Hello Condor Families, Best of luck to all swimmers competing at the Last Chance Meet this weekend! Congratulations to our top-16 finishers at the IMX Games in Maryland last weekend: Trystan Ng Daniel Trincher Andrew Stolarski Janis Kirsis Kelly Malyszka SOME IMPORTANT MISCELLAENOUS INFORMATION 1. As we approach championship season we wanted to let you know that there are dome caps available for purchase. Please get in contact with Coach Jim at Jim@CondorsSwimming.com. 2. Mark your calendars!! The Condors are pleased to announce that we have selected and booked a location for this year's annual banquet. In response to last year's survey we have decided that we will alternate years; last year was an indoor formal banquet, this year is an outdoor venue, etc. This year we have secured Champion Day Camp: http://www.championdaycamp.com. The date is Saturday, June 21, 2014. Take a look at the site! We will have 2, heated pools, mini-golf, banquet style bar-b-que, access to all sports fields! More information to follow. Diversity Select Camp: Each spring, USA Swimming invites 36 athletes from underrepresented populations to participate in a three-day camp program which includes pool training, motivational and education sessions and team-building activities. Selection is based on times swum at USA Swimming sanctioned events. Click here to see more information. American Red Cross Lifeguard Training Class at Felix Festa: Course Registration: Registration will be by email or telephone confirmation only: pohara@ccsd.edu 624-3970 x5518 or mgreen@ccsd.edu Mandatory Pre Course Meeting and Test: Monday February 24th 3:45pm at FFMS pool
Pre-Course Test Components: 300 yard swim; 2 minute tread; and 10 foot brick recovery After successful completion of the test, be prepared to stay for the remainder of the class that evening Course Dates: Monday-Friday 2/24-3/7 3:30-6:30pm NO MAKE-UP CLASSES OFFERED. ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION IN EVERY CLASS IS REQUIRED! Location: F.F.M.S. Pool, 30 Parrott Road, West Nyack, NY 10994 Eligibility: Must be at least 15 years old by the start of the final class (March 7th, 2014) Cost: $400 for Lifeguard Training, CPR-Pro, and AED Certification $200 Lifeguard Training Challenge (recertification only) ****Books and CPR pocket masks are the responsibility of the student and must be purchased prior to 2/28 from the American Red Cross.**** Please go to shopstaywell.com-----find the aquatics tab on the top right. From there you will select the lifeguarding link Book title: Lifeguarding Participant s Manuel, Rev. 1/12 Item # 655735 8 & Under Championships: We are very excited to start getting ready for the 8 & under championships on March 7th, 8th and 9th. The meet will be hosted by the Condors and take place at Felix Festa. This is such a fun meet for our younger swimmers and we hope that you all will be able to attend. This meet is unique in that there is a team spirit award. Each participating team will come up with a theme and costume for their swimmers to wear. The coaches from all the different teams vote, and the team with the most votes wins the team spirit award. The theme for the our team this year will be "Condors in Wonderland". We also will be having a pizza party sometime after the meet where each child will receive a participation award. The Condors will supply the pizza and the trophies for
our younger swimmers this year. We will be collecting $25.00 per swimmer to cover the costs of costumes and props for the parade. Please turn this in to Sue or Maria directly or your head coach so that materials can be purchased. Any questions please feel free to contact us. Looking forward to a fun and exciting meet! We are hoping for 100% 8 & Under attendance!!! Sue Dwyer - jimsuedwyer@optonline.net Maria Arciniegas - palminator@hotmail.com ***IMPORTANT VOLUNTEER INFORMATION*** 1. The volunteer hours for the Fall Fest and the IMX meet have been posted to volunteer accounts. What hasn't been posted: Penguin Plunge, WFSL meets and Officials sessions. 2. 8 & Under Champs: The Condors have once again been selected by all of the teams in Metropolitan Swimming to host this championship meet. It takes a lot of coordination and effort to host and pull-off a championship meet. For this reason it is part of our membership agreement that ALL FAMILIES MUST VOLUNTEER FOR AT LEAST 1 SESSION OF THIS MEET - THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE EXCEPTION IS IF YOU PAID THE VOLUNTEER OPT-OUT FEE. This information was contained in the membership agreement that your family agreed to at the time of registration - this is simply a reminder of this obligation. The meet is being hosted at Felix Festa on March 7th, 8th and 9th. We will allow athletes of a certain age to participate on behalf of their families in the following capacities: a. Lane Timer: Athlete MUST be AT LEAST 15 years old. b. Lane Coordinator: Athlete MUST be at least 13 years old. 3. Metro Silver Championship Meet - North: This meet is NOT HOSTED by the Condors but is being held at Felix Festa. This meet is hosted by the New York Sharks. The Head Coach of NYSA, Edgar Perez would like to let any Condors athlete know that he would love to have you help out at his meet if you are looking for community service volunteer hours. This meet is February 28 - March 2nd. If you are interested in doing community service hours at this meet, please email Laurie@CondorsSwimming.com and let her know what day/s and if you would prefer an AM or PM session and she will communicate your information to Edgar. Understand, since this is NOT a Condors hosted meet and NYSA is NOT requiring that we provide volunteers no hours are credited to your Condors
volunteer account - this is for community service credit only. 4. Metro Bronze Championship Meet - North: At this point in the season it became clear that there were no teams interested in hosting the Bronze Championships. As a team we feel this meet is important for our swimmers. That being said the Condors have teamed up with the New York Sharks Aquatics and Patriot Swim Club to "tri" host this meet at Mark Twain pool. The dates for this meet are March 21-23, 2014. We will spreading out all of the volunteer duties across the 3 teams. As we work out all of the specifics we will pass them along. Practice Schedule and General Information: Applies to All Locations: 1. ****BE PREPARED*** Apparel requirements MUST be followed. An extensive email was sent out yesterday outlining these requirements for each training group. All coaches have conferred - no more deviation will be accepted. 2. Zone Quals and Sr. Mets: Extremely Important!!! If a swimmer qualifies for one of these meets after today they will need to email Christina@CondorsSwimming.com for an invite to the meet so that they can opt in. IF they qualify after Jan 31st they will need to speak with their coach in order to get entered in the meet. All swimmers that qualify now need to opt in now. ONLY swimmers with new cuts after the 31st will still be allowed to enter the meet late. If they are waiting on extra cuts and do not opt in now they will not be able to enter the meet later because they were already qualified before the deadline passed. 3. Silver Champs invites went out on February 4th. The Opt In will Close at Midning on Wed. Feb 12th. 4. ***REMEMBER*** You DO NOT need an invitation to OPT-IN for meets!!! You can also opt-in by going to the Condors website, and use the blue Online Meet Entry (OME) button that is on the right side of EVERY SINGLE page of the website. Going forward we will NOT accept any
entries that are not OME!! 5. Note: we have been experiencing some issues with the OME system and swimmer names disappearing from accounts. If you find that this is happening to you all you need to do is search for your swimmer again by either name or by USA Swimming ID #. This will "re-add" them to your account. They should not be disappearing again. 6. All coaches at all locations encourage swimmers to have all of the required equipment for their training group. If a swimmer chooses to borrow what equipment is available to them at their training location swimmers should take the initiative to get their equipment before practice so that they are not missing valuable practice time hunting for the proper equipment. WCC: 1. February 10th & 12th - Due to the Boys Varsity Sections Meet @ Felix Festa we are combining practice with the Festa swimmers on those evenings. Here is the schedule: Seniors, senior prep, gold: 5:00-7:00 Silver: 7:00-8:30 Bronze: 7:00-8:00 Stroke Dev: 7:00-8:00 2. If you find that you need to replace your paddles, please replace them with Finis Strapless Agility Paddles. They have been updated to the Kastaway site. Mark Twain 1. Parent meeting Thursday, February 6th at 6:15pm. Please make arrangements to be there! 2. Mark Twain Families: the DISCONTINUE AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS form is due no later than February 15th! This form is only necessary for families who are discontinuing with the program at the completion of the WFSL season, or the end of February. The form is attached to this email. The best way to get it to Laurie is to scan it and email it to Laurie@CondorsSwimming.com.
3. Ribbons are ready for pick-up! Please do not take the envelope that has your child's name on it, just take the ribbons from inside the envelope. 4. Current WFSL Schedule for Condors-Tsunami: *MON THURS FEB 24 27 @MT WFSL TRIALS *SUN MAR 2 @MT WFSL CHAMPS 5. This is directly from Michael, the Aquatics Director, parents are not allowed on the pool deck during practice. Balcony is only open M F from 4 6pm, I will begin enforcing it on Monday. 6. Please make sure that you have the proper equipment needed for your training group! 7. Gold swimmers need to make sure that paddles are part of their equipment bag. ALL SWIMMERS are encouraged to purchase their own fins! 8. Please take note of the updated information board in the hallway outside the pool. This is meant as a visual reminder of upcoming events!! We will do our very best to keep this as up-to-date as possible but you should still mostly rely on the Google Calendar!! 9. Coach Jordan would like to encourage all Bronze group swimmers to purchase their own fins. Felix Festa: 1. WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL USING THE HANDICAPPED SPOTS!!!!!!! STOP DOING IT! THE COACHES AND I SEE IT EVERY DAY AND IT MUST STOP - STOP BEING DISRESPECTFUL!!! 2. February 10th & 12th - Due to the Boys Varsity Sections Meet @ Festa we are moving practice to WCC on those evenings. Here is the schedule: Seniors, senior prep, gold: 5:00-7:00 Silver: 7:00-8:30 Bronze: 7:00-8:00 Stroke Dev: 7:00-8:00 3. The Clarkstown Central School district has a strict policy that does not allow parents to be on the pool deck. Please adhere to this policy.
How to Make Sure You Stay Up-to-Date: 1. Make sure to read the weekly emails that are sent! This cannot be stressed enough you WILL miss valuable information if you do not take the time to read this email!!!! 2. Facebook!! Like us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/condorsswimming. We have been using our Facebook page for a lot more than inspirational pictures!! You will find lost/found items listed on this page as well as accomplishments (swimming and outside of swimming) posted on our page!! If you have any information that you would like posted - please email it to Laurie@CondorsSwimming.com. You have to like us first!!! 3. Google Calendar!! There is a specific Google Calendar for each location under the Schedules tab of the Condors website. You can sync your phone to this calendar to make sure that you get any updates as they happen. Families should get in the habit of checking the calendar once a week. 4. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/condorsswimming Travel Meet Hotel Arrangements: March 14-16, 2014 ~ Metro Junior Olympic Championships Long Island Marriott, 101 James Doolittle Boulevard, Uniondale, NY 11553, (516) 791-3800. Start Date End Date Room Type Single Double 3/13/2014 3/16/2014 Standard 2 Double Beds GTD $169.00 $169.00 Please have the guests in your group directly call Marriott Reservations at 1 (800) 228-9290 or (516) 794-3800 on or before Friday, February 21, 2014, (the Cut Off Date ) to make their sleeping room reservations. Please advise guests to identify themselves as part of the Condors Swim Club group staying at the Long Island Marriott, located at 101 James Doolittle Boulevard, Uniondale, NY 11553-3637. All reservations must be guaranteed with a major credit card. The hotel will not hold any reservations unless secured by credit card
March 20-23, 2014 ~ Winter Sectionals Fairfield Inn - Marriott 359 Elmira Road Ithaca, NY 14850 607-277-1000 Standard Queen Room: $149/night Method: Individuals are responsible for making and paying for their own reservation. Reservations must be received no later than 4pm on 2/20/14 to guarantee group rate. Equipment/Apparel Items &Kastaway: Any questions on Kastaway orders should be sent directly to Kastaway: Contact person: Heidi Kast Phone #: 203-790-8830 See you at the pool!! Laurie & the coaching staff