Greetings Pool Shark families,

Welcome to our 2025 Pool Shark season! Listed below is important information and updates for you to know going into our first few weeks of practices.

• Website - Please use our website as a reference for any questions you may have throughout the season. It includes our calendar for all practices/meets and events, various information about meets, pool locations, volunteer requirements, contact information, and much more. It is your ¨go-to¨ for all things Pool Sharks! https://poolsharks.swimtopia.com/ You may also want to download the Swimtopia App. It is free, and an easy way to help get your swimmer(s) signed up for meets (if they choose to compete) and sign up for volunteer shifts.
• Practice schedule the first 2 weeks - Our practice schedule is a little different than our "normal" summer schedule while our kids are still in school. You will have 2 practice options per day at the indoor pool to choose from. Our first practice option time is from 3:45-4:45pm, and the 2nd time is from 5-6pm. These will be our practice options from Tuesday May 27th-Thursday June 5th. On Friday, June 6th, we will offer the same practice times, 3:45-4:45 and 5-6pm, but they will be held at the OUTDOOR POOL in preparation for our home swim meet there the next day. There will be no practice on Friday, May 30th due to graduation. Starting June 9th, we will transition to our regular summer practice schedule, with practices at the indoor pool at 6:45-7:45am, High Performance at the indoor pool from 8-10am, and 5:30-6:30pm at the outdoor pool.
• We do not take attendance at practices. You can come to any practice that works for you and your family. We encourage swimmers to come to 2-3 practices per week, but if that's not possible, we completely understand. Do the best to come to what you can. Only swimmers registered for High Performance can attend those practices, and once we transition to our summer schedule, we ask Baby Sharks to attend the 5:30pm practice at the outdoor pool only.
• Expectations before and after practice - Most of our swim coaches, and pool staff do not get out of school until 3:25 everyday. Therefore the pool will not be open until 3:30 for the 3:45pm session. If you or your swimmers arrive before 3:45, they will have to wait outside of the pool doors until staff arrive to open the facility. Swimmers are expected to be out of the pool and changing areas 15 minutes after practice.
• NO USE OF LOCKER ROOMS OR MEZZANINE - Unfortunately we had some ongoing issues in both the girls and boys locker rooms, and in the mezzanine during our spring swim season. For the time being, Pool Sharks will no longer be using the competition pool locker rooms or mezzanine. Our swimmers will need to come ready in their suits, or change in the public restrooms across the hall from our competition pool locker room doors. Swimmers will enter and exit through the main pool entrance doors, and can leave their bags and towels on the bleachers during practice. The unisex/family change room hall will be open for locker room use to change after or to use the restrooms. Parents will be allowed to watch from outside the doors to the pool deck, but the mezzanine will be closed. You are welcome to bring chairs into the main pool entrance way to watch if you would like.
  Please talk to your swimmer about changing quickly, and appropriate behavior in the changing areas. We are hoping to earn these areas back at some point, but for now we are going to have to follow the guidelines listed above.
• Once your swimmer is changed, have them report to the bench area on deck and sit quietly until the coaches come out for attendance. There is no running on deck or horseplay allowed on deck. No one is allowed to enter the pool without permission from a coach. Coaches will direct your swimmer where to go.
• Practice evaluations week 1 (May 27th-29th) - We will be evaluating our new and youngest swimmers. If you are a new swimmer parent of a 10 and under or younger, PLEASE STAY AT PRACTICE! The requirement for our Baby Shark program is to swim 1/2 length of the pool UNASSISTED AND comfortably put their head and face under the water. The requirement to be a Rec swimmer/Pool Shark is to swim at least 1 length of the pool UNASSISTED with head/face in the water. (Please see attached flow chart for Baby Sharks)If your child cannot complete the requirements of a Baby Shark or, they are not ready for Pool Sharks this season. They will be sent to the locker room to change. You will be notified and will be refunded. If your child falls into the Baby Shark category, but is not strong enough to be a Pool Shark, they will also be sent to the locker room after their evaluation. They will be listed as a Baby Shark in our system. Their practices will start June 9th at the outdoor pool at the 5:30pm practice. We cannot accommodate our Baby Shark program at the indoor pool for safety reasons. All Baby Shark parents will receive an email at the end of the first week with more information about our Baby Shark program.
• Practice evaluations week 2 (June 2nd-6th) - This week our coaches will be evaluating our Pool Shark swimmers and placing them in practice groups by ability. These groups are fluid, and will be re-evaluated throughout the summer. I have attached the groups and their descriptions below for your reference. Please see our Head Coaches Riley Talmage with any questions.
• Our coaches are all experienced swimmers. Some of them are experienced coaches from last season and some of them are coaching for the first time. We expect our swimmers to behave and be respectful to all coaches and lifeguards on deck at all times. If there are behavior issues, your swimmer will be spoken to by a coach, and could possibly be asked to sit out if the behavior continues. If the behavior cannot be resolved between the coach and the swimmer, a parent will be notified and asked to stay for practices until the behavior can be resolved.
• Parents are not allowed on deck during practice. (Your swimmers usually listen better when you are not on deck, and can give their coaches their undivided attention) You are welcome to observe practice from the main pool entrance, and can meet your swimmers there after practice is finished. There are unisex locker areas if you have a young swimmer of the opposite gender that needs help getting dressed before/after practice. Please ask our pool staff for access to these locker areas.
• Parent meeting - We will be having a parent meeting this Thursday, May 29th at 6:30pm in the Eyrie/main commons area at Sauk Prairie High School. We highly recommend at least 1 parent to attend, especially if you are new to Pool Sharks. 

Thanks for making it to the end of a long email. We hope you are able to enjoy the holiday weekend, and we are looking forward to seeing you at the pool this season!

The Sauk Prairie Pool Sharks Board