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