The Association Meet is ON

Hello,

Saturday July 28th is our Association Meet to be hosted by the Concord C-Lions in Athens, WV. This will be an excellent meet this year.

Please plan to arrive at the Concord pool by 8:30 at the latest to get set up. There is PLENTY of parking all around. Concord will designate an area for us to set up in, so watch for this when you arrive. Our warm ups are at 9:10-9:20 and the meet starts at 10:00. I have a coaches meeting at 8:30, so I won't be available for you until right before warm ups. I will arrive at the Concord pool around 8 am so you can catch me before 8:30 if you like. I will be by the pool most of the day, so you can find me there anytime you need me. I will try to make rounds through the set up area when I can just to make sure everybody is okay.

It is very important that we stay together as a team on Saturday. We have to help each other listen for when our events are called, and help find swimmers when they are late getting to the clerk. Of course you can move around and spend time by the pool cheering. Just be sure to circulate through the main Giles area now and then to make sure you know what is going on.

If you have a pup-tent or a larger stand-up sun-shade that you are willing to bring share, that would be fantastic. The forecast is for cloudy skies and a 60% chance of precip. and maybe storms. So having shelter is a good thing. You may want to bring a water proof ground cover to sit on or put your tent on. This will help. Anticipate being chilly and damp - so lots of dry towels, sweatshirts, pants, etc. And several pairs too so when one gets wet you can swap out. Remember this thing goes all day, so you will need to prepare for the long haul. I don't know how they handle storm delays - there can be no make up meet, so my guess they will try to keep going as best they can unless it gets impossible to continue. Lets hope for the best!

After the meet, there will be an awards ceremony where they announce the winner and award trophies There are some special awards for retiring swimmers and high point scorers. I will collect all the medals and ribbons and we will give them out at the swim team party on Aug 8th.

Come ready to swim - let's win this thing! Go JETS!

Jim

VICTORY OVER TAZEWELL

Congratulations to the Giles Jets Swim team for their impressive 352 to 292 victory over the Tazewell Torpedoes. Long time swim team parents agree that it has been at least 6 years since Giles has beaten Tazewell. Tazewell brought most of their team - and most of their best swimmers - to our pool for the meet. Nevertheless, our swimmers did a fantastic job, and our win was very much deserved. Thanks to all the swimmers that toughed it out in the cold rain and gave their very best effort. And double thanks to all the parents who stuck it out and let their kids keep going to the very end! We could not have done this with out you!

WAY TO GO JETS!

The Tazewell Meet is ON

Hello,

It looks like the huge rain system is moving out of our area, which is good news for our meet tonight. Remember, we swim in the rain, but thunder and/or lightning will cause delays if storms pop up later.

Please come if you have signed up to swim. We need everyone to participate. If rain shuts us down, then so be it. But lets do what we can.

Please arrive at 4:30 to get set up and get your events. Remember to help your swimmer make good food choices today and drink lots of water. It may be cloudy and cool, but it is still important to be fully hydrated.

See you in a while!

Jim

Final Week of Practice

Hello:

UPDATE: Storms are brewing in our area. It is unclear whether they will affect practice tonight. I will send a message out as soon as possible if practice needs to be cancelled. For now, assume the best!

This is our final week of Swim practice. Everybody will practice from 7-8 pm on Mon, Wed and Friday. Tuesday is our meet against Tazewell here, and Thursday there is no meet and no practice (the pool has make up swim lessons that will block us).

Please make every attempt to come to practice this week - especially Friday. We will be working on good starts, fast turns, solid finishes - and most important, relay starts. It may be crowded, but we can have a good time. Watch email and/or the blog (www.gilesjets.blogspot.com) for weather updates as needed.

Tomorrow for our meet against Tazewell, plan to arrive at 4:30 to get your events and get set up. This one will be HOT. Tazewell has a large number of swimmers - many very good - that will be coming. We have more. Remember, we almost beat them in their pool. Let's beat them here at home!

Saturday is the Association Meet at Concord in Athens, WV. I will post directions again and give you information about the meet later this week.

Thanks, Jim

The Concord Meet is ON

Hello,

UPDATE: There are a large number of widely scattered storms in our area and to our west. There is no way to know which, if any, will affect our meet tonight.

PLEASE COME TO THE MEET REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER...if there are delays, we will get through them as best we can. If the storms get bad enough to call off the meet, we will do this. Safety is the #1 concern at all times.

We can't win the meet if folks decide to stay home and the meet goes on as scheduled.

*****

We are going to have a very exciting meet tonight! Concord is coming to town, and they are bringing a lot of great swimmers. However, we have great swimmers too, and we will have a lot more folks in the water than they will. It is OUR pool, so we have the advantage. It is my hope that we will overwhelm them and win this meet outright.

Please remind your swimmer(s) to drink lots of water or clear liquid today. NO SODA! Ask them to rest and stay out of the sun during the hot afternoon hours. Food should be good carbs like pasta, fruit and veggies. Please limit fat and refined sugars. This will help each swimmer do their best tonight.

Please encourage your swimmer(s) to cheer for thier teammates tonight. Lots of noise and lots of excitement will help everyone do their best. In several of our recent meets, a good number of swimmers have dropped SECONDS off thier best times. If we can do this tonight, the close races will be victories for us. Having everyone really excited will be the best way to make this happen.

Thanks for all your support. Go Jets!

Jim

Practice is ON

Hello,

Practice today is 7-8 pm for EVERYBODY. There are some widely scattered storms to our west, but who knows if they will arrive. So lets practice.

Thanks, Jim

Practice Schedule for July 16th - July 27th

Hello,

Of the 5 days we need Castle Rock, only 2 are available for us to practice. This, plus a variety of other variables make Castle Rock not the best solution for our practice woes over the next two weeks.

So: Monday (7/16) we will practice at the normal time 7-9 pm. Every other day for the rest of the season, we will practice at 7-8 pm at Pearisburg. EVERYONE is invited. Please note there is no meet on Thursday July 26th so we will have practice that day.

We will conduct stroke pratice in the deep end for those that need it and more regular workouts in the main pool. I will have lane assignments for all swimmers during this time.

Thanks for your patience. Jim

Important Notes for the Rest of the Season

Hello: Lots to tell you...this is long (sorry), but please note each item

1. Giles @ Richlands Meet Tuesday (7/17): I will send out directions for Richlands later today. Plan to arrive at 4:30 to get your events and get set up. I will have the entries posted at practice Monday.

2. There are two home meets left: Concord on Thursday (7/19) and Tazewell on Tuesday (7/24). Let's win these meets! We need PARENTS to sign up for concessions and for meet duties for both remaining meets ASAP. Please see Melissa or Joyce at practice for this. Remember, selling concessions is a great money maker for the team and we have two shots left.

3. Association Meet - Concord July 28th. Plan to arrive at Concord at 8:30 at the VERY LATEST, 8-8:15 would be better. Our warm up is at 9:10 am and the meet starts at 10 am. There are many meet jobs for parents...Veronica, Melissa and Joyce will have sign up sheets for these duties very soon. NOTE: I must submit our entries this week. After the entries go in to Concord, no additions can be made - only deletions. Therefore, it is vital that you and your swimmer(s) review your entries this week during practice and let me know if there are any problems or changes needed.

4. Practice changes: Okay, take a deep breath. On Monday (July 16th), we have normal practice times (7-8 for 9 and under, 8-9 for 10 and up). After that, there is a pool party every night at 8 pm for the rest of the season - meaning we have only one hour for practice then on (7-8 pm). The officers and I have worked out a plan for this and I will get final confirmation on Monday. I should have details ready by Monday's practice. The short story is the main work out will be at Pearisburg from 7-8 pm. This will be a work out for experienced swimmers primarily. A second workout will be held at Castle Rock pool (if the pool agrees to this) for younger swimmers and those who still need significant help with strokes to ensure they can swim correctly and not be disqualified at the Association Meet.

This split practice days will be on Wed (7/18), Monday (7/23), Wed (7/25) and Thurs (7/26) only. The time will be announced ASAP. The two Friday practices (7/20 and 7/27) will be all together at the Pearisburg pool from 7-8 pm for EVERYONE (no one is excluded).

I know this is a royal pain. Please be patient - we have no choice at this point. We can't have effective practices with 70+ kids in the same pool at the same time - and we MUST have effective practices before the big meet. I will try to contact those swimmers that I would like to move over to Castle Rock so you will know. Wherever possible, I will try not to split up swimmers within families, etc. We have a plan to prevent this for next year that will work great and be much better for the team - and keeps us in the Pearisburg town pool. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Jim

Welch Meet is ON!!!!

Hello Jets!

The Welch Meet is on for tonight. The weather is clear - it will be great. Please be at the pool at 4:30 to get your events and get settled.

Welch is bringing 61 swimmers! We have 77 swimming tonight. We know our two teams are pretty evenly matched. This is going to be a huge meet. We need LOTS of cheering and yelling.

Please ask your swimmers to drink lots of water or clear liquids before and during the meet (Gatoraide is good). Ask them to eat good carbs like pasta and fruit and veggies - some protein is okay too. Please limit their intake of FAT and SUGAR, and please NO SODA before or during the meet.

I have sent a list of events and entries out by email, so check your inbox if you would like to have a copy of these.

See you this afternoon!

Jim

Monday Practice is ON

Hello,

There is only one hour of practice for EVERYONE from 7-8 pm tonight, Monday.

If you are going to the Tazewell meet, please come to practice and verify your events. It is vital that I have all the entries correct by the end of practice so that I can email our entries to Tazewell tonight.

There are scattered showers in the area, but they are small and should not affect practice. Even so, please come and verify your swimmers events - even if it is storming.

Thanks, Jim

Directions to the Meet at Tazewell July 10, 2007

Directions to Tazewell Pool from Pearisburg Town Pool (about 1 hr 30 min)

Take 460 West from Pearisburg to Tazewell.

As you approach Tazwell watch for the Ramey Chevrolet Car Dealership on the left. This is located just before the FIRST Tazewell exit, which is Rt 460 Business.

Take the first Tazewell exit, Rt 460 Business, which will take you into Tazewell.

At the first traffic light, which is about 1.5 miles from 460, turn right onto Route 61 WEST.

Cross the double train tracks and turn left at the red light (this is still Rt 61 W).

Go about 0.3 mile and you will see Lincolnshire Park and Pool on the right.