Hello SWIVE!

We are only six days from our first practice. I am super excited as I see all the athletes that are returning and all the new athletes joining us. So awesome!!!

We have a new assistant coach named Sam Brayer. I can’t wait for you all to meet her. She has a lot of experience with coaching club, being a club swimmer and swimming in college. She has a fun, positive energy and Coach Kayla and I think she is going to fit perfectly with us.

Coaches’ goals for this year…

Coach Kayla and Coach Sam really want to focus on goal setting and helping you plan ways to achieve your goal in swimming.

My focus is to be engaged, be informed, and listen. I want you to have fun, feel safe, and inspire you to love swimming as a lifetime sport.

Here are some important things to know:

Things you will need to get started:

• 1-piece bathing suit- can be any swimsuit you want as long as it is comfortable.
• Swim cap – must be a Holy Names swim cap or a blank cap. Please, no club logos.
• Goggles – I will not have a supply. I prefer clear goggles as Medgar Evers can be dark. Also, prescription goggles are cheap if you are nearsighted or farsighted. I prefer to wear my prescription goggles over wearing my contacts. They run around $15 - $25.
• Towel, shampoo and conditioner. Showers available at Medgar Evers (and school when in session).

Parking and Transportation:

Parking - There is a parking lot across the corner of Cherry St. and 24^th by Garfield’s tennis courts that is free, and you can walk down the stairs to the entrance of Medgar Evers. There is one by the school and one along the side of the road. Please, see attached map.

Metro bus route – There is a bus route 48 along 23^rd and Cherry that takes you to 23^rd and E. Aloha. The routes run at 6:39 am, 6:54 am and 7:09 am from the pool to the school. In the afternoons the route leaves at 2:41 pm and gets to Medgar Evers by 2:52 pm. If you miss it, you won’t be at practice until 3:10 p.m. Try not to miss it.

Carpools – As a coach, I cannot coordinate carpools. That will be up to you and the team to figure out. The best way to do this is for you to go to the captain practices tomorrow and Friday and talk to the captains.

Practices – The first week of practice is easy as some athletes will be just returning to swim for the first time since last year. We like to go through all the strokes and evaluate. We also will be going through the rules. On Friday, we typically do our Retreat and play games. Don't forget to rsvp on the Heja app.

SwimTopia – The first meet has been set up on SwimTopia. I recommend practicing signing up now so you can ask me if you run into problems.

Here is how you do it:

1.The parent or athlete logs onto https://holynames.swimtopia.com

2.Click: Swim Meet SIGN UP!!

3.Click: Green MEET ENTRY OPEN tab for the date you want to sign up.

4.Click: Green EDIT tab at the bottom to make changes.

5.From the drop-down selector, change from (undeclared) to Not attending this meet or Attending this meet.

6.Click: Up to (2) individual events you would like to participate.

7.Is (swimmer) available to swim in relays? Select response from the drop-down menu.

8. Need to let the coach know something? Add text to the text box.

9.Click: SAVE to finish your selection. Failure to click “SAVE” will lose your choices.

Entries are due no later than the Tuesday before a swim meet. That gives me time to look over and make changes and add the relays. If you are sick the Thursday before a meet, you will be removed from all relays even if you feel better on Friday.

Here is the roster to date. If you see that someone is missing, you might want to get in touch with them. 😊 I have put our captains in bold. Feel free to reach out to any of them. Each of them is so different from each other, bring their own unique skills and personality, but love this sport and would do anything for their teammates.

BEST TEAM IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AS FOLLOWS:

Hailey Pittiglio

Juliette Holt

Caroline Crow 2023

Elizabeth Dau 2023

Hope Gelfand 2023

Katherine Adams 2023

Katie Baber 2023

Kira Smith 2023

Lauren Jackson 2023

Maggie Straley 2023

Pari McDonald 2023

Sophia Rivera 2023

Anaiysaa Deswal 2024

Chloe Eid 2024

Emmie Mathieu 2024

Erin Widmer 2024

Genevieve Sterne 2024

Hannah Ross 2024

Lauren Tagavilla 2024

Nora Lee 2024

Rayna Ejarque 2024

Samara Wijesekera 2024

Amelia Bednarski 2025

Anneliese Brannfors 2025

Ava Karman 2025

Charlotte Esperon 2025

Cymi McDonald 2025

Elise Hueffed 2025

Elise Klepper 2025

Em Binder 2025

Kate Beckman 2025

Katie Belle 2025

Mckenzie Gatheru 2025

Nadia Linear 2025

Sonja Kuiper 2025

Tessa Rychkova 2025

Caroline Hooper 2026

Delana Irani 2026

Ellie Wang 2026

Josie Ellis 2026

Kaelyn Wooden 2026

Leah Hanken 2026

London Ferry 2026

Nora Johnson 2026

Paula O'Brien 2026

Penelope Harrington 2026

Pepper Ferrari 2026

Ruth Magnotti 2026

Stella Smith 2026

Tanreet Hans 2026

Taryn Kois 2026