All,

Attached are our results from today's meet at Lake Braddock. Congrats to the swimmers and coaches for a great effort, awesome swims, and positive sportsmanship! Continue to work hard and get ready for our two meets this week on Monday and Saturday!

PLEASE DECLARE YOUR SWIMMER(S)’ AVAILABILITY IN SWIMTOPIA AND VIA EMAIL [email protected] IF YOUR SWIMMER IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE for Saturday’s A meet on July 4 by Sunday at 6p. Relay Carnival selections for July 8 will be determined next Sunday and Monday morning and announced Tuesday morning, July 7.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember that we need everyone available and committed to our Saturday meets. If we have swimmers who are scheduled to swim who do not show up, or if anyone leaves in the middle with no advance notice to the coaches, this hurts not only the individual swimmer’s opportunities but also impacts the relay teams on which those swimmers are scheduled to swim and the three other swimmers. Remember, swim team is like any other sport: our swimmers are expected to be at the meets, stay at the meets, and do their best when swimming. Once committed (and seeded into the meet each week), attending the meet and participating should not be an “optional” activity. Unless there is advance notice to us, we expect all swimmers to be available! Thanks for your understanding, and please let us know if you have any questions.

Monday night is our second B Meet, at SS2 vs Commonwealth.

As we continue to integrate SwimTopia into our processes, the next step is to have parents "declare" their swimmer(s)' availability for both A, B, Divisional Relay Carnival, and Divisionals meets, sign-up for events for B meets, and sign-up to volunteer for the positions we need to fill for meet days. Please do this by Sunday at 6p. Also, PLEASE LET US KNOW VIA EMAIL IF YOUR SWIMMER IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE for Saturday’s A meet at Herndon on July 4.

We need to have everyone’s selections in by SUNDAY at 6p. There are no exceptions for late entries after 6p on Sunday. NO EXCEPTIONS THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE ADMIN THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE PRIOR TO THE MEET!

Here is the SWIMTOPIA process:

Once logged in to SwimTopia, go to:

"Meets and Events" tab>Signup Calendar.

From there, scroll to each A meet which has the green “Meet Entry” box and declare swimmer availability or absence for every meet for the whole season that has that green button next to it.

This is how we know if a swimmer is going to be absent for a Saturday A meet, Relay Carnival, and Divisionals (along with a reminder email from you each week before an absence). These are the meets where us knowing if a swimmer is going to be absent is critical!

FOR THIS WEEK AND ALL MONDAY NIGHT B MEETS:

On Saturday afternoons after A meets, we will activate the Meet Entry green box like above for the next B meet (e.g., this week it is the Monday, June 29 meet “CSC@SS2”). Parents can now click that box and declare availability AND pick the strokes for their kids (which you can do for B Meets but not for A meets where we pick the strokes the kids swim). Remember: pick two strokes. The Bonus IM is only for swimmers who are legal in all four strokes. HERE'S THE RULE PERTAINING TO IM SWIMMERS: IF COACHES CANNOT VERIFY THAT A SWIMMER HAS LEGAL STROKES TO SWIM AN IM, THE SWIMMER CANNOT SWIM THE IM IN THE B MEET. ONCE THE COACH CAN VERIFY THAT THE SWIMMER CAN LEGALLY SWIM ALL FOUR STROKES, THEY WILL BE ALLOWED TO SWIM IN THE B Meet. So, for example, a swimmer can select two from among free, back, breast, and fly, and add the Bonus IM if they are approved to swim the IM by the coaches.

Reminders for B meets:

B MEET EVENTS: Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and Individual Medley. (Note: This is the second B meet of each season, and the teams will begin with Individual Medley and then swim freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly)

ELIGIBILITY for B Meets:

1. The eligibility of a swimmer to compete in a particular age group shall be determined by the Northern Virginia Swimming League rule 2.b from the current season handbook.
2. All swimmers are limited to a maximum of three events (two from free, back, breast, & fly events) plus the IM as a “Bonus” event.
3. An NVSL 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place winner in a particular stroke in the immediately prior seven days is not eligible to compete in that stroke in the current B meet (e.g., if the swimmer places in the Saturday A meet in a stroke, they cannot swim that stroke on the following Monday night B Meet). If the 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place was won by default or disqualification (DQ), then the swimmer may compete in that stroke. A swimmer does not become eligible by swimming up an age group.

Separately, all meets accessed from SwimTopia’s Meets and Events tab>Signup Calendar already have a green box accessible for parents to signup for jobs for each meet. If you have not done so already, please sign-up for those positions today!

And, please take a moment and download the SwimTopia app. Once you have it, you can agree to receive alerts and emails from the Team. We will be sending text alerts for weather delays and important announcements through SwimTopia and eventually use the platform for all types of communications.

PARTICIPATION IN “B” MEETS (MONDAY MEETS)

The goal of the Fairfax Area Swim Teams (FAST) Developmental meets is to provide competitive swim meets to those swimmers who have not had the opportunity to swim or to swim “off-strokes” in the Saturday NVSL meets. Ideally, swimmers should have the opportunity to compete in at least two events per week, either on Saturday or on Monday.

Meets are not scored, and times are not official NVSL times; however, these are refereed meets designed to provide competitive conditions which are like the NVSL Saturday meets. Ribbons are awarded. FAST also hosts an Individual Medley (IM) meet at the end of the season.

EVENTS: Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and Individual Medley.

Weather Problems for B Meets: We swim rain or shine. If lightning occurs, swimmers should wait in cars until a decision has been made by the Team Reps for a delay, postponement, or cancellation. Meets can be delayed up until 7:30 PM if the forecast looks to be improving. We will try make up meets as soon as possible (ideally the next evening) depending upon the host pool availability and mutual agreement of the Team Reps. Most times, a cancelled B meet will not be rescheduled.

Time Cards: For 2026, a psych sheet will be created prior to the meet and lanes seeded with like swimmers. No deck entries will be authorized for all meets.

Clerks of Course: The Clerks of Course will use the psych sheet or seeded meet sheet to place swimmers in the appropriate lanes. Swimmer will be placed from fastest to slowest, in the lane order of 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, with the fastest overall heat last.

Ribbons for B Meets: 1^st through 6^th place ribbons are awarded. The home team provides 1^st through 6^th place ribbons for the meet. Each team provides its own Competitor ribbons if they choose to use them. Ribbons will be given to 1^st through 6^th place winners in each age group. 6 and unders may be given 6 and under Star ribbons. Heat winner ribbons may be given at the conclusion of each heat.

The swimmers who learn to swim breaststroke and butterfly legally have a much greater possibility of getting into an “A” meet because these are the harder strokes to swim. Don’t just focus on freestyle and backstroke, learn to do all four strokes!

Swimmers should be at the pool on Monday afternoon at 4:15p ready to set up for home meets and arrive at 4:15p to depart for away meets.

FOR THIS B MEET, WE WILL START WITH THE IM EVENTS, FOLLOWED BY FREE, BACK, BREAST, AND FLY.

Monday, June 29
B Meet details: Commonwealth at SS2
4:15p – Arrive to help set up pool
5:00p – SS2 Warm-ups

5:20p – Commonwealth Warm-ups
5:30p – Officials and Timers report

5:50p – First four IM events to the Clerk of Course
6:00p – Meet starts – Swim Fast! Have Fun!
We still need volunteers to help at Monday night's meet to time, etc. Please be available and Sign-up in SwimTopia. Also, we need families to help set up the pool at 4:15p and take-down the meet at its conclusion.

See you soon!