After several false starts, picture day has settled on Wednesday, October 2nd and Deer Valley pool.  We will take the team picture at approximately 3:45 pm and individual photos can be shot before and after.  This is a busy club day so if you must attend a club function, please come immediately to the pool or meet the van (which will be sent back to school) at the bus bay at 3:20.  Information for ordering photos will be coming soon.

This meet was originally listed as taking place at Glendale High School.  This meet will take place at Washington Park pool Washington Park pool, (6655 N 23rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85015 ) immediately south of Washington High School.

Sorry for the late switch.

The Thunderbird Swimming and Diving Coaches would like to invite the parents of our swimmers to a short meeting on Wednesday, August 28th at 6:15 PM.  This meeting is our main kick off meeting for parents and will occur at Thunderbird in room 306.  Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly encourage, especially for our freshman parents and those new to the team.

This is your opportunity to meet the staff and receive a lot of useful information straight from the source about the upcoming season.  We hope to see you there! If you are unable to attend, please feel free to stop by a practice and say hello.

As always, follow us at www.ThunderbirdSwimming.com or email the coaching staff at thunderbirdswimcoaches@gmail.com

If you plan on coming out for swimming and have not turned in your athletic clearance information, please do so ASAP.  If you are not cleared, which means your materials are turned in AND approved, you cannot participate in practice.  Don’t expect to turn in your materials at 2:35 and be ready for practice at 3:15.

If you need a ride to and from the pool, meet coach Puma and coach Pinkerton in the bus bay by building F immediately after school.  Our vans will take you to and from practice and leave at approximately 2:45.

Team suits for 2013 are available from our vendor, Ski Pro.  Ski Pro will be on site at our practice pool on Tuesday, August 20th if you would like to try on suits for proper sizing.  If you would like to see what is available for purchase from Ski Pro, you can view this year’s order form here THUNDERBIRD ORDER FORM 2013.

Ski Pro has our suits in stock so if you need a new suit for 2013 or just cannot wait to get your hands on this year’s team suit before August 20th, feel free to visit Ski Pro at their Camelback store (2110 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016).  Be sure to let the staff know you are interested in purchasing a Thunderbird team suit.

As always, athletes will need to train and compete in appropriate swimwear.  We understand that not everyone’s budget allows for some of these extra expenses.  If you would like a team suit and feel you cannot afford one, please let the staff know so that we may make arrangements for you.  To get the full details on suits and team suit policies, please read this document: Thunderbird Team Suit Information and Uniform Policy

The diving portion of Thunderbird Swimming and Diving begins Monday, August 12th.  Diving is every day after school from 4 to 6 pm at Uribe pool (3801 W Cactus Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85023) with our district dive coach Ms. Burns.  Students interested in diving should contact Thunderbird’s diving coordinator, Ms. DeBorhegyi in room 301 if they are interested in participating in diving.  Please see her the first week of school so that you can get started right away.

Like last year, there is transportation to and from diving practice Monday and Wednesday with Ms. Deborhegyi.  Students will need to find their own transportation to and from diving on other practice days.  We encourage divers to attend practice as many days as possible.

An under-appreciated part of high school swimming is the role of the official.  Changes to the qualifying procedures in recent years have resulted in a proliferation of meets needing officials from a pool of qualified individuals that has trouble keeping up with demand.  The Glendale Union High School District has had to scramble for officials for the last several district championship meets.

If you have any interest in becoming a certified AIA official there are free classes being offered Saturday, 8/3 and Sunday, 8/11 at Phoenix Swim Club (2902 E Campbell Ave.) at 8:00 am.  This is an area of need in the high school swim community.  We would appreciate anyone who can dedicate the time to become a certified official with an eye towards helping officiate the District Championship meet on 11/1 and 11/2.

We are getting tremendous interest in the 2013 season of Thunderbird Swimming and Diving!  We are noticing some trends in the questions so…

What is involved in the athletic clearance process and how can I complete it?

The official requirements of the athletic clearance process are listed on the Thunderbird site here: http://thunderbird.guhsdaz.org/athletics/Athletic_Clearance

Please remember that all of this paperwork is handled by the athletics department and sign off is not immediate once it is handed in.  This information is important for the safety of the student and to fulfill liability requirements for the District.  All of the requirements must be completed properly and will be reviewed, so turn your materials in early so you can be ready to participate the first day.

What do I need to bring to practice?

Aside from being cleared to participate in sports, you are only required to have a swimsuit that will stay in place during competitive swimming activities.  Goggles are highly recommended as is a swim cap if you wear your hair long.  We understand that some students are new to competitive swimming and that not everyone has a “speedo” ready to go.  If your budget is limited we would prefer you to manage with what you have until our suit fitting day on 8/20 and acquire a team suit at that date.  If you budget is extremely limited, please see the coaching staff so that we can make arrangements for you.  We will never turn away a student over something like the cost of a suit.

We’d like to let you know that the Thunderbird High School swim team’s first day of tryouts/practice will be August 12th at our home practice pool, Deer Valley pool, from 3:15pm to 5:15pm. Deer Valley pool is located at 19400 North 19th Avenue, approximately four miles north of the Thunderbird High School campus. Tryouts will continue through August 23rd. After 8/23 students are welcome to continue to try out for swimming, but the chances of securing a spot on the squad will diminish (especially for those new to competitive swimming).

Diving will start at a later date with the Glendale Union High School District diving staff. We will broadcast more information on diving later.

Transportation

At this date we believe we will have school provided transportation to and from the pool. Plan on the vans leaving after school at approximately 2:50 from the back bus bay. The vans will be available to take students back to school at the end of practice.

Athletic Clearance

Please remember that students cannot participate in any way in Thunderbird High School athletics until they have completed the athletic clearance process and are approved by the athletics office. The clearance process includes seeing a film, completing an online concussion awareness course, submitting insurance information and turning a completed physical form signed by a medical professional. All portions of the process must be completed through the athletic department and only the athletic department can clear a student to participate. Please do not bring completed forms to the pool, the coaching staff cannot process these forms or be responsible for turning them in.

If you are new to the clearance process or need help, visit the front office at school or call them at 623-915-8900.

About Thunderbird Swim and Dive

Thunderbird Swimming and Diving is a varsity sport. The nature of the sport allows us to carry a large squad and we do our best to keep any student who can:

meet team commitments regarding attendance
be an enthusiastic and respectful teammate
do their best every day
master basic swimming skills and perform the four competitive strokes
We will give everyone a fair chance who wants to be here, can be here and will work hard every day.

Club Swimmers

Thunderbird welcomes students who pursue their love of the sport year round outside of the high school program. Please see Coach Pedersen so that we can set up an attendance plan that will work best for your training program.

Practice Times

For the 2013season we will practice from 3:15 to 5:15, Monday through Friday at Deer Valley pool

If you have questions, feel free to email us back at thunderbirdswimcoaches@gmail.com.

Please come to Thunderbird Swimming and Diving’s awards night on Tuesday, November 13th at 6:30 pm in the school cafeteria.  We will be enjoying light appetizers and presenting awards to all team members.  The event should last an hour to an hour and a half.

See you there!