Riptide News Week 2

June 8th

Riptide News Week 2

We had an awesome Time Trials on Saturday! We saw excellent swims and lots of fun being had on the pool deck. Thank you to all of the volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without you!

The Riptide News will come to you through email each week on Sunday, but you can also find it as a news post on our website at SwimTopia.

Lots of news to share this week, as always don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions [email protected].

Riptide Shout Outs:

We’d like to give a shout out to the following parents who are newly certified or recertified NVSL Stroke and Turn Judges:

Matthew Rein

Kristen Rein

Wendy Wall

Maria Magarinos

Erin Thompson (recertified)

Another shout out goes to Jessica Pettiford who volunteered to lead our B Meet concessions!

We appreciate all of our parent volunteers!

Notice a parent volunteer who is going above and beyond that you’d like to give a Riptide Shout Out to? Email Karen Harris ([email protected]) with your shoutout, we’ll include it in the next Riptide News.

Riptide Swimmer Conduct Reminders: Please take a few moments to review the Riptide Code of Conduct with your swimmer prior to practices this week. As a team we value respect, teamwork, integrity and sportsmanship. Any violations of the Riptide Swimmer Code of Conduct will be handled as stated in the Code of Conduct.

Virginia Run Riptide Code of Conduct (must be signed into your Riptide account to view).

Photography Reminders: To protect our swimmers and according to NVSL/USA Swimming Rule pictures and videos may not be taken from behind the starting area. Please move to another location off to the side to take a picture or video of your swimmer.

Make Up Time Trials: Monday (June 9th)-warm up will begin at 5 pm. Swimmers and Parent Volunteers should arrive at the pool no later than 4:50 pm. The pool is open to the community during make ups. We will run 6 lanes. Heats may be mixed gender and/or age depending on attendance. Make Up Time Trials is only for swimmers who did not swim on Saturday. Swimmers who swam on Saturday may not swim on Monday at make-up time trials. This information was advertised in the Time Trials info sheet sent out last week and posted on our website. Our time on Monday evening is short and weather dependent and we want to make sure the time is used for swimmers who were unable to attend on Saturday due to prior scheduling commitments.

No Riptide Practice Monday, June 9th: Due to Make Up Time Trials there is no practice on Monday. Enjoy the night off, you worked hard on Saturday!

Declare Your Swimmer for A Meets by Tuesday June 10th: As we begin the new season, now is the time to declare your swimmer for our Saturday A-Meets by completing the follow steps:

Go to the Meets & Events tab and then click on Sign Up Calendar

Next to each A-Meet, click on Meet Entry. Then click on the Edit button below your swimmer’s name to mark if they are available to attend.

Declaring swimmers is not based on ability, but rather on availability!

For each swimmer, please declare for each A-Meet, Relay Carnival and Divisionals. All swimmers, who are available to attend each event, should be declared “Attending” so that coach Katie can enter them into the meet if and when they are needed. Please do this now for all meets, rather than week-to-week. Swimmers and parents will find out on Thursdays if they will be swimming for sure at that Saturday's A-Meet.

Your swimmers should only be declared “Not Attending” if you are going to be out of town and completely unavailable for the meet. If your swimmer declared as “Not Attending” for a particular meet, please use the comment section to let Coach Katie know your reason. This keeps our coaches and administrators from having to make lots of phone calls mid week as we try to make sure everything is ready for Saturday's meet.

Declaring Your Swimmer for B Meets: B Meets are our Developmental swim meets on Monday nights. Unlike A Meets, where swimmers are chosen based on the team ladder and their availability, everyone is welcome and encouraged to swim on Monday nights. Swimmers can choose which events they would like to swim on Monday nights. You must sign your swimmer up for B Meets by completing the following steps:

Go to the Meets & Events tab and then click on Sign Up Calendar

Next to each B-Meet, click on Meet Entry. Then click on the Edit button below your swimmer’s name to mark if they are available to attend.

Once you click Available to Attend a list of events will appear.

Each swimmer can choose two individual strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) and IM as a third event.

If you're unsure what your swimmer should swim, please reach out to Coach Katie or Coach Sam. They will be happy to help your swimmer decide.

While we request that each swimmer declare their availability now for all A-Meets, Relay Carnival and Divisionals, swimmers can declare for B Meets weekly no later than the Sunday before the B Meet at 10am. Swimmers who are not signed up by Sunday (before the meet) at 10 am will not be able to swim at the B Meet on Monday night. Coach Katie and Coach Sam are happy to chat with any swimmers who are unsure which events are best for them to swim.

Meet Information: Be on the lookout for additional information on Thursday and Friday this week if your child is swimming in our first A meet of the season. Swimming in an A Meet is based on our team ladder and swimmer availability and changes each week. Detailed information will come out in an email for A Meets.

Also be on the lookout for information regarding our first B Meet. All swimmers are welcomed and encouraged to swim at B Meets. Detailed information will come out in an email each week for B Meets.

Volunteers Needed: Thank you to all who have already signed up for volunteer slots this year and to those who have taken on a bigger role with the team. We couldn’t do it without you! If you have not signed up yet please head to our website to sign up. It is helpful to go ahead and sign up for all 5 slots now.

Volunteer meet attire: According to NVSL rules, volunteers (on the pool deck) should wear navy blue bottoms and a white top. This does not include concessions volunteers.

Please reach out to Toni Garcia ([email protected]) with any questions.

Riptide Buddy Program-Its Not Too Late to Sign Up: Don’t forget about our Buddy Program! The Big Buddy/Little Buddy program is a fun Riptide tradition meant to build relationships and team spirit between the age groups. Being a good buddy is part of being a good teammate. Here is the current buddy list:

You can still sign up your swimmer(s) for the buddy program here.

Contact Anne Crowell ([email protected]) with any questions about being a buddy!

Contact information for 13 and Older Swimmers: Your 13&U Swimmer can now receive Riptide Notices and Information. Please complete this google form to provide your swimmer’s information. One google form should be completed for each 13&U swimmer by June 22nd. This is optional and not required.

Riptide Social Updates: Our first social event (e.g.) Hunting for the Best Teammates was a success! We have so many fun “seasonal themed” events upcoming. Our next Pep Rally is on Friday, June 13th. Please note, we are trying something new this year, and weather permitting will host Thankful to be a Riptide, a.k.a. Pasta Potluck at JMRC. Please see below for details.

You can view all events for the 2025 swim year here!

Upcoming Events

Thankful to be a Riptide – a.k.a. Pasta Potluck

Friday, June 13th at 6:30pm at JMRC (we will use the Clubhouse if the weather doesn’t cooperate)

Riptide Tradition, swimmers and their family are invited to enjoy a potluck style dinner together as a team. This is a great opportunity to welcome new families and catch up with friends. Each family will need to sign up for a dish here by Wednesday, June 11th.

Before and after the dinner, coaches have some Thankful/Thanksgiving themed activities for our swimmers so please plan to have some fun and eat dinner.

Few Items:

- Please bring your dish at 6pm, we’ll have a swimmers activity while we set-up and plan to start dinner around 6:30pm.

- Please bring a serving spoon with your dish. Please label the spoon and dish with your first initial, last name.

- While we will have water available, we encourage families to bring their own drinks.

- New this Year – since we are trying this event outdoors at JMRC, please plan for being outside (sunscreen, bug spray, chairs and a picnic blanket)

If you have any questions, please reach out to Michelle Bange @[email protected].

Thank you to our Riptide Sponsors! Our team is grateful for your generous support.

Pin Oak Tree Services

Virginia Run Community

Ciro New York Pizza

Mindy Conway, Long and Foster Real Estate

The Wrinkle Family Scholarship Fund

Cub Scout Pack 2011

Luck Stone

Living Colour

Wholesome NOVA

The Dog Stop

Collegiate Sealers & Paving

Capital Construction of America, Inc.

Cheron Orthodontics