Stingrays July 20-25

July 19th

Ray-Nation,

One final week of this season! Thank you to all the families for a wonderful summer. I hope you and your children have made new friends and made memories to last a lifetime. We have loved having you with us this summer. We hope to see ALL of you back next year! Please make plans to join us for the End of Year party, more details to come.

This final week of practice is for City swimmers only.

Monday: practice

Tuesday: practice

Wednesday: practice

Thursday: City Meet; 10 and under; limited practice for 11 and up (more info coming)

Friday: City Meet; 11 and up

Saturday: City Meet finals; top 18 qualifiers

City Parking Passes will be distributed at practice on Tuesday, please look for me there or text me to make arrangements to pick up from my mailbox in Sugarwood.

This is the final week to purchase your Ray gear for the season. Be on the lookout on our website for the remaining items to be purchased there. https://swsr.swimtopia.com/shop

More info to come regarding arrival time for City Meet. We have not been assigned warm up times as of yet.

Team tent location will be the same as previous years. It is at the intersection of UT Drive and Andy Holt Drive. Personal tents are NOT ALLOWED on the UT campus. We should have plenty of seating on Thursday. Friday and Saturday will be cozy...our favorite. I requested a larger tent this year but it didn't work out. I'll keep trying for future years. Please be efficient with the use of space. Place chairs in organized rows, keep large coolers and wagons outside the tent on the sidewalk or outer edges of the tent. Blankets on the ground are ok for Thursday but we will not have space the other days for blankets.

There is seating in stands inside the Allan Jones facility to watch your swimmers events. Allan Jones is a large facility and will have two pools running events simultaneously. There is a girls pool and a boys pool. The girls pool is closest to the scoreboard and the boys pool is closest to the diving well. Finals on Saturday will be condensed to using the boys pool and the girls pool will be used for warm ups. Please stay tuned for important information from coaches regarding warmup procedures.

Please keep your Saturday plans open if you are swimming in prelims on Thursday or Friday. The top 16 will swim in finals on Saturday. The top 18 are expected to return as potential alternates. It doesn't happen often, but it CAN occur where a 17th or 18th place swimmer will replace someone in the top 16 due to absence.

This portion of the GKAISA site is particularly helpful: https://gkaisa.swimtopia.com/2025-gkaisa-city-cham...

Listed here you will find a schedule for each day as well as a map of the area.

GKAISA is no longer using X to announce clerk of course and events in the water. Please join this GroupMe to stay up on current events being called: https://groupme.com/join_group/116014706/eOIkuQaR

There is a change to Clerk or Course this year. There will be one entrance to Clerk of Course behind the building and from there, athletes are separated into the appropriate boys and girls pool groups. Instead of calling names, they will use a software system to know who is present and who is not. This is new and we will need to be flexible as any kinks may come up. It can get chaotic back behind the building, where CoC is located. Please encourage your children to be leaders and represent the Ray Nation well.

Worker information will be coming in the days ahead. Worker meetings will be held in a tent behind the building each day as well. Please stay tuned for information from Amy Steger regarding volunteer roles we will need to fill. Thank you for being flexible and willing to jump in as needed! It takes a village.

Heat sheets will be available for purchase and the team will purchase some to hang in the tent, as usual.

City t-shirts can be pre-ordered here: https://asoapparel.com/pages/gkaisa-swim-meet-knox...

They will be available for pick up at the meet. There will also be shirts available for purchase on-site.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this email! Haha! Looking forward to one last fun week together!

RAYS IN THE WATER!!!

Michelle Bell

SWSR President

701-426-9736

Thank you to our sponsors:

Lewis Group Architects

Pro Source Home Builders

Burks and Ogle Attorneys at Law