We Are Off to a Great Season

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First and foremost, the season is off to a great start. Please know that staff is motivated and excited to be on deck with your swimmers. This is the first ALL team email of the season and I do hope you will take the time to read the information in this message as we have a lot going on with the team and the Y as a whole.

No Practice Today – Thursday, September 25TH

We Move on October 6: The Y received its final approval yesterday from the Town of Westport as well as Certificate of Occupancy. I will be sending out a separate email titled “Move to Mahackeno” that will be devoted solely to our move to the new facility that will explain in detail the procedures for the move. Please be on the lookout for that note.

Team Unify: We still have a number of families that have not registered on Team Unify. It is imperative you do so as much of the teams communication is through TU emails, meet declarations, event information and we will also begin transitioning more of our website information over to TU. The quickest way to register both the Parent Club and USA Swimming Escrow fees is to go the Fall Registration page on Team Unify by clicking here. The first page of registration provides instructions on how to register on Team Unify.

Age Group Informational Meetings: Coach Chandler will begin his month Age Group Meetings on Wednesday, Oct 1ST with the topic being – Understanding Team Unify and Meet Expectations. These are drop in with no pre-registering needed. The schedule is as follows:

5:15-5:45pm: Red and Blue
5:45-6:15pm: JAG I, II & III
6:15-6:45pm: SAG and TAG

Team Apparel: All team members must have the new team t-shirts with the new team logo as well as the navy Speedo Sonic warm-up jacket. Orders closed with Athletic Shoe Factory this past Monday but we do look to have another opportunity soon. For those that already have the navy Speedo, you do not need to purchase a new one this season. Metro Swim Shop located on the Post Road in Norwalk – on the right before Stew Leonard’s – has the team suit in stock and is receiving more directly from Speedo.
– A reminder, this suit is to be worn in swim meets only and not practice.
– Metro also has in stock a number of navy with the WRAT imprint that is no longer brand compliant and would make for great practice suits.
– New team caps have been ordered. We do have the navy in both latex and silicone available for practice and can be worn until the new caps arrive.

Team Hosted Meet: Our first meet to be held in our new facility will be the 8 & Under Meet on Sunday, October 19th. More detailed information will be forthcoming. With this being our first meet, we will need many hands to help as we figure out what does and does not work for meets. Our next hosted home meet will be the Freestyle Frenzy on November 8-9.

Parents Social: This is always a pleasant evening away from the pool for parents to meet each other as well as the coaches. This year’s social is being kindly hosted by Diana and Jim Coyne on Friday, October 24TH. Please check the team website – http://www.wrat.org – for more information.

Practice Viewing: Parents are asked not to sit in the spectator are of the pool deck at the downtown Y. When we move to Mahackeno, parents will be able to sit in the upper observation area of the natatorium.

Connecticut Swimming Banquet: A number of Water Rat swimmers will be honored at the Connecticut Swimming Annual Banquet on Sunday, November 2ND at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, CT. Please check the Ct Swimming website – http://www.ctswim.org – to check if you are listed to attend and to register to attend. We want to have a great Water Rat appearance showing our pride in our achievements.

Communication: I hope you all have noticed the pick-up in communication going out through TU. A number of informative emails relevant to specific age group training as well as swimming related articles. It is also important that you contact either Coach Chandler – ccrosby@westporty.org, Coach Kristen – kfinnegan@westporty.org or myself should you have any questions regarding your swimmer(s).

Please let me know if you have any questions.

GO WRATS!

Ellen