Hello 2021 Otter Families!

Welcome to the Olympia Otters! We are so excited to have a season this year and look forward to seeing all our new and returning swimmers! Please read this email in its entirety because there is a lot of important information about the season.

Payment and Merchandise

If you did not pay online when you registered, please bring a check to the first day of practice. Your swimmer will not be allowed in the water until payment is received due to liability reasons. If you have not paid by June 15th, your registration will be canceled and we will contact a family on the waiting list.

If you registered by April 30th and ordered merchandise during registration, you will receive your merchandise the first day of practice (June 7th).

Swimsuits

Suit fittings and/or orders will be done through SwimFreak. You can do fittings May 8th thru May 15th, but you will need to follow their COVID protocols. They will only allow 4-6 people in the store at a time.

• Girl suits - $53.04
• Boy suits - $42.22

SwimFreak has provided this flyer with ordering information and more on it. There are a few options for getting suits.

1. Purchase in store at SwimFreak.
2. Purchase on team link and “pick up in store"
   1. If choosing to "pick up in store" you can pick up your order on your own or
   2. SwimFreak will do a one time delivery after the deadline date (May 15th) to the team. Olympia Otters will then be responsible for passing out suits. All suits will have receipts with names on them, along with a list for easy distribution.
3. Purchase on team link and pay to "SHIP"

If you miss the team deadline (May 15th), you may still purchase a suit at any time and pick it up at SwimFreak or have it delivered to your home.

Practice Time Updates

Due to the overwhelming demand for our 11 and up age group, we have gotten approval to add a new practice time and will be giving the 11 and ups an additional practice. This allows us to welcome more Otters to the team. We will send out a form closer to the first day of practice for your preference. Junior Coaches must attend the later time. Here are the updated times:

11 & Up      7:15 - 8:00 AM

9 & 10        8:00 - 8:45 AM

7 & 8          8:45 - 9:30 AM

6 & U/LTS  9:30 - 10:00 AM

11 & Up     10:00 - 11:00 AM

Equipment Needed

The Olympia Otters provides team kickboards and white latex practice caps for your kids to write their names on. This helps the coaches learn names the first few weeks of practice. Please use black Sharpie to write their names. You are welcome to bring your own kickboard. Other equipment you will need to bring:

• Swimsuit- Please have your child wear an appropriate racing style swim suit to practice. We do not recommend sun shirts or sun suits as they will slow the swimmers down and inhibit their stroke development.
• Goggles - There are many goggles made for "kid-sized-eyes." We would suggest trying on a few goggles for fit. Speedo, TYR, and Water Gear all make simple goggles that should offer a good fit for children. Take the goggles carefully out of the box. Place eyepieces on eyes. Press lightly but firmly. If it is a good fit the goggles should seal and stay "sucked-on" the eye socket area for a few seconds. And, while the large lenses may work great for snorkeling — remember that's not what we're doing at the pool. Super-sized goggles don't stay on as easily when diving in. We also recommend getting a second spare set of goggles for the meets. This will come in very handy!
• Fins - Fins are required for practice, especially for the younger swimmers. They will help them build leg strength and keep up during the first weeks of practice. Steer clear of scuba style fins that are sold at places like Academy. They are too stiff and can cause harm to others. The coaches recommend a medium length fin like Speedo Shortblade Training Fin or TYR Crossblade Training Fin.
• Cap (we strongly recommend any swimmer with long hair wear a cap)

Please label all personal equipment with black Sharpie.

Volunteer Training Schedule

We will send out emails to inform you of which volunteer role you will have after looking at the ranked choice lists from registration as soon as we can. We will have virtual training separated by volunteer role. The schedule is below. We will provide a Zoom link closer to the training dates. These sessions will begin promptly and last 40 minutes because that is when Zoom will kick us off! If you cannot make the scheduled training, please attend the make-up training on June 5th. All training sessions will be recorded and sent out for those not able to make either session.

May 29th

June 5th

Calendar and Important Dates

You can find a print out of the season calendar here. Listed below are all the important dates for the season, but they are subject to change:

• May 8th - May 15th: Order suits to receive by June 7th.
• May 29th: Virtual Parent Orientation and Volunteer Role Training
• June 5th: Virtual Parent Orientation and Volunteer Role Training and Virtual Otter Kickoff
• June 7th: First day of practice
• June 21st: Mock Meet
• June 25th: Otterthon
• June 28th: Team Picture
• July 5th: Meet #1
• July 12th: Meet #2
• July 19th: Meet #3
• July 26th: Meet #4
• July 27th - July 30th: Otter Olympics
• August 2nd: End of Season Awards and Party

We are so excited to have a season this year! And we look forward to begin building a culture of community! If you have any additional questions not covered, please reach out and email us at [email protected].

See you this Summer,

Your Olympia Otter Board

Erin Kessel - Team Rep/Co-Head Coach

Kristeen Kessler - Secretary

Jessica Grindrod - Treasurer

Jennifer Henson - Head Ref

Amanda Tedrow - Spirit Coordinator

Ryan Murphy - Co-Head Coach