Good afternoon Marlin families,

I'm excited to be kicking off our 2026 summer swim season this Monday! For those new to the program, my name is Nick Wargo and I am proud to be entering my 10th year as head coach of the FoxCreek Marlins!

Unfortunately, the temperatures for next week aren't cooperating and will prevent us from having the full team get in the water. As such, we will be following the below practice schedule for the week of May 11th:

• 5:15p-6:00p - All 8 and under swimmers with the last name A-L will have in-water practice in the indoor pool
• 6:10p-6:55p - All 8 and under swimmers with the last name M-Z will have in-water practice in the indoor pool
• 6:10p-6:55p - All other swimmers will have dryland practice on the pool deck (weather permitting)

To summarize, all swimmers who are aged 8 and under will practice in the indoor pool at the assigned respective times; this will allow us to ensure that our youngest swimmers get some valuable time in the water before the water warms up. Should any swimmer who is older than 8 years old and new to the sport of swimming (that is, was not on a swim team last summer) wish to participate in the in-water practices, please reach out to me and let me know.

Swimmers who are attending in-water practices should come with a practice suit, their goggles, and a towel. Swimmers who are attending dryland should come with running shoes, athletic clothing, water, and a towel to use as a mat.

If you need to attend a time different from your alpha-assigned time slot, please let me know.

The expectation regarding practice attendance is that swimmers who are available to attend practice (having no additional conflicts, not actively training with a USA program) make every effort to do so. While there is no hard practice attendance requirement, attendance will be taken every practice. It is imperative that swimmers - especially early in the season for those aged 8 and under or new to the sport - attend practice on a regular basis so they can develop their swimming technique and speed to both work toward their individual goals and further contribute to the team's overall success.

Additionally, we have been offered the chance to have two bonus practices held at an off-site facility for the whole team to get time in the water. Quest Swimming is allowing the use of their bubbled facility for practice on Saturday, May 16th:

• Swimmers aged 10 and under will practice from 5:00p-6:00p
• Swimmers aged 11 and older will practice from 6:00p-7:00p

If you are new to the program please be sure that you download the SwimTopia app. Available through iOS and Android, the SwimTopia app will allow you to get quick alerts as push notifications regarding practice updates or other reminders.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to me and let me know. This season, I will be using the email address [email protected] as my primary method of contact. While the weather may not be what we want it to be, we can still be flexible and have an amazing start to our 2026 FoxCreek Marlin swim season!

Nick Wargo

Head Coach, FoxCreek Marlins