Hey Barracudas!

We are looking forward to a fun-filled 2024 swim season and we are excited to have Coach Ryan Nguyen back for another year as our new head coach!

Practices start in ONE week and we have a few updates below (actually a lot) …

• Get Your Gear Day this Saturday!
• Practice Schedule - begins Monday!
• Swimmer Expectations
• Meet and Event Schedule
• Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities (& Stroke Judge Training)
• New Families & Swim Meets 101
• Kalahari Team Day June 5th - tickets still available!
• Thank you to all our Sponsors

Get Your Gear day is this Saturday from 1-3pm at the BCW Big Pool (2601 Creeks Edge Pkwy; Austin, TX). SwimFreak, our official supplier, will be on site to help with fittings for suits & gear (goggles, kickboards, fins, mesh bag, etc). All swimmers need to wear their team suit (Speedo Cyclone Swirl / Eco Pro LT Splices) to swim meets (and are welcome to wear them to practices and Kalahari family day too) so this is the best opportunity to get your team suit and other gear. Volunteers will be on hand to distribute the team tee shirts and other merchandise you ordered during registration.

If you’re unsure your swimmer can meet the requirements to safely swim the length of the pool unassisted, Coach Ryan will be available for skills assessments.

We will also have complimentary snow cones from Southern Snow so you can get your suit & gear, talk to Coach Ryan or a Board member if you have questions about the season, and grab a snow cone! If you can't make it, click here for more details to reach out to SwimFreak to get our official team suit.

Practice Schedule

Click here to view our 2024 practice schedule. Note that After School Practice has different times for MWF vs TuTh practices for the 6&Unders and 7/8s. This is to maximize the number of practices swimmers can make for the early practice slots which can be challenging with a short window after school lets out. In the summer, the practice schedule is the same every day.

The 1st practice is this Monday, April 22nd, giving swimmers 2 weeks of practice before our Intrasquad Meet on Friday, May 3rd. The first week or so of practices might be COLD, so a wetsuit or parka might be a good idea. You know your child best, so we also understand if you need to wait a week to start practice to ensure it is a positive experience. We also understand that many kids have after school activities still going on and might not make it to every practice. We do ask that everyone tries to make at least 1 practice a week.

If practice is canceled due to weather or other reasons, it will be posted on the website and you can subscribe to the calendar and receive text alerts.

We understand that swimmers sometimes prefer to swim in a different group than their assigned age group (you can see your swimmer’s assigned group by clicking “My Account” on the upper right hand corner of the website and selecting your swimmer’s name). We ask that all swimmers start in their assigned group so Coaches can assess skills, then submit any change requests to [email protected].

Before practice, please remind your swimmer of the following 5 Steps to Becoming a Successful Barracuda:

Swimmer Expectations

1. Be Responsible

• For your swimming gear (caps, goggles, suit, towel, fins, etc.)
• By being on time to practice and meets
• By letting coaches know if you have questions or needs

2. Be Safe

• By listening to your coaches' instructions
• By not participating in horseplay in or out of pool

3. Be a Good Teammate

• Encouraging each other during practice and meets
• Setting a good example
• Helping other teammates

4. Be Respectful

• To your coaches as well as your teammates
• To yourself by staying positive and working hard to improve

5. Have Fun and Enjoy Improving Your Swimming Abilities

Meet & Event Schedule

Our Austin Hills Swim League schedule is finalized! Click here to view the schedule and subscribe to the calendar. This season we have 1 Intrasquad home meet, 4 home meets, 1 away meet (@ Lake Hills), and 1 End of Season Champs Meet. In order to participate in the Champs meet, a swimmer needs to have participated (splashed) in at least 2 regular season meets and received a qualifying time in an event (not a DQ) in order to register for that event in Champs.

Volunteer Roles and Leads

We are an entirely volunteer-run organization and our parent volunteers are the heart and soul of the entire operation of the BCW Barracudas Swim Team. Thank you for volunteering! We could not have swim meets or Fun Fridays or other fun events without our incredible volunteers! Every swim family is expected to fulfill 4 job shifts during the season. You can check your selected volunteer roles by selecting “My Account” on the upper right hand corner of the website.

Please review the Volunteer Requirements and Job Descriptions here and sign up for your remaining volunteer shifts on the website beginning Saturday after Get Your Gear Day. Most of these are during the swim meets, but we also have shifts available outside of meets if needed (coordinating Fun Friday treats, labeling and sorting ribbons after meets, icing down coolers for drinks before meets, etc.).

Calling all potential Stroke Judges! If you want to learn more about proper stroke technique and fulfill a critical volunteer role for the team, sign up to be a stroke judge! All new Stroke Judges must attend a mandatory training session (via Zoom) hosted by the League on one (1) of the following dates: April 21 and April 25. Sign up if you can help! We need 1-2 more or we cannot hold all the meets.

We are also looking for a Lead Ribbons Coordinator. If you're interested, please email us at [email protected] so we can give you more details.

New Families & Swim Meets 101

For our new swim families or those that just want to learn more, please review the Swim Meets 101 document and other helpful info on our website. Board members will be available at Get Your Gear Day, practices, and the Intersquad Meet to answer any questions you may have about practices, meet expectations, volunteer requirements or anything else. Welcome to the team!

Also feel free to join our Facebook Page for fun updates and information, swimsuit swaps, and more.

Kalahari Barracuda Family Day

We sold enough tickets to the Kalahari team day on June 5th that they are allowing us to purchase more at the group rate! Whoo hoo! If you are interested in attending this fun event with other Barracudas families, tickets remain on sale in the Team Store for $65. Transportation and child care are NOT provided.

Thanks to our 2024 Sponsors!

Finally, we want to send a big shout out to our sponsors for supporting our 2024 Barracudas!

Our sponsors help us keep our swimmer dues low, help us pay our AMAZING coaches, and help us have fun events like Fun Friday treats and the End of Year Party!

First, big shout out to our Platinum Sponsor ->Carpenter & Langford, PLLC!

Also thanks to our awesome Gold Sponsors:

• Lisa + Susan Residential Group
• Independence Title of Austin
• Chick Fil A of Lake Travis
• CraigO's Pizza & Pasteria of Lakeway
• LOAR of Texas

And finally, a big thank you to our fabulous Family Sponsors: The Arrambide Family, the Apostolakis Family, the Cantu Family, the Carnahan Family, the Cavness Family, the Felts Family, the Fincher Family, the Gazda Family, the Neland Family, the Perryman Family, the Rowder Family, and the Sabrin Family!!!

Thank you for your time and we look forward to the 2024 season!

If you made it all the way to the end, you win a free snow cone this Saturday at Get Your Gear Day!

See you at the pool! ~ 2024 Barracuda Board of Directors