Spring Break and Beyond...
Spring Break and Beyond...

News & Noteworthy

Potential Closure Plan

Ensworth Aquatics’ Spring Break begins after this Saturday’s joint practice.  We have always taken the view that Spring Break is a time for our team members to get a reprieve from the pool because our short course season is a straight shot from August through February.

This year there is no telling how long this break could be.  The news is flooded every day with new closures and activity suspensions due to the coronavirus.  We do not know what may or may not close by this time next week.  

With hope - and a lot of hand washing - our school will resume normal operations following Spring Break.  Should Ensworth close, all school facilities would shut down and our organized practices would be suspended.  School closure would be a measure taken to prevent the potential spread of this virus by keeping large groups from congregating.  Because of this, it would not be appropriate for our club to organize practices away from the pool and essentially undermine the entire reason for the closure.

With a little uncertainty in mind, the coaching staff is currently creating both swimming and dry-land practices for appropriate age levels.  We will create a resource page on our website where families can find practices that athletes can use should community pools remain open. The dry-land practices we provide will not be equipment dependent and will be age-appropriate.

We are also producing videos for our website that swimmers of all ages and abilities can reference and watch to learn about swimming better.  Some will be videos we have used on the scoreboards before. Others will be newly-produced videos.

Our ultimate goal is to provide all of our athletes some level of normalcy and connection with swimming should there be a break to suspend practices.  I think all of us can benefit from a collective sense of optimism right now, even if it’s forced, so I’d ask all of you to join me in crossing fingers during the break that we are able to keep something normal for our kids.

Finally, these are a few links that were shared with the Ensworth School community about how to talk to kids about what’s going on with this virus.   

NPR: Just for Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus: The comic is lighthearted but a bit graphic. It would probably be best to share with children in Grade 3 and above.

Child Mind: Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus

New York Times: How to Talk to Kids About Coronavirus
Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus
Olympic Training Center Trip
The Ensworth Aquatics trip to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is canceled.  We have already requested to be on the list for a trip in early June of next year.

The cancellation of our trip was two-fold:  Ensworth’s Head of School informed affected parents that Ensworth was effectively canceling all school-sponsored spring trips.  The Olympic Training Center also canceled the trip citing concerns outside groups could pose to exposing athletes training there to the coronavirus.

Team Information

Summer Practice Schedule
The summer practice schedule will kick off on Tuesday, May 26, the day after Memorial Day.  Our schedule will be very similar to the practice schedule last summer. That schedule is below.  We are working to determine if we move the Junior Practice schedule from 10-12 p.m. to 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. 
Please fill out this form if your child is in, or may be in, the Junior Group to give us your preference on practice time for that group.

Schedule Format Survey

Please let us know which practice schedule format you prefer.  We have recently uploaded practices to a Google Calendar format, but have not rolled it out.  You can find it on the Competitive Team Tab under Test Practice Schedule at the bottom.  We are hopeful to utilize this tool instead of the old format but would like your input.  The link is live right now and will stay live. Please take a look and then fill out this form to let us know what you find to be easier.  The Google Calendar schedule allows you to easily print a 1-month view of practices.  It is also easy to indicate any changes in RED.  You must be logged in to your Team Unify account in order to see the schedule on the dropdown.
Schedule Updates
Live Practice Schedule is updated with current practice information.  Click here to view the schedulePlease pay close attention to the practice schedule for the next several weeks.  With a number of Championship meets going on, there will be changes to the schedule.  
Summer Meet Schedule

Olympic summers can wreak havoc on meet schedules because Trials take place in mid-June.  That means many meets in June get moved earlier in the month, creating big gaps between some June meets and big meets in July.

We have two tentative meets on our meet schedule because both depend on space being available.  Our hope is to have everyone on our team go to the Richard Quick Invitational at Auburn the weekend of June 12 - 14.  Entry into this meet is tiered, with priority going to teams that attended last year. The second priority is to teams that have been to the meet over the last few years.  As we attended the meet two years ago, we are hopeful this will get us in.  

We are also considering splitting the team so that our younger swimmers attend a meet in Knoxville on the weekend of June 5-7.  Again, we are awaiting confirmation from TNAQ on space for that meet.

We have added a timed final meet at Huntsville on the last weekend of June.  This meet conflicts with Williamson County Summer League Championships. However, due to Olympic Trials and the other meets being earlier in June, it is important to give our athletes the opportunity to race prior to Southeastern Championships.  Families will have to decide if it makes better sense to attend the HSA meet in Huntsville or the WILCO Summer League Championship.

View Full Meet Schedule
Swim Squad Session 2 Registration is OPEN

Ensworth Aquatics wants to help your kids’ school teammates fall in love with swimming!  That’s why we’ve created a new group called the Swim Squad, and we would love for you to share the information with your kids’ school friends.

Swim Squad is for kids 11 and up who enjoyed their Middle School or High School season and want to keep swimming without worrying about meets or getting to more than 2-3 practices a week.  The idea is to piggyback off the fun of the Middle/High School seasons and help prepare them for summer league.

Who knows, maybe one will be a teammate of your child’s come this fall?  There are plenty of talented kids who’s first exposure to swimming is for their school, but who might be nervous about “club swimming.”

This group will run for two sessions, meaning no long term commitment, and provide these swimmers the tools to not only prepare for summer league but discover if year-round swimming might be right for them.

Follow this link to access registration information on our website.   

Birthday Shout Outs
Here are upcoming birthdays for athletes through March 2020.  To all these amazing athletes, Ensworth Aquatics wishes each of you a happy birthday! 
First off, a very happy belated birthday to Mollie Black, who celebrated her birthday on February 22. 

March 1 - Maya Gemignani
March 1 - Tennysen Webb
March 2 - Carter Galbreath
March 2 - Katherine Wile
March 4 - Caroline Cox
March 4 -Abigail Fernandez
March 4 - Kirby Hollister
March 5 - Anna Jackson
March 5 - Jake Mason
March 7 - Ava Massey
March 12 - Hannah Mosher
March 13 - Elaina Massey
March 14 - Margaret Hundley
March 15 - Elizabeth Davis
March 16 - Olivia Solimine
March 16 - Omeed Irani
March 18 - Jordan Williams
March 20 - Kallie Chelsvig

March 20 - Ava Fetting
March 24 - David Longley
March 27 - Elizabeth Russell
March 27 - Mary Logan
March 28 - Lindsay Sanford
March 28 - Christian McIntire
March 28 - Kieran Wray

Team Connection

GroupMe App

If you have not already joined your swimmers' GroupMe, please consider doing so.  Parents, coaches, and staff use GroupMe to communicate last-minute updates, traffic issues, practice changes, lost and found, carpooling and much more. Each practice group has its own group text, and we believe if you ask any returning team members, they will confirm that GroupMe is an invaluable communication tool as it enables them to ask specific questions and plan activities particular to their practice group. Use this link to download the GroupMe app.

Click on the links below to connect with your swimmer's practice group and parent reps:

Parent Reps
Stingrays - Jessica Horne & Maureen Kolton
Dolphins - Lindsey Sanford
Sharks - Fran Spurrier
Juniors - Margaret Mason & Susan Emrhein
Marlins - help needed
Senior1/Senior - Margaret Mason


Team Website & OnDeck
We are confident that everyone on our team has visited our team website by now, but beyond registration, it serves as the primary information tool for our team.  Through our website, parents and athletes will commit to competitions, enter events, sign up to volunteer, access newsletters, review practice schedules, much more.  Be sure to "Sign In" to the website to view all content. Go ahead and visit www.ensworthaquatics.com and bookmark it!  
OnDeck is TeamUnify's supporting app that allows our staff to communicate through our website directly to team members' mobile devices.  OnDeck also presents our website content to users with improved mobile device usability.  What this means is you can enter into swim meets and signup to volunteer more easily on your mobile devices.   Use this link to download OnDeck.


Social Media 
Ensworth Aquatics is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Click on the icons below to connect with us through social media. 
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