke order). Non-Conference Meet When a team swims against another team outside their group, or conference. The win/loss of this conference meet does not count toward the team s conference record. This is sometimes viewed as a practice meet.
NT Literally means No Time. If going into a meet, a swimmer has yet to achieve an official time for a particular event, and they are scheduled to swim that event, they are entered in as an NT and will swim in the last heat of a particular event. Preliminary Meet Program This preliminary report is created and posted at the morning of the meet so swimmers can view the events they are scheduled to swim. This is considered a preliminary program because the lane and heat assignment can change depending on what transpires during the scratch session. Then a Final Meet Program is produced. Scratch Session This happens at every swim meet and is the session between swimmers checking in and before the meet begins. Both teams meet with the computer person and removes (or scratches) swimmers from their preliminary scheduled events or the entire meet. It is important to note that once changes are made in the scratch session, no further substitutions are allowed. Consequently, if your family is unable to arrive at the meet on time, the coaches have no alternative but to scratch your swimmer(s) from the meet. Seed Times Final times that were attained by a swimmer at a previous sanctioned meets that are used to place the appropriate heat in a subsequent meet.
2016 PARENT HANDBOOK