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.