NORAC News Feed

NORAC Parent Info Email #3

Hello NORAC families:)

This is NORAC parent info email #3 for the 2023-2024 swim season. It is chock full of good information and requests for parent input on various swim-y types of things. Please read carefully and respond ASAP to all questions asked below.

FEBRUARY NORAC HOME MEET Saturday February 24th 1:30pm

The easiest way for our club to make money is by hosting home swim meets. NORAC takes great pride in running a smooth swim meet. We need volunteers for officiating as well as donations for food for officials and coaches.    

Food Vendors for Home Meet

  • Earn 20 Family Participation Points
  • Here is the link to sign-up for food needed for this event 
  • If you are signing up to bring something, here are a few things to remember:
    • Have your food at the pool on time, between 1:00-1:15 p.m. Warm-up begins at 1:30 p.m.
    • Time is needed for setting up, so please have your food items ready to serve officials and coaches when you bring them to the pool.  (like you would have ready for guests in your own home)
    • Label your dishes with a name so we can return them to the proper owner.
    • Choose only one item from the list, as we want to give everyone a chance to earn 20 points.

            Officials Sign up for Home Meet

  • We are looking to fill our Officials grid for this meet.
  • If you are willing and able to assist that day, please email Amy at [email protected] with the preferred position. 
  • Positions will be assigned to properly staff our meet so you will be assigned a position based on qualifications and staffing needs.
  • Remember to take a look at the Family Participation Points info to see how many points you can earn by officiating!

OFFICIALS CLINICS

  • In order to satisfy the need for Officials for our next home meet, we will be running an in-person Inspector of Turns clinic in the Community Room at the Jack Burger Sports Complex on Feb 2 from 5-7 pm. This clinic is open to all NORAC Official’s who have completed the Level 1 requirements and have worked at least 1 session as a Timer. Officials who have previously attended a Strokes and Turns clinic may also attend as a refresher. Registration will be limited to 15 attendees.
  • Parents new to Officiating may complete the online e-modules for becoming a Level 1 Official. This must be completed if you wish to assist as a Timer at the meet.
  • All clinics require pre-registration on the Swim Canada Learning Management System (LMS). Detailed instructions are available on the Officials page of our website found here.
  • The Central Region (of which NORAC is a member) is also offering a number of online Zoom clinics. Please visit this link on the Clinic section of the NORAC website for more information. Attending these is an excellent way to gain more officiating education.

COACHES CORNER!

Swim-A-Thon

  • This year NORAC will be running swim-a-thon Friday March 1 from 5-7pm and Saturday March 2 from 6:30am-8:30am. 
  • Friday evening will be a relay style, team building event
  • Saturday morning will be the traditional 2 hour or 200 lengths, whichever comes first. 
  • Everyone is encouraged to do both events, however Junior and above are expected to participate in both. 
  • This is a huge fundraiser for our club and more details will be sent from our Swim-A-Thon co-ordinator Jenni Frenke. 

Upcoming Swim Meet Info

  • Swim Meet information regarding the upcoming home meet and qualifying meets will be sent by Coach Trish over the next few weeks. 
  • Important swim meet dates are B Champs Feb 1st -4th(qualifiers only), OYJ’s Feb 15th -18th (qualifiers only),  NORAC Winter Chill Feb 24th(everyone), C Champs Feb 25th (qualifiers) and Montreal SAMAK June 21st-23rd (qualifiers). 

Upcoming Parent Info ZOOM Meetings

  • Coach Trish will just be talking about the second half of the season and what to expect.
  • There will be 3 separate meetings for the following groups: Novice and Youth, Youth plus and Junior, Senior and above. 
  • Meetings will be approx. 20 minutes in length and will be recorded in case a parent cannot attend.  
  • Coach Trish will send emails out this week. 

Dryland at EPIC

  • We will not be attending Epic dryland training as they do not have the capacity to accommodate us at this time. 
  • Coach Trish is looking into alternate dryland training. 

KPRDSB High School Swim Meet-Volunteer Officiators needed

  • The KPRDSB High School Swim Meet will take place at the Jack Burger Sports Complex on Wednesday Feb 14 10:30-2:30. 
  • Students act as timers, but it is always helpful to have some experienced officials on deck, specifically Stroke Judges and Turn Judges. 
  • If you are able to help that day please message Annette [email protected] or Brad Johnson [email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE

  • Due to FaceBook admin issues we have moved our page to NORAC Swimming.
  • Please like or follow us there to continue to receive FB notifications and be sure to invite any friends that may be interested in our programming at NORAC.

PARTICIPATION POINTS REMINDER

*Email pics of your participation points tracking sheets to [email protected]*

  • Emails will go out this week to families who have not yet completed at least half of their participation points requirement. If you have not yet submitted a summary of your points completed or feel something has been missed please contact Amy Linton.
  • Reminder that forms and participation points info can be found in the NORAC CLUB DOCUMENTS section of our NORAC website.

NEW DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING

We are thrilled to announce that Jennifer Kahn (Aidan & Owen Hunter’s mother) has joined our NORAC Board, fulfilling the role of Director of Fundraising.  Please reach out to Jennifer directly at [email protected] if you have any ideas for Fundraising.  Thank you for your service Jenn!

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Please email me if you have any questions

NORAC Holiday Party reminder and Bottle Drive info

Hi all 

Merry Christmas to all NORAC families! A reminder below of the upcoming NORAC Holiday party and some info about the bottle drive. 

January 5 NORAC HOLIDAY SKATING AND PIZZA-POTLUCK PARTY

*Fill out this google sheet to RSVP for this event*

  • January 5th 4-6pm at the Cobourg Community Centre 
  • It’s the annual NORAC Family Holiday Party!
  • 4-5pm- Skating at the CCC arena. Get those skates sharpened – along with the skating skills!
  • 5-6pm- Pizza potluck in the CCC party rooms 
  • RSVP to the link above as soon as possible 

January 5 NORAC Bottle Drive

Do you have bottles building up in the basement or garage after the holidays? During the NORAC Holiday Party on January 5 we will have a bottle drop off. Look for our NORAC volunteers in the parking lot at the CCC from 4-6 pm. All money raised goes right back into supporting our club!

Please email if you have any questions!

Victoria Steeves, Secretary

Northumberland Aquatic Club (NORAC)

Swim Meets January and February

Hi everyone,

Our next few meets are as follows:

January 13&14th Belleville for 12 and under swimmers (Novice excluded) (meet package) The cost to attend both days is $80. This is a short course meet.

January 19-21st Scarborough for 13 and older swimmers (meet package) The cost to attend 3 days is $150. This is a long course meet.

Feb 24th Norac Home Meet – all swimmers Novice and above (meet package) The cost to attend is $40 per swimmer.

We also have Central Region B Champs coming up Feb 1-4. I will reach out individually to families about qualifying athletes once details are provided, there is no meet package available at this time.

I would like to have confirmation for all 3 meets before the holidays, so the deadline to respond and send payment to Annette [email protected] is December 22nd, but the earlier the better so that I can let the host clubs know how many of our swimmers will be attending. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

hanks,

Trish

NORAC Parent Info email #2

Hello NORAC families:)

This is NORAC parent info email #2 for the 2023-2024 swim season. It is chock full of good information and requests for parent input on various swim-y types of things. Please read carefully and respond ASAP to all questions asked below.

GATINEAU GRAND PRIX- Saturday Night Dinner

*If you are attending this meet, complete this google doc by Tuesday December 5 to RSVP for the dinner*

  • December 9 7:30pm reservation at SCORES ROTISSERIE
  • This year NORAC has 24 swimmers attending the Gatineau Grand Prix December 8-10. 
  • Traditionally the team has a meal together on the Saturday night. 
  • Scores is close to the pool and the Holiday Inn 
  • RSVP at the link above by Tuesday December 5 to finalize numbers

NORAC HOLIDAY SKATING AND PIZZA-POTLUCK PARTY

*Fill out this google sheet to RSVP for this event*

  • January 5th 4-6pm at the Cobourg Community Centre 
  • It’s the annual NORAC Family Holiday Party!
  • 4-5pm- Skating at the CCC arena. Get those skates sharpened – along with the skating skills!
  • 5-6pm- Pizza potluck in the CCC party rooms 
  • RSVP to the link above as soon as possible 

INFO FROM THE COACHES

  • January and February swim meet info email from Coach Trish will be coming out very soon!
  • Epic Dryland session #1 has finished and was a great success. Stay tuned for the January schedule, information and sign up.
  • Email Coach Trish if you want more information about the Epic Dryland training
  • Due to the Gatineau Swim meet, there will be NO PRACTICES December 8 6-7:15am, December 8 3:30-5pm, December 9 6:30-8:30am.
  • Christmas Break- last regular practice is December 22. All regular practices resume January 8.

PARTICIPATION POINTS

*Email pics of your participation points tracking sheets to [email protected]*

  • Keep track of all the amazing things you do for NORAC that earn your family participation points. 
  • Remember to regularly email updated pics of the participation points tracking sheet to Amy Linton –> [email protected].
  • Forms and participation points info can be found in the NORAC CLUB DOCUMENTS section of our NORAC website.

SWIM-A-THON VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

*Contact [email protected] if you are interested in helping to run our NORAC swim-a-thon*

  • We are in need of a parent volunteer to help run our swim a thon in March.  
  • Each spring NORAC swimmers participate in the annual swim-a-thon where wimmers complete swim tasks and have fun with their teammates.
  • The process of registering and fundraising is very easy now that the Swim-A-Thon website has been simplified
  • If you like to have a ton of fun, help the swimmers feel a huge sense of accomplishment, raise significant funds for our club to keep the fees low AND earn 80 participation points, then reach out to Carla ([email protected]) with any questions or to express interest.

NORAC CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP

  • Families are asked to help NORAC acquire corporate sponsorships or become a corporate sponsor!
  • Information letter and sponsorship letter are attached to this email.
  • Forward the information and request on to anyone you think would be interested.
  • We are asking local businesses to provide monetary sponsorship to help offset the costs for each swim age group.
  • Every year the cost to provide a competitive swim program increases, especially over the last five years.
  • The jump in training equipment costs, pool rental fees and coaching costs has pushed the Club to implement a corporate sponsorship program, designed to pay for a variety of costs to help keep registration fees as low as possible.
  • Once a sponsorship is received the Club will do everything it can to ensure that our community sponsor is recognized for their donation.
  • For every $350 in sponsorship the Club will post a thank you on our social media platforms with direct links to the sponsor company webpage as well as an email of thanks to our Club membership.
  • A sponsorship plaque will be given to the sponsor organization with their company name, a photo of the age group they sponsored for the 2023/24 season on it, and an engraving of thanks.

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR NORAC FAMILIES *REMINDER*

Here are a few links that parents need to visit and bookmark. Remember to always visit the NORAC webpage for ALL important information. 

Please email if you have any questions!

Victoria Steeves, Secretary

Northumberland Aquatic Club (NORAC)

 

PLEASE READ: Paul Corkum Memorial Meet (Oct 21-22)

Dear Families,

We’re just days away from the PICK Paul Corkum Memorial swim meet.  Please see below for warm up times and be aware that traffic may be heavy in the afternoon on Saturday.

Warm up/Session Times:

Session # Age Group Date Warm-up Start Time
1 12 & over Saturday am 8:00am – 9:00am
2 11 & under Saturday pm 12:30pm – 1:30pm
3 12 & over Sunday am 8:00am – 9:00am
4 11 & under Sunday pm 12:30pm – 1:30pm

– There will be a large event in the area that may result in road closures on Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm. Please give yourself extra time and advise your swim families to do the same. The parking lot will be reserved for those attending events at the Recreation Complex. You may need to tell the attendant that you are attending our meet.
– We are asking coaches to do a positive check in of their swimmers during warm up for Session 2 to determine whether we need to adjust the start time.  
– Swimmers should arrive dressed and ready to swim.
– The change rooms at the Chestnut Hill Development Rec Complex are now Universal Changerooms. Swimmers who need to change into racing suits will need to be aware that they will have to change within a stall and may need to be aware of timing.
– Swimmer and Spectators will only be allowed on deck 15 minutes before warm up.
– Please remind swimmers that there is no eating on deck – they must eat in the change room or in the stands.

Light snacks and drinks are available from our snack deck for all coaches free of charge.  The snack deck is located in the room overlooking the pool.  Please let us know if you have coaches who will be staying all day – we will provide lunch upstairs for those coaches.

Coaching Compliance is not required for this meet, but we would greatly appreciate it if you could still send us a list of all coaches who will be attending.

Thanks and we will see you at the meet.

 Danielle Sheppard & Aleeya Ali
 Meet Managers

Upcoming Swim Meets November Belleville Meet Nov 24-26 and Gatineau Grand Prix Dec 8-10, 2023

Hi everyone,

I am attaching the meet packages for the Belleville meet and for Gatineau. There is a lot of information here, but in the interest of fewer emails, I am including it all here.

The Belleville meet is open to all swimmers Youth and above. We will be attending on the Friday evening for swimmers 11 and over interested in swimming a 400, 800 or 1500. I will need to know if your swimmer will be available to attend. The warm up begins at 4:30. If I don’t have enough interest, we will just attend Saturday and Sunday. Please note that this meet runs finals on Saturday evening for ages 13+ (if they qualify in the morning on Saturday). So to keep it clear, 13+ swim Saturday morning and possibly Saturday evening as well as Sunday afternoon. 12 and under swimmers swim Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Please let me know by November 6th and send payment of $122 to Annette if your swimmer is attending Saturday and Sunday, or $142 if attending Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Payment and confirmation is due no later than November 6th, no exceptions. Please let me know if your swimmer is only attending 1 day of the meet and which day. Please let me know if your swimmer is NOT attending at all.

The Gatineau Grand Prix is a Qualifying meet. This means that your swimmer must be 11 and older and have 2 qualifying times. The times are shown on the last page of the Meet package. We can use both Short Course and Long Course times to qualify. Swims done at the Pickering meet will count towards this meet, Belleville is too late. The following swimmers have already qualified: Zara, Micah, Blake, Aurora, Anna, Edward, Amelia, Ronan, Alyse, Lucas, Nadia, Gena, Ali, Michael, Aiden, Lucy, Edgar, Nola, Evan, Aleya, Sofia, Adrian, Molly, Jill and Maria. The cost to attend the Gatineau meet is $100. I will need confirmation of participation and payment sent by November 10th, no exceptions.

We have a hotel block at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gatineau-Ottawa 11 Impasse de la Gare Talon Gatineau, QC J8T 0B1 You will have to call the hotel directly and let them know we have a group rate 819-503-8800. The code is NAC and the cost per night is $169+tax. There is no way to book the group rate online. The deadline to book a room with this rate is November 23rd. This is a great away meet for our team, with fast swimming and awesome memories made. We will have a team dinner on the Saturday night.

This will wrap up our swim meets for 2023. Further information regarding swim meets in 2024 will be sent as they become available. If you have any questions, please let me know..

Thanks,
Trish MacNeil
Head Coach, NORAC

NORAC Clothing Order – Due Friday Oct 13th, 2023

The 2023-2024-NORAC-Clothing-Order-Form is attached. Our clothing is geared to the Competitive group and parents but Intro to Competitive swimmers are welcome to order items as well.

I’ve also included some Just For Fun designs. These, of course are completely optional. If you have another Swim design you’re interested in, let me know and I’ll see if we can create it!

The Just For Fun shirts can be ordered in a variety of colours (too many to list here!). Let me know what you’re interested in and I will confirm availability before ordering. (But don’t leave it until the order deadline or we may not have time to verify it!)

All NORAC Competitive swimmers should have at minimum a tshirt for keeping warm on deck between races at swim meets and a NORAC cap. All other items are optional.

Please complete the attached order form and return via email to Annette with payment by etransfer to [email protected]

If you wish to order some items for Christmas, just let me know and we will arrange for you to pick. All other orders will be handed to the swimmers at practice once they arrive.

Clothing is standard Gildan unisex sizing unless otherwise noted. Please indicate your preferred colour and whether or not substitution of the alternate colour is ok. There are occasionally supply issues. I hope to be at the pool this Monday and Wednesday and next Tuesday with some sample sizes if needed.

Orders should be ready in time for the Swim Meets in October!

All orders are due by Friday October 13th .

Annette

NORAC Senior Star 2023-24 season

Hi Senior Star families,

I am sharing a basic plan for the Senior Star Group for the 2023-24 season. It is just a breakdown of the various cycles in their training, what we are working on, testing weeks etc.

This is a “plan”, many things can change depending on fatigue, meet schedule (which will vary for each athlete) and athlete commitment. Coaches may adjust training at practice for individual athletes, depending on goals and meets. The highest focus will be on good technique, increasing endurance, meet and mental preparation, goal setting, and pushing swimmers out of their comfort zone. Attendance, commitment and strong effort is important to ensure a successful season.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

This is a reminder if you have not yet responded to our upcoming Meets, Pickering October 21&22 and the Home Meet on October 28, please let me know whether or not your swimmer will be attending and send payment to Annette. The deadline to respond and pay for Pickering is Oct 2nd and the Home meet is Oct 9th, if we do not receive confirmation and payment, your swimmer(s) will NOT be entered, no exceptions. You can find more details about the meet in the previous Swim Meet email or on our website Swim Meets | Swim Norac .

Thanks,
Trish
Head Coach, NORAC

NORAC Senior Group 2023-24 season

Hi Senior families,

I am sharing a basic plan for the Senior Group for the 2023-24 season. It is just a breakdown of the various cycles in their training, what we are working on, testing weeks etc.

This is a “plan”, many things can change depending on fatigue, meet schedule (which will vary for each athlete) and athlete commitment. Coaches may adjust training at practice for individual athletes, depending on goals and meets. The highest focus will be on good technique, increasing endurance, meet and mental preparation, goal setting, and pushing swimmers out of their comfort zone.

This group has a very wide variety of commitments for each swimmer with some swimming 1 time a week and others up to 6. Some swimmers are here for the social side and health benefits of swimming while others are focused on qualifying for higher level meets. Training will be adjusted as needed.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

This is a reminder if you have not yet responded to our upcoming Meets, Pickering October 21&22 and the Home Meet on October 28, please let me know whether or not your swimmer will be attending and send payment to Annette. The deadline to respond and pay for Pickering is Oct 2nd and the Home meet is Oct 9th, if we do not receive confirmation and payment, your swimmer(s) will NOT be entered, no exceptions. You can find more details about the meet in the previous Swim Meet email or on our website Swim Meets | Swim Norac

Thanks,
Trish
Head Coach, NORAC

NORAC Junior Group 2023-24

Hi Junior families,

I am sharing a basic plan for the Junior Group for the 2023-24 season. It is just a breakdown of the various cycles in their training, what we are working on, testing weeks etc.

This is a “plan”, many things can change depending on fatigue, meet schedule (which will vary for each athlete) and athlete commitment. Coaches may adjust training at practice for individual athletes, depending on goals and meets. The highest focus will be on good technique, increasing endurance, meet and mental preparation, goal setting, and pushing swimmers out of their comfort zone.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

This is a reminder if you have not yet responded to our upcoming Meets, Pickering October 21&22 and the Home Meet on October 28, please let me know whether or not your swimmer will be attending and send payment to Annette. The deadline to respond and pay for Pickering is Oct 2nd and the Home meet is Oct 9th, if we do not receive confirmation and payment, your swimmer(s) will NOT be entered, no exceptions. You can find more details about the meet in the previous Swim Meet email or on our website  Swim Meets | Swim Norac

Thanks,

Trish
Head Coach, NORAC