LOTS OF INFORMATION IS LISTED BELOW. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! This might be a good email to print and post somewhere this week...

Helllllloooooooooooooo Barracudas!

Today officially started Spirit Week! Spirit Week is a week packed with activities, culminating in the Gold Divisional Meet on Saturday, July 8 at the Canebrake pool. For those who are new to our team or who need a little reminder, Spirit Week is a fun time of activities and practice to get ready to swim fast and have fun at Divisionals. Practice will be held each day at Knollwood pool from 9:30-11:00. Here is the daily breakdown of ALL activities for each day for the rest of the week:

Tuesday, July 4: NO PRACTICE - America Day/Knollwood 4th of July Parade and Ice Cream Social = 10:00 to 11:00 on TUESDAY ONLY. Deck yourself out in your Red, White, and Blue and come join the Knollwood Parade. We will NOT have practice because of the holiday but you are welcome to dress up and come be a part of the parade. There will be ice cream after.

Wednesday, July 5: SENIOR DAY/Pancake Breakfast = come to practice dressed like your favorite senior adult. Coach Dane will show off his culinary skills by cooking pancakes for our swimmers for breakfast.  If you would like specific toppings on your pancakes or have dietary restrictions, please bring them.  

The Officials Meeting (Referees, Starters, and Stroke and Turn Officials) will be held at Canebrake Clubhouse at 6:30 pm.  The Coaches Meeting will follow at 7:00 pm.  The address is 302 Saratoga Drive, Greer.

Thursday, July 6: DECADE DAY/Shaving Cream War + PASTA PUMP DINNER = come to practice dressed like your favorite decade. Are you an 80's kid, a 50's bopper, or a 70's peacemaker? Represent your favorite by dressing up. After practice we will have a shaving cream fight. All participants must bring their own can of shaving cream (NO gel and no menthol/mint - unscented please) AND you MUST wear goggles during the fight.

At 6:30 pm, we will meet at Holland Park Church for a Pasta Pump Dinner to get ready for the meet on Saturday. The cost is $5/person to cover the cost of food. Cash, check, or Venmo will be accepted. Sarah and Brian Kelleher are coordinating the cooking.  You can reach out to her if you would like to offer to help (I'm not sure if everything is covered yet). We will need help with set up and clean up also. Please RSVP and sign up to volunteer on Swimtopia. Click on Signup Calendar, Pasta Pump. Holland Park Church's address is 1131 Holland Road, across from Mauldin Middle School.

Friday, July 7: Greasy Watermelon/Orange and Super Hero Day = come to practice dressed like your favorite Super Hero. Younger kids will dive for greased oranges (in the shallow end)/ older kids for a greased watermelon.

Saturday, July 8: DIVISIONALS = THE day we have been working towards! Be at Canebrake Pool by 7:30 am so you can get your swimmer settled and ready for 7:45 am warm ups. There will be a parade of all of the swimmers prior to the meet, along with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Swimmers Prayer and National Anthem. Bring lots of snacks and plenty of drinks as we cheer on our swimmers.

Besides all these super fun activities, we picked Barracuda Buddies at practice last Friday. Please be sure you are prepared for the fun! If you need help with ideas, you can ask your teammates (without giving away who you have), Google, or check out Pinterest for “good luck gifts/quotes, or secret buddies. The next day to bring Buddy gifts is WEDNESDAY. We suggest a small gift or motivating or appreciative note each day. Bring a fun, larger gift (basket of goodies) on Saturday to Divisionals to give to your Buddy and let them know who their Buddy was. We made notes on the Buddy sheets if your Buddy will not be at Divisionals. If that is the case, please bring their Buddy gift to practice on Friday. If your Buddy will not be at practice during Spirit Week but will be at Divisionals, please still bring them a little gift each day. We will be sure that these gifts are delivered. If you have ANY questions at all, please be sure to reach out and we will be happy to answer them. We want this to be a fun, bonding experience for our swimmers. They may make a new best friend from it!

We are looking forward to a great week! Reach out if you have any questions about anything. I know this was A LOT to take in!