Youngstown YMCA Neptunes

Please call Coach Sue if you have a scheduling conflict or are unsure about which practice to bring your child to.  It is our goal to involve everyone and will work with you to achieve this goal. 

Coach Sue can be contacted at (330) 424.1128 or suemellish@gmail.com

What do you want to swim form.Click on the green to see the form, print out and hand in to Coach Sue the events you want to swim.

8 & Unders practice in the Shallow Pool on Monday and Wednesday.  All other practices are held in the Deep Pool. You are a beginning 9 & 10 year old if this is your first year swimming, or your time for the 50 yard freestyle is slower than 40 seconds.  You are an advanced 8 & under if your 25 yard freestyle time is faster than 20 seconds.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call Coach Sue at (330)424.1128.

MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

 FRIDAY

 If High School Swimmers, or those who swim a 50 freestyle in less than 30 seconds, would like to come for two hours on Fridays ...they may do so.

Click on the form of your choice - please allow for pop-ups.

Neptune Registration - 2009

Neptune Emergency Medical Form - 2009 

Divisionals/Championships -  February 6 or  7, 2010. 

To qualify for this meet you must have swum in three (3) Y dual meets.  Qualifying is not based on time so everyone who meet the above requirement gets to attend.  I want everyone at this meet!  This is the one and only mandatory event.  Get your dual meets in.

Presidential Invitational - Sunday, February 14, 2010 @ Youngstown State University. 

This is our team fundraiser.  All parents are required to help with this meet in some capacity and donate to the concession stand.  It is suggested that all Neptune swimmer's should participate (your parents will be there anyway).  It is considered one of the top YMCA Invitationals in Northeast Ohio, and it is held in your backyard!  Besides... we give AWESOME awards.

Leagues - Saturday   Swimmers qualify for Leagues at Divisionals.

Zones - March 19,20,21 2010 Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green ,Ohio

Swimmers must obtain qualifying time to attend.

All swimmers involved in :  YMCA swimming, high school swimming, and qualifying to swim at Zones (as an individual or relay member) the rules are as follows:

• You must attend at least two Neptune practices a week to be considered for "A" relays in YMCA dual meets. Yes, there can be exceptions like illness, but I am pretty firm on this one.
• If a group qualifies a relay for Zones any time during the season that means the relay has qualified for Zones – not that the four people who swam in that particular relay will be the people who swim it at Zones, though they could be. Remember, a great deal can change from November until February.
• High school swimmers – you must attend YMCA practices prior to the beginning of your high school season and after your high school season ends, in order to be considered for a Zone relay. YMCA swimmers – you must attend practices on a regular basis (see first "point" above) to be considered for a Zone relay.
• High school swimmers - if you earn a Zone time in an individual event at a high school dual meet, I need the official scoring sheet showing your time. The sheet must be signed by two high school meet officials and your coach. It must show your full name and it must be dated. If you qualify for an individual event at a high school invitational and the results are posted on the Internet, I will be able to print off a copy of the results as proof of time. If the invitational results are not posted on the Internet you need to do what was stated above and turn that verification in to me.
• "A" relay or Zone relay standards are as follows:  Swimmers earning the fastest times earn a position on the relay team. However, if two swimmers are really close in time, I look at the swimmer’s attendance  at practices and his/her attitude at practice. If you barely show up to practices, and when you do you goof-off and set a bad example for the other swimmers, you will lose out to the swimmer that came to practice, worked hard and was a role model for the other swimmers. Tenths of a second mean little to me when compared to dedication, work ethic and attitude.

Our goal is to excel at our dual meets, place high at Divisionals, send a large group on to Leagues and hopefully qualify a strong team for Zones. Good Luck this season! 

Following is information that may answer questions you might have about just what goes on at swim meets. 

 Arrival Time – At home meets, swimmers need to be at the pool by 11:45 A.M. to warm-up by Noon.  At away meets, warm-up times will vary per meet.  Away meet warm-up times will be stated in your weekly newsletter.

 Warm-Ups – My philosophy is that warm-ups are not mandatory.  You know best what you need to do to be ready to swim.  Personally, I feel that warming up is beneficial for swimmers over the age of 8.  If a swimmer is 8 or younger, warm-ups can be tiring.  Remember – it is called “warm-ups” not “wear-outs.”  Regardless of age – warm-ups are to help you get your muscles moving and get a feel for the pool, walls and blocks (especially at away meets).  This year we will have pre-stated warm-ups based on age. You will be told what your warm-ups are before the first meet and this will hold all year. If we decide to alter the warm-ups, you will be told before the meet. If you want to warm-up more than what we say – that’s up to you.  This year, however, do not come up to a coach and ask what warm-ups are – you will (and should) already know!

 Where You Need to Be – At home meets, swimmers are to stay in the gym (near the deep pool) between their events. This is our designated “team area.”  Bring extra towels, warm clothes, a blanket to sit on in the gym, and cards or other games to keep busy between events. What you are swimming will be posted in the gym. Remember to check to see if you are in relays!  There will be a table set-up in the gym as Clerk of Course.  This is where you pick up your card for your events. Parent volunteers will be in the gym to help.  Coaches will be in the gym to help everyone find their relay members before the meet begins (medley relays) and at the end of the meet (free relays).  It is best to stay in the gym between your events so we can find you if we need you!  At away meets, the host YMCA gives us our team area. Depending on where our team area is, either a designated parent (who we will point out to you) will be handing out your event cards in the team area (go to that parent when you need your card) or a coach will have the cards on the pool deck.  At our team meeting before the meet begins, we will tell you who has the cards.

 Order of Events – The order of events is as follows: Know that 15-18 swimmers go first (girls and then boys) through 8 & under swimmers – ie oldest to youngest (just the opposite of summer).

Events 1-10 – 200/100 Medley Relays (order of relays are Back, Breast, Fly, Free)

Events 11-18 – 200 Freestyle

Events 19-26 – 200/100 Individual Medleys (IM)

Events 27-36 – 50/25 Freestyle

Events 37-46 – 100/50/25 Butterfly

Events 47-56 – 100/50 Freestyle

Events 57-60 – 500 Freestyle

Events 61-70 – 100/50/25 Backstroke

Events 71-80 – 100/50/25 Breaststroke

Events 81-90 – 200/100 Free Relays

  Swimmers – you may not leave the meet (either home or away meets) until it is over, unless you tell a coach.  We have had a problem in the past of people leaving when they are still needed for a free relay at meet’s end.  This makes it so three other people can’t swim the free relay if their fourth member has gone home too early.  Know that changes to free relays might be made throughout the meet (mainly because someone did not come to the meet, someone got injured or is sick, etc).  Any changes that take place will be made on the event sheets in the gym.  Keep checking there for changes throughout the meet.

 What You are Swimming – Remember my policy; one for you – one for the team.  If you are in an event that is not your favorite, it is probably because I need someone to swim the event for points, or I think that this event is one you should try.  Don’t be upset.  Give the event a try and see how it goes!

 Results – In winter swimming, results are not posted during the meet.  Results will be posted the following Monday on the Neptune Info Board.  Also, it is my intent to get Personal Best ribbons in the swimmers’ mailboxes the week following the meet.

 Swimmer Behavior – It is expected that all swimmers are well behaved and respectful of the facility where the meet is being held, be it our Y or someone else’s.  This has never, ever been a problem for the Y-Neptunes Swim Team. We keep our team area orderly and clean during the meet and clean up our team area before we leave for home. Parents – thanks for raising such wonderful kids. Swimmers – thank you for being such fantastic representatives of our program. 

Good sportsmanship – the Neptunes are also known for having the best “good sportsmanlike” conduct in the League.  We shake hands with our opponents after an event; win or lose. We cheer on our teammates at all times!  Feel free to stand at the end of the pool and cheer for each other! The older kids still love a cheering squad; the younger swimmers love to have older swimmers watch them race and tell them “good job.”  We say “thank you” to the timers and officials; to the people at the concession stand; to the parents handing out the cards.  Without them, there would be no swim meet.  The coaches’ love being told what a wonderful group of swimmers we have.  We already know it; and we appreciate it when others notice! 

 Performance at Meets – The coaches expect everyone to give their 100 percent best effort when they enter the water to race.  That’s what all the training has been for!  But if you happen to have a “bad” (in your mind) race, find a coach and let’s talk.  If you tried your best; that’s all we ask.  Still, it is understood that you might be disappointed.  With that in mind - you may have two minutes (and only two minutes!) to feel bad – but there will be no crying or goggle throwing – see “Swimmer Behavior” above. After your two minutes are up – it’s time to move on.  That race is in the past and there are more races coming up to focus your energies on. All races are learning experiences and we will take what we learn and make changes to try for different results.  Be positive and positive things will happen!