Swim Team Parent Information

Welcome to the Wheaton Swim Club. As a coaching staff, we try to make as much information available to our members as possible. We post this information on the website (www.wheatonswimming.com), the bulletin boards, and via handouts. However, it may be helpful for you to have some of the information outlined below ahead of time.

Team Apparel & Caps

All apparel is now on display at Kiefer Swim Shop in Naperville, and can be ordered by contacting them by email or phone (www.kiefer.com or 630-579-9020). You may also walk in to the Kiefer Shop. We will have a parent liaison who will help you with orders throughout the year. Kiefer will also have a representative at our walk-in registration. Team suits are also available at Kiefer, or at our walk-in registration. You may purchase team caps any time during the year from a coach or parent liaison

Financial Information

All forms must be completed and all team fees must be paid before a swimmer may practice. This includes training fees, ISI fees, and your escrow account fee (for swim meet entries). Any balance you may accrue after the season starts will be billed to you, and must be paid within 30 days. Payment plans are available, as outlined on our website. Team scholarships and Fee-for-Service opportunities are also available. Our goal is to make it possible for any family to be a part of the team who wants to be.

Your escrow account must retain a positive balance. We will use this money to enter your swimmer in swim meets. Keep in mind that we will not allow your balance to go below zero, and the average meet can cost up to $25. While we will work with you on this, it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure that your escrow account is up to date. Should you leave the team, any money left in that account will be refunded to you.

Please contact billing coordinator Aaron Maschman (billing@wheatonswimming.com) with any questions. Team Fees are non-refundable after the first 2 weeks of your swimmers practice season. You must inform the team (a coach or the billing coordinator in writing if you plan to leave the team.

All swimmers must be members of ISI (Illinois Swimming, Inc.). This is to ensure that the swimmers, coaches, and Team are covered by insurance in case of an accident. The fee for ISI membership is $55 per year (renewed each fall) and is non-refundable.

For liability reasons, no person who is not a coach-member or athlete-member of ISI may be on the pool deck at any time during practice. No person who is not a coach member or athlete-member of ISI may be on the pool deck at any time during meets, except for official meet volunteers (such as timers, etc), who are exempt while they are working.

Swim Meet Information

Swim meet participation is probably the topic which generates the most questions. Our team philosophy is to allow swimmers and families to choose the meets which are most convenient for you. We will have a meet sign-up sheet, asking which meets you would like to participate in. You will not be entered in any meet you do not sign up for. Some meets may have qualifying time standards which swimmers must meet in order to participate. Details for each of these meets will be on the meet sign-up sheet and the team website. If you change your mind about participation in a meet, you must notify the team in writing before the deadline for entering the meet. Once we have sent in our team entry to a meet host, changes to the entry cannot be made.

The team currently plans to participate in about two travel meets (i.e. Indianapolis), 3 or 4 dual or Novice meets, and ISI On-Schedule Meets. We will also provide a championship meet for anyone who wants to participate in one (i.e. Chicagoland Swim Conference Championships, “A” State, Age Group State, etc).

All swimmers have a favorite stroke or event. However, our team philosophy is to expose swimmers to all events as they are prepared and old enough for them. We generally enter swimmers in the maximum number of events offered to their age group. Many times swimmers realize that they are good at strokes or events simply because they are exposed to them for the first time. Meet entries will be posted on the team website and made available to swimmers during practice. Meet results will also be made available on our team website.

The coaches will produce a meet sign-up sheet which gives each family the chance to choose which meets they will participate in throughout the season. Each meet will have a deadline by which you must submit your request to be entered. Any changes to that sheet must be made in writing to the coaching staff.

Our team will host about 2-3 large meets per year, and will need everyone’s help to run them successfully. We ask each family to volunteer to work at two sessions at each of our large meets.

Coach, Swimmer, and Parent Etiquette

We ask all members of the team – staff, swimmers, parents – to remember that we are guests in any facility we use. Please treat all personnel from any facility or team with the utmost respect at all times. Never approach an official at a swim meet regarding a questionable call, etc. Please bring the matter to the attention of the coaching staff and we will discuss it with the official.

Remember that swimming is a great sport because many athletes can participate at one time. However this also means that the coaching staff is attending to many swimmers simultaneously. Please be aware of this fact during practices and meets. After practice is usually the best time to talk to a coach.

Stay in Touch!

We are looking to have the best communication possible between coaches, swimmers, and parents. Feel free to call or email at any time. Do not hesitate to ask any question you may have. We realize that not everyone is experience in the sport and that you will have many questions throughout the season.