Summer Swim officially begins when we hop in the pool on Tuesday night 5/31!

We are thrilled to have you be a part of the WOST family -- and your swimmers representing the Stingrays this year.

Dryland activities these first few days were geared toward helping swimmers get to know one another, get to know a little bit about swimming, and start setting personal (and team) goals for the season. We will continue building these skills and goals in the coming weeks as we "reach for the stars."

WOST strives for mastery -- that means we value effort above talent. The truth is -- and even the most highly decorated Olympians will tell you this -- hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. 

WOST strives to create an environment where everyone can learn. This means we will work hard to use multiple methods (demonstrations, verbal instructions, dry-side, and wet-side activities) to assist swimmers in learning the technical aspects of each stroke in order to succeed.

At WOST mistakes ... bad races ... false starts ... missed turns ... DQs ... are all opportunities to learn and grow -- they help us learn how to better target our efforts to master this sport. 

And lastly, at WOST, we are all members of one TEAM. We win as a team ... we lose as a team. We show good sportsmanship all of the time -- even when our opponents do not.  We strive to live up to the highest standards by following the rules (even when no one is watching),  respect our opponents because they help challenge us to make us better, and treat everyone the way we would like to be treated. 

We need every team member to show respect for each other (and their coaches) by their effort -- to tell each other when we see another teammate do something well ... when we see their improvements ... and to encourage each other to keep up the hard work, especially when they are tired or discouraged. 

For our part, the coaches are working to find ways to make sure each swimmer on the team is "seen." This means looking for positive things we see your swimmer doing, and writing them down. We want to write them down, so that we can call them out during fun days, and award meetings. We also want to make sure we help them build their backpack charm with the beads they've earned through their efforts.

I'm sure everyone is now wondering what are Backpack Charms? Sitting on my desk right now are 100 lobster-claw charm holders. Coach Kathryn is currently working on designing/printing out the first charm for every swimmer (the Stingrays 2022 Season charm). And beads and charms will begin to be earned this week.

Charms -- The charms are shrinky dinks that have been designed as special "mini" awards, and are given for things like the first time a swimmer races an event legally, qualifying for City Meet, dropping the most time in 2 events at a swim meet, attending a swim meet, etc. 

Beads -- There are two types of beads ''barrel" beads and "glitter stars." The barrel beads are to reflect common, expected behaviors (daily attendance, sportsmanship, friendship, helper, attitude, team spirit), while the "glitter stars" are rare beads that reflect going above and beyond (Leadership, perfect attendance, Indomitable spirit, mastering the details, respect, personal best times, and goals achieved).

We'll get more posted on the beads/charms as we finalize designs and any other special recognitions in the coming weeks. Our goal with this program is to help every swimmer remain engaged in the process and "reach for the stars" by working to become the very best swimmer they can, but also leave with a tangible, fun memory of what they accomplished.

One of the first steps to "reaching for the stars" is learning to set goals. The swimmers who were able to be at dryland on Thursday night started their goal cards (which are being laminated by Abby as I type). We will be continuing to write out goals and motivational sayings this week, so that each swimmer has their own personal "set" of cards to help keep them inspired. And to ensure everyone has an opportunity to earn the rare "gold glitter bead" for reaching a goal this summer.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend -- and I look forward to seeing you around the pool next week!