some final "thank you"s & a few highlights
Dear Parents,
A heart-felt thank you to all who contributed to the coach tip fund. Your generosity was a great encouragement to the coaches.
Thank you for all the delicious homemade food last night @ the Awards Dinner. Your investment of time and energy was appreciated by all!
Shaun, the coaches, and I also want to thank the parents who volunteered to make our swim meets possible. We really appreciate your help and literally could not have done it without you. Next year we hope to see more parent involvement, especially from the 10 & under age groups. Later in August before the pool closes for the season, we’ll be hosting a parent meeting (for all swim team parents) where you are welcome to share your ideas for ways to improve. We’ll also be introducing several committees that we’d like to see up and running for next summer, i.e.
Awards Dinner committee - pick the date and publish it by May 1, find a new venue (the shelter will be torn down this fall to make room for the pickle and paddle ball courts), plan the menu, create the signups, decorate, etc.
Swim Clinic Committee – periodic clinics (from mid-May through mid-July) taught by parent volunteers who are former high school or college swimmers who really know proper stroke technique, starts, turns, finishes, etc.
WW Waves Booster Club – to increase team spirit! Choose the team suits for the year, create the team cap and t-shirt designs, handle orders and delivery of team suits, caps, and shirts, come up with other WW merchandise ideas (travel mugs, water bottles, towels, swim bags, chairs, visors, baseball caps, etc.), decorate for home meets (hang posters or banners on the fencing), etc.
Home Meet Meals Committee – we’ve enjoyed the Vincenzo’s pizza, but I’ve been asked by several swimmers to explore other options for home meet meals (instead of or in addition to pizza). This committee would decide what food we’ll have after home meets (that has broad appeal), arrange it with the vendor, and take care of collecting orders & money. We also need a new location, as the shelter will be torn down this fall to make room for the pickle-paddle courts. Eat @ the tables on the pool deck? (alternatively, we could consider going out after home meets as we do at away meets?)
Donut Friday Folks – pick up the donuts on Friday mornings during the season and deliver them to Westwood no later than 9:30 am
Finals Committee – create the Westwood Fan Zone @ the GAC, plan a “get psyched!”
pasta dinner for the swimmers the night before finals, etc.
Bulletin Board Committee - decorate the swim team bulletin board (outside just before the entrance from the pool deck into the clubhouse) and make sure the team records are posted and are current and accurate.
Tech Committee – before the season begins host a few short meetings in May and early June where you explain how to use swimtopia & the swimtopia app: how to declare for meets & how to sign up for volunteer spots. Give a brief tour of all the other useful info located in swimtopia, including how to see your child’s meet results and progress throughout the season. Everyone brings their laptop or device, and you walk them through how to use it. Offered both in person and via Zoom.
and more! So be thinking about how (not if) you’d like to be involved.
One more thank you: Where would the Westwood Swim Team be without Shaun Sidden? THANK YOU Shaun, our league rep, for the countless hours you have spent (year-round) to make the Westwood Waves a success. You have gone above and beyond so many times – we are all very grateful for your service and dedication.
In closing, I want to mention a few highlights from the awards dinner and finals:
At finals, Westwood had the least # of disqualifications and false starts out of all 21 teams. This is FANTASTIC – kudos to our coaches and swimmers!! It really paid off in the score and final results. We are still awaiting official results, but you will all be pleasantly surprised when they are announced. The Meet Mobile app has us finishing 7th overall, but that was before the disqualifications and false start slips were processed. Stay tuned!
Although we didn’t win the Championships meet overall, Westwood’s 11 & up age group DID WIN THE AFTERNOON SESSION! When the points were tallied, our WW 11&up kids scored the most points out of all 21 teams. The league awarded them a 1st place plaque that will be displayed at the club. Amazing job, swimmers & coaches! This was a full team effort, and we couldn’t be prouder.
Our 6 yr. old Jack Baker was seeded 17th in the 25 yd backstroke. He dropped a whopping 8 seconds and finished 3rd place overall. Amazing! Congratulations, Jack! Well done.
Our only 6 yr. old girl, Evie Benoit, started the season in swim school and ended up 6th and 7th in 25 free and 25 back @ finals, respectively, scoring 25 points for the team. Amazing!
Keegan Brown won the 100 freestyle and set a new Westwood record. She placed 2nd in the 50 free and with relays scored 52 points for the team! Great job, Keegan!
Our 13-14 boys freestyle relay of Finn Hosey, Wyatt Sidden (aged up from 11-12s), Ben Beckerleg, and Brooks Bassong, went from 5th to 3rd (bronze medal!) dropping 5.22 seconds from their relay time. Way to GO!
Wyatt Sidden earned 2nd place @ finals in all 3 of his events. With relays he scored 51 points for the team. Great job, Wyatt!
There were several other great performances, as well, and several swimmers set new Westwood team records. We’ll post the official results on the Swimtopia homepage when we get them and will update the records on the bulletin board @ the pool.
Finally – if your child has any interest in swimming during at least part of the upcoming year, visit the Enfinity or TYDE websites for more information. Enfinity registrations opens TOMORROW – July 15 – and it will fill up fast.
Enjoy the rest of the summer! We hope to see you at the pool.
Cathy McDowell, Swim Committee on the Board
