Hey everyone!

Beautiful day for the pool! A few important updates as we kick off the week — practice time reminder, Welcome Back Parent Social, volunteer kickoff, and required waiver forms.

Practice Times — Starting Tonight

Just a quick reminder that we shift into our regular evening practice schedule starting tonight. New times:

• 8 and Unders: 5:30–6:15 PM
• 10 and Unders / 12 and Unders: 6:15–7:15 PM
• 14 and Unders / 18 and Unders: 7:15–8:45 PM

Full schedule at blueridge.swimtopia.com/practices.

Welcome Back Parent Social — This Thursday, May 21st, 5:30–8:30pm

The Welcome Back Parent Social is officially on for this Thursday! Fingers crossed today's weather holds through the week. This is a new event for the 2026 season — while the kids are in the pool, come hang out in the clubhouse or on the pool deck with light appetizers and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). A great chance to meet or reconnect with other swim team families. Please RSVP in Swimtopia so we can plan accordingly. (Reminder: no glass on the pool deck, please!)

Volunteer Kickoff — Sign-Ups Open Wednesday

While our first home meet is still over a month away, it's time to start talking about volunteer needs for the summer. Volunteer support from all families is critical to the success of our team — especially for the four home meets we're hosting, starting with our first home meet on June 30th.

We've recently revamped our volunteer information in Swimtopia — check it out here — but wanted to highlight a few important points and some key changes for this year.

Sign-ups open Wednesday, May 20th at 12pm. If you already have your eye on a particular role and want to sign up for the season, go for it! If you're not sure where to start, read on.

Finding your role

We need about 100 volunteer shifts filled for each home meet. With around 80 families on the team this season, that works out to roughly one to two shifts per family per meet — or about five or six across the season. Every family's situation is different — some can take on more, some have real constraints. Some carry the team in ways that go well beyond a single shift. All of it adds up.

Check out the Finding Your Fit section on our volunteer page — while especially helpful for newer families, we'd encourage everyone to take a look, particularly for some of the more specialized roles we need help with.

Specialized roles — we need you

Several roles are especially critical to how our meets run: computer and timing operations, age group coordinators, clerk of course, stroke and turn judges, and concessions manager. Most require some training, but they're all easy to learn and we have experienced people ready to help. These are also some of the best ways to really get to know our community.

Some of these roles have been carried for years by the same wonderful people — and we need more folks to step in, both to spread the load and to build continuity for the future. If any of these roles interest you, reach out or come find us at the Parent Social Thursday. We'll buy the first drink. (Technically all beverages are included — but the offer stands.)

A few changes to concessions this year

Two things are new. First, we're reducing the number of donation items we're asking families to bring — we're handling more of the bulk ordering on the coordinator side, so the donation ask is shorter and more targeted. Second, we're asking families who are able to work an active shift to sign up for a timer, ribbon writing, or another active role before signing up for a concessions donation slot. Concessions donations are a meaningful option for families who genuinely can't be on deck — we want to make sure that flexibility stays available for the families who need it most.

Concessions donation sign-ups will open approximately one week before each home meet. Active shift sign-ups for all meets open Wednesday, May 20th. Sign up early, sign up often — the goal is to get active shifts covered first.

Getting Neighbors and Alumni Involved

Know a neighbor, alumni swimmer, or family member who'd like to help out at our home meets? We'd love to have them. Two easy ways to get involved:

• Register as a Community Volunteer directly in Swimtopia
• Email us at [email protected] and we'll handle the registration and assignment on our end

Home meets are a social and community event and we're always glad to have extra hands from the extended Blue Ridge community.

Waiver and Medical Form — Required for All Families

As members of the Greater Seattle Summer Swim League, we're required to have every family complete a short set of league participation forms — standard across all GSSSL clubs. The form covers the league Code of Conduct, a participation and liability release, a concussion acknowledgment, and a Blue Ridge photo and video release. 

Please complete this form for your family on behalf of each swimmer. Thanks!

As always, reach out at [email protected] with any questions.

See you on the pool deck! Go Barracudas!

2026 Swim Team Coordinators
Lulu, Steph, and Joe