IMPORTANT DATES COMING UP:

June 30  Meet fees due for WMS USS Meet (July 26-27)

July 3  Entries due for E Grand Rapids Dual Meet (July 10)

July 7  Meet fees due for Jenison Quad Meet (July 11-12)

July 10  Dual Meet at E Grand Rapids
July 10   Entries due for Dual Meet at Grand Haven (July 17)

July 11-12 Jenison LCM Quad Meet

July  17 Dual Meet at Grand Haven

July 18-20 USS LCM at CW (Eastern Michigan U)

July 22-24 WMSL Championship Series

July 26-27 USS LCM at WMS (Holland)

Jenison Quad Meet The entries for the Jenison Quad meet have been posted on the Meets/Summer Season Meets page. Due to a computer error it is very important that everyone check their entries and notify Coach Cutler (coachcutler@riptide.org) as soon as possible of any corrections. Also, there was some conflicting information on start times in the documentation for this meet. The correct times are: Friday, July 11, warm up at 1:00 p.m., meet at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 12, warm up at 8:30 a.m., meet at 9:30 a.m.   read more...

Wyoming Invitational Awards The awards for the Wyoming Invitational are in the family bins at North Rockford Middle School.

GVSU Swim Camp Click read more to view information about a Grand Valley swim camp available this summer.   read more...

State Meet Qualifications State Meet qualifiers as of July 1 are posted on the meet page and entries are available in direct athletics. Entries are due with payment by July 20, 8 pm - no exceptions. State Meet qualifications achieved after July 20 (WMS swim meet) must be declared for entry with payment by the end of that meet on July 27 - no exceptions.

Riptide Summer Fundraiser Mark your calendars for a Silent Auction/Wine Tasting social event on Tuesday, July 29 from 6:30-9:30pm. See the summer fundraiser page for more information.   read more...

Summer Practice Stretching All groups, please plan to get to the pool 15 minutes prior to posted practice times this summer for stretching and to maximize pool time. Thank you.

Dual Meet Carpooling With the summer dual meets occurring on Thursday mornings and current gas prices we would like to facilitate transportation and carpooling to these meets. See the carpooling box below for sign ups. First choose the dual meet you would like to view (Holland, E Grand Rapids or Grand Haven) and click submit. Previous sign ups will appear for that meet, and you may choose an alternate meet from the drop down menu. Please utilize that contact information if you are in need of a ride for your swimmer/s or for carpool arrangements. If you wish to add your name and contact info to the list choose the individual meet, click join carpool, enter your information and click submit. Choose carpool if you wish to ride share with someone else, choose provide swimmer ride if you are available to provide a ride and supervision for additional swimmers, choose need swimmer ride if you are in need of a ride and supervision for your swimmer/s.   read more...

Jr Riptide Sessions Jr. Riptide is a pre-competitive swimming program for young swimmers. The summer session (2008 Session 3) lasting five weeks, begins June 16, and practice for this session will be held Monday and Wednesdays at Blythefield Country Club (BCC) from 8:45 to 9:45am due to the Rockford High School pool closure. The fee is $90 for the expanded five weeks. Additional information about the upcoming Junior Riptide session and their practice calendar are available on the Jr. Riptide page of the website.   read more...

Practice Changes Check here for any last minute practice changes. If you haven't already, please also give us your e-mail address (send to suselton@riptide.org or register above) so that we may provide you with all the important Riptide updates. Please note that NRMS on the calendar refers to North Rockford Middle School. RHS is for Rockford High School, RAP is for Rapids, TSU is for Tsunamis, TDW is for Tidal Waves and JRR is for Junior Riptide

Riptide Post Office Box PO Box 382, Rockford MI 49341 is available for Riptide correspondence, registrations and session invoice remittance.

Practice Cancellation Policy As with all weather situations, we will post a notice to the website and also send an e-mail out in the event we have a cancellation. This is done by 2 pm if at all possible. The standing policy according to Rockford Community Services, which we are part of, is that when school is closed, Riptide does not have practice. On occasion Varsity sports reevaluates conditions later in the day and reopens the facilities for the evening. This may cause some confusion as it does not necessarily affect Riptide. In the event that we are informed we may have a practice on a school cancellation day, that too will be posted by 2pm.

What On Time Means I know that everyone is busy and pushing different schedules. Please try to get your swimmer to the pool at least 10 min before practice begins so that they can change and get to the pool deck before practice begins. It is very disruptive for swimmers to be continuously strolling in late through the first 15 -20 minutes of practices. These swimmers need to have their proper warm-up time and stretching to prevent injuries and promote good habits. They also need to participate with team mates in this part of practice. It is in their best interest for swimming that they follow this thinking and get started on the right foot each night. We understand that things come up and schedules get tight, but feel strongly about getting started in a timely manner.

Illnesses A couple of rules of thumb. If you are too sick to go to school, you should not go to practice. First, there is a lot of bugs starting to go around, please don't pass it to the other swimmers who do not want them. Respect others, be healthy before you return. Second, get the homework assignments and lessons caught up before coming to practice. Most classes now have the option of getting missed assignments and lesson information. That is always your first responsibility.

Picking up from Practices Parents, for those of you who are picking up your children after practices curbside, especially the late practices at the HS pool, we need you to be there to pick up your swimmers within 5-10 minutes of the end of practices. We are pushing to get kids out of the showers quickly to get them home. Please call the pool (NRMS 863-6316 option "5", or, RHS 863-6042) and have the pool staff let the Riptide Coaches know if you are not going to be picking them up on time. In the case of the RHS 9pm practices, there are no open portions of the building for them to wait in. It is already a safety concern, but once the weather turns colder for winter, these kids do not need to be sitting around waiting for rides. The guards and coaches shouldn't have to wait with the swimmers for very long either for pickup.

Suggestion Box Riptide parents who wish to submit anonymous questions/concerns/suggestions to the Riptide board should utilize the black box (currently also used for payments) outside of the locker rooms at the High School.   This box will be emptied one week prior to the board meeting and its contents will be addressed at that month's meeting.   Responses to the items from the box will then be published in the board meeting minutes.