Turkey Challange

Despite a slow start and what must have seemed to be a very confusing end with the relays, overall our first in house meet went very well.


The swimmers did a great job and I was very impressed with many of the times that were turned in. I have seen vast improvement since we began together back on October 15th. I also received a number of suggestions/recommendations to help make the meets run smoother, and I greatly appreciate the feedback.


I expect to have the ribbons ready for Monday's practice. Each swimmer earned a ribbon based on their order of finish in the individual events. Since we had to scramble and rearrange the relays, causing swimmers to compete with and against varying age groups, we will be distributing "participation" ribbons to all for the relay events.


While I am very proud of all 90 swimmers who participated, I would like to acknowledge the following who took first place in both the freestyle and backstroke events.

• Maggie Lavelle
• Doug Chase
• Eamonn McNicholas
• Christian Adames
• Kyle Montera
• Kyle Carroll (Kyle is a returning undefeated champion in the backstroke)
• Kelly Meenan
• David Vidad
• Bianca Lopez
• Brendan McGee
• Kiley Ferreri
• Erik Arians

My thanks to all of the parents who volunteered and helped out on the pool deck - timing the races, recording the order of finish, organizing the swimmers, etc. Your patience and diligence were outstanding.

Thank you to Joanna Vidad, David and Gabriella's mom, for taking pictures. They are now available on the website on the Photo Album page. They look terrific!

Looking forward to seeing you all at practice Monday night. I will have a consolidated list of all results available and will eventually post it on the website.

Coach Carroll (Kevin)

Nov 19 Practice

Hello Parents and Swimmers

Another good practice for the Swimming Eagles, with 80 swimmers participating throughout the two sessions. We are still looking to add some 15 and older boys and girls to the team, so if you know of any, please invite them down. My thanks again to all the parents who continue to volunteer on the pool deck as well as helping out with the distribution of the t-shirts and collection of the swim suit orders.

A few updates...

Turkey Challenge
Our first in-house meet will be this Monday, Nov 26. This is not an official CYO meet, it is more of an intramural meet, where our swimmers will be competing against their teammates. We will start at 6:45, so please be on the pool deck by 6:30. I'll have the younger swimmers swim first, starting with the U6 swimmers, who will kick board their way across the pool in what should be their first competition. I am very excited for them. The older kids should also arrive by 6:30. Anyone who has to arrive late due to other commitments - no worries. We'll get you into a race, even if against older swimmers. The idea here is for the individual swimmer to get competition experience. I will be asking for 6 volunteers to time the lanes, 2 at the scorers table, 4 (2 for each "team") to get the kids up to the starting blocks and 1 to "judge" the order of finish.

T-Shirts
We distributed our team t-shirts on Monday. If you were not there, you can still pick them up next Monday or the Monday after that. If you did not have a proper size for your swimmer, please e-mail me the size you need and we will order more.

Swim Suits
When sizing your swimmer, the size we need is on the gray bar next to TYR. It is numbered 22-38 or 22-40. I would recommend going to Goldman Bros or a similar store for better sizing, as I do not have samples. Since the suits will be customized with the team name, they are not exchangeable.

Many have asked if the team suits are required. By CYO rule, all suits must be the same type and similar coloring. Personally, I would prefer all swimmers have the same suit. However, if you already have a Holy Family suit from a prior year or have a competition style suit with black and blue coloring, that will be fine. Keep in mind the suits run small but tend to expand when they get wet.

Please note that swim suit orders are due by Monday December 3rd, so that we will have enough time to have them delivered by our first meet (some time in early January).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the suit, please speak with me. While it is important to show team unity by way of the suits, it is more important the the swimmers are comfortable and enjoying their time in the pool.

Swim Caps
Swim caps are required for girls (unless their hair is very short) and not for boys (unless their hair is very long). The league is more strict with the swim caps. Since they cannot bear the logo of another swim club or the "logo only" of a manufacturing (i.e. TYR or Speedo), I ask that all swimmers who will be using a bathing cap order the team cap, which will be emblazoned with the Holy Family name.

CYO Rules Pertaining to Meets
I will be distributing a short informational package detailing the rules as set forth by CYO of Nassau Suffolk as well as some in-house requirements. I anticipate having these for this coming Monday and will also post them on the website for future reference. Please keep in mind that some of these in-house requirements are guidelines. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to bring them to my attention.

On behalf of my family - Ginny, Katelynn, James, Kelly, Kyle and Jillian - we wish you all a warm, healthy and happy Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy the long weekend and we'll see you all on the 26th.

Go Swimming Eagles!!

Coach Carroll (Kevin)

Swimming Eagles Update

Our 4th practice went very well, as we timed the swimmers in the freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. My thanks to all of the parents who volunteered and helped out on the pool deck getting the kids ready and timing them.

A few important announcements

Monday November 12:
No practice, as we will all be celebrating Veteran's Day. To all of our family and friends who have served in the armed forces through the years, we extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

Turkey Challenge:
Our first in house meet has been moved to Monday November 26 (we will have a typical practice on Nov 19). This will give us one more practice before the meet. All swimmers should try to be at the pool by 6:30, especially those 10 and under. This meet will give our less experienced swimmers a chance to get used to swim competition as well as an opportunity to win some ribbons.

Swim Suits:
We will be ordering our suits within the next few weeks. A few of the older swimmers have suggested we change from our long time blue and gold colors to something different to coincide with our renewed and re-energized swim program. One suggestion is a black swim suit with orange highlights, which sounded pretty nice. I welcome any suggestions.

Looking forward to a successful and fun filled season.

See you all on the 19th.

If you need to contact me, or have any comments or suggestions, please e-mail me at coachcarroll@verizon.net or call me at 516.433.4650.

Coach Carroll