Why is my child in that practice?

The age of a swimmer is usually the first indicator for practice placement. A couple of other factors are swimming ability and the number of swimmers in a practice. In all, the coaches do their best to put swimmers in an environment to benefit their physical fitness and improve their readiness to compete.

Why is my child in that lane at practice?

There is no perfect science to determine what lane a swimmer is in for practices. In general, this is approached much the same as deciding what practice, but with a greater emphasis on physical fitness and competition with the 8 lanes typically being divided into 3 groups (most experienced and developed swimmers in lanes 1-3, swimmers likely to be more challenged by the workout in lanes 7 and 8, and the remainder in lanes 4-6). Because of shifts in swimmer attendance and coach availability during different moments of the season (high school season, spring practice, summer practice, vacation schedules, etc.), it is common for swimmers to be shifted multiple lanes on occasion. We appreciate parental understanding and cooperation with this process as coaches attempt to make for a great environment for all swimmers.

Who writes the meets?

Coaches--Each age group coach as input for the events that swimmers are entered in, and the head coach will always have the final approval for the meet setups. It is very helpful for swimmers to advise the strokes they would like to swim in a meet, but ultimately the coaches will make the final choices.

Why is my child swimming those events?

This is another imperfect science. After practicing, showing film, discussions, etc., we want our coaches to put together entries that give the team the greatest chance of success against our opponent. The following is a non-exhaustive list of considerations that coaches have one day or less to determine after knowing (hopefully) the swimmers that will be attending a meet. Multiply the considerations below by 250 swimmers and you have nearly 4000 decisions that come into play within a few hours of writing a meet. Please be very judicious and considerate when pondering whether to challenge the events your child has been entered. Though not perfect, we are proud of the job our coaching staff has done in raising the level of physical fitness, sportsmanship, team spirit, and competition and a key component of that includes entering swimmers in events where they and the team can be successful.

1. Recent times in an event
2. “No shows” for past relays
3. Recent performance in practice
4. Swimmers’ reaction time in relays
5. Best four swimmers for Free Relay
6. Specific requests made by swimmers
7. Best four swimmers for Medley Relay
8. Trying to get every swimmer in a relay
9. Swimmers’ performance in past relays
10. Matching individual event with Medley Relay
11. Events where swimmers can contend for an A Relay
12. Ensuring a swimmer has a recorded time for each event
13. Type of meet (conference, non-conference or non-league)
14. Matching swimmers with events they’re specifically talented in
15. Combinations of swimmers and events likely to generate points
16. Potential impact from setting (gutters, gutter-less, deck-wash, high blocks, etc.)

Why are there wrong times and NT when I sign-up my swimmer?

Best Times and Entry Times for a swim meet are specific to filters put in place for coaches to decide what events to enter swimmers in that meet. The times reflected when you go to sign up your swimmer are based on timeframes (targeting the most recent 3-5 meets) decided by the coaches so they can leverage times that are more representative of current performance. So if there’s an NT, it means that your child does not have a recorded time for that event within the timeframe that the coaches have selected. If the time seen is not representative of your child’s personal best then it means that your child’s best time was swum prior to the timeframe the coaches have selected.

If you believe a time for your child to be wrong, please validate by checking times under My Meet Results on the left banner. In the Member filed select the swimmer in your family whose times you would like to view. From there you can view EVERY time your swimmer has ever swum on our team for every stroke or you can limit to a specific stroke from the “Stroke:” field and specific timeframes in the “Date of Swim:” fields. Within that search, you should find the Best Time and Entry Time being used for the meet you’re signing your swimmer up. If that time is not found, then please bring this discrepancy to the computer team attention.

Why the tough stance on volunteering?

The past few years, it seemed there was a challenge in enforcing team rules related to volunteering responsibilities and the rules that were in place were not likely to get the desired result. Thus, one of the first actions of the new Board was to update the Consequences section of the Barracuda Participation Contract and to make sure that we would be as even as possible in our application of those consequences. This included having to make some unpopular and uncomfortable phone calls to families prior to the season.

As written in the Barracuda Participation Contract, Johnson Ranch Barracudas Swim Team depends on the dedication and commitment of the swimmers, coaches and volunteers. We need everyone’s participation in order to run a successful team.

What does the Board do?

In simplistic terms, the Board ensures the Bylaws and Philosophy of the Team are upheld. In doing that, there are countless responsibilities that are handled year-round to create an environment that allow all swimmers to engage in recreation and physical fitness, sportsmanship and team spirit, and competition. This includes coordinating schedules, events, and other logistics with the Club, setting the swim schedule, validating the coaching staff, purchasing equipment, scheduling social calendar, organizing registration, and much more. We welcome others to contribute to the work of the Board.

Where does the money go?

In the simplest form, the money goes toward supporting the coaches and swimmers. The common items are coaches’ equipment (video camera, stopwatches, training materials, coaching clinics, and coach gear), awards and award events, meet supplies, social events, and spirit items. Some of the big items from past seasons are ready benches, backstroke flags, and the scoreboard.