Good morning, Tidal Waves -- it's Fun Meet day!

We're looking forward to getting into meet mode tonight. There are lots of notes for today and I promise they're all important. So, here we go…

• Warm-ups start at 4:40 and the meet will start at 5:30. We expect to be done somewhere in the 8:30-9 range. We have a lot of swimmers and it's the first meet of the year, so we want to thank everyone in advance for your patience and flexibility.
• Check-In:
  • When you arrive, be sure to check your family in with Mechele by the south (parking lot side) gate. This is important for us to run a smooth meet without empty lanes and for being sure we account for all our volunteer jobs.
  • Also, it's merchandise and swim cap night! Mechele and crew will have team caps for all swimmers and any merchandise ordered during early signup in April. 
• Thanks to all our meet volunteers!  We absolutely couldn't do this without you. If you have signed up for a job today, you will get an email shortly with relevant details for your job, who to meet where, etc.
• Be sure you're set up to receive SwimTopia notifications. We will use SwimTopia alerts to communicate any urgent communications (weather, etc.)  Also, if you've been waiting on that SwimTopia Pro subscription, now's the time to start it so you get in-app heat sheets and real-time results / scores during the meet.
• Misty and Andy will be in the kiddie pool area for new-parent Q&A at 4:30. If you want to know how to put a cap on your swimmer, mark arms/legs with event info, or whatever other meet day questions you have, just bring them and we'll help you get started.
• Parents of 10 & under swimmers: it is your responsibility to help your child get to the purple tent / staging area by the kiddie pool in time for their events. We will have deck parents lining them up and keeping the groups together once they're there, but we need your help with getting them there in time. Event calls will be made by our outstanding meet announcer and SwimTopia Pro will deliver helpful reminders, so thanks for listening up for those and having your swimmer in the right place at the right time.
• Since this is the first time this year we'll have the whole group together at the pool (and it's a really big group), please take a minute to visit the website and familiarize yourself with the various parking options around the pool: https://www.tidalwavesswim.com/meetparking. The major difference between today's Fun Meet and dual meets (Monday and following) is that today we can park in the big parking lot on the south side of the pool. In the future, this will be our primary visiting team parking area. Please follow the excellent and appreciated directions of the parking crew so we can fit everyone in in an orderly manner.
• Heat sheets will come out via email later today.
• New parents: you'll want to print a copy of the heat sheet document to have with you tonight so you can keep up with what's happening (also available in condensed form in the SwimTopia app if you have a Pro subscription, but paper never has trouble with connectivity, etc.) If you're not familiar with how to mark your swimmer for a meet, get out your heat sheet and Sharpie and follow the info here: https://swimtopia.s3.amazonaws.com/2379/uploaded_files/28300/files/49745.pdf?1509432260. For the 10 & under swimmers, we also ask that you write their name and age on the back of their right shoulder to help the coaches and deck parents get & keep them organized for their events.

That's it for now.  If you have any questions while we're at the pool, just find any board member (Andy, Misty, Lisa, Mechele, or David) or another parent who looks like they know what they're doing and we're all happy to help!

As always, please reach out with questions via email at [email protected]. See you tonight!