Good morning Piranha families,

Thanks to all of our families for a great start to the 2025 season at Time Trials yesterday! You can find the full results under the Meets & Events tab.

Meet versus Dulles Farm Devil Rays on June 14

For all swim team members, our first competitive home meet will be at the Southern Walk pool this Saturday, June 14.

• You must declare your swimmer's events by Wednesday, June 11. Minis swimmers should not declare for the meet.
• The theme for the meet will be Hawaiian Luau
• Each swimmer may declare for up to 3 individual events for the meet. Please reach out to Coach Rylie if you have questions about what events to sign up for.
• Swimmers must be legal in the events they sign up for. Coaches may remove swimmers from events like breaststroke, butterfly or individual medley if the swimmer has not demonstrated that he or she can swim the event legally. If you have questions about whether or not your swimmer is legal to swim in an event, please reach out to Coach Rylie.
• Relays are group races that occur at the end of meets if time allows. They are a lot of fun both for the participants and the spectators. A couple of important reminders around relay races.
  • Relay teams are selected by the coaches.
  • There is no sign up to swim in a relay team. If you know that your swimmer cannot participate in a relay at the end of the meet, please select Not available for any relays when declaring for the meet. This will let the coaching staff know to not include your swimmer on any relay teams for that meet. 
  • If your swimmer is selected for a relay, please make sure he/she stays to participate in the race. It is very difficult to adjust relay rosters at the last minute, and one swimmer dropping often results in the entire relay team having to scratch from the event.
  • If unexpected circumstances arise and he/she cannot swim in the relay, please let Coach Rylie or a board member know as soon as possible so that we can try to make adjustments.

Please note: Swimmers selected for a relay team who fail to appear for the race without notice twice in a row will be excluded from future relay options.

Questions on how to sign up your swimmer or volunteer for a meet? Check out this help article for detailed instructions or reach out to a board member with any additional questions.

Other notes on meets

A few other reminders to families for meets going forward:

• Please have your swimmers check in as soon as they arrive to the meet. This helps our clerks of course know who is present when lining up the swimmers for events.
• It is critical the swimmers check in on time. There is a lot of work involved to set lanes assignments and finalize heats between the time swimmer's check in and the time the meet starts. If swimmers check in late they may not be able to swim in the meet. 
• Volunteers should also check in as soon as they arrive to the meet. You need to check in to ensure you get credit for your volunteer hours.
• Please make sure you honor your volunteer commitments. If unexpected circumstances arise, let a board member know as soon as possible so that we can find a substitute.
• If your swimmer cannot swim in one or more events that he/she initially signed up for, please let a board member or coach know as soon as possible. We understand that unexpected changes in plans can happen, but it's imperative that our clerks know when swimmers are absent so that we can adjust our event lineups.
• If your swimmer is not swimming they are not allowed in the pool. No exceptions.
• DO NOT photograph or record your swimmer from behind the blocks. This is a safety rule for our swimmers. You are welcome to take pictures from the spectator areas on the sides of the pool but not from the pool ends where swimmers enter and exit the pool.
• Finally, a word about courtesy when it comes to our pool and our neighbors' pools. There is a principle in Boy Scouts called Leave No Trace that states that you should leave an environment exactly as you found it. It is imperative that our swimmers follow this same principle at swim meets. Please ensure that you clean up any food wrappers or other trash off the pool deck before you leave. It is important that we treat our pool facilities and other communities' facilities with respect as it reflects on our team, our parents and our community. Parents, please make sure your swimmers are cleaning up after themselves and are respectful of the pools we compete in.

Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A on Tuesday, June 10

Take a night off of cooking during this crazy time of year and come to Chick-Fil-A at Ryan Park from 3-8 pm on Tuesday, June 10! Use code CFA25 in the mobile app or mention the Piranhas when you order in person. See the attached flier for more details.

Practices

Our afternoon practices continue for team members (not minis) Monday through Thursday at the Community Center pool. There is no practice on Friday, June 13 (last day of school). Please see the times below:

Practice Reminders

• During the first week or so of practice, use a sharpie put your swimmer’s name on their arm, back or cap. We have over 240 swimmers and the coaches are doing their best to learn their names
• Please sit on the north end of the pool, towards the pool house, and away from the lanes and coaches (as best as possible as the community pool has less space)
• Do not go up to your swimmer or a coach during practice
• Bring all your equipment to practice. This includes goggles, fins and a cap or at least a hair tie for long hair
• Do not record/video practices - you can record/video your swimmer in a meet but not at practice
• During practices and swim meets, swimmers (and their siblings) are NOT allowed in the shallow end of the pool or in the baby pool. This is a safety issue as there are no lifeguards on duty during our practices

Weather alerts

Our website allows us to send alert notifications directly to team members via the SwimTopia mobile app. In the event of thunderstorms, if we need to cancel practices we will send out mobile alerts as well as emails. Please download the mobile app to ensure you get these notifications.