Welcome to the Briarwood Barracudas!

When the swim team first started in 2015, we had about 25 swimmers and for the last 2 years we have had over 200! This is our 3^rd year swimming in the ASA swim league. Our coaches have done an incredible job providing a fun and competitive environment for our kids. I want to encourage everyone to get VERY familiar with our Swimtopia site. It has a lot of info on there (https://briarwoodbarracudas.swimtopia.com/). To order the team swim suit, click here and follow the link to swim outlet team site. Any of the suits on there will work. Go ahead and order now. (https://briarwoodbarracudas.swimtopia.com/shop). Every kid will get a team shirt. If any adult wants one, feel free to order one on the swimtopia shop tab. We will be selling the branded swim caps for $5 per cap at most practices and meets.

Parent Volunteer Committees- Our swim team couldn’t exist without parent volunteers. There are some meet specific tasks that need to be done but then we have an awesome crew of parents who take the lead on setting up practices, meets, concessions, post season races, meet scoring, and so much more. Those parents are Emmy Turner, Erin Mosher, Gail Barnes, Jana Chesley, Kristina Ellis, Leigh Greene, Lisa Obser, Melissa Mitchell, Jill Blake, Rebecca Sokol and me (Michael Sussman).

Practices- Show up for your time slot at least 5 minutes early so that we can have a quick transition. Anyone with longer hair will need to wear their hair up or put on a swim cap. Team suit is not required but girls are recommended to wear a 1 piece suit. All children must have goggles. It is best to get a pair of actual swim goggles, even for the littles. These tend to stay on better and not leak as much. Look for Speedo, TYR, etc.

One other thing I discussed was a mistake I made on the practice info I posted. The 9/10 year olds are actually scheduled to practice from 8-9PM. However, if you want them to practice from 7:15-8 (the B session for the 7/8 year olds), that would be ok.

Morning Practices- We will have morning practices starting June 2. We will send out more details closer to that time. There will likely not be Wednesday morning practices due to coaching shortages. If we end up having coaching availability for Wednesday morning, we will let you know. These are for 7+ swimmers!

Saturday clinics- Still confirming these. They would start in June. These are NOT included in your swim team dues. This is a separate payment directly to the coaches and they handle the sign ups. Be on the lookout for these. These will be for 7+ swimmers.

Meets- 5/6 year olds can swim in 2 meets and the Guppy meet on June 17^th. I will cross reference the sign up genius and add the 5/6 year olds in for the meets. Everyone else will be responsible for signing their kids up for the swim meets. To do so, you will click on Schedule>Meet Entry then select yes or no to if your kid can attend. You will need to mark their availability by the Saturday prior to the meet at midnight. After that, meet registration will close and we can’t guarantee a spot for your child. The coaches will set the lineup on Sunday and merge the meet with the other coach on Monday so that we are ready for the meet on Tuesday! Next to Meet Entry is the job sign-up for each meet. That is where you will go to sign up for your 2 slots.  

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. Every family is required to work (2) volunteer time slots throughout the season. The home meets will require way more manpower than the away meets.  Please see the attachment for a description of the jobs at each meet. 

Missing Meets- If you sign your child up for a meet and then are unable to make it, PLEASE LET THE COACHES KNOW! Also, send an email to [email protected]. This can really mess up relays for other kids so please take this seriously.

Leaving early from meets- HUGE NO NO! Unless they are asked to swim in any 7/8 year old relays, 5/6 year olds can leave when they are done, which is towards the beginning of the meet. Everyone else is expected to stay the whole meet unless they let a coach know prior to Saturday night so that the coaches don’t put them in the relays. Again, relay teams will have to scratch if a swimmer on that team leaves. If this happens, your child will not be entered into relays the next meet they swim in.

Post Season- The GRPA district meet will be at our pool on June 24^th. We swim for the City of Brookhaven with Murphy Candler and Hampton Hall. We will swim against other city parks and recs departments. All swimmers 7+ are welcome to sign up. The city covers the dues for this meet. The top 2 swimmers and relays in each age group event will qualify for the GRPA State Meet. This year it is in Columbus, GA at the Columbus Aquatic Center on July 14^th and 15^th.

ASA Championships- The swim league we are a part of is Atlanta Swim Association (ASA). At the meeting, I did not know our time but now I do! We will swim Thursday, June 29^th at 4PM. All swimmers are able to sign up to swim. The meet is at Georgia Tech in the pool built for the equipment. The technology is awesome and it is a really cool experience.

End of season party- July 13^th. More details to come but it will be a pool party.

Coach Kate gave a nice talk on our team goal of improving throughout the season, having fun, and developing a love for swimming.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email [email protected]

See you all Monday 5/15!!!