Br Under Water Pull

Seniors Practice Schedule for June.

Parents/Swimmers - A quick look forward for the month of June for Seniors.

We will go normal schedule through Thursday the 6th of June.

Friday (June 7th) - We will go 7:00 - 9:00 am in the morning. There will be no afternoon with coaches at meets in A&M and TWST. 

Saturday (June 8th) - Practice will be on for those not attending the meet. This will be with Amanda and the college swimmers.

Monday (June 10th) - We will start our Summer Schedule - Monday - Friday 7:00 - 9:00 am, Saturday 8:00 - 9:30 am. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we will have afternoons 4:00 - 5:30 pm. All swimmers in the senior group should be attending the am practices and doubling up when we have PM's. On the Doubles we will be working on strokes,starts,turns,pulling or kicking in the 2nd practice. Just a reminder that our dive in time for the am's is 7:00 so all swimmers should be on deck and ready by 6:50 am. 

We will continue through our last meet in July. 

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Parents/Swimmers - We will be adjusting our practice schedule tonight due to coaches travel and the swim meet tonight through the weekend. 

Group 1W and 2 - Combined 4:30-5:30 pm. No Drylands

Senior - 4:30 - 6:15 pm. No Drylands

Group 3,4 Navy/White - 6:15 - 7:30 pm. No Drylands

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Parents -The invite has been revised for the FSCT meet this weekend. (Location change) The tentative timeline is also online for this event. If your swimmer is not making the meet please email me directly with the subject FCST - Scratch so I can let the host team know for on-deck seeding purposes. (Our entries have already been sent so a charge for the meet will still be made to your account.)

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Parents - We have received many emails about private lessons over the last couple weeks. Coaches do give private lessons on a first come first basis. If you email we can help set up a time and date for your lesson. Thirty minute lessons run $40 and are payable cash or check to the coach giving the lesson. Lesson times currently are :

Monday - Friday

3:00 - 3:30, 3:30 - 4:00, 4:00 - 4:30 pm and 8:00 - 8:30 pm depending on day.

Saturday 

9:30 - 10:00 am ( On non-meet weekends)

We would like to make sure we are getting all of our RICE swimmers booked prior to having outside swimmers schedule lessons.

If you have any questions you can email me directly.

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Pool Information for Tonight

Parents/Swimmers - I just received notice that the there is a malfunction with the pool's heater. The has been shutting itself off automaticly through out the day. Due to this, the temps in the pool should be the same as last nights practice. A part will be in tomorrow am to fix the issue and help the heater regulate itself through out the day. We will be tarping part of the pool tonight as well to help with the water temps.

There will still be practice for all swimmers.

We are currently in the most up and down time in regards to pool temps. With lows at nights cooling but highs during the day staying in the upper 80's and lower 90's it is tough to regulate the pool at a completly steady temp. Any heat applied to the pool does take a little time to take effect. As a result for our littlest swimmers a warm pool one day may be a little chilly one the next. As the temps steady out at a cooler rate the pool itself will mantain its temp more frequently. A couple things that can be done on your end and ours to help keep swim practice fun and productive during these weeks:

• We will be tarping the pool and using heat to keep the pool at an adequate temp for all of our groups to train in through the winter months.
• If there are any sudden drops to the ambient or pool temp we will make the neccesarry changes to practice times or what is being done during work out hours. If we feel the combined temps are to low for some of our groups we will notify of practice changes via email.
• Having swimmers bring their Warm Up// Parka every day will help when temps are warm at arrival but cooler post practice. Keeping a set of warm ups in the swim bag is a good habit to start this week.
• For swimmers in Group 2 and below, a warm thermos of HOT Apple Cider or HOT chocalate is great to sip on while on the wall either listening for instructions or inbetween sets. 
  • We will also organize days in November and December where a parent brings some for post practice.
• Remind swimmers to bring their towels with them near their lanes if the are starting on the other end of the pool. This will cut down in the amount of wet time out of the water post practice. 
• Caps for boys can help during december to keep some heat on the swimmers head as outside air cools.

Thank you for supporting your swimmers and RICE Aquatics,

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Getting Out News To Parents and Swimmers

Parents and Swimmers- In an effort to get information to you in a timely and effecient manner RICE Aquatics has set up the following system for news/updates/etc.

• Twitter - @RICEAquatics
  • We have set up a twitter account and have a twitter feed on the front page of our website. This will be used for pool closures/openings that happen during practice, links to swimming articles and anything else on the topic of swimming.
  • This will be used for instant updates when the staff can not get to the computer for email during practice. (WEATHER)
• Facebook - RICE Aquatics Page
  • We will use this in the same manner as the twitter feed. You might also find a little more indepth write ups from the staff, updates from swim meets, articles pertaining to RICE Aquatics
• Blog- http://rice-aquatics.blogspot.com
  • The blog will only be used for placeholders for article linked on our FB page or Twitter account. You should be able to access it when needed by links we send out in FB and Twitter. 
• News on Website - www.riceaquatics.com
  • This will be for bigger ticket items such as:
    • Permanent Pool Closures in advance, Scheduling for holidays, Articles pertaining to RICE Aquatics at specific meets. Achievements by team, swimmers or coaches. You can always find these on the front page of the website under the news link.
• Email
  • We will try and follow up all of these feeds with emails of the important information to our members. We will limit things like swimming articles, nutrition and etc to our users finding them in the above resources. 

Hopefully between these avenues we will be able to better serve everyone especially when there are weather issues in or around the area.

See you at the pool,

Coach Jason

Master Swimmers - The Fall 2012 registration is now live on our website. All master swimmers must register online in order to swim in the upcoming session. 

• You can find the link for the registration on our front page by click Masters registration from the left hand side of the website
• You can also scroll down and click "register online" next to the Masters Registration even link. 
• You can not access the Masters registration by clicking "Start Registration from the left hand side of the website. This is for our Age Group swimmers only. 
• If you are still unable to find the links just click here.

A couple notes on payment options

• Paying by Check
  • You still have to register online through the website and choose pay by check as your payment option. 
  • Dropping off a check at the pool prior to or in place of registering online will not allow you to gain access to our practices.
  • Please make it out to RICE Aquatics Masters. If you give a coach a check please follow up with an email to billing@riceaquatics.com so we can ensure your check is registered quickly in our system.
• Paying by ACH or CC
  • We are no longer doing reoccurring invoices for our Masters registration. This means you will need to log in and enter your CC info with each registration to ensure you are billed properly.
  • CC should be an instant payment and ACH can take up to 3 business days to clear your bank.
• Questions about Registration
  • If you have any questions please send billing@riceaquatics.com an email prior to registering online. 

We will be updating our roster through the 1st of September with Fall registrations. Starting on the 1st of September ID cards will be de-activated for those members who have not registered online.

Thank you for being apart of RICE Aquatics!

Fall 2012 Swimming Information:

New Swimmers to RICE Aquatics We will begin taking reservations for our Fall 2012 swimmer evaluations on August 1st. Please follow the link above (Fall 2012 New Age Group Registration) to get more info on the process. All reservations are first come first serve starting the 1st of August. We will be having our evaluations the week of August 20th.

Returning Swimmers (Swam the Summer 2012 Session)

We will begin online re-registration through the registration link starting August 1st and run through August 15th. When logging in first view your swimmers placed group and register them for that appropriate group in the session. We will begin practice the week of the 27th and have limited pre-session practice the week of the 20th. More info will be emailed out once registered. All swimmers registering for the Fall 2012 session must be current with their dues and meet fees. Registration is possible past the 15th but we will begin filling groups with returning swimmers from the Spring and Fall sessions. On the 20th we will begin filling spots with new swimmer evaluations.


Returning Swimmers (Swam Spring 2012 or Fall 2011 Session)

We will begin online re-registration through the registration link starting August 13th  and run through August 19th. When logging in first view your swimmers placed group and register them for that appropriate group in the session. We will begin practice the week of the 27th and have limited pre-session practice the week of the 20th. More info will be emailed out once registered. All swimmers registering for the Fall 2012 session must be current with their dues and meet fees. Registration is possible past the 19th but we will begin filling groups with new swimmers from the evaluation process.

Parents/ Swimmers - Please find the following schedule for the next couple weeks as we close out our Summer Schedule. We still have swimmers going to the B and Under MAC meet this weekend and TAGS next week. 

*TAGS Swimmers will be notified of what practices to attend. *

Senior Swimmers  

7/16/12 Single practices 7:00 - 9:00 PM Monday - Friday or Monday and Friday 5:30-6:30 PM

7/23/12 Monday - Wednesday AM 7:00 - 9:00 AM

7/26/12 Thursday PM 4:00 - 5:15 PM Combined Team Skills and Drills Practice.

Swimmers in Senior 2 with consint from Coach Jason are allowed to swim with Masters AM or PM to stay in shape through out the break period.

Group 4 Swimmers  

7/16/12 Single practices AM 7:00 - 9:00 am. Monday - Friday or Monday and Friday 5:30-6:30 PM

7/23/12 Monday - Wednesday 7:00 - 9:00 AM

7/26/12 Thursday PM 4:00 - 5:15 PM Combined Team Skills and Drills Practice.

Swimmers in Group 4 White with consint from Coach Jason are allowed to swim with Masters AM or PM to stay in shape through out the break period.

Group 3 Swimmers 

7/16/12 Single practices AM 7:00 - 9:00 am. Monday - Friday or Singles 4:00 - 5:30 PM. Monday - Friday (NO Doubles)

7/23/12 Monday - Thursday PM 4:00 - 5:15 PM Combined Team Skills and Drills Practice.

Group 2 

7/16/12 Monday - Friday - Normal Practice Schedule leading into the MAC Champs meet.

7/23/12 Monday - Thursday PM 4:00 - 5:15 PM Combined Team Skills and Drills Practice

Group 1 Swimmers 

7/16/12 Monday - Friday - Normal Practice Schedule leading into the MAC Champs meet.

7/23/12 Monday - Thursday PM 4:00 - 5:15 PM Combined Team Skills and Drills Practice.

There will be no practice on Friday July 27th. Unless otherwise stated for your group. We will then begin our break, further details on re-registration and fall schedule will be available July 23rd. For those who have friends wanting evaluations for the fall we will start our reservation process on the 1st of August. Please have them check the website at that time.

Lets finsih up the season strong this weekend and next!

RICE Aquatics Coaching Staff

New Swimmers to RICE Aquatics

Thank you for the inquiry into the program. We currently are beginning to wrap up our Summer session of swimming with Championship meets starting next weekend. At this time we are not taking new swimmers in for the last month of July, instead we will have new swimmer evaluations in August. Our August evaluations are first come first serve via email starting August 1st. We will have all of the info up on our website the last week of July. You will need to email the link provided at that time with all the info listed. We then email back with a specific time and date for each evaluation. We typically have the evaluations the 3rd or 4th week of August with full time practices starting the first week of September. (Our teams takes a few weeks off in early August).

We do have coaches who continue to give private lessons to our swimmers and those wanting to work on technique and etc if you are wanting to keep your swimmer active in swimming and interested post Olympic Trials and pre-Olympics. If this is something you would like to purse send an email to 1on1swimlessons@riceaquatics.com    

Parents - The Rec Center has informed me on an ongoing issue with the mens locker room area (not the exterior single serve mens room). There have been issues with kids entering the bathroom stalls and locking them then sliding out under the door. At this point they havn't pin pointed it to any group but assume it is one of the youth groups using the facility. Please make sure to talk to your swimmers about the usage of the locker rooms and behavior inside them. Swimmers in Group 3 and below should be using the exterior restroom next to our storage room and limitting their access to the larger locker room inside the building.

Thank you for all you guys do,
Coach Jason

Hospitality Items Needed for Donation

Parents- With the upcoming meet we will need to feed many coaches and volunteers. I have listed a menu with items we will need donated to make this happen. There will be a job sign up for these items on the website tomorrow am. Please log on and select what item you would like to bring. This way we ensure we are not doubling up on one item. This is a great opportunity for those who do not have a child attending the meet to contribute service hours and ensure the meet is a success. If you have any questions please email me directly.

Friday Dinner:
Menu:
Pasta Salads 
French Bread
Brownies

Servings:

• 4 x Pasta Salad ( 8 Servings per x)
• 4 x 2 Sliced Loaves French Bread
• 4 x brownies (Serves 10)
• 1 x Fruit Tray 
• 2 x Large Bag of M&M's with small cups to serve with.

Saturday Breakfast:

Menu:

Breakfast Tacos

Fruit

Bars ( Granola, Cliff, Mojo, and etc)

Servings:

• 2 x 10 Breakfast Tacos w/sausage 
• 2 x 10 Breakfast Tacos w/bacon
• 2 x 10 Breakfast Tacos w/no meat
• 3 Jars of Salsa ( Mild, Regular and Something special) 
• 2 x 18 Bananas
• 2 x 18 Apples 
• 4 x 3 boxes of Bars 
• Coffee ( Starbucks sells a portable coffee box) 
• Creamer Powder (Lite)
• RAW Cane Sugar
• Oj

Saturday Lunch:

Menu:

Fruit Salad

Sub Sandwich Tray

Cookies

Chips

Servings:

• 4 x Fruit Salad ( 8 Servings)
• 5 x Sub Sandwich tray (10 Servings)
• 5 x Cookies (10 Servings)
• 4 x 3 boxes of Bars 
• 3 x Large Bag of Chips (2 Large Bags)

Saturday Dinner:

Menu:

Pizza

Cake

Green Salad

Chips

Servings:

• Pizza ( X Large 20 boxes - Provided by RICE Aquatics)
• 4 x Large Chips ( 2 Large Bags)
• 4 x 3 boxes of Bars 
• 3 x Large Bag of Chips (2 Large Bags)

Sunday Breakfast:

Menu:

Bagels

Donuts

Fruit

Servings:

• 4 x 12 bagels
• 3 x 2 Dozen Donuts 
• 4 Cream Cheese (Multiple Flavors)
• 2 x 10 Bananas
• 2 x 10 Apples
• 2 x Fruit

Saturday Lunch:

Menu:

Sloppy Joe

Spaghetti

Chinese Chicken Salad

Cookies

Servings:

• 2 x Hamburgers Buns ( 4 pkgs)
• 3 x Sloppy Joes (10 servings)
• 3 x Spaghetti ( 10 servings)
• 1 Large Mustard
• 4 x Cookies (10 serving)
• 2 x Brownies (10 serving)
• 3 x Chinese Chicken Salad (10 serving)

Saturday Dinner:

Menu:

Chick Fila Nugget Tray

Green Salad

Watermelon

Servings:

• 2 x Chick Fila Nuggets Tray 
• 3 x Green Salad
• 3 x Sliced Watermelon
• 3 x Large Bag of Chips (2 Large Bags)

Group 3 Parent Note:

Parents - A couple notes:

• I have listed the practice schedule for Group 3 below. 
• Swimmers should strive for 7 of the 9 practices offered.
• It is important that the swimmers make as many AM's as poosible. AM's should be the priority practice. The optimal days for doubles are Tuesdays and Thursdays as Drylands are offered in the PM's for 30 minutes.
• Drylands are apart of the group practice. Swimmers are expected to attend these when offered. If your swimmer can not attend they will need a note to leave early. 
• For most of the swimmers we have about a month and couple weeks left in the season. Time drops for this LC and next SC are earned now. 

• Group 3	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
  AM	7:30 - 9:00	7:30 - 9:00	7:30 - 9:00	7:30 - 9:00	7:30 - 9:00	8:00 - 9:30	NP
  Dryland			9:00 - 10:00 am
  PM	4:00 - 5:30	4:00 - 5:30		4:00 - 5:30	4:00 - 5:30
  Dryland		5:30 - 6:00 pm		5:30-6:00 pm

See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

Friday Practice Changes:
Group 1 No practice
Group 4 and Up: 5:45 - 7:30 No Drylands

Saturday Practice Changes:
No Practice All Groups including Masters

UH Meet

Parents – All the information for this weekend has been uploaded under the event page of the website. The Timeline, Warm Up and Timing Assignments are a combined PDF. Please continue to read below for a few notes on the meet.

UH Deck Set Up:
UH does have two separate areas for swimmers and parents. Swimmers will be on the deck with the coaches sitting in bleachers and the area for parents is upstairs. During the meet the swimmers will sit as a team on the pool deck. Listed below are UH rules/restrictions for their pool area.

• Swimmers are required to remain with their team on pool deck during each session.

• Wet swimmers are not allowed in the Rotunda or the spectator seating area.

• Swimmers must wear warm ups or parka in the Rotunda area.


• Spectators, wishing to volunteer as a timer must check in at the registration table located near the ID checkpoint in the Rotunda.


• Smoothies and food are to be consumed in the rotunda or outside.

• Smoothies and food are not allowed on deck and will be confiscated if found.

• Friday Night Events:

• Girls start from Lobby end and Boys will start from Diving well end.

• Events will alternate Girls then Boys heats.

• Chase Starts will be used.

• 400 Fr swimmers will need to provide their own timer.

• Events will be swam Fastest to Slowest (by seed time)

• Saturday and Sunday Events:

• 100m and 200m Events:

• Odd Heat will start at Lobby End and Even.

• Even Heat will start at the diving well end of the pool.

• 50m Events will start from the diving well end.

• Events will be swum combined and scored separately

• 10 and Under 400 Fr need to provide their own timers.

Warm Ups
Swimmers should arrive on the pool deck 15 minutes prior to our posted warm up. Swimmers are responsible for circling themselves in for all of their events. Any scratches should first be discussed with one of the coaching staff prior to scratching. Circling in is taking down 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the meet. (Time written in the warm meet invitation.) Once the circle in is taken down swimmers will not be allowed to swim their events if not circled in.
            Friday Night: 4:00 – 5:15 pm

            Saturday AM: 8:10 – 8:45 am
            Sunday AM: 7:30-8:05 am

            *** Saturday PM: 12:00 – 12:20 pm
            *** Sunday PM: 12:20 – 12:40 pm
            *** Afternoon Warm Ups will start immediately after the morning session ends. The times I listed are estimates. The morning session events will start 1 hour after

Longcourse Meets
There are a few changes to the meet format with this being a LC meet. I have listed these below. If you have any questions please talk to one of the coaches prior to the meet or email them prior to the meet.

Chase Starts – Chase starts are used in LC meets for events over 100. to help ease the timeline.  In a chase start swimmers from the lobby end will swim a 50 and flip, as they begin their way back on the 2^nd 50 the dive end will start and “chase” them. Essentially there are two swimmers in the water at one time. Officials take do their best to ensure the swimmer being chased has enough space to not be caught by the swimmer chasing them.

Timing Assignments
Click the Job Sign Up button to sign up for timing slots. We will need every parent to time events at this meet. If your child is swimming in a later event please sign up for the later events first. 

Drop Off and Pick Up Tonight

Parents and Swimmers - I just got word from that the Jones School is having an event tonight and the Inner Loop will not be available for Drop Off and Pick Up. Parents will not be able to drop off, stop or park on the road in front of the Rec Center. Please arrange alternative means for getting your swimmers in and out of the pool. As a reminder the access road behind the Rec Center leading to the garbage area is NOT available for parking or drop off pick up. This should be the only day affected. Thank you for working with us on making this happen. 
See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

Kick Start Clinic

2012 Summer League "Kick Start" Swim Clinic

For Summer League swimmers ages 9-14.

This will be the second year of the RICE “Kick Start” Clinic. The clinic is designed to help “Kick Start” the summer league swimmer in a positive direction for their swim season. The focus of the clinic will be on proper technique and stroke development while learning in a fun atmosphere withRICE’s USA and ASCA (American Swimming Association) certified coaches. Coach May will be leading the clinic and has over 20 years coaching experience with learn to swim swimmers through Olympic trials qualifiers. We will utilize years of training and experience to give all clinic attendees the “Kick Start”  they need for their summer swim season. This clinic is for swimmers 9 - 14 years of age who can swim an efficient Freestyle and Backstroke and have working knowledge of Butterfly or Breastroke.

Cost: $100 per swimmer

Dates: Every Tuesday and Thursday 6:15-7:15 in April (3,5,10,12,17,19, 24 ,26)

Location: The Gibbs Recreation Center’s 50 meter outdoor pool.

The RICE Aquatics “Kick Start” Clinic is designed to give the local Summer League non-USA swimmer a head start on his/her summer swim season. The clinic will cover all aspects of each stroke from Body Position and Stroke Technique to Turns. The clinic is four weeks with two one hour and fifteen practices per week. All swimmers will also receive a clinic t-shirt and latex cap.

How to Sign Up:

Email Coach Jason the following information no later than April 2nd: 

Swimmer’s Full Name: First, Middle and Last 

Swimmer’s DOB: (Clinic is for Swimmers 9-14)

Summer League Swim Team and years participated: 

T Shirt Size: YM - AXL

Payment Type: Cash or Check (payable to RICE Aquatics) on first day of clinic

You will receive instructions for the first clinic day, parking information, and forms to fill out for the first camp day via email no more than 48 hours after your email. (coachjason@riceaquatics.com)

Clinic Agenda:

Week 1

April 3rd and 5th

• Posture and Balance for Freestyle/Backstroke
• Freestyle/Backstroke Kick and Pull Patterns 
• Freestyle/Backstroke Turns 

Week 2

April 10th and 12th

• Breastroke and Butterfly Posture, Balance.
• Breastroke and Butterfly Kick, Pull Pattern and Rhythm/Timing
• Breastroke and Butterfly Turns and Under Waters

Week 3

April 17th and 18th

• Drills and Skills for all 4 strokes
• Emphasis on being efficient in the water
• Introduction of IM Transitions

Week 4

April 24th and 26th

• Continued Timing and Rhythm emphasis for all 4 strokes
• Race Skills and Strategies
• Starts and Turns for all 4 strokes and clinic wrap up.

*The practice agenda is an outline of planned topics, these may change due to the swimmer progression during the clinic. *

Welcome Back Age Groupers.

Parents and Swimmers - I wanted to welcome everyone back from spring break and the end of our SC season. Practices are back to normal schedule starting today. There are some thunderstorms predicted for the area the next few days so make sure to keep an eye on the radar prior to practice. A couple things comign up and out this week:

• April Jump Start Clinic - For Summer League only swimmers 9-14 to come and fine tune skills prior to the start of their season. We will have a PDF flyer go out tomorrow am and would love for our RICE families to spread the word in the community. 
• End of SC(Shortcourse) Wrap Up Newsletter - We will have our wrap up newsletter for the SC go out on Wednesday. Included in this will be:
  • Gulf Champs - TAGS meet recaps.
  • GULF Top 10 report.
  • IMX Swimmers for RICE.
  • Upcoming LC Schedule.
  • Summer League and USA Swimming info thoughts from coaches.
  • Info on volunteering for our June Jr meet we host at RICE.
  • Tentative Summer Session practice times, start date and fees.
  • More info RICE related.
• Open Water Meet Info for April and Volunteer list. 

The LC meet schedule can currently be found on our website as a drop down menu under the news section or on www.gulfswimming.org

See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

TAGS

Great Finish to the season at TAGS for RICE Swimmers. This is the first year RICE had Finalist at TAGS and first year scoring at the meet. Not only did swimmers get in finals we had an incredible 10 of 17 swims make finals. RICE finished 24th out of 76 teams at the meet. Here is a list of finishes for swimmers and relays.

Caleb Yen - 

4th 100 br

4th 50 br

3rd 50 fy 

9th 50 fr

4th 100 bk

3rd 50 bk

Jeff DeGroot- 

8th 50 Bk

11th 100 Bk

Sydney Buchman - 

5th 50 Fr

13th 100 Fr

4th 50 Br

7th 100 Br

11th 50 Fly

10 th 100 IM

Sloane Reinstein- 

15th 50 Fr

17th 100 Fr

Relays - Delaney Newsome, Rachel Wright, Sloane Reinstein, and Sydney Buchman

200 Fr 11th 

400 Fr 13th

200 Medley 14th