| Q: How do I contact a coach? |
| A: If a parent wants to contact a coach directly about any issues, they can do so by phone or meeting with the coach before or after practices. A telephone list will be distributed at the start of the swim season. |
| Q: How much should my child swim? Do we have to swim all the practices? |
| A: Practices are held Monday through Thursdays and Saturdays. Older swimmers typically swim 5 days a week, while younger swimmers (8 and under) or beginning swimmers usually swim 3 days a week. While attendance at every practice is not mandatory, swimmers that want to succeed and improve their times need to attend as many practices as they can. As Coach Don says, "No Deposit, No Return." Historically speaking, those swimmers with high attendance are more likely to continually improve their times and techniques and overall have a more successful swim season. Those swimmers with low attendance usually show less improvement in their times or swimming techniques during the year. Those swimmers who have a 75% attendance at the practices or greater receive a recognition at the End of Season Banquet. |
| Q: How can I best support my child's swimming career? |
A:
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| Q: What is a time trial? |
| A: The swim season is kicked off with the Time Trials which are held on a Saturday at the end of October at the Portland YMCA; prior to the first regular swim meet. This is "dress rehearsal" for PTSC and is run as if it were an official meet. This is a chance for new swimmers to experience what a swim meet is like, allows all swimmers to set their base times for the swim season, allows the team to test out the timing system and provides a venue for new timers and officials to get some experience. All swimmers are expected to participate. |
| Q: I don't have a lot of time to volunteer, with my already very busy schedule. What could I do to help out that wouldn't involve a lot of time? |
A: There are a number of possibilities for those who want to help, but can't make a giant commitment:
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| Q: Can you tell me about the Team leadership? |
| A: The team is run by the Head Coach, and the Steering Committee and representatives of the YMCA, primarily the Aquatics Director. The Steering Committee is made up of Parent Volunteers who manage various aspects of the team including:
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| Q: How can I assist the team? |
A: The PTSC is run by the coaches and a group of parent volunteers. It takes a lot of time and effort to raise money, manage the team, run a swim meet, outfit the team, etc. We are always looking to parent volunteers to help out with this. Most jobs don't take a lot of time and effort, are a great way to meet other parents and allow you to be on deck with your children (especially young children) during the swim meets. We ask that you consider helping the team out in any way that you can! Sign up for timing at the meets (no experience necessary - we conduct training prior to every meet), help out with fund raising or in any other capacity that interests you. Below are some of the areas where help is needed.
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| Q: What is all this fundraising about? |
| A: Various fund raising events are held throughout the year. Yearly fundraising goals are established to cover team expenses not covered by the registration fee (trophies, awards, ribbons, swimmer gifts, banquets, registrations fees for the State, Regional and National meets, etc.). The goal is for each swimmer to raise $90-100 for the team. The more funds that the team raises, the better we can reward our swimmers at the End of Season Banquet. Past team gifts have included jackets, pants, towels, swim bags, etc. |
| Q: Competition and the young child? |
| A: The USA Swimming website has various articles on the topic. You can go to this website for answers to many questions you may have about young children and competition. |
| Q: What is the Big Brother/Big Sister program? |
| A: Prior to the first swim meet, all new swimmers are assigned a Big Brother or Big Sister, who are to be there to help and mentor the young swimmer throughout the swim season. The Big Brother or Big Sister will be there to help get the younger swimmers to their events on time, answer any questions, and to help quell any fears they may have as well. |
| Q: Where should I Park? |
| A: Limited parking is available in the YMCA parking lot and on the streets surrounding the YMCA. Validated parking for UP TO 1HR FOR YMCA MEMBERS is also available at the Eastland Hotel Parking lot located in the next block up from the YMCA (towards Congress Street). Bring your parking ticket AND YMCA membership card to the YMCA front desk to have it validated. |
| Q: Swim suits? |
| A: Team suits and caps are included in the registration fee. The use of the team suit is required for all regular meets. Performance suits (e.g., FastSkin), can be used for the Championship meets and USS meets. To ensure that the team suit lasts the entire season (doesn't fade or stretch out), swimmers should avoid wearing them to practices. Practice suits should be acquired and used for all practices. Practice suits will be available for purchase at various times at the YMCA during swim meets. Also, practice suits are available at sporting goods stores such as Dicks or the Sports Authority, however you can usually find a better selection at specialty stores such as the Aqua Diving Academy Shop on Commercial Street in Portland next to Becky's Diner. Online options for practice suits: www.speedousa.com, www.kiefer.com, www.tyr.com, www.metroswimshop.com, www.swimoutlet.com. Swim suit sizing will be conducted early in the season and prior to the first meet. Suits are handed out to the swimmers at the same time. This occurs during the week, prior to a regularly scheduled swim practice. |
| Q: How do we communicate? |
| A: Swimmer practice calendars, mailboxes, information boards, phone/e-mail tree, parent meetings, meet debriefs, formal gatherings (holiday party, awards night, banquet), informal gatherings during practice. Every effort is made to keep parents and swimmers informed of what is going on during the swim season. This is done through the PTSC website, emails, parents meetings, posting notices on the bulletin boards and putting information into the mail folders found in plastic bins in the pool viewing area (aka Gallery). Each swim family will have their own folder. Team information that is emailed out will also be placed in the folder. Ribbons awarded to swimmers from the various swim meets will also be distributed via the folders. Meet results, attendance records, New England Qualifying times, etc. will be posted on the PTSC website and on either bulletin board in the pool viewing area or on the bulletin board between the girls and boys locker rooms. |
| Q: What are the meets like? |
A: During the regular season, the PTSC swims at eight regular season meets, both in Portland or at other Maine YMCAs. PTSC also swims at the YMCA State Championship at the University of Maine Orono. For swimmers who swim faster than the cut times, they will also be eligible to swim at the New England Regional Championship Meet and the Nationals. All regular season meets are held on Saturdays and the State Championship meet is held on Saturday and Sunday. The State Meet (@ University of Maine, Orono) is the culmination of a season’s worth of work and their chance to swim best times at a highly competitive meet. In order for the team to succeed, we need every member of the team at this meet. Meets typically last about 4 hours. |
| Q: What is a dual meet? |
| A: Four dual meets are scheduled during the regular swim season. At these meets, two YMCA teams go head to head and a score is kept. Who the PTSC competes against is based on how we placed at the YMCA State Championship meet the prior year. Teams who placed high at the States Meet swim against the other high ranking teams and those who placed lower are matched with other teams that ranked comparably. The events offered during Dual Meets are the same as those offered during the YMCA State Meet. |
| Q: What is a closed meet? |
| A: PTSC swims at four Closed meets each year. The Closed meets are open to 3-4 YMCA teams competing against each other. There are several different Closed meet formats, which are also a different format from what is offered at the Dual meets. These meets give the swimmers the opportunity to swim in "non-standard" events, many of which are offered at the YMCA New England Regional Championship meet and the YMCA Nationals. By making the events available, it gives swimmers the opportunity to qualify in all events offered at the YMCA New England Regional and YMCA National Championship swim meets. |
| Q: What are USA swim meets? |
| A: Some swimmers at the PTSC also elect to swim at the USA meets. These meets are in addition to the YMCA meets. Participation in these meets gives the kids the opportunity to swim against other club swimmers in Maine as several Maine swim clubs only swim in the USA program. The USA meets are fun and are open to all swimmers, of all ages and abilities. There is a separate fee to register the swimmer in the Maine USA swim league (usually around $75 for the entire year). USA meets also typically have a per event charge of $3 per event that the swimmers chooses to swim. Contact the Coach Lia Lengveld for further information. |
| Q: What is a DQ (Disqualification)? |
| A: Referees and officials watch the swimmers during the meet and will disqualify swimmers if they do not swim the event legally (e.g., using a flutter kick or not touching the wall with both hands simultaneously when swimming the butterfly or breaststroke). If disqualified (or DQ'ed) they will not be eligible for a ribbon (place or PR) or earn points for the team. Swimmers who are disqualified will show up in the results at the bottom of the event with a DQ instead of a time. |