Hello Porpoise Families!!!

Welcome to the 2025 Park Village Porpoises Swim Team! Whether it’s your child’s first season or their tenth, we’re so happy to have them on the team! This message contains important pre-season information. We encourage all families to read it thoroughly and email us with any questions.

Communication:
The majority of communication throughout the season will come from either me (as the board representative) or from our head coach, Coach Evan Langebeck, and will be sent through SwimTopia, which is our swim team management system. Coach Evan and I will be your primary points of contact this season - between the two of us, we will be able to get answers to your questions.

Kara Belknap (general team questions): [email protected]
Coach Evan (coaching questions): [email protected]

We also recommend downloading the SwimTopia app and allowing push notifications. If we need to push out an urgent message (we use push notifications sparingly, like if practices are canceled due to weather), we will alert you through SwimTopia. SwimTopia’s free version is adequate; the paid version ($9.99/yr) is useful if you want real-time meet updates and results, but is in no way required.

Additionally, we have a Facebook group where we post quick notes and reminders, and you can connect with other swim families. (Not required, critical information will come through email.) https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AbZmWCoeN/ Please enter the name of your swimmer(s) in your request to join.

Swim Team Kick-off:
Our swim team kick-off will be held on Tuesday, May 20th, from 7-8pm in the clubhouse. The board will give an overview of the season, you can ask questions, and we’ll provide frozen treats to the swimmers. More details coming soon!

Coaches:
We are thrilled to welcome back our same coaching staff as last year! Our head coach, Coach Evan, is in his third season as the Porpoises' head coach. Our assistant coaches are Coach Chloe, Coach Helena, and Coach Malie. The coach bios and contact information are listed here: https://parkvillage.swimtopia.com/coaches-1.

If your swimmer needs extra help or if you know of anyone else looking for lessons, all coaches are available for private lessons this summer. The swim team does not facilitate the lessons; lessons should be arranged with the individual coaches.

Practices:
We will use the same practice schedule as last year: https://parkvillage.swimtopia.com/practices. The first practices will be on Tuesday, May 27th. Your swimmer should attend the practices of the group that corresponds to their age on June 1st. Your swimmer will stay in the same group for the whole summer, even if they have a birthday that would put them into a different group. If you aren't sure which group your swimmer is in, please email me.

A few practice policies to note:
1. All swimmers should plan to attend at least one practice during the week of May 27th to be evaluated by the coaching staff for water safety. Swimmers who do not attend at least one practice will not be permitted to swim in the mock meet on June 3rd. Exceptions can be made for year-round swimmers or swimmers who have previously participated in meets with our team. Please clear all exceptions with Coach Evan before signing up for the Mock Meet (year-round swimmers, please include your pool/group).
2. Park Village pool policies require all children 10 & under to be accompanied by a parent/guardian/etc. Swimmers 10 & under may not be dropped off. You can take turns with a friend or neighbor, but each child should have someone on deck responsible for them.
3. There are times when we will be practicing outside of normal pool opening hours. Coach Evan is lifeguard-certified and will be responsible for children in the pool when AMG lifeguards are not on duty. When the pool is closed, only swim team members participating in the current practice may be in the water. This primarily applies to the following groups: 13+ (from 4-5, before traditional school lets out), 9-10 (from 8-8:15), and the 10 & under morning practices (10-11am, Monday/Thursday).
4. We will practice in light rain, but cannot practice in thunder. Any changes to the practice schedule due to weather will be sent out through SwimTopia.

For practices, we recommend all swimmers bring goggles and a swim cap. If your swimmer does not want to wear a swim cap, long hair should be securely tied back. We also recommend bringing a towel, sunscreen, and water.

Mock Meet:
The mock meet will be held on Tuesday, June 3rd. The purpose of the mock meet is to test our systems/equipment, train volunteers, get everyone used to the meet format, and get initial seed times for our swimmers. We know that this is a testing week for traditional schools, but attendance is strongly encouraged. We will do our very best to end this meet by 8-8:15. If your swimmer cannot attend the mock meet, please arrange a time with Coach Evan to get initial times for your swimmer. Instructions on how to sign up for meets will be sent within the next week.

Volunteer Roles:
We simply cannot have a swim team without the help of our families. All families are required to volunteer a minimum of four times this season to avoid the volunteer fee. The volunteer roles for all standard meets for the 2025 season will open on Wednesday, May 21st, at 8pm. Please understand that many of our roles are considered “critical,” meaning we have to forfeit the meet if we can’t fill them. Those roles include timers, meet administrator, order of finish judge, clerk of course, and starter. Please consider signing up for the critical roles.

Signup for volunteer roles is done through SwimTopia. Instructions can be found here:
https://parkvillage.swimtopia.com/volunteer-roles-and-sign-up

Volunteer Help Needed:
We use an automated timing system called Dolphin to time our home meets. We currently only have one person, Steve Fortner, who knows the ins and outs of this system. We are looking for a timing system apprentice to train with Steve this season to provide a backup to this important position. Ideally we’d have the same person do this role at the mock meet and all home meets, but will consider anyone who can fill the role at 2-3 meets. Please reach out if you’re interested! (This position is located under the meet admin tent, which is primarily shaded!)

Team Suits:
Kiefer has our team suit/logos in stock. The price is the same as last year ($41 for the girls suit, $35 for the jammers). Kiefer also has a wide variety of high-quality goggles at competitive prices (from $12). The store is located at High House/Maynard next to Brigs; check hours before you go. (The team is in no way affiliated with Kiefer.)

If you’re new to the team or if your child has never participated in a meet before due to concerns about meet readiness, you might want to wait until your swimmer can be evaluated by our coaches for water safety. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to get your suit by the end of May, as we aren’t the only team that uses that suit.

Any suits from past seasons may also be worn. If you have a suit your child has outgrown that you’d like to donate to the team, please contact me.

Note: If you choose not to wear the team suit, we recommend a snug, competition-style suit. The league prohibits wearing logos from any other team during the meets. Please do not wear gear (suits or caps) from other teams (including TAC, MOR, YOTA, RSA, etc, or any other summer team) - your swimmer will be disqualified. If you’re unsure, ask a coach.

I think that’s all for now! As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Go Porpoises!!! 
Kara Belknap
Park Village Swim Committee