James River Country Club

The swim team season is ready to begin and we look forward to a very enjoyable and successful year. To ensure both of these, we need a little help from our parents, particularly those who have swimmers who are eight years old and under. The following are some tips that we think will help our meets run smoothly:

1. Explain to your child that the lane slips that they receive are very important. They are your “ticket to swim.” The swimmer must hold onto the slip until three or four events before their scheduled swim. At that time, they should go line up in their lane and give their lane slip to the adult lane judge who will be collecting them. Parents need to listen and be aware of the event being called to ensure their child won’t miss their event. There are no “do-overs” if your child misses an event!  Assistant coaches will pass out lane slips at an appropriate time during the meet but they shouldn't have to hunt down your child.
2. When the children are not swimming (especially 8 & U), we encourage them to cheer on the team.
3. There may be some “downtime” in between a swimmer’s events, so send a backpack filled with cards, coloring books, etc. so that your children are occupied.
4. Label all clothing, towels, goggles, swim caps, etc. to identify your children’s items correctly.
5. We suggest you bring two towels for your child, one to sit on during the meet and one for drying off and keeping warm! We also recommend a sweatshirt; children get cold when wet and the sun is fading.
6. Feed your swimmers before the meets (healthy meals!); it might be a good idea to bring some snacks and Gatorade or water. We can’t be assured there will be food and drinks available at every away meet.
7. In the event of threatening weather, we may make the decision at the very last minute to try to have the meet if at all possible. If it is just raining, the meet goes on, but any hint of lightning or thunder, we will wait and see or cancel for safety reasons. This decision is made by the GPSA representatives from each team.

Thank you for your help in making this a great year for the JRCC River Ratz!