PAY Swim Team News - 5/19/2024

PAY Swim Team News - May 19, 2024

There is a lot of exciting news and updated info so please scroll down to the end.

 

PRACTICE SCHEDULES:

Please refer to the following link for our SPRING practice schedule:

https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/mapay/page/documents/monthly-practice-schedules

 

^^WE WILL CONTINUE TO USE THIS SCHEDULE ABOVE ON MOST DAYS THROUGH JUNE 9 but see changes below for May.

 

All schedules, group descriptions, equipment needed, etc. are found under the PAY 23-24 tab on our website: Phoenixville YMCA swim team Home (gomotionapp.com)  

 

PRACTICE UPDATES FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 20th-27th: 

 

Thursday 5/23 - 3:30-5:30pm Nat/Senior practice will run as normal, but all remaining practices on this day are canceled, in order for our coaching staff to hold a seasonal staff meeting. Novice 3 Swimmers may attend Novice 2 practice on Wednesday 5/22.

 

Sunday 5/26 & Monday 5/27 (MEMORIAL DAY): NO PRACTICES FOR ANY GROUPS

 

 

COACH NOTES:  

 

Banquet Recap

 

On Wednesday May 8th, we celebrated the 2023-2024 winter season at Rivercrest Golf Club.

 

These swimmers were presented with the following awards:

 

8 & Under Girls

 

Most Improved - Audrey Abazi

 

Coaches - Hailey Trainor

 

 

8 & Under Boys

 

Most Improved - Sam Verderame

 

Coaches - Charlie Welsh

 

 

9-10 Girls 

 

Most Improved - Ashley Kane

 

Coaches - Haddie Engle

 

 

9-10 Boys

 

Most Improved - Chase Hungarter

 

Coaches - Peter Verderame

 

 

11-12 Girls

 

Most Improved - Violet Chan

 

Coaches - Ellen Le

 

 

11-12 Boys 

 

Most Improved - Teddy Thiel

 

Coaches - Austin Adair

 

 

13-14 Girls 

 

Most Improved - Caroline Moore

 

Coaches - Natalie Kibalo

 

 

13-14 Boys

 

Most Improved - Ryan Tighe

 

Coaches - Walker Hungarter

 

 

15 & Over Girls 

 

Most Improved - Kate Spencer

 

Coaches - Macey Speakman

 

 

15 & Over Boys

 

Most Improved - Matthew Ferenz

 

Coaches - Kyle Kruppa

 

 

 

Female Rookie of the Year - Kaitlyn McGuire

 

Male Rookie of the Year - Jack Herpel

 

 

 

We, Not Me Award (Most Outstanding Teammate) - Maren Parsons

 

 

Robert C. Kline Award (Most Outstanding Female Swimmer) - Brynn Lewis

 

 

Joseph Cushing Award (Most Outstanding Male Swimmer) - Patrick Baganski

 

 

Ed Conrad Award (Most Outstanding Team Member) - Maddy Deeney

 

 

Currently Posted Long Course Meets in June/July:

6/6-6/9/2024 WSY/HAC LC Classic @ Bucknell University- signup deadline has passed. Meet participants can be on the lookout for updates in the next week or two.

6/21-6/24/2024 CAM Evans LC Invitational @ UMLY -  Please Note: I provided our meet hosts a "preliminary entry file" to reserve our team space in this meet. These entries, and those I included on them, ARE NOT FINAL BY ANY MEANS. RSVP signup deadline is May 24th.CAM Evans LC Meet at UMLY SIGNUP RSVP LINK

6/28-6/30/2024 KA Firecracker LC Invite @ Keystone Aquatics in Carlisle, PA-This LC meet is our last opportunity to compete before the summer championship season in July/early August. It is also a meet that is conducted in a "Prelim/Final" format for the 13 and Over age groups.  It is a timed finals meet for swimmers 12 and Under. Please Note: I provided our meet hosts a "preliminary entry file" to reserve our team space in this meet. These entries, and those I included on them, ARE NOT FINAL BY ANY MEANS.  The RSVP deadline is set for May 24th. KA MEET EVENT SIGNUP RSVP LINK

PLEASE ALSO REFER TO TEAMUNIFY FOR OUR LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS IN THE MONTH O F JULY

Short course dual meets for our summer season - We are hosting two HOME Saturday mornings tri-meets outside at Baker Park and we will attend two AWAY dual meets at area YMCAs.  Our summer short course season will conclude with YMCA Summer Champs in York PA. These 5 swim meets are for any swimmer registered for the summer.  Please see the notes and signup via the links below in Team Unify.

Summer Tri Meet - YY & UMLY @ PAY (HOME) Jun 15, 2024 at 8:30am-noon (warmups will likely be at 8am) at PAY Outdoor Pools @ the Baker Park complex.  Volunteer signups will be posted closer to the event.  RSVP for your swimmer is June 8th.  Register HERE.

Summer Dual Meet - PAY @ UPY (AWAY) Jun 24, 2024 at 6pm-8:30pm (warmups likely at 5:30pm) at Upper Perk YMCA 1399 Quakertown Rd, East Greenville, PA 18073 (about 45 minutes from our YMCA)   Volunteer signups will be posted closer to the event.  RSVP for your swimmer is June 16th.  Register HERE.

Summer Tri Meet - BYNS & UPY @ PAY (HOME) July 6, 2024 at 8:30am-noon (warmups will likely be at 8am) at PAY Outdoor Pools @ the Baker Park complex.  Volunteer signups will be posted closer to the event.  RSVP for your swimmer is June 29th.  Register HERE

Summer Dual Meet - PAY @ UMLY (AWAY) Jul 18, 2024  at 5:30pm-8:30pm (warmups likely at 5pm) at Upper Main Line YMCA 1416 Berwyn-Paoli Road, Berwyn, PA 19312.  Volunteer signups will be posted closer to the event.  RSVP for your swimmer is July 13th.  Register HERE

YMCA Summer Championships (Short Course Yards at the York YMCA) - SAVE THE DATE for Jul 27, 2024 - Jul 28, 2024 at Graham Aquatic Center - York YMCA

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OTHER ITEMS FOR FAMILIES:

 

THANK YOU TO COACH DAN for almost 20 years of PAY Blue Wave Coaching!!!  We will miss you greatly, Dan!!  Words are not enough to express our gratitude for your encouragement, smiles, and teaching over the many, many years. Hopefully all you PAY families and swimmers have had time to read Coach Dan’s letter emailed around last Wed. 5/15.  His reflections and perspective on our PAY Blue Wave team are heartfelt and a testament to Dan and a testament to our PAY Blue Wave team. I’ve added some special quotes from Coach Dan to the bottom of this newsletter.

 

THANK YOU to our Volunteer of the Year for our 2023-2024 Season- Kelly Miller, mom of 3 PAY swimmers and wife of Coach Erik. We are grateful for all your time and talents keeping our team and parents “looking good”.

 

THANK YOU to all the volunteers who helped plan and pull off our 2023-2024 awards banquet.  Fun was had by all - even if the speakers weren't working well in the back of the room!  Special SHOUT OUT to parent Jinlin Tong for taking our age group photos.  (see attached).

 

NEW PARENTS- Are you new to PAY Swim Team with basic parent questions or have you been with us a while but have new questions? Please feel free to email Kate Baganski at kbaganski@verizon.net with your non-coach questions.  We will set up a Zoom Q&A soon or point you in the direction of a fellow parent.  For any technical coach questions, please email Coach Dave at david.rue@philaymca.org or Coach Kate Deeney at kathryn.deeney@philaymca.org.

 

Deadline TONIGHT!! SPRING/SUMMER PAY APPAREL: Are you ready for some new PAY swag/apparel from Tuttle Marketing?  The Apparel Store is open through TONIGHT 11:59pm then the link closes.   Products - Phoenixville YMCA Swimming - Tuttle Marketing (chipply.com) Purchases will arrive in June.  There are some fun summery colors this season!

 

SUPER SENIORS - Class of 2024 Seniors:  Ella Bice, Carys Collin, Lexie Elsner, Mika Munion, Macey Speakman, Patrick Baganski, Gabe Carroll, Matthew Ferenz, Kyle Kruppa, Aidan Maiale, and Logan Seiss.  Congratulations again and thank you for being such wonderful role models for our younger swimmers over the years.  Best of luck and fun on your next phase of life’s journey! Come back to visit!!  PS Please remember to email Kate Baganski with your senior portrait photo and your plans for after graduation and we’ll share your news on our PAY FB page.

 

BIRTHDAY ROUND-UP Happiest of Days to our teammates AND COACHES who have or had birthdays this month!  CHECK OUT ALL OUR MAY BIRTHDAYS!!!

 

Coach Bri has a birthday on May 20!!

Keshav Choudhary turns 13 on May 1!

Nicholas Ciminera turns 12 on May 1!

Mariela Figueroa turns 10 on May 1!

Jianna Jhaveri turns 8 on May 1!

Lola Miller turns 9 on May 2!

Penelope Stieber turns 10 on May 5!

Austin Adair turns 13 on May 6!

Juliana Polce turns 10 on May 7!

Ashton Heinzmann turns 13 on May 8!

Advik Kashyap turns 14 on May 8!

Grace Metry turns 9 on May 8!

Maanvi Sunkireddy turns 11 on May 11!

Megan Curran turns 16 on May 12!

Chase Hungarter turns 11 on May 14!

Ashley Kane turns 11 on May 14!

Callie McAuley turns 10 on May 14!

Amari Bowman turns 12 on May 19!

Jeremie Bruneau turns 9 on May 21!

Elvira Kovach turns 11 on May 23!

Finnegan Robertson turns 7 on May 26!

Molly Thiel turns 12 on May 28!

Caroline Moore turns 15 on May 29!

Xiaoran Yan turns 13 on May 30!

TYR PORTAL - If you need a team swim suit apparel or equipment, please visit our TYR team portal. To register on our team store, visit TEAMS.TYR.COM , click on create account, and use the access code "16659". Once registered you will receive your PAY team's discount as well as any additional promotions etc!   The portal is also linked on our team website: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/mapay/page/documents/apparel 

KINETIC PHYSICAL THERAPY AT OUR YMCA for swimmers or family members: Please visit their website and watch their “YMCA partnership video” at the bottom of their homepage at the following link: https://www.kineticptpa.com/  

TEAM PHOTOS Remember to download/upload PAY swim team photos as you wish-Please feel free to view their photos on our Google Share Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fkNMmnNFJqtXvDchWaRIGXXGGDqe1L3u

FACEBOOK-Come follow “PAY Swimming” on Facebook to celebrate the achievements of all of our kids.  Even better, text or email your child’s photo and “brags” from our swim meets to swim mom Donna Hungarter to share on the PAY Swimming page at (484) 686-3156 or  dmhungarter@gmail.com. And, we have a private “PAY Swim Parents” Facebook page that will be a parent-share page for quick questions, etc.  Search for PAY Swim Parents then you’ll be instructed to type in your child’s swim practice group and someone will approve your request if your swimmer is on our PAY team this year.  This private site will be monitored for content and is not meant for photos.  We will still have our public PAY Swimming FB page, noted above, for sharing photos through parent Donna Hungarter.

 

“I believe that success of a program is not judged by the number of individual national qualifiers or Olympic hopefuls, but by the culture and dynamic within the team….Being a swimmer on PAY means that you are part of a much larger family where the little members have bigger members to learn from and admire….You can swim forever, don’t quit if it is difficult.  It can get better.  Enjoy it.  Take time to smile during harder sets.  Feel the water as you swim.  Remember why you are doing this. And continue. Be happy with yourself in good times and not so good times.  You are the reason people like me coach.”  -Coach Dan