b. Fundraisers

    c. Swim meets

XI. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Welcome

The values of the Bend Swim Club are unique and cannot be directly compared to any other club. The philosophy of this club incorporates the spirit of the Bend community. The Bend Swim Club shall provide the last line in a well-rounded swimming program and make it a learning experience for those interested in increasing their swimming efficiency beyond that offered the learn-to-swim programs. The club must insure competition at all levels so that each and every child competes at his or her own best level. The Bend Swim Club shall also provide a social experience for children of all ages and provide an atmosphere of camaraderie and cohesiveness while maintaining discipline and physical training.

It takes time to build the endurance necessary for sustained speed in races. It also takes time to acquire the stroke and turn skill essential for speed. This means a lot of repetitive practices before a new swimmer should even be thinking of entering a swim meet. It also means that new swimmers can become unnecessarily discouraged.

Most children can learn to be good, competitive swimmers given time and determination. The process is usually a slow one and can be frustrating at times if, at the offset, parental and swimmer expectations are unrealistic. Even the best swimmers in the world reach time plateaus that can last for months. Swimmers and their parents need to just hang in there when this occurs. The best way you can help your swimmer succeed is for the whole family to acquire both of the "P" traits - patience and perseverance!

Another important thing to keep in mind is that swimmers are competing not so much against other swimmers as against their own best times.

Again, we are glad you have chosen to be a part of the Bend Swim Club. It is a great group of kids and parents and we hope you find it a rewarding experience.

4. Pay monthly dues on time, the 1st of each month.

5. Support the coaches and team with a positive attitude.

6. Get involved!

1. Attend practice on a regular basis.

2. Communicate with the coaching staff when obligations cannot be fulfilled.

3. Participate and support fundraising activities.

4. Arrive at all workout sessions on time.

5. Approach all situations with a positive attitude. Encourage others who are down.

6. Support the coaching staff and the training program.

8. HAVE FUN!

RED

$50.00 per month

The Bend Swim Club entry level for 8-Unders. Emphasis is on development of all four strokes, starts and turns. Swim meets will be encouraged when the child is ready. Swimmers are asked to practice three times per week of their choice.

BLUE

$65.00 per month

These are usually 9 to 10 year olds, with the occasional 8-Under that has been in the program for a year or longer. Again, the emphasis is on developing improvement in all four strokes, starts and turns. Swimmers are introduced to interval training, but the emphasis is on technique. In this group, swimmers are encouraged to begin making short term goals. Endurance work is the major physiological practice goal. Swimmers in this group practice three days per week for 1 hour per session on the days of their choice.

BRONZE

$75.00 per month

This group consists primarily of 10-13 year olds. The middle school and high school swimmers in this group are usually first year swimmers and will be moved to the Silver group when he/she and the coaching staff feels they are ready for the increased commitment. Swimmers in this group do a great deal of their workouts as interval training with technique still highly stressed. Swimmers in this group practice three to four days per week for 1.5 hours per session.

SILVER

$90.00 per month

This group is the top of the age group part of the program. Swimmers must be at least 11 years of age to train in this group, but consists mainly of 12-14 year olds. This group practices for 1.5 hours per session, and swimmers are asked to attend 4-5 days per week. Some swimmers will also attend morning practices up to twice each week. The primary emphasis in training with this group is developing a good aerobic base, with a philosophy of everybody being good freestylers, good IM’ers, and have a good secondary stroke. These swimmers will also participate in a dryland program that involves push ups, abdominal work, and medicine balls. Dryland sessions are 20-30 minutes in length usually done after practice 2-3 times per week.

GOLD

$120.00 per month

The Swimming year runs from approximately the middle of September to the middle of August. The Short Course season runs from September through the end of March. The majority of meets during this period of time are held in 25 yard pools. The Short Course season culminates with the Short Course Age Group State Championships, Pacific Crest Championships, Short Course Sectionals, and finally the Spring Nationals. Following their last meet, all swimmers will take a break ranging from 1-2 weeks in length.

Mid-April begins the Long Course season during which time the majority of meets are held in 50 meter pools. The Long Course season culminates with the Long Course Age Group State Championships, Long Course Sectionals, Bend Open, Western Zones, and finally the Summer Nationals. The entire club takes a break following their last meet until the middle of September.

Each year, Oregon Swimming publishes a schedule of all meets offered in the upcoming seasons. After reviewing the schedule of meets, the coaching staff prepares a BEND meet schedule. The schedule is put together with all swimmers taken into consideration. The coaching staff would like to see every swimmer compete at least once a month in the fall and winter. During the summer, the meet schedule is a little more condensed and swimmers should look to compete up to twice or even three times a month.

DUAL/TRI MEETS: Between one or two other teams only.

"A", "A/B" MEETS: Open to those swimmers who have equaled or bettered the listed "A" or "A/B" time standards.

"B/C" MEETS: Open to all swimmers who have not achieved "A" time standards.

INVITATIONAL: Only certain teams invited.

OPEN MEETS: Any teams may enter.

TIMED FINALS: Swimmers swim once. Places determined by time in heats.

PRELIM-FINALS: A meet with preliminary heats to determine who swims in finals (usually contested later the same day).

LONG COURSE: 50 meter pool

SHORT COURSE YARDS: 25 yard pool

SHORT COURSE METERS: 25 meter pool

DUAL MEETS: You need to sign up for dual meets on the bulletin board at the Aquatic Center. Please make sure you include your swimmer's age on the first day of the meet. The coaching staff will select the swimmers' events. These meets are free unless the team takes a bus, in which case you are looking at a cost of approximately 25.00. This fee covers transportation and food.

Swimmers may attend only those meets which they qualify for. For an "A/B" meet, a swimmer may enter only those events in which he or she has met or bettered the "B" time standard in. Some meets will allow swimmers to swim one extra event for every "B" time they have. For "B/C" meets, swimmers may not swim events in which they have "A" times in. Usually, the qualifying times for each meet will be listed on the meet information sheet.

All swimmers should be at the pool ready to swim by the designated warm-up time. The warm-up is important if the swimmers are going to perform at their best. The warm-up allows the swimmer to get a feel for the competition pool and prepares the body to swim fast. If a swimmer is entered at a particular meet and is unable to attend, he/she should contact the coach as soon as possible.

An important aspect of the coach's job is giving the swimmer input before they race and giving feedback after they race. Make a point to see the coach before and after you race.

Team suits are not required, but it looks better when the whole team looks like a team. If swimmers wish to wear a cap, then they are required to wear a team cap. Suits are ordered in bulk in September at the beginning of the Short Course season. Suits may be ordered during the season, but you will have to do the ordering yourself. Caps may be purchased at any time from the coaching staff for $3.00 or 2/$5.00. It's best to have a couple of caps as they do rip from time to time.

Most of your aquatic needs can be purchased from J.D. Pence located in Forest Grove. Telephone orders can be placed by calling 1-800-547-2520. If they have what you need in stock, they can usually send it to you that day. J.D. Pence is represented at most meets.

Recommendations:

DEFINITION OF GENERAL TERMS

SHORT COURSE: September 1 to March 31 (25yd or 25m)

LONG COURSE: April 1 to August 31. (25m or 50m)

CONSOLATION FINALS: A heat consisting of the swimmers placing 9th through 16th in preliminaries.

DISQUALIFY (DQ): When a swimmer performs an illegal stroke or turn.

DUAL MEET: A meet between two swim teams. Sometimes 3 teams are involved making it a "Double-Dual Meet". These meets have no entry fees, awards are usually optional, and they usually last 3-4 hours in length.

EVENT: A particular swimming race (i.e. 50yd backstroke) designated by stroke, distance, age, and sex.

FALSE START: An illegal start by one or more swimmers in a heat. False starts are usually called if a swimmer is moving prior to the starting signal, resulting in the swimmer's disqualification from that event.

FINALS: The re-swimming of the fastest 8 swimmers from the preliminaries.

HEATS: The grouping of swimmers (usually 6 to 8) based on their entry time. At most meets, the heats will run from the slowest swimmers to the fastest swimmers.

HEAT SHEETS: A listing of events by heats, showing each swimmer and the corresponding entered time. These can be purchased at the swim meet.

PRELIMS: The swimming of all events to determine who will swim in the consolation and final heats later that day.

TIMED FINALS: Most swim meets will be timed finals. The event is swum just once, and the final placings are determined by their official time in the event.

LSC: Stands for Local Swimming Committee. Ours is "Oregon Swimming."

REGION: Our region is Region 12. It encompasses teams from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Region 12 conducts a winter short course championship in March and a summer long course championship in August.

UNATTACHED: A swimmer who competes but does not represent a club.

ZONE: United States Swimming is divided into four zones. They are Southern, Central, Eastern, and Western. Oregon Swimming Inc. is a member of the Western Zone. Each Zone hosts a long course championship meet in August. This meet brings together the fastest swimmers in the Zone not including the Junior and Senior National qualifiers.

FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

The Bend Swim Club is a non-profit, 501 (c) 3, all volunteer organization. The Bend Swim Club is funded through: (a) Dues, (b) Swim Meets, and (c) Fundraising.

DUES

The dues portion of the program is related to the amount of coaching time required on an individual's level.

If you wish to pay for the entire season in September and April, there is a 5% discount.

Families with 2 or more swimmers will receive a 5% discount also.

At the beginning of each season, families will be asked to select 1 of 2 payment plans. The first is for those families that choose to commit to the entire season. The above dues structure applies to them. The second is for those families that choose to swim from month to month (i.e. taking the month of December off to play basketball). Those swimmers will pay $10.00 more than the above dues structure.

Monthly dues are payable by the first of each month and are considered delinquent by the fifth of the month. Swimmer's whose dues have not been paid by the tenth of the month will not be allowed to swim at practice or meets until such time as their dues have been paid.

FUNDRAISERS

The Bend Swim Club conducts one mandatory fundraiser each year. In the summer, the Bend Swim Club holds its annual Lap Swim. Each swimmer is required to seek sponsorship of at least $150.00. For sponsorship equal to and higher than $200.00, swimmers can earn prizes such as swim club towel, bags, and sweats.

During the year, the Bend Swim Club also does mini-fundraisers such as selling concessions during recreation swims in the summer. These mini-fundraisers are not mandatory, but are encouraged.

SWIM MEETS

The Bend Swim Club hosts one major swim meet each year, the Bend Open. The Bend Open is held the second weekend in August. Over 500 swimmers and their families participate in the Bend Open. We run both the indoor and outdoor pools at the same time. Because this is such a large swim meet and because this is the only swim meet the Bend Swim Club hosts on a yearly basis, all parents are needed to donate their time for this weekend each year.

Every other year, the high school district swim meet is held in Bend. The Bend Swim Club runs this meet and is always in need of help during this weekend. The high school parents do the majority of the work, but everyone will be asked to help out in some way (timing, selling t-shirts, concessions, etc.).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INACTIVE STATUS

Should a swimmer who has committed to the entire season decide to leave the team in the middle of the season, he/she will be charged $10.00 per month for each month they participated in the program. It is required that any member departing the team, notify the Dues Chairman in writing at the time of departure to avoid any additional months of dues responsibility.

CHANGE IN GROUPS

Swimmers will normally move from one group to the next at the beginning of a season. When a swimmer is moved up or down, the coach will notify that swimmer, their parents and the dues chairman. Your dues will be adjusted at the beginning of the next month.

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