Aqua Culture Swim Team

07/17/2021

UPDATE REGARDING TOMORROW'S SWIM MEET!!

Out of an abundance of caution we will NOT be swimming at Aberdeen swim club tomorrow, July 17.

Instead, please go to Fountain Green Swim Club. Warmups begin at 7:45AM,
1008 S Fountain Green Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015

07/17/2021

Pre-order for 2021 HSL Championship t-shirts is open.
https://checkout.square.site/buy/HBCP6YWDT4UHH4WW5DHCILQV

Pre-order closes tomorrow and a limited amount will also be available next weekend at Championships.

05/26/2021

We are still finalizing the details of our HSL Schedule, dates and times. Once there is a completed schedule I will get that out to everyone via email and the Swim Team page.

Swim Team Sundays completed this past weekend so there is no practice this weekend, May 30th. Regular practices will begin on Tuesday, June 1st.

See the information below provided by Coach Galen for practices.

Practice Schedule
All practices will take place at Aqua Culture. We will begin practice on June 1st.

Given our circumstances with Covid-19 and lack of data from last season, we really do not know what the team will look like when registration is done. We will be able to pinpoint time frames for people once we have accurate numbers. Schedule is as follows for now…
Sunday – Wednesday Evenings
6:00PM – 8:45PM for All ages

Based on interest level, we can also have some morning practices between the hours of 7:00 – 8:45AM once school is out. We cannot have it later in the morning because we cannot mesh with Agape like previous years with the additional distancing protocols and considering most of Agape’s patients are elderly. We will see how the response is from everyone and make a decision in a few weeks.

Practice Expectations and Considerations
Our goal is to supply many practice opportunities, so that everyone can attend their desired amount. The recommendation for 10&Unders is two swims per week. One of those swims being a lesson, if enrolled. The recommendation for 11&Older is three swims a week. One of those swims being a lesson, if enrolled.

Just to reiterate, these are all the practice opportunities. What is listed above is our recommendations. You are more than welcome to attend more practices than the expectation. We have families every year that bring their swimmers to every practice we have available, and we love that! We try supply ample opportunities for you guys for a reason. So, if your child wants to practice all four nights, feel free. We may have morning opportunities as well.

We will have a signup genius for you to commit to practices. This is designed to make sure we do not get overcrowded and lose the ability to distance the kids. It will also allow us to narrow down the practice times based on team size to make sure the pool and coach time is being utilized. We want to keep the groups small enough, that we stay safe. However, not so small that the coaches time is not being utilized.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Chad La Fleur

05/17/2021

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR THE 2021 HSL SWIM SEASON!!!!

To register today please visit the TU page here - https://www.teamunify.com/team/rechlacstmd/page/team-registration

Practice Schedule

All practices will take place at Aqua Culture. We will begin practice on June 1st.



Given our circumstances with Covid-19 and lack of data from last season, we really do not know what the team will look like when registration is done. We will be able to pinpoint time frames for people once we have accurate numbers. Schedule is as follows for now…

Sunday – Wednesday Evenings

6:00PM – 8:45PM for All ages



Based on interest level, we can also have some morning practices between the hours of 7:00 – 8:45AM once school is out. We cannot have it later in the morning because we cannot mesh with Agape like previous years with the additional distancing protocols and considering most of Agape’s patients are elderly. We will see how the response is from everyone and make a decision in a few weeks.



Practice Expectations and Considerations

Our goal is to supply many practice opportunities, so that everyone can attend their desired amount. The recommendation for 10&Unders is two swims per week. One of those swims being a lesson, if enrolled. The recommendation for 11&Older is three swims a week. One of those swims being a lesson, if enrolled.



Just to reiterate, these are all the practice opportunities. What is listed above is our recommendations. You are more than welcome to attend more practices than the expectation. We have families every year that bring their swimmers to every practice we have available, and we love that! We try supply ample opportunities for you guys for a reason. So, if your child wants to practice all four nights, feel free. We may have morning opportunities as well.



We will have a signup genius for you to commit to practices. This is designed to make sure we do not get overcrowded and lose the ability to distance the kids. It will also allow us to narrow down the practice times based on team size to make sure the pool and coach time is being utilized. We want to keep the groups small enough, that we stay safe. However, not so small that the coaches time is not being utilized.



Meets

Schedule is not fully clarified at this time. What you have is what we have as of right now. As soon as more information is available it will be shared.



There will be Covid protocols for us to follow at each facility, set by the facility. We are asking you to please be flexible and understanding with all covid protocols we encounter. As you all know, things change frequently and being adaptable is going to be key for our swimmers and parents. This season will not be normal!

Suits

We have a large order of team suits in stock that was ordered for the last season. We have a decent selection for everyone to choose from. If there is not a team designed suit available for you, then there are blue and black suits with the Aqua Culture logo that those swimmers can wear instead. If you are not comfortable with buying the solid blue or black suits or you want to plan ahead you can order directly from Agon - https://www.agonswim.com/teams/108556 (Note: no suit credit if you order directly from Agon)

You can pay for your suit when you register if you like. If you choose to do this, then please bring your registration confirmation to the swim school and they can get you the properly fitting suit.

Female suit – 65

Male suit – 55

Caps – 15

If you have a suit credit because you pay your swim school tuition one time yearly, then there is just an upcharge for the designed suit. The charge is $15

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in the pool very soon!!

Thank you,

Chad La Fleur
HSL Rep., Aqua Culture

Agonswim.com is a provider of custom sportswear

12/21/2020

Merry Christmas

Holiday Hours
No swim lessons
   December 24, 25, 26, 31 2020
   January 1, 2 2021

Update from Mr. Wayne

The challenges continue. At this point Governor Hogan's new restrictions have not impacted swim lessons. We will continue operating at less than 50% capacity to facilitate social distancing and enforcing other COVID safety measures.

07/15/2020

USA Swimming

07/02/2020

If you are interested in having your swimmer(s) participate in swim team activities I need to get answers to the following questions.

We are working with a location and need to provide the following information

Number of swimmers?
How may mornings a week are you able to participate?

06/20/2020

Does anyone have access to an outdoor pool in the morning and/or evening during the week? We are looking for some possible locations to hold swim team like activities this summer. Thanks.

06/16/2020

Good Evening,
Tonight the HSL Board voted to cancel the 2020 Summer Swim League due to the ongoing restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. An official statement from the league will be coming in the next few days.

After speaking this evening with Leslie, her and I are in agreement that we would like to still have some swim team related activities this summer for our swimmers. We are looking to see how much interest there would be and are also open to ideas for activities. If you are interested in having your swimmers participate and/or have ideas please let Leslie or I know.

Thanks,
Chad La Fleur
HSL Representative, Aqua Culture

05/28/2020

Good Evening,
Last night the HSL Board held a special meeting to discuss the status of the 2020 Summer League. As many of you know, earlier in the day, Governor Hogan has allowed outdoor pools to begin operating at 25% capacity. With this news, many teams are hopeful that we can begin having practices and eventually some resemblance of a season by mid to late July as long as things continue to improve. We will still need to get above the allowed 25% capacity in order for that to occur. However, non-league sanctioned practices can begin as of 5pm tomorrow.

With that said, Leslie has some feelers out there for possible pool locations for our kids to begin practicing. If anyone knows of a pool or has any contacts with any local pools that may be willing to allow us time to practice please let me know ASAP.

Thanks,
Chad La Fleur, HSL Board Rep - Aqua Culture [email protected]

05/04/2020

HSL 2020 Season

First, I hope everyone is well and getting through these tough times. During this Covid – 19 Pandemic we are all facing challenging times and need to make tough decisions. The HSL just like everyone else must follow the guidelines and orders of the governor. Currently Maryland is under a Stay at Home order that has been extended until at least May 15th and will be lifted in phases to ensure the safety of everyone. We are constantly monitoring the re-opening of the state and will use this to make decisions on the upcoming season.

The HSL Board and Executive Committee have had multiple meetings to discuss the 2020 season and try to put together a plan that will potentially allow us to have some meets and still maintain a safe environment for everyone. We are doing everything we can to salvage some part of the season and try to give the swimmers and families some sense of normalcy in their lives. With so much uncertainty this is challenging to predict and plan. Based on these discussions, we have a proposal that I am going to layout in this document. This is based on a Best-Case Scenario and we have timelines to make final decisions.

While we are making plans for a modified season, we also understand that each swim family and team need to make their own decisions based upon their situations and safety concerns. I have outlined the Best-Case Scenario below with timelines to make decisions including what would make us cancel the season altogether. Our goal is to try and get swimmers into the pool to enjoy some time with friends and teammates.

The Proposal is as follows:
• We will have a shortened season of just 4 meets and only swimming on weekends. The 4 available weekends would be July 18th, July 25th, August 1st, and August 8th with the possibility to swim on both Saturday and Sunday to allow for separating swimmers into smaller groups.

• Teams would need to determine if they are able to field a team, if they have a facility to swim, or if they would like to combine with another team to get swimmers in the pool.

• The league will get a list of teams and swimmers and make a modified schedule based upon number of swimmers, and facility availability.

• We would limit the number of swimmers at a meet and would lock in rosters by July 1st to allow us to make a schedule for the meets. This means no additional swimmers will be allowed after July 1st.

• The meets will not be scored but times will be reported.

• Teams may be combined or split and entered into different meets. We will do everything we can to accommodate needs of teams or swimmers.

• We will need to coordinate ways to meet social distancing guidelines. This includes limiting swimmers on the deck, reducing timers, reducing other volunteers, and reducing spectators.

• There will be no Championship Meet.

Team Responsibilities:
• Teams will need to determine if they will have a facility available for them to swim.

• Teams will need to get a head count so we can determine how to make the meets work.

• Practices will not start before July 1st and will be limited based upon guidelines from the state and league.

• Teams will need to decide how they will register their swimmers and any financial responsibilities.

• Some teams have offered the use of their pool to other teams for practices or to have a meet if needed. We will coordinate what teams will need this help and what teams have offered.

Timelines:
• We will have another meeting on May 27th to see where the Stay at Home order stands for the state. If at that time we are not at minimum in Phase 1 of re-opening, we need to cancel the season.

• If we are at least in Phase 1 of re-opening, we will have another meeting on June 15th to see where we are. If we are not in Phase 2 on our way to Phase 3 we will need to cancel the season.

• If we make it to June 15th and we look like we may be close to Phase 3 we will make a final decision on June 30th. June 30th is our end date, if we pass all of the other dates, we will have a Go or No Go on June 30th.
• If we get to June 15th and have a chance to have a season, we will begin working on finalizing a modified schedule and plan.

• After each timeline, the league will send out a message on where we stand and if we need to cancel, we will try and get that out as soon as possible to let everyone know.

Changes to the HSL for 2020:
• The Board has proposed and voted to extend the age limit for the 2021 season to 19 to accommodate the swimmers who would be in their Senior year during the 2020 season. This situation is in effect whether we have a modified season or cancel the season, since the Seniors will not get the traditional season this allows them to return to get a full season.

• The HSL board will do everything we can to assist teams and swimmers.

Please remember that we are doing all we can to try and get this to work and will continue to send updates as we know them. Regardless of what happens this season we will work on making any necessary changes to the league structure to make sure we come back better next year. The HSL is always here to promote swimming, maintain a safe environment, and provide an opportunity to enjoy great things that come with this sport.

Please stay safe and we will get through this!
Sincerely,
HSL President.

05/01/2020

Good Morning. Earlier this week the HSL Board met to discuss the status of the 2020 Summer season. At this time, the board is hopeful that we can get in pool around July 1 to begin practicing. This would result in a shortened season but at least give our swimmers a chance to be together and swimming. An official statement should be coming soon from the board's Executive Committee.

The next scheduled meeting is set for May 27th

Chad