Here's this week's update - lot's of info, please read through the full email.  Will try to keep subsequent ones shorter:).

Schedule - The practice schedule for the next two weeks has been posted on www.rivershyresharks.com Home page.  We'll keep this section updated going forward for quick reference.  Practice days for this week are:

• Sunday, May 16th - Evening Practice
• Monday, May 17th - Family Lane Practice, Evening Practice
• Tuesday, May 17th - Family Lane Practice, Evening Practice
• Wednesday, May 18th - Evening Practice
• Thursday, May 17th - Family Lane Practice, Evening Practice

Practice times:

• 6:10 - 6:50 pm - Family lane only practice (limited space available, for those with COVID concerns not comfortable participating in the general practice group, see Coach Daab if you wish your swimmer attend these sessions)
• 7:00 - 7:55 pm - 10 yrs and under
• 8:00 - 9:00 pm - 11 yrs and older

Updated COVID Policies - Taking into account the latest CDC Guidelines, consistent research results on the low COVID outdoor transmission risk and Rivershyre HOA COVID policy, the team leadership group met and agreed on updates to the team's COVID policies:

• Masks are now optional for swimmers
• Coaches will now work in the water with swimmers as needed, no masks will be worn when in the water
• Still no parents sitting on the deck during practice or Meets in order to comply with the HOA maximum deck capacity of 50, exception for those with beginning swimmers who aren't yet comfortable practicing without their parent nearby
• Parents are welcome to come on deck to drop off swimmers, cross to use the restroom or speak with the coaches; if you're not vaccinated, please continue to wear a mask or keep some distance from those you're speaking with to reduce the risk of a possible positive exposure
• Masks will still be required for volunteers on deck during Meets, this will be evaluated again prior to the first dual Meet

Meet Schedule - Our Meet opponents and themes have been added to the Home page >> Key Dates section.  The actual Dual Meets will show up in the schedule shortly and RSVP and Job sign-up can take place at that time.  The Dual Meets are pushed to our site by the GCSL and this hasn't yet taken place.

Mock Meet - Mock Meet RSVP, event preference and job sign-up are now open.  To comply with the HOA deck limit guidelines as closely as possible, we're going to try running the Meet in 2 halves based on age group.  The 10 & Under group will go first, we'll clear the deck when all events are completed, and then the 11 & Up age groups will warm-up and swim.  This split will hopefully also allow us to setup a few viewing areas on or near deck for parents to rotate through and watch their swimmers.

Tentative times are listed below and on team site:

• 10 & Under - arrive by 6:00 pm, warm-up at 6:15 pm, Meet start at 6:30 pm.
• 11 & Up - arrive by 7:15 pm, warm-up at 7:30 (assuming the 10U events are completed), Meet start at 7:45 pm

 The individual event sign-up options have been increased FOR MOCK MEET ONLY - from 3 to 6.  This will allow swimmers to get current times in all the strokes they wish to swim.  We've tentatively included the longer events and relays in the Mock Meet events list, but may elect to eliminate these during the Meet if needed to keep things on schedule.  

Registration closing tonight - Team registration closes tonight.  The only possible exception from this point forward is new resident families.  If you know of a new resident family who is interested in swimming and hasn't yet registered, please encourage them to register today.  If that's not possible, please have them email me at [email protected].

It's great to be back in the pool, and hopefully this week will bring much warmer temps.  Everyone's flexibility and support as we work through the logistics of the season is greatly appreciated!  

Beth