Our main form of communicating important information is the Stingrays blog: http://jhstingrays.blogspot.com.
On the website are tabs where you can find registration and practice schedules, upcoming swim meet information and registration forms/deadlines/etc., links to suggested swimsuits, caps, goggles, links to useful information, and team photos. Please sign up for email updates by entering your email address in the “Follow Updates by Email” gadget on the upper right hand side of the blog. This will enable you to be notified any time the coach or board updates the website and ensures you won’t miss any changes. You’ll also get to see swim meet photos when they’re added and other fun postings! Your email address is private and will never be shared with or sold to other organizations.
USA Swimming
USA Swimming
Your swimmer must must have an active registration with USA Swimming, which is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. This form and fees must be submitted to JHSR at the beginning of each school year (September). If your child starts swimming mid-school year, they must register with USA Swimming through JHSR at that time.
Swim Meet Schedule
Swim meets provide the opportunity for your child to compete in your swimmer’s age group. A home meet is always the best place for a child’s first competition. When competing in a sanctioned meet, swimmers obtain official times which can be used to qualify for the Wyoming Championship meets (held twice per year) and other meets that require qualifying times. There are many swim meets that happen around our state and region throughout the season. Dates, meet info, registration forms and deadlines are posted on the blog on the Meet and Event Schedule tab at the top of the blog as they become official. If the links are not live, it is because the forms have not yet been published by the sponsoring organization. Keep checking back! To learn more about a meet, click the link under the “Meet Info” column. Your coaches are always happy to select or suggest events if you are unsure what events your child should swim.
Stingrays-Sponsored Meets: Exact Dates are on the calendar and on the Home Page
Fall in the Hole (November) - Saturday and Sunday
Sweetheart in the Tetons - February
Wyoming State Championships:
Winter States - Early March in Laramie, WY (Short Course)
Summer States - Late July in Gillette, WY (Long Course)
Expectations for Parents
The only way our club is able to keep practice fees affordable is by depending on our families to volunteer their help. It also makes participation more enjoyable, because we all invest time in the team and get to know the families and swimmers in the process. All parents of active swimmers are expected to contribute to putting on our swim meets. There are many jobs: set-up, timing, concession booth, deck attendants, head timers, time clock/computer operation, etc. We use Sign-Up Genius to make sure all jobs and concession needs are covered.
There are additional jobs that come up over the course of the season, including helping plan team parties, our 4th of July parade, fundraising, booth attending for Old Bill’s Fun Run, helping manage databases, and other duties. We encourage you to share your strengths and knowledge with us - do you have great computer skills? Database experience? Design skills? Retail experience? Fundraising knowledge? Are you a great photographer? Great people skills? Like to set up equipment? We want your expertise!
Also, the Stingrays Board meetings are open to all member parents/guardians.Members are encouraged to attend. We are always looking for new ideas and fresh takes. Meeting Dates, times and locations are posted under the Board Meetings and Agenda tab on the blog.
Expectations for Swimmers:
The main goal for all Stingrays participants is to improve swimming skills, form, and endurance while having fun. We also focus on learning discipline and a team mentality. For that reason, we expect swimmers to be on time for each practice and ready to swim with suits, caps, and goggles. During practice, swimmers should pay attention to instructions from coaches. Talk to your coach if you don't understand directions or are having trouble with a drill! Your coaches are great sources of information, and they want to help you!
There are numerous opportunities for competition during each season. We understand that travel to meets can be difficult financially and/or with work schedules. However a big part of swimming is competing with other like-skilled swimmers in meets. Therefore, all participants are expected to swim in our local meets and are encouraged to sign up for away meets as well. Swimmers on the competitive team will be expected to attend at least two away meets per season. Parents often take turns providing transportation to meets.
Resources for Swimmers and Parents
There are tabs called “Swimmer’s Corner” and “Parent’s’ Corner” on our blog with great resources for athletes and parents, including links to swimming videos and great articles. There are also links to Wyoming Swimming (our LSC) and USA Swimming, where you can learn much more about our sport, look up current times for your swimmer, and much more! Please take advantage of these great resources. Another easily accessible resource: other swim families. Have a question? Ask some of the moms, dads, and swimmers you see around the pool. We all help each other and usually have some great suggestions!
Swimming Glossary
- A & B meet - unlike a regular qualifying time meet, an A & B meet allows participation without a qualifying (or “A”) time. “B” meet participants do not score points, but often “B” swimmers achieve their qualifying times during these meets!
- Age-Group - competition levels broken down by age, commonly 8 & Under, 10 & Under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17 & Up.
- DQ - Disqualified. Sometimes young swimmers think this means Dairy Queen! But it actually indicates that a swimmer was doing something incorrectly in an event during competition.
- Dual - swim meets where two swim clubs compete.
- IM - Individual Medley. This is a competition event that requires the swimmer to perform each of the four strokes in this order: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle.
- Invitational - swim meet that include multiple swim clubs.
- Length vs Lap - One length is one time across the pool. One lap is two lengths.
- LSC - Local Swimming Committee (Wyoming Swimming for us).
- Medley Relay: Four swimmers on a team, each swims one of the four strokes in this order: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Free. The Medley Relay starts with backstroke because it cannot be started from a starting block.
- Short Course - either 25 yard or 25 meter pool
- Long Course - 50 meter pool
- LCM - long course meters; refers to pool length in time standards and swimmers’ time records.
- Mixed - Swim meets are usually broken down by gender and age, although some meets are swum “mixed” meaning boys and girls swim the same events. Mixed relays include boys and girls on the same relay team.
- Open - All ages swim together in the meet, though final times are most often compared by gender and age group.
- Qualifying Times (QTimes) - minimum time needed in an event to qualify for a higher level of competition, usually for championships, sometimes for invitation-only meets.
- SCY - short course yards; refers to pool length in time standards and swimmers’ time records.
- SCM - short course meters; refers to pool length in time standards and swimmers’ time records.
- Sectionals - like Zones, but have even faster qualifying times.
- Zones - also known as Zone Championships. Zones is the next level of competition after State Championships and requires faster qualifying times. Age group Zones is for swimmers 12 & Under where swimmers are scored within their age group. Senior Zones is open to swimmers 19 & Under without separate age group scoring. Wyoming is in the Western Zone and competes against swimmers from AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV,OR, UT
Hope to see you at the pool and
Gooooooooooooooooooo Stingrays!
