North Springfield Dolphins

PRACTICE RULES

• Be on time! Be ready to jump in the water, meaning bathing suits, caps, and goggles on at the time your practice is supposed to start! See equipment section below if you have questions about what you need to bring to practice.
• Be respectful of the coaches! Keep your head above water and listen to instruction!
• Be respectful of the facilities! Do not leave trash or personal items on deck after practice and do not make a mess or damage the bathrooms/changing rooms.

WEATHER POLICY

Swim practice is subject to weather. If the pool is closed for inclement weather, there is no swim practice. Generally the pool is closed for weather if there is lightening or thunder and/or if there is significant rain and cold temperatures. The coaches also are able to use their own discretion to cancel a practice prior to its start or during the practice if they feel the weather is not appropriate.

We will always do my best to get out timely notifications via text and email in these instances.

Take a look below to make sure your swimmer is prepared for practices and meets:

Team suit: All swimmers should get a team swim suit. Team suits can be purchased on swim suit night at the pool in the picnic area on June 8th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. If you are not able to purchase a suit that night, you can also go to Sports Fair and purchase the team suit there.

Practice suits: Swimmers can wear their team suits to practices, however we recommend that swimmer reserve their team suit for races because suits do become worn out from the chlorine and sun. Practice suits can be any other swim suit the swimmer has although we recommend girls wear one piece suits and boys do not wear baggy suits that go below the knees to practice.

Caps: All swimmers with hair--boys and girls--should be wearing caps at practice and meets. Hair causes drag and makes swimmers slower. And, for swimmers with longer hair, can tangle in their arms interfering with proper stroke technique. Caps can be purchased at a discounted price during registration or can be purchased throughout the season in the online store or through the team reps.

Goggles: Swimmers should be wearing goggles to easily see underwater while swimming in practice and meets. As it is summer and an outdoor pool, we recommend tinted and/or reflective goggles to minimize the interference of sun in the swimmers eyes. Goggles are also available on the swim suit night (June 1X) and at Sports Fair.

Please pay attention to the weather and ensure that your child has an appropriate number of towels and has warm clothes (sweatshirts/rain gear) for meets that may have inclement weather.

Kick boards and all other equipment that may be used during practice is already at the pool. 

Are you new to swimming? Below is some background information on swim meets your child may participate in this summer. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask a team rep or coach!

Types of Meets

Time trials - This is the first meet of the season and is intended to provide swimmers and coaches to establish a baseline from which to measure improvement and plan who swims in the first A meet (see below). Swimmers have the opportunity to swim every event at time trials.

A Meets - These meets are a team competition. Swimmers are scheduled to swim in events that will help the team win the meet. Swimmers can swim up to two individual events and relays. These meets are held on Saturday morning. There are three home meets and two away meets.

B Meets - These meets are considered developmental meets and offer swimmers an opportunity to race events they do not have the opportunity to swim during A meets. B meets are held on Monday nights. This year we have three B meets.

Relay Carnival - This meet consists only of relays. Each age group fields a freestyle and medley (all strokes) relay. This is a team event and the composition of relay teams is decided based on the combination of the fastest times of available swimmers.

Divisionals - This meet consists only of individual events and a team score is not calculated. Each swimmer will be provided an opportunity to request the events they want to swim, but this does not guarantee they will be able to swim those events as swimmers with the fastest times are given precedence. In past years, nearly every North Springfield swimmer has been able to participate in this meet in at least one event. 

What should your swimmer should bring to meets?

Below is a list of items that it may be appropriate for your child to bring to a swim meet. Starred items mean a child should definitely bring this item.

• Team suit*
• Team cap*
• Goggles*
• Towel*
• Snacks or money for concessions - Swimmers will need to eat--meats stretch from 8 am warm ups to last relays around noon. Most pools provide concessions options for swimmers, but some swimmers like to bring their own snacks. 
• Extra towels - especially if rain or cold weather is expected
• Sweatshirt and sweatpants - if rain or cold weather is expected
• A portable/pop-open chair - Some pools do not have enough lounge chairs to sufficiently provide all swimmers with a chair.
• Pop-up tents - At pools with little tree cover and on days when there is high heat expected or rain expected, pop up tents provide needed coverage for swimmers while they are not swimming.