Parent Meeting Information
Facebook:
Durham Area Swim Association (Public)
Durham Dolphins Swim Team (Private)
App: Swim Topia- this is the Durham Dolphins website all in an app.
Meet Mobile- this can be used during an Invitational, keeps you updated on your swimming times and what event they are on. This app is very handy!
Board Members
President - Molly Eggers
Vice President - Ashley Collins
Secretary - Becky Yuhasz
Treasurer - Shannon Kelso
Members - Tami Thomas, Holly Rowe, Mike Trujillo, Bridget Abifadal
Members-at-Large - Andrea Messina, Stacie Atencio
Coaches:
Brian Clark - Head Coach
LeeAnn Jones
Cari Tarter
Jasmine Atencio
Jillian Larrabee
Alyssa Messina - mini's
Parker Thomas - mini's
Sophia Owen - mini's
Parent/Family Viewing Area - pool picnic area for groups blue, white and red. Poolside grass at mini pool for mini dolphins.
Race Bead Rings - each swimmer in the blue, white and red groups was given a ring with a name tag. During invitationals, it is important for the swimmers to check-in with their coaches before their swim event and after their swim event. Please have your swimmer check-in with their coach 1-2 events before their swim event to get pointers on what to remember and encouragement. Coaches will be busy timing and watching other swimmers, so just be patient while you wait to get their attention. After a swim event, have your swimmer check-in with the coach to discuss how it went or any DQ’s they might have received. At this time the swimmer will get a bead for their race. White or Blue beads for each race and a special bead if they have set a new personal best time. Have your swimmer bring their ring to each invitational to collect more beads. They can be attached to the childs swim bag if they like. This is a way to encourage our swimmers to focus more on themselves to set their own best times and personal growth instead of focusing on winning the event.
Sponsorships - We have a few levels of sponsorship.
$50 Lane Sponsor - At the Durham Dolphins Invitational, each lane will have two sponsors. The sponsor's name will be hung at the end of each lane and their name will be announced each day during the meet. These are available on a first come first served basis.
$500 Gold Sponsor - all volunteer hours waived, plaque with team photo, extra-large banner pool side from the invitational to October, team t-shirt, logo on our website and sponsor announcement each day of the invitational.
$350 Silver Sponsor - plaque with team photo, large banner pool side from the invitational to October, team t-shirt, logo on our website and sponsor announcement each day of the invitational.
$250 Bronze Sponsor - plaque with team photo, small banner pool side from the invitational to October, team t-shirt, logo on our website and sponsor announcement each day of the invitational.
Other Sponsorship - you choose monetary donation or goods/services donated. Sponsorships valued at $100 or more will receive a plaque with team photo, sponsor announcement each day of the invitational. Sponsorships valued at $100 or less will receive announcement at the invitational.
**Questions regarding sponsorships can be directed to Becky Yuhasz via email at [email protected] or a practice.
Duals - duals are generally Wednesday evenings and run from approximately 5pm to 8pm. They consist of our team and one other team. To attend a dual you will need to RSVP your child on our website. Login to your account, click the Schedule/Volunteer Tab, scroll to the dual, click green Meet Entry button, click green Edit button under your swimmer(s) name(s). In the box next to their name you can select “not attending this meet” or “attending this meet” for each swimmer and select SAVE. All duals are free to our swimmers. Then you can continue to select your volunteer hours.
Coaches will select the events to which your swimmer will participate. Each swimmer will have two events. At the beginning of the dual your swimmer will receive two index cards with their race information. They will need to bring their card to their lane and hand it to the timer before stepping up to the blocks. These cards are how their times are recorded and ribbons awarded. All swimmers will receive a ribbon for each event which can be picked up the following day at practice via the family folders.
Invitational - Invitationals are sanctioned events though USA Swim and will be officiated by volunteer stroke-and-turn officials. They will be held on weekends. Some will start Friday evenings (approx. 4-8pm) and others will start Saturday morning. Saturday and Sunday times are generally 9am to 2pm with an 8am warm-up time. They will consist of our team, many other area teams and some independent swimmers. To attend an invitational you will need to sign-up via ome.swimconnection.com. You will have to login or create a login. Before signing up, please read the meet sheet posted to the event on swim connection. There will be a fee to enter and a fee per race. Swimmers may select as many events as they are eligible, with a max of 4 events per day. You will need to enter your swimmer’s approximate time for that particular event. You can ask a coach, take a guess or use a time from a recent dual. These times are used for seeding purposes only. Once your swimmer has swam a race their time will be recorded on swim connection and available automatically when you sign up for another invitational. At the invitational please have your swimmer ready (goggles, caps and have talked to the coach) and behind the blocks the event prior.
For Example: If your swimmer is in event 12, generally you’ll want to have them start getting ready on event 10 (going to the bathroom, drinking water, checking in with their coach, finding their goggles and cap, etc. Possibly warming up in the warm up pool). They should be ready to swim and behind the blocks by the beginning to middle of event 11.
Once their event is over, all times will be recorded and then printed, posted to the results boards/wall and sent to the awards table. This can take a little while to complete. At the Durham Invitational we will award the top 12 swimmers. Places 1-6 will receive medals and 7-12 will receive ribbons. Other invitationals will vary. This is where the swim beads are important because swimmers should be focusing on their individual times and as long as they’re improving their own time with each race, they should be very proud of their hard work and not disappointed that they didn’t place in the top 12.
There is a possibility that your child could be disqualified in a race. There are many reasons a swimmer could be disqualified, illegal motion in that particular stroke, not touching the wall on a turn, not having a two-hand finish for butterfly, turning over too soon to make a turn during backstroke and the list goes on… If your swimmer receives a DQ the coach will be notified with what they did wrong. We always tell young swimmers that a DQ should be looked at as an opportunity to improve or to “Don’t Quit” and keep working hard. All swimmers will be disqualified at some point in their swim career and it should not be looked at as a failure.
EVENT CARD BREAK DOWN:
EVENT HEAT LANE
25 6 5
E-25 (50 Back) H-6 L-5
Volunteers - we need lots of them! You can sign-up for volunteer hours on our website. Click the schedule/volunteer tab. Scroll to the event that you wish to volunteer at and click the green Job Signup button. Under the family members name who wishes to signup click the Sign up for Jobs button.
If you cannot remember what you’ve signed up for, login to your account on our webpage. At the top right click the Welcome <your name> tab. Click My Account. Your list of volunteer jobs will be listed at the bottom and you will be able to see your total points.
At the invitational there will be a volunteer booth near the bathrooms. This is where you will sign-in and out for your shifts. Ask questions and get help covering shifts or picking up shifts as things happen during the weekend. Those volunteers who sign-in and sign-out will get an entry for each shift into the volunteer basket drawing at the end of the year.
If you are working concessions, awards, or hospitality you are welcome to step away from your shift to watch your kids swim. If you are a timer and need someone to cover you to use the restroom, etc. let the meet director or other volunteer, who is mobile, to tell the volunteer booth that a sub is needed.
Waters and snacks will be available in ice chests at each lane for timers during their shift.
Timers: Times use either a stopwatch or electronic plunger to capture the swimmer's time. This is honestly the best seat at the meet. Splash Zone!
* PLEASE call out your swimmer if he/she is not at the blocks.
* PLEASE stand up to watch the swimmer touch the wall before hitting the stopwatch.
* If you don’t press the stopwatch at the beginning of the race, raise your hand so the
Head Timer can bring you a new stopwatch.
Head Timer: The head timer is a timer who is not assigned to a lane, but usually has two stopwatches running at each race to have available as a backup in case a lane
timer has any problems with their stopwatch.
Marshalling: The marshal monitors the warm up pool and keeps swimmers from diving. They also check the bathroom. We need a Male and Female.
Hospitality: Making sure officials, timers, coaches have refreshments, snacks, and meals.
Concessions: Running a mini restaurant. Multiple people work at one time, positions include: cashiering, barbecuing, drink runners, and general helping out. When it gets busy it becomes all hands on deck!
Awards: as swimmers come to the awards table you will find their sticker and match it with the award they have earned. Easy peasy.
Most Importantly: HAVE FUN! It is the mission of our program for every swimmer to have fun and feel like a valuable member of the team. The board and the coaches work together to uplift the swimmers, understanding that the kids are the heart of a successful swim team. We understand the power of volunteers within our organization and rely on them to help facilitate a successful swim organization by ensuring everyone works together so each swimmer reaches their full potential.
Officials - we are in desperate need of volunteer stroke and turn officials. We are required to bring officials to sanctioned meets where we have 11 swimmers or more (for the Durham Dolphins, that is usually every sanctioned meet we attend). For every 25 swimmers we are required to have 1 official. If our team cannot provide the required number of officials our swimmers will not receive awards. There is some training involved and we will reimburse the fees for the required training and certifications. We will also reimburse costs associated with uniforms. Other costs that will be reimbursed are hotel fees for NVALS and the Plumas Rapid Invitational. We also give our wonderful officials gifts for volunteering their time. The best part? Volunteer hours are waived and there is no volunteer deposit for your family. Family members, grandparents and neighbors are all welcome to become a stroke and turn official. Contact a board member or email [email protected] to get started.
