Saturday, June 18, 2011

A few last items for the final day of the meet

Parents - Based on the finish time from Saturday our volunteer hours in the online job sign ups will be short at least an hour. So we are in need of more hands on deck through out the meet. and later in the afternoon session. I would estimate a finish time after 6:15 pm. With this in mind we will need help the last 2 hours of the meet. 

With out singling anyone out or forgetting to give someone the appropriate praise I would like to thank the parents who have worked all three sessions so far and those who do not have a swimmer in the meet and worked tirelessly today. We have completed 3 out of 5 sessions of the meet and hopefully will be in the home stretch soon.

A couple items designated for Sunday's hospitality and concessions were placed out today accidently so if anyone would like to our can bring in a few baked good items (cookies, brownie, etc) or other food item we would be greatly appreciative. 

One last item is we are in need of people to help tear down the meet once it has concluded tomorrow night. The final tear down is the biggest one and we have one parent and myself signed up at this time. 

See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Parents - Parking or stopping for any length of time is not allowed during the SYAP pick up hours 3:00 - 4:30 pm. All RICE Aquatics vehicles should not get in the coned line in front of the Rec Center. Parents must pull all the way up  past the fence line if they need to drop off their swimmers. If you are picking up you must loop back around if your child is not in front of the building. There is cash parking in the garage if this is not an option for your family. Please follow these instructions as they are key to keeping a great relationship with the Rec Center and having the facility for all of our swimmers. Repeated violations will be considered a violation on of our code of conduct and appropriate actions will be taken.


See you at the pool ... but not in the drop off line,


Coach Jason
Parents- The timeline and warm ups PDF has been posted on our site for the meet this weekend. Please take note that the afternoon session warm ups will start at the conclusion of the morning session or at 11:00 am. whichever is later. The current timeline shows the morning ending around noon which would push the actual finish time of the meet back to 6:00 and 6:30 on Saturday and Sunday. All swimmers should arrive at least 20 minutes prior to their warm up times. 
We will be pulling ALL circle in sheets 45 minutes before the start of the meet. Any swimmer not circled in will not be placed in their event. 

Where to Sit - Pop up tents are encouraged for outside the fence line. Parents not working the meet are restricted to the spectator area roped off (this is not permanent seating) near the diving boards. If you are able to bring a pop up tent for use through out the swim meet please email me directly. 

Swimmer Drop Off- All swimmers will need to enter through the exterior gate located near the tennis courts. We will open the gate at 7:55 for warm ups. Only meet prep personnel will be allowed in the gate prior to 7:55 am. On Friday night there will not be a drop off area next to the pool due to the SYAP programs pick up. On Saturday and Sunday there is a quick drop off point right at the start of the fence for tents and swimmers. Parking is in the West Lot 1 and North Lot for this meet and is pay parking. 

There will be concessions and grilling for food options but as always I would pack with a long day in mind.

Volunteer - As a RICE Aquatics hosted meet we are always in need of volunteers to help make the meet runs smoothly. If you are volunteering a complete email with description and layout of the pool will be emailed out later tonight. The complete list of job sign ups will be posted inside the swimmer lounge. If you are not working and would like to come inside the fence line please sign up for an empty slot posted on this sheet. 

Coolers and Drink Drop Off - If you are donating a cooler or drinks please drop those off at the pool at tonights practice. If carrying is an issue you can drop them off at the side gate nearest the pool and I will come around after practice and collect all of the items.

A couple essential jobs we are still in need of at this time.

Gate Monitor - Due to our agreement with the REC Center we must have a parent set up at the gate to help monitor who is coming and going in the facility.

Concession Sales - We need at least 2 people at the table at all times. Randy Schawe is cooking out for us and will need assistance with orders, grilling. etc.

ICE -  WIth the heat we will need a tone of ICE to keep all the water and drink cold for officials, help store hospitality items. We will also need to keep the meat fresh for the grilling being done. Looking to fill all the ICE jobs for the AM and will need replenishing for those arriving in the PM sessions.

Clerk of Course - We will need someone at this table for all the times listed. This is where on deck entries are taken and relay cards handed out.

See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

Monday, June 13, 2011

Drink Donations by Group

Parents - Each group will need to drop of the following drinks for the meet this weekend. You can drop these off Tuesday - Thursday and leave them in the Swimmer Lounge area.

Group 1 - Case of Coke
Group 2 - 12 pack of G2 or Gatorade
Group 3 - Cases of Dr Pepper
Group 4s - Diet Coke/Diet Pr Pepper
Seniors - Case of Sprite
Masters - Cases of Water

See you at the pool,
Jason Wedlick
Rice Aquatics
Head Coach
Parents - I wanted to explain the thought process on how the coaches are choosing events for your swimmers at the upcoming meets. The coaching staff chooses all events for the swimmers at the upcoming meets, this is usually done with some feedback of the swimmer during practice times or at previous meets. Our first goal is to have each swimmer that is capable swim the following events in a season:

10 and Unders
50/100 Fr, 50 Bk, 50 Br, 50 Fly, 100 IM

10 and Unders - Step 2
 200 Fr, 100 Bk, 100 Br, 100 Fly, 200 IM

10 and Unders - Step 3
500/400

11 and 12

100 Fr, 50 Bk, 50 Br, 50 Fly, 200/100 IM (depending on course.)

11 and 12 - Step 2
500/400, 200 Fr, 100 Bk, 100 Br, 100 Fly, 200 IM

11 and 12 - Step 3
1650/1000/800 Fr, 200 Bk, 200 Br, 200 Fly, 400 IM

13 and Overs - Step 1
500/400, 200 Fr, 100 Bk, 100 Br, 100 Fly, 200 IM

13 and Overs - Step 2
1650/1000/800 Fr, 200 Bk, 200 Br, 200 Fly, 400 IM

The coaching staff will typically mix the events the first few meets; some events the swimmer excels at and some new or weak events/strokes. This continues through out the season. One or two meets prior to the championship meets we will typically have the swimmer swim only a couple of their strong strokes or events and swim off event/strokes or events they have not swam recently. The coaching staff refers to this as "swimming away" from their best events. The mind set is we are gearing them for their best events and best times at the championship meet of the season. The idea of swimming away from an event varies for each swimmer but has equal parts training and mental aspects attributed to the philosophy.

Swimmers in Group 3, Group 4 White and Senior 2 need to be swimming IMX events through out the season. Swimmers in Group 1 and 2 should be striving for IMX ready events. You can find out more about IMX and IMX ready events hereIMX and IMX ready has been created by USA swimming to help develop athletes that are capable of swimming multiple events and not specializing at a young age.

For more information please feel free to catch me at the pool or by email.

See you at the pool,

Jason Wedlick
Rice Aquatics
Head Coach
281.627.2418

International Swimmer looking for Host Family

Parents - I have been contacted by 17 year old Venezuelan swimmer who would like to train with RICE Aquatics August - November. She was inquiring about a host family for the time she is here in the states. She is willing to pay for food and board while she is training. If you think your family would be a good host for her please send me an email and we can discuss logistics.



See you the pool,

Coach Jason