SPY Newsletter - February 2020

Alex Totura

A lot has happened since the Holidays so here is a Newsletter that takes a look back at January and then a look forward as we at approaching the end of the season. It is a lot of information. It is in the Newsletter, but in case you don’t make it all the way through right away, we will have an SPG Meeting on Wednesday February 5th at 7:00 PM in the Multipurpose room of the Kerasotes Branch of the YMCA and will cover more details of the meets and things coming up in February.

A Look Back At January

There was quite a lot that happened in the month of January. Coaching transition aside, SPY has competed in 3 meets since the new year…..

  • Snowball Invite – 147 SPY Swimmers participated in our meet which really ran about as smoothly as ever. Thank you to everyone for making that event happen and be as successful as it was. 10 swimmers achieve their first state qualifying times of the season at the Snowball invite along with countless District qualifying and best times achieved.
  • BBSC Circle City Classic – 42 SPY swimmers traveled to Indianapolis for the 37th Annual Circle City classic. There were lots of first-time swimmers getting “big meet” experience at one of the best “big meet” pools in the country. Lots of personal bests and finals swimmers from the 13 and over with lots of fun in-between.
  • FFSC Laura Manikas Memorial – 46 SPY Swimmers traveled to Bloomington this past weekend to participate in the Laura Manikas Memorial Classic. We added 1 new State qualifier along with Cole Thein-Knotts winning the high point award for the 8 and under boys at the meet. Coaches will be getting those awards from the weekend filed ASAP.
  • Team Picture – Thank you to Eric Johnson for taking a Team Picture during Rob’s last week of coaching. You can see the pictures here and download a copy for yourself using the password: typhoons. You will need to click on an image and use the download button above the picture to download it. If you don’t want to do that but want to purchase a copy it is all marked at cost by the website and prices are not controlled by anyone who has anything to do with the team.  

Coach Miller joined us this past month and we have some updated communication information for him. For the time being, while we sort out a mess of our spyswimmers.com domain emails, you can reach Coach Miller at [email protected]. Additionally, he now has Rob’s previous work cell phone number of 217-588-9360. If you have that number saved for Rob, please update it to have Coach Miller’s information.

Looking Ahead to February

February will be a very busy month, and you need to expect more email communication about the upcoming events from the coaches, but I will highlight several things here…….

SPG Meeting 2/5/2020     

There will be an SPG Meeting on Wednesday 2/5/2020 in the Multipurpose Room at 7:00 PM. Coach Alex will make his triumphant return to the SPG Meetings and you can expect additional information about the meets below and we welcome questions regarding the upcoming time trials, District Meet, and State Meets.

Last Chance Time Trial 2/15/2020

On Saturday 2/15 we will host a Time Trial for our team during our Saturday AM practice times. This meet is a great opportunity for older swimmers to bridge the gap between Snowball/Circle City and District Meet with another racing opportunity. It is also a great opportunity for younger swimmers to try to achieve District qualifying times, State qualifying times, or get updated times in events that you might not swim at either of those meets. You can register for the meet and choose events right now! There is no practice on this day, just the meet.

  • 13 and older swimmers will warm up at 7:00 AM with an approximate meet start time at 7:30 AM. Last year the session lasted until about 9:30 AM with about 44 swimmers participating.
  • 12 and under swimmers will warm up around 9:30 AM with a meet start time around 10:00 AM. Last year the meet lasted until around 11:30 AM, though that included some additional longer distance events for some swimmers.
  • 13 and Older swimmers will have all their events offered at the meet. 12 and under swimmers will have most events offered: 50/100s of each stroke for 9/10 and 11/12, along with 25s offered for 8U swimmers. If your swimmer is wanting or needing to get in an event that is not offered you should contact Alex for accommodations.

Illini District Time Trial and District Championship

On Friday February 28th we will host the District Time Trial in the evening. Swimmers will be able to compete in as many as 3 events. No qualifying times are required for this meet. If swimmers achieve a new District qualifying time at this meet we can enter them into the District meet, however parents will need to communicate that to after the meet on Friday because we will need to enter them that night. Swimmers do not have to participate in the time trial, though I encourage many swimmers to do so as another opportunity for District/State/National times if they need it.

The District Championship will be on February 29th and March 1st. Swimmers must have competed in 2 closed YMCA meets and achieved the qualifying time in any event that they wish to participate in. Swimmers can compete in up to 6 events for the meet. We will commit all swimmers who are qualified for the meet to meet on our website and you will need to contact Alex if your swimmer will not be able to participate in the meet. Expect another email this week regarding the meet and its operations and how it is different than other meets we host.

YMCA State Meet

We currently have 84 Swimmers qualified for the IL YMCA State Championships in St. John IN for the weekend of March 13-15. This is more qualifiers and events that we had for the meet last season so that is a great accomplishment by the team with more swimmers having the opportunity to join the fun. Similar to the District Championship, we will commit all qualified swimmers to the meet, and you will need to communicate with Alex if you swimmer is unable to participate. Coaches will ultimately select the final events for swimmers, but you are able to register swimmers for events. SPY will run the Hospitality for the State meet again this season. I will be looking for input and help with that endeavor so if you have helped out in that area in the past and would like to give me some things to consider I would be very happy to receive the input.

End of Season Banquet

We will have our Short Course Season Banquet at the YMCA on Saturday 3/21. We will put up an event for that on the website with details about what we have done in the past and for families to commit so we have an accurate number for food.

Long Course Season Registration and Schedule

Coach Miller and I will be working on our Long Course Season Registration and Schedule over the next few weeks with information to be published on the website as final decisions are made. If you are new to the team this season, or just need a refresher on the Long Course Season registration please see some brief notes below.

  • The Long Course Season goes from April through July. It can be divided up into 2 seasons with a Spring Training (April-May) and Summer Training (June-July) offered for those who may not be able to commit for the entire season due to other activities.
  • All swimmers who signed up for Year Around Monthly billing during the Short Course Season will be automatically registered for the Long Course season so you will not have to do anything. We will share registration dates and information toward the end of the month
  • Practice schedules for April-May should be expected to be the same as during the Short Course season with changes really only coming if roster sizes change significantly. Alex will be working with the Park District on the Pool Rental for the morning practices in June/July and there are typically changes to the afternoon schedule during those months as well so we will try to communicate those as best we can.
  • We have targeted certain Long Course Meet dates as well as Intersquad meet dates at our home pool and will begin adding those meets in as coaches are able to discuss them.