Hey Barracudas!

Wow, what a fantastic start to the 2026 Swim Season!  We had a ton of fun at our Kalahari Kick Off event on Friday, then the Intrasquad meet concluded with a splendid splash on Sunday afternoon.  A total of 143 swimmers participated, earning over 400 ribbons in the process, including 175 personal best times!  Wow!  It's a tight turn around, but we hope these will be distributed today after practice. Results are available on the Swim Meets & Events tab, you may have to click “past events”. Live and final results are also available in the SwimTopia app.  

Swimtopia App: We recommend you install and log in to the Swimtopia Mobile App (iPhone) or (Android) to get text-style push notification alerts. This app is great because it is tied to our website and can send out push notifications on upcoming events and things like practice cancellations.  Some features are paid, but let you follow along the meet results live, which is very useful! 

Facebook group: We also have an unofficial Facebook group called BCW Barracudas Swim Families: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bcwbarracudafamili...

This is a great place to source info from other Barracuda families, track down misplaced swim fins that may have gone home with the wrong kiddo, etc. 

Coming up this week, we have: 

Individual Photo Days Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon (5/5 and 5/6) during regular practice times.  You don't have to sign up in advance, just wear your team suit to practice and get your picture taken. A memory mate photo is included with your registration fee, sample here.

Then, our first duel meet is this Saturday morning, May 9th, Lake Pointe Lazers @ BCW!  BCW will warm-up at 7:00am and the meet starts at 8:00am and should finish by 11:30 am. This meet is a regular duel meet, so we will be welcoming another team and have both early (6 & Under Freestyle, 7 & over Medleys) & late relays (7 & over Freestyle). Be sure to register whether you are attending or not (see below) and select your swimmer’s availability for relays! The check in deadline for early relays is 7:45 am on meet day! If your swimmer(s) have not checked in by this time, they will be scratched from their relays and the Relay Coordinator will scramble to find a replacement or have to scratch that entire relay. If you think you might be arriving late, just select “No Early Relays”.  If you may have to leave early for baseball (or anything else), select "No Late Relays".  You can always include in the notes that if you are there, you would love to be considered as an alternate in a relay if space becomes available. 

Meet entry is now open: Meet entries due Thursday @ noon. Timeline is on our website. Click here to sign your swimmer up for events. If you have questions about if your swimmer is ready to try IM, butterfly or breaststroke, please have your swimmer check with their coaches during practice or email Coach Alice at [email protected].  The coaches will need to see them successfully complete a stroke in practice before doing it in a swim meet.  

If you are not attending, please be sure to register your swimmer(s) as “Not Attending” in bcwbarracudas.com or SwimTopia mobile app. Meet information is on the Swim Meets & Events calendar @ www.bcwbarracudas.com/swim_meets

Where to Set up and Watch. With another team joining us, the pool deck will be crowded. We ask all Barracuda families to set up their chairs, tents, etc. OUTSIDE the pool deck and leave the area under the blue tents for swimmers and age group parent volunteers ONLY.  You can pop in to say hi as needed, but this is a great time for them to bond with their teammates and foster independence.  

We also need the timer tents clear for swimmers and timers and the area between the ready benches and the bathrooms and blue tents clear for kids to make their way to/from their groups to the ready benches. Parents may come into the pool deck to watch their child’s race, share a quick hug/ high five/ picture, then we ask you to head back outside the fence to make room for other parents to watch the next race. Please do not stay inside the pool fence unless you are volunteering.

Speaking of Pictures: In accordance with USA Swimming safe sport rules, we do not allow photos or video from the area behind the timer tents.  Swimmers are entering and exiting the water in this space and we want to respect their privacy.  You can take photos and videos from the side of the pool.  As noted above, the best place to watch your swimmers' events is on the side of the pool next to the entrance.  We also do not allow any photo or video replay "evidence" if you think your swimmer actually beat someone else's time or was inadvertently disqualified.  Even if you think there's an obvious mistake, please respect the stroke judges, timers, and other officials and help teach your swimmers good sportsmanship too.  We're all volunteers and while mistakes do happen, we're doing our best and appreciate the support.  

What the Heck is an AGP? Speaking of volunteers, we will have 1-3 age group parents (AGP) per age group (depending on the group size and age) who will help line the group up for their relays and races and generally help keep the group organized so they can get to the ready benches and keep the meet moving on time. If you’re looking to volunteer, this is a great way to get to know the other kids in your child’s age group. Please remind your swimmer(s) to stay with his/her group (other than quick trips to the bathrooms or concessions) as AGP’s do not have the bandwidth to chase down wandering swimmers from the park, etc. The AGP will call each swimmer in the group when it is time to line up, but if your swimmer isn’t there, he/she may miss the race if s/he doesn’t make it to the ready benches in time. Some kids bring bracelet kits or card games (Uno Splash is always a hit) and they enjoy playing with their teammates in the group while waiting for their races. Please leave the electronics (ipads, Switch, etc.) at home though. 

Volunteer slots are open for the rest of the season, also on the calendar and events page. Because we are completely volunteer run, please look at the expectations, including arrival times, and only sign up for jobs that you can make on-time! Click here and select Job Signup or you can add/remove shifts by selecting the green Job Signup buttons next to each event. Our entire team structure is set up assuming parents fill their fair share of volunteer shifts in some manner during the season; each family is expected to earn 4 points during the season (most shifts are worth 1 point each). You can see ALL of your job shifts here.

New Families: Check out our website for information on the volunteer roles, for a “Swim Meets 101” overview and other helpful information. Any questions, reach out to a board member on the pool deck or email [email protected].

Kiddie Pool: We will leave the splash pool open during practices for little siblings (under 4) who are not yet ready to join the team, as long as a parent is supervising their splashing. Please tell your big Barracudas this is not a good place for them to play while waiting for practice and if it gets too loud or disruptive, we will need to close the splash area during practice. No fountains during this time (it is too loud).

While the playground and basketball court are great places to play before or after practice, the fenced in pickleball court is not.  This is reserved for resident play so please do not let your children run around in there. 

The Kiddie Pool and steps to the Big Pool are CLOSED during all swim meets.

Lost and Found is overflowing! Please label your gear and check the bin!  A permanent marks a lot or sharpie marker should stay on fins, or put a piece of Duck tape on the bottom of the fins and write your last name on that. Please keep in mind that 182 swimmers have the same team suit and same team shirt, so at least put your initials inside those too so you can track them down if needed.  

Any questions about anything swim related, please reach out to a board member or email [email protected]

See you in the Pool!

BCW Barracudas Volunteer Board