Newsletter - September 4th

Hi all, school is in back in session and we are ready to begin another year

for the Sharks Swim Team. I have few things to tell you all at this point

but do expect more things as we get closer and closer to the beginning of

the Y season. The 1st Y Meet of the season will be on November 15.

1. The MDI Y Half-Marathon will be held on September 20. We will need up to

10 people to help out at our water station. We do the Eagle Lake Water Stop

near Bubble Pond. People can park at the Bubble Pond parking lot and take a

short walk down the carriage path to Eagle Lake. We try to arrive at the

station about 8:30 - 8:45 and the first runners come by around 9:15. We

usually have a steady flow until about 10:15 and then we are all done. The

past few years we have had great help and we would like to continue with the

many helping hands. High School students can use the race as credit towards

their community service. If interested pleas email, it is a lot of fun and

the runners are always thanking everyone for helping.

2. The Fall season of the Sharks Swim Team will begin on Monday, September

15. This is a great time for younger swimmers to get back in the groove and

for older swimmers to begin to get in shape for the upcoming winter season.

Practices will be at the following times for the swimmers.

Green (ages 8 & under plus new swimmers)

M/W/F 4:15 - 5:15pm

Gold (ages 8 & above)

M/W/F 5:00 - 6:15pm

Senior (High School students)

M/W 3:45 - 5:00pm

T/Th/F 3:00 - 4:15pm

3. We have created a Forum online for the Sharks this season to keep

everyone informed on the happenings of the Sharks. The forum is at

www.mightysharks.com. I will have more information available in the next

week or two on the forum. The most important feature of the forum will

allow parents., swimmers, and coaches to interact quickly with another but

allow everyone to be involved and stay informed about the team. I will send

out an email in the next week or two going over the forum and what I will be

doing with it. We will also include info in the Parent's Handbook on the

Forum as well.

4. Maine Swimming will hosting a swim clinic and swim meet on November 8 at

the Bath YMCA. This clinic is for Maine USA Swimmers (if not presently

registered, please see me) that will include Kaitlin Sandeno (Gold, Silver,

& Bronze medals at the Athens's '04 Olympics). The clinic will also include

some of the better coaches in Maine to help prepare and pysch up swimmers

for the 2008-09 swim season. There will also be a swim meet in the

afternoon that all the swimmers can participate in. The swimmers will be

put on teams with other swimmers to form a big Inter-State Swim Meet. It

should be a lot of fun and a great learning experience as well. For more

information on the swim camp go to www.maineswimming.org.

5. Volunteers, Volunteers, we will need lots of help for the upcoming

season. We are looking for help in many areas but some specific areas

really need help this year. We do need officials to help out at meets.

There will be a clinic to be held either in Orono or Old Town in late

October for officials. I will keep everyone informed on the date. We will

also need someone or some people to learn how to how to use the computer

system at meets. I think someone who is competent with computers will need

one meet to get the idea of what needs to be done. The computer system

works very smoothly and definitely makes it easier to run a swim meet. We

also need someone to run the concessions stand. Last year we ran it by

committee and it did very well, but it would be nice to know that someone

has got everything under control even if they are delegating everything.

Those are our biggest needs during swim meets. During the season we are

looking for another swim coach on deck. We need the help of a 4th body to

help cover practices during the season. If interested in any of the above

positions please email me.

6. As always if you have any questions/ideas/problems please call me

288-3511 ext 105 or email sharks@mdiymca.org. I am looking forward to

another great swim season for the Sharks Swim Team and hope everyone is

ready to help out and ride the wave to swimming faster.

JIM