Millburn Pool Summer Swim Team

Diane Yih and Patty Hetherington have compiled a list of those parents who have committed to volunteering for certain jobs at meets for the rest of this summer. Click the headline to access the page directly. Items highlighted in Yellow with a question mark are not yet filled. Feel free to see Patty or Diane to sign up!!!

Hello All,

First, THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered for our first two dual swim meets.  And DOUBLE THANKS to those generous individuals who helped out at BOTH meets.  The coaches really appreciate those who step up and help out.

I'd like to make another request to everyone for more volunteers.  For every dual meet, we need approx. 11 - 13 volunteers to help run the meet.  

We need individuals to be:

TIMERS - Time events with stopwatch and report to official.  All you need to know is to start the stopwatch when the buzzer/gun starts the event and stop it when the swimmer reaches the finish. One hand touch for freestyle & backstroke, Two hand touch for breast and butterfly. Then you just let the official know your lane # and the time recorded. Every official has their way of doing things, i.e. some will come to you for times and some want you to go to them. Officials always have a quick meeting with the timers before the meet starts. Timers always time the opposing team. Timers get front row at the finish line. We need at least 3 timers per dual meet and it's ''nice to have” a back-up timer.

MARSHALS - Get swimmers lined-up and ready for events. We like to have at least 2 marshals per lane, such that if a missing swimmer needs to be located there is still another marshal at the lane. They ensure that the swimmers are lined up at least 6 events in advance. The confusion and scrambling is when we cannot locate swimmers.

As mentioned in an earlier e-mail, the marshals cannot be responsible for the whereabouts of every swimmer. This year's team has over 125 registered swimmers. They do their best. We like to have at least 6 marshals per dual meet. Marshals get front row at the start and help the younger swimmers get ready, this is especially helpful for relays as to when to get in the water or dive off the podium.

RUNNER - Bring the official's event result sheets to scoring table after that event.

RIBBON WRITER - Fill-in swimmer/event information for Millburn event placers usually by scorers' table.

SCORER - Scoring and tallying of event points for meet at scoring table.

Based on the Meet Attendance sheets, we have the list of those who volunteered and the dates they're available. We're trying to set up a volunteer schedule for the rest of the meets but is still falling short. Insomuch as we have a select number of parents and non-parents who generously make themselves available always, the Millburn Rec Swim team is just that - A TEAM.

We should have participation from all who are part of this team. We ask that if you could take a shift at a meet or even better, find someone to share a shift with. Many volunteers in the past have coupled together with each working half the meet. This works great for those with other children to tend to - we all watch after each other.

Unfortunately, if we do not have enough coverage for the rest of this season, we will have to station less marshals and the added responsibility will be for all swimmers and parents to know when and where they need to line-up or risk missing their event which could cost the team from scoring points for that meet.

If you've never volunteered for a particular role or am unsure, please speak up and we could have you shadow someone first at an earlier meet.

Please feel free to let the coaches, Patty Hetherington or myself know which meets/dates you can help out at or if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Diane Yih (Volunteer Parent)

Dear Millburn Swim Team Families,

What a great start to the season! Congratulations to all the swimmers, parents and coaches who are helping make this a winning team!

We will be participating in another type of team effort next week, the Swim for Food Drive. In 2011, our generous swim team donated almost 280 pounds of food during the Swim for Food Drive, plus almost $100 cash which provided 22 backpacks of nutritious food for kids who are “food insecure” over the weekends. We have always been among the top contributors during this opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves. One of our beloved coaches summed it up best when saying, “I hope to continue our trend of selfless generosity.” This year, let’s make yet another outstanding show of support for such a worthy cause.

I have attached the flyer that describes this year’s drive in more detail. When you arrive at the Meet on Tuesday evening, July 3rd, in Berkeley Heights, there should be a bin marked “Millburn” to drop off your non-perishable food donation.

If you are interested in learning more about Swim for Food, the northern NJ coordinator and fellow NJ swim parent, who has been dedicated to this effort for many years, is

Anne Clewell
a.clewell@comcast.net
Saving NJ from Hunger
908 967 4352

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Warmly,
Barbara ElShaer
(mom of Zach and Adam)