Willis Road Waves

We are excited that you have decided to join the Willis Waves for the 2026 summer swimming season! Whether this is your first time as a swim parent, you are new to our team, or you are returning, we are excited to have you!

Our league is made up of 8 teams: Willis Waves (WRY), Fernwood (FW), Hillbrook (HB), Spartanburg Athletic Club (SAC), Country Club of Spartanburg (CCS), PST (Three Pines Country Club), TK Greg Tiger Sharks, and Woodfin Wahoos

Team suits can be ordered on Swim Outlet. This year the team is using the Sporti Swift in BLUE (see picture).

Please measure before you order, since all brands run differently in sizing. If you opt not to purchase a suit, please wear solid black or blue for meets.

Swim caps are included in registration fees. During meets we must wear these or solid ones. Caps cannot have any other team info on them or the swimmer will be disqualified.

Meet Schedule:

Our meets are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays in May/June. Athletes should arrive by 5:00. Warmups are at 5:15. Meets start at 6:00. The dates are as follows:

Thursday, May 28  (Divisional meet) - away meet at Hillbrook

Tuesday, June 2 (Divisional meet) - home meet vs. Penguins

Tuesday, June 9 (Divisional meet) - home meet vs. Fernwood

Tuesday, June 16 (interdivisional) - home meet vs. Woodfin Wahoos

Tuesday, June 23 (interdivisional) - home meet vs. TK Gregg

June 27 Championship City Meet (must attend 2 other meets to qualify for this meet)

Practices:

Preseason Schedule - 

Week of May 18

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Evenings ONLY

_

Normal Schedule (*begins 5/26/26)

M-T-W-TH SCHEDULE

**NO PRACTICE the evening of swim meets.

**No Wednesday morning practices.

**Because we have more lanes in the morning we will have 2 practices with white and teal combined. In the evenings, we will have 3 practices. White and teal groups will be smaller groups so when combined they are close to the same size as blue. 

White Practice Group: These beginner swimmers are able to swim across the pool without assistance. They may have a few legal strokes, but this group will work on beginning instruction in all 4 strokes. 

Teal Practice Group: Combined with white in the mornings, but instructed on their level. Separate practices in the evening. These swimmers have some experience and are still working on the fundamentals of the strokes. They have 2-3 legal strokes.

Blue Practice Group: This group is experienced swimmers who are legal in 3-4 strokes. Speed is not a factor in placement. 

FRIDAYS are FUN FRIDAY!

All Groups 9:00 -10:00 am

No evening practices on Fridays.

A few important notes about practice:

• Please bring your child to as many practice sessions as possible (choose one practice per day, morning OR evening not both)

• Please arrive 10 MINUTES EARLY for practices so your child can be ready to swim at the start time. Practice sessions will be packed with instruction, training, and fun, so they will need to be present for the entire practice in order to get the most out of each session.

• If there is thunder or lightning during the practice we will have to clear the pool deck. Swimmer will have to wait in the car with their parents or in the main building. If we have thunder during meets athletes and parents must go to their cars.

• Please try to email the coaches or talk to them before or after practice

• Summer league is a little less intense than the year round swim team. We will only have 5 weeks with your swimmers. Please expect progress but not perfection and help the swimmers understand that.

• As coaches, we will be working to teach stroke technique, work on speed, and encourage your child in the sport, according to their level and age group. IF your child does not learn their strokes or improve their times right away, please do not worry. Swimming can take a long time to master. Some swimmers may catch on more naturally, while others may take a little longer, and that is okay!

• We recommend encouraging your child by focusing on the things they are doing RIGHT. There will be mistakes, especially for younger swimmers, and we will address those in a positive way and push them to keep going and keep practicing. With this being summer swim, we truly want this to be a fun experience and even one of their favorite parts of summer vacation!

Parent Effort

Parent effort is essential to the success of the swim team. Your money at registration pays for coaching and meet sign-up fees. Meets are a parent volunteer team effort. Meets can’t happen without volunteers. Volunteering is mandatory for the team’s success.

Volunteering Positions

By signing up your child on the Willis Waves swim team, we expect at least one parent from each family will be available and willing to volunteer at each swim meet your child participates in. Swim meets cannot happen unless we all pitch in and help. Having our volunteer positions filled will greatly help the season to run smoothly. We do our best to match you up to a job that you feel comfortable with – we have positions for everyone. At registration you will be able to indicate your preference for jobs and they will be sent out before each meet.

• Timers- time the whole meet (we must provide 4-6 for away meets and 9 for home meets)
• Lane Parents- stand at lane and make sure kids are in the right lane (2-3 parents)
• Starter (extra training provided)- responsible for starting races
• Stroke/Turn Judge (extra training provided)- we need 2 each meet
• Rounders- 2 parents for each age group of boys and girls. Responsible for telling them when to line up (and walking them there if 6 and under)
• Heat Ribbons- at home meets one person will hand these out for each meet
• Clerk of Course/computer Operator- help organize heat sheets, help computer operator
• Safety Marshall

Show up

Once you sign up, we are counting on you to be there. If you have a conflict, it will be up to you to find someone to switch with or find a replacement. When we don’t have enough volunteers, we won’t be able to conduct our meets. Please show up and help! Your kid(s) will love seeing you volunteering and you will have fun too! Plus, most volunteer positions get you a front row seat to the action and the meets seem to go faster when you’re participating!

Communication

If your swimmer will miss any time during the season for any reason (vacation, camps, etc.), or if there is a parental conflict with work, please let us know! This information helps us not only with staffing volunteers but also helps the coaches plan meet entries and relays. We will be sending out information asking that you sign up your swimmer for meets. We have league deadlines for turning in entries and once the dates have passed you will not be able to sign up your swimmer.

This year we will be utilizing SwimTopia to help with the communication of our team. We will use it for the meet calendar and signups, communication, and meet entries. Parents will be responsible for using SwimTopia to sign-up their swimmers for each meet. Signups for meets will close the Wednesday before the meet. This will allow coaches to create meet entries for the team.

Weather closings

An email will be sent as soon as a decision is reached:

• Air temp below 58 degrees - no practice
• Thunder or Lightning - practice interrupted or canceled
• Warm rain - practice held
• Cold rain - practice held at Coaches discretion based on wind factor
• Water temp below 78 - practice held at coaches discretion
• Water temp above 88 - practice held at coaches discretion

IMPORTANT: Parents please make plans with your swimmers about what they should do if the pool has to close during practice.

Swimmer Reminders:

• It is important as athletes to try to eat healthfully, drink plenty of water, and get good rest each day so that you can be at your best.
• Do not run on the pool deck, do not be rough and push
• Shower before getting into the water
• Listen to the coaches and do not talk or put your head under the water at practice
• At meets, older swimmers will be encouraged to cheer on the younger, and check on them for cap help/anything, and all swimmers will be encouraged to cheer on their age group at meets where they can be near the pool
• A DQ (disqualification) is an opportunity to fix mistakes - everyone has had a DQ! (6 and under swimmers do not get disqualified)
• Bring water to practices

Important Swim Meet Information

Getting Ready:

• What to bring / wear:
  • Cap, Goggles, Towel, suit & shirt, shoes
  • Changes of clothes, warm clothes, extra towel, sunscreen
  • Nutritious snack - fruit, granola bars, bagels, Gatorade, water, goldfish, pretzels, trail mix, etc
  • Water bottle filled with ice and water
  • Small chair for kids or an extra towel to sit on
  • Chair for parents who aren’t volunteering the whole meet
• Get lots of rest and stay out of the sun!
• Great attitude!

Arrival:

• Come at least 15 minutes earlier than designated arrival time.
• Be sure to find out what you are swimming as soon as you arrive!
• Find your designated team area and team parent and let them know that you are here.
• Parents – Volunteer check-in is 30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.

Warm-Ups:

• Know what events you are swimming!
• Enter the pool “feet first” unless Coaches tell you otherwise.
• Warm Ups are not a race - the pool will be crowded so PLEASE be considerate to everyone in your lane.

During:

• We sit as a team. Sit in your designated team area at all times.
• Always communicate to your team parent if you have to leave the team area at any time.
• Remember good sportsmanship – cheer for your teammates and pay a compliment to your opponent i.e. “Good luck” before a race, “Good Job” or “Good Swim” after a race.
• At the end of each heat at meets, swimmers will need to stay in the pool until all swimmers in their heat get to the wall, and congratulate others on their swim
• After your race go to see your coach so they can tell you about your race

Parent Responsibilities at Meets:

• Please show up on time and check in at the volunteer table. Check in your child and also yourself as a volunteer
• Set up an area for your swimmers with their age group and help get swimmers ready for warm-ups. Alert coaches immediately if one of your swimmers is absent.
• Familiarize yourself with the order of the events. The order is Medley Relay, Freestyle, Backstroke, Individual Medley (IM), Breaststroke, Butterfly, Freestyle Relay.
• Mark your child’s back with their name and age.
• Encourage your children to stay seated with their age group when not swimming. If they are not with their group, rounders cannot help them line up.
• Mark the child's events on arm: event # and stroke (FR, BK, IM, BR, FLY) using heat sheet/age group sheet. Heat sheets should be emailed out the morning of the meet. (Each child can swim up to 4 events and 2 relays. Coaches will choose appropriate events.)
• 
• For relays, make sure the child knows the order and the stroke they are swimming. Ensure that swimmers 1,3 know they will start at the deep end and that swimmers 2,4 know that they will start at the shallow end.
  • Medley relay: back, breast, fly, freestyle
  • Freestyle relay: all kids swim freestyle

Timer Guidance

Before the meet starts:

• Please arrive on time and check in with the volunteer coordinators.
• There will be a brief meeting prior to the meet to distribute stopwatch and assign lanes. The goal is to have enough timers to switch off at mid-point of meet.
• There will be 3 timers for each lane. 2 HOME/1 AWAY
• Make sure stopwatch works and that you understand how to use it.
• Decide which home timer will write times on the timesheet for each lane.

During the meet:

• Listen for Starter to announce the events. Utilize heat sheet/time card to confirm the event distance (25, 50 or 100), stroke & gender (boys/girls).
• For 25 events (10 & U) timers stand at the shallow end of the pool. All other events (relays, 50's and 100's), timers stand at the deep end of the pool.
• Ensure that the name on the sheet matches the swimmer preparing to swim. If the name does not match, write it in. This is important! In the event of a combined event, make SURE that you write in the swimmers name. If you need more time, hold up your hand to the announcer.
• Start stopwatch at horn, stop stopwatch when swimmers hand touches the wall.
• All times will be recorded on the event sheet. Hand sheet to the runner who will collect and turn in to the scorekeepers table.
• A Head Timer will have back up watches. If you miss a start or make a mistake, raise your hand and get his/her attention. They will switch out running stopwatch with you.
• Meets move quickly. Reset the watch after time is recorded to prepare for the next heat.
• Relays involve 4 swimmers. Swimmer 1 & 3 stand at the deep side of the pool; 2 & 4 stand on the shallow side. Clerk of course should have this set up but ensure that is correct and all swimmers know what they are going to swim.
  • Medley relay: back, breast, fly, free
  • Freestyle relay: all kids swim freestyle
• Ensure that swimmer hops out at the end of event in a timely manner.
• Finally, have fun! Cheer for the swimmer in your lane!