Dear Piranha Families - 

Happy Father’s Day to all of our amazing Parklawn Piranha dads! We hope your day was filled with celebration (and no early swim meets!).

First, a big round of applause to all of our Piranhas for an excellent Piranha-thon! We love this event for the confidence it builds in our swimmers right at the start of the season. And guess what? We beat last year’s pledge total - over $16,000! Thank you to our generous families, friends, and supporters. Find a full recap from Andrea Cordero and Rebecca Cervoni here.

Read on for a few highlights from the past week and some important updates for the week ahead.

Swimmers of the Week

Congratulations to Susanna Whipkey and Jack Haines for bringing great effort and great attitudes all week long!

Saturday’s A Meet – A WIN for the Piranhas!

Saturday’s A Meet was off to an eventful start with a pre-meet mudslide (!). But our swimmers and parents rallied for an epic clean-up. We’re so grateful we could actually hold the meet – AND we even pulled off a win against the Virginia Run Riptides!

A big shoutout to our first-time A Meet swimmers:

Marta Morris, Ashton Ackert, Quinn Dvorak, Harriet Rothschild, Jaxson Kurz, Yaroslav Stratan, Angie Silveira, Kaiya Vickrey-Lau, and Alex Silveira. Great job jumping in!

And another shout out to two of our relay teams who set new Piranhas team records:

The 13–14 Girls Medley Relay (Charlotte Hill, Alina Kinder, CC Corbett, Amelia Young) swam a time of 1:01.63 — the 5th fastest time in the NVSL on Saturday for their age group!

Our Mixed Age Boys Relay (Ezra Mancari, Lucas Gleeson, Quade Corbett, Noah Popp) crushed it with a new team record time of 2:01.90.

Way to go, Piranhas! Let’s keep the momentum going.

Important Note & New Requirement: A Meet Expectations

As we head deeper into the season, we want to reinforce the values of sportsmanship, teamwork, and commitment.

A Meets are our competitive league meets, and our goal is to field the strongest team possible. Just like in basketball, baseball, or any team sport, swimmers are expected to stay until the meet is over. Leaving early, especially during relays or before the pool deck is reset, undermines the team effort and sends the wrong message to our swimmers.

Home A Meets: Swimmers are expected to stay until the pool deck is fully reset.

Away A Meets: Swimmers should remain through the final relay event (Mixed Age Relay).

NEW REQUIREMENT:

If your swimmer must leave early from an A Meet, this must be noted in the Swimtopia coach notes before entries close. Any early departure must be cleared in advance with a team rep and should only occur under extenuating circumstances.

Swimmers who leave early without communication may not be seeded in future A Meets.

Time Trials and B meets are individual meets with different expectations. If you swim the second half of a home B meet (Breast, Fly, IM) you are expected to stay and help reset the deck. Teens should be helping to reset the deck. If you swim first half, check out with the coaches before leaving.

Coaches’ Corner: Practice Notes for the Week Ahead

Get ready for Wacky Wednesday. This week’s theme is favorite sports teams and colors! Swimmers are encouraged to show their team pride by wearing a jersey or shirt from their favorite team.

A few reminders to help your swimmer have a successful practice:

• Bring a filled water bottle every day. Hydration is key!
• Swimmers need their fins at every practice.
• Double-check bags to ensure they’re packed with: two sets of goggles, a swim cap, towel, and sunscreen....and don’t forget to reapply! (Coach Owen and Coach Noah can confirm how important it is to protect skin while out on deck….)

Divisional Relay Carnival

Please mark your availability by June 21 by 3 pm. (Every swimmer should have already put availability for all A meets and Relay Carnival). The team will only field teams based on swimmers that are available for the meets.

Todd Potts IM Carnival – June 25 at Forest Hollow

The IM Carnival is a fun mid-season event where swimmers compete in only Individual Medley (IM) events. It’s a great way for swimmers who are legal in all four strokes to build confidence and compete in a high-energy meet alongside other teams.

Entries due: Friday, June 21 by 3 PM on SwimTopia

Forest Hollow will let us know how many volunteers we need. We’ll open job sign-ups as soon as we have the info.

Monday’s B Meet is a Home Meet!

Please see the information sent from Ali Goldwater with details (included our theme, which is Outta This World). As with any home meet, please park in the grassy field and leave the gravel lot for our guests from Arlington Forest. Piranhas are gracious hosts!

Friday Night Social – June 27

Swim Team Scavenger Hunt: United by Water (Without Getting Wet!)

Join us for a fun night of team-building activities designed to strengthen our team community and boost Piranha spirit, all while staying dry.

Start time: 6:00 PM

Dinner: Our amazing grill team will be cooking, so plan to stay for dinner at the pool.

This is a great way to connect with teammates and make new friends across age groups. 

Next Saturday’s A Meet Will Include Some Special Guests

Our next A meet is at home against Poplar Heights. The theme tie dye! Let’s wear those awesome shirts you just made at our Friday social night. We will also be observed the NVSL Board at this meet, so let’s show them how it is done.

Let’s make it a great week Piranhas!