Hello Rockshire Sharks!

We’re into our first full week with meets! Both our meets this week are away; a great way to bring our spirit to pools around us!

1. Preteam Coaches meeting Tuesday, June 10
2. B meet at Inverness: Wednesday June 11
3. Preteam and regular team photo: Thursday June 12 at 5pm
4. Friday FUNnight: Friday, June 13
5. A meet at Norbeck Grove: Saturday, June 14
6. Need reminders for volunteering and events? Sign up for our WhatsApp messaging service
7. Practice schedule details
8. Summer meet schedule (and themes!!)
9. Team trip to Hershey Park- Mark your calendars for July 6
10. Become a sponsor for the Rockshire Sharks!
11. Shark Gear and Suits links
12. Officials clinics
13. Detailed instructions and info on registration

1. All preteam coaches are required to attend preteam Coach training on Tuesday, June 10 at 6:30pm in the poolhouse. A pizza dinner will be provided.

2. First B meet: Wednesday June 11 @ Inverness. Theme: Hawaiian. Arrival time:4:45, meets starts at 6pm. **We will be going to Baskin Robins in Fortune Terrace after B meets on Wednesday evenings this year. After you finish at the meet, we hope to see you there with some ice cream!:)

From the team reps:

Address: Inverness Recreation Club is located at 10820 Deborah Drive, Potomac, MD 20854. Website: https://invernessrecreationclub.org/

Parking:

We have a relatively large parking lot with open parking, so there should be room for everyone in the lot. If the lot fills up, there is curbside parking available between Bells Mill Drive and the pool on one side of the street.

Schedule:

5:00-5:20 Home team warm up

5:20 Stroke and Turn Officials Briefing with the Referee (baby pool area)

5:20-5:40 Visiting team warm up

5:30 Timers Briefing with the Head Timer and Starter (baby pool area)

5:55 IMs called to the blocks/National Anthem

Team Areas:

Your team area will be on the grass near the shallow end of the pool, between the sport court and the playground. You are welcome to bring any canopies etc. There will be some lounge chairs in your area, but you are also welcome to bring chairs with you.

Concessions:

We will have a concession stand selling pizza and the typical variety of snacks, as well as Gatorade and soda. Volunteers are usually provided pizza during the break.

Meet Results:

As automation completes and prints heat results, these will be posted on the wall near the Men’s Room.

Automation and Ribbons:

Automation and ribbons will be run upstairs in the clubhouse. Deck access gives a great view of the pool for any volunteers working these positions!

Bottled Water:

We have a drinking fountain that has a bottle filler integrated with it (and chilled water). We are, therefore, trying to cut back on providing bottled water at meets and swim team events. Please ask your swimmers and parent volunteers to bring their own refillable water bottle with them to the meet. Thank you!

3. Regular and preteam photos will take place Thursday, June 12 at 5pm. Please arrive at 4:45pm so we can line up! The preteam parent meeting will be after their photo is over. We will be completing the regular team photo first, followed by the preteam photo.

4. Friday FUNnight! Friday, June 13 at 6:15pm. A fun night of team activities returns! We invite you and your family to join us after practices for dinner at the pool. Please sign up on the website for what you are bringing; drinks, dinner, dessert-its all there and needed for our hungry swimmers and families! The coaches will also be running a team activity after dinner.

5. A Meet AWAY @ Norbeck Grove. Swimmers be on deck by 7:45am, warmups are at 8:25am. Theme: Dress Like a Dad. Lunch afterward at Chipotle in Fallsgrove Plaza

Details from the team reps are as follows:

Norbeck Grove Pool is located at 18309 Wickham Rd, Olney, MD 20832

Parking: Parking is available in our pool parking lot. We have a second lot that is a very short distance up Wickham Rd between the basketball courts and the playground. Please have your team enter the pool through the large gate (instead of through the clubhouse doors). You can park in the neighborhood as well if needed.

Timeline:

8:00-8:20 am......Norbeck Grove warm-ups

8:25 am...............Stroke & Turn/Starter briefing

8:25-8:45 am......Rockshire warm-ups

8:45 am...............Timers briefing/Scratch Meeting

8:55 am...............All timers and officials report to positions

8:58 am...............Star Spangled Banner

9:00 am...............Meet begins

Concessions: We will have concessions for sale. We accept cash, cards, and digital wallets. We will have the grill fired up for our famous Barracuda Breakfast Sandwiches along with pre-packaged candy and chips, donuts, Gatorade, Prime water, water and Starbucks Frapuccinos.

Team Area: Your team area will be the left side of the grassy area in the back and Norbeck Grove will be on the right. We will have a Clerk of Course on the far right of this area. We don’t have any shade so you are welcome to bring canopies. We do not allow anyone in the baby pool or zero depth area during the meet. This can be very attractive to our younger swimmers and we will have this area roped off.

6. Sign up for our WhatsApp messaging service! The link to join the group is here: Rockshire Sharks WhatsApp we will be using this messaging for volunteer reminders as well as any last minute needs for volunteers and events. Biweekly emails will still be sent and should be checked for most thorough information.

7. Shark Practice Schedule:

May 27-June 13:

11 & Up: 4:15 - 5:00PM

9-10: 5:00 - 5:45PM

8 & Under: 5:45 - 6:30

June 16-July 19:

Mornings:

11 & Up: 8:45-10:00AM

10 & Under: 10:00 - 10:50AM

Afternoons:

11 & Up: 4:15 - 5:15 PM

9-10: 5:15 - 6:00 PM

8 & Under: 6:00 -6:45 PM

8. Summer meet schedule: 

June

6/7 Time Trials HOME vs Fallsmead

6/11 Away @ Inverness (B meet) theme:Hawaiian

6/12 Team photo

6/14 Away @ Norbeck Grove (A meet) Theme: Dress like a Dad

6/18 Away @ Montgomery Square (B meet) Theme: Decades

6/21 HOME vs Willows (A meet) Theme: Pajama Party

6/25 HOME vs Eldwick (B meet) Theme: Dynamic Duos

6/28 Away @ Waters Landing (A meet) Theme: Country Club/golfers

6/29 Relay Carnival (A meet) @ Norbeck Grove Theme: Tie Dye

July

7/2 HOME vs Old Farm (B meet) Theme: USA

7/4 Firecracker relays!

7/5 HOME vs New Mark Commons (A meet) **Senior meet** Theme: Senior Citizen

7/8 Long Course Meet

7/9 HOME vs Tally Ho (B meet) Theme: Togas

7/12 Away @ Lakelands (A meet) Theme: Royalty/princes/princesses

7/13 PIRC relays @ Tally Ho (B meet) Theme: Minecraft

7/19 Divisionals @ Waters Landing Theme: Green Out!!

7/26 Relay All Star meet

7/27 Individual All Star meet

9. Looking for something fun to do during the long weekend? We will be taking a team trip to Hershey Park on July 6! If you haven’t yet bought your ticket through the team, additional tickets can be bought here: Hershey Park trip link. Families will be responsible for their own food, parking, and accommodations if desired. Further details will be forthcoming.

10. Become a sponsor for the Rockshire Sharks! Own a business or know someone who does? Consider a sponsorship for the Rockshire Sharks! Sponsorships keep our registration fees low and our coaches salaries competitive, and we are looking for sponsors! Here is the form to fill out as a sponsor: Sponsorship Form

11. Shark Gear! Don’t delay! In preparation for summer, we will have the same suits as last year. You can buy them HERE. we also have shark gear available via squadlocker here

12. Officials Clinics: If you are thinking about getting certified as Stroke and Turn, Referee, Starter, or Automation, please find registration information HERE. Only 2 more left! Please make sure to scroll down when looking at the page to see all of the clinics available***We really need these volunteers to run meets. Please consider completing a clinic to help with volunteering this summer:)***

13. Registration instructions:

To register, please visit: https://rockshiresharks.swimtopia.com/

Please read through the step-by-step instructions below, as they contain important information / updates about registration for 2025 (key points are in bold and underlined).All Rockshire members who pay HOA dues can register for free, as it is included with the HOA fees, and outside memberships this year will be posted on the Rockshire HOA website HERE. If you register for the team prior to May 9, and are not in the HOA, your pool fee will be $875 for the summer. The price after May 9 will be $900.

Fees for 2025 Swim team and Preteam are as follows:

$230 per swimmer on the regular team or preteam

$220 for each additional sibling on regular team or preteam

**Fees are non-refundable**

In order to participate on the swim team:

Each family must have a current, paid membership to the Rockshire Pool.

Each swimmer on the regular team must be able to swim one (1) length of the pool, legally and unassisted, in 1 of the 4 swim strokes (i.e., Freestyle, Back, Breast or Butterfly). If you are uncertain about this requirement, please contact the A-Reps at [email protected] prior to registering.

Each swimmer on the pre-team must be at least four (4) years of age but not older than eight (8) years of age by June 1.

If you know of a new family that is interested in joining the team, please give them our email address so that we can walk them through the registration process ([email protected]).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Sessions of Pre-Team fill up very quickly. Also as it relates to Pre-Team, we cannot accommodate requests to switch your child between sessions. The one you sign up for is the one your child must attend.

Step by step instructions:

1 – Access the Rockshire Sharks website (here’s the link.)

2 – Click on “Registration” underneath the “Home” tab, or on the homepage. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CLICK THE CORRECT LINK- preteam has its own registration form!

3 – Read the welcome message and note the participation requirements (also listed above). You will need to enter in your email, create a password, and enter in all athlete information. On the first page, scroll all the way down to read all of the release forms and check all of the boxes. This will include: Medical Release & Liability Waiver, Membership & Ability, Swimmer Responsibility Agreement, and the Parent Responsibility Agreement.

At the very bottom, Click “Next step”. If you do not get brought to the next page, check the above for any errors you may have made in entering your information.

4 – You will be brought to the athlete groups page. Verify the information that you see is correct for your swimmers you are signing up, and click “next step”.

5 – Volunteer hours! You must sign up for a minimum of 18 volunteer hours before going to the next step. For more information on volunteer roles, please go to the website under the “meets and events” tab, there is a subsection labeled “volunteer roles”. Please make sure to RECORD all of the roles you have volunteered for throughout the summer. You will be held accountable for all of your signups. When you fulfill the requirement, scroll to the bottom and click “Next step”.

6 – If you are registering more than one swimmer, make sure to enter the promotional code “SIBLING” for each additional swimmer to receive the $10/swimmer discount. Click on “Checkout.” Payment may be made via Venmo @Rockshire-Sharks. You may also send a check. Checks should be sent via US Mail to Elena Belyaev at the following address:

2305 Sherbrooke Way

Rockville, MD 20850

If you wish to drop off your check at Elena’s house instead, please DO NOT place the checks in the mailbox. Use the cooler by the front door. Registration is not complete until Elena receives your check. It usually takes a few days for Elena to activate your account once payment is received.

Registration is not verified until your payment has been received.

Any questions? Please contact us at [email protected].

It’s so great to see all the swimmers having fun in and outside of the pool. What a great start to the season!

Your A-Reps,

Kat and Patrick Hussmann