Otter Families,

Welcome to the FIRST official team email of the 2026 Orchard View Otters summer season! 🎉

This is also the first of our pre-season communications so… buckle up, grab your goggles, secure your coffee cups, and prepare yourselves… because you are going to hear from us A LOT over the next few weeks.

This email is VERY IMPORTANT and contains information everyone needs for the start of the season, so please read all the way through.

Most importantly, while we are absolutely here to swim fast, dive high, and compete hard, this season is really about something bigger: friendships, confidence, team spirit, laughter, memories, and giving our kids a summer they’ll remember long after the final meet ends.

Now… on to Otter business.

🏊 SWIM PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Evening Practices

Official Start Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Evening practices will be held:

• Wednesday, June 3
• Thursday, June 4
• Friday, June 5
• Monday, June 8

Practice Times:

Ages 9–12
🕔 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Ages 13 & Over
🕕 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Morning & Dryland Practices

Official Start Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2026

🖤 Black Group

Swim Practice: 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Dryland: 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM

❤️ Red Group

Dryland FIRST: 9:15 AM – 9:40 AM
Swim Practice: 9:45 AM – 11:00 AM

🤍 White Group

Swim Practice: 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM

No dryland for this group

Important: As the beginning of the For the first few weeks of practice, we're going to ask that ALL ATHLETES bring sneakers with them. 

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR 2026

Athlete groups are a little different this year.

Instead of assigning groups strictly by age, we are now placing athletes based on BOTH age and ability level.

Our goal is to create training groups that allow athletes to develop appropriately, gain confidence, and get the most out of practices.

Group assignments will be sent out by Monday, June 5, so everyone knows where they belong before the first morning practice. In the meantime, for evening practices, please come to your assigned age group.

🤿 DIVE PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Dive families, don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you!

Dive practice will also begin on June 3rd. Exact practice time information will be communicated separately in an upcoming email.

Stay tuned.

📅 MEET SCHEDULE & DECLARATIONS

The 2026 meet schedule is attached to this email and has also been uploaded to SwimTopia.

Every athlete MUST go into SwimTopia and declare attendance for every meet.

This is extremely important.

If you DO NOT DECLARE by the meet deadline:

➡️ We will assume your athlete is NOT swimming and/or diving in that meet.

No declaration = no entry.

Need help?

A step-by-step guide for declaring meets is located under the Documents section in SwimTopia and is also attached to this email.

Time Trials – Saturday, June 13 at 8:30 AM

You’ll notice Time Trials listed on the schedule.

For our new Otter families:

Time Trials is essentially a meet against ourselves.

It is not an official meet, but it gives:

🏊 Athletes a chance to get back in the water
🤿 Divers a chance to get back on the board
👀 Coaches an opportunity to evaluate skills and a chance to start building lineups for the season

More details will be coming next week.

📣 COMMUNICATION = SUCCESS

Communication is going to be one of the biggest keys to a successful season.

A great swim team isn’t built only in the pool. It’s built through communication, teamwork, flexibility, and everyone helping keep the moving pieces together.

Every Sunday evening, families will receive a Weekly Update Email.

These updates will include:

✅ Team notes
✅ Practice reminders
✅ Schedule changes
✅ Upcoming events
✅ Meet information for that week

We’ll also include a Google sign-out sheet.

While we are asking everyone to declare for meets now (please do this!), we know real life happens:

• Vacations appear
• Plans change
• Someone remembers a graduation party the night before
• Summer chaos does what summer chaos does

Use the sign-out sheet to communicate last-minute changes directly to coaches so they always have the most up-to-date information for lineups.

❤️ A Note About Health, Safety & Flexibility

As we kick off the season, we want everyone to know that the health, safety, and well-being of our athletes will always be our number one priority.

Especially during the first week or two of practices, we’ll be keeping a very close eye on weather conditions and pool temperatures to make sure our swimmers and divers are safe, comfortable, and set up for success.

Because of that, there may be times when practices need to look a little different. We may shorten water time and shift to more land-based activities, dryland work, team building, or skill development. There may even be occasions where conditions simply don’t allow us to hold practice at all.

The start of the season can sometimes require a little flexibility and a lot of adapting, but every adjustment we make comes from the same place: doing what is best for our kids.

Thank you in advance for your patience, understanding, and flexibility as we navigate those first few weeks together. We promise it is all in support of creating a safe, fun, and memorable summer for every Otter. 🦦

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🦦 FINAL OTTER THOUGHTS

Over the next few weeks there will be more emails, more updates, more reminders, and probably at least one moment where everyone wonders, “Did I already read this email?”

The answer may be yes.

Please read them anyway. 😄

Because behind all the schedules, declarations, lineups, and logistics is something pretty special.

We’re building another summer of:

❤️ New friendships
🤍 Team traditions
🖤 Big accomplishments

We cannot wait to kick off the 2026 season with all of you.

GO OTTERS! 🦦🏊🤿