Time & Place
Practices are 1.5 hrs long: 30m of dryland and 60m of swim time. For White A group, Dryland is usually before swim time. For white B group, Swimmers should arrive ready to swim, wearing suits under dryland clothes. Clothes should be loose-fitting, so they can be taken off and put on quickly when wet. Locker room use will be limited to ablutions, and changing after practice only. Bring dryland gear AND swim gear to all practices.
Pool Locations & Logistics
Juanita Aquatic Center
(JAC)
Redmond Pool
(RAC)
Strattonwood Swim Club
(SW)
Juanita Drop-off & Pick-up
For practices that start in the pool, drop swimmers off out front. For practices that start with dryland, you can drop swimmers off beside the Juanita HS field house. Feel free to walk swimmers over. Pick-up will always be out front.
No parking or leaving car in the loading zone
Redmond Drop-off & Pick-up
Families can either use the pickup circle or the back parking lot by the tennis courts for both drop off and pickup. When using the pickup circle, pull to the curb and load quickly. Do not block traffic, double park anyone or park in the loading zone and leave car. Redmond has a very small lot (~12 cars), and one car can turn the flow-through into a parking lot for the next 20 cars!
Strattonwood Drop-off & Pick-up
Drop-off and Pick-up by parking in the pool lot (green square). To exit parking lot, turn North on 139th and loop around to leave neighborhood. This helps team traffic flow. If we clog up the neighborhood, we will lose access to the pool! This has nearly happened several times!
Several groups use the pool simultaneously, so please vacate the lot during practice if needed by other families.
Watching Practice
Juanita
Families are welcome to watch practice from the upstairs balcony on the first set of bleachers only. This is true even if the rope partition is not set up. Families must remain off the pool deck at all times. Head to your car, and athletes will head out when done.
Redmond
Families are not allowed inside the building during practice (including lobby). ... But the building has lots of windows! Just don't creep the swimmers out.
Strattonwood
Only swimmers and coaches are allowed in the pool during practice, bit it is an outdoor pool so feel free to watch from the fence.
Dryland Fashion Guide
When Dryland is Before Pool time, swimmers should arrive wearing suits under dryland clothes (including running shoes!).
When Dryland is After Pool Time, swimmers put dryland clothes on over their suits. They are welcome to use locker rooms to change, but if they take longer than 10m, they don't get full attendance credit for that day.
For B group, Dryland is usually after pool time, because we have back-to-back pool times for A and B groups, and coaches are on deck with A group before B group starts. At Strattonwood, we can flip the script because both Dryland and Pool time happen in the same area, and coaches can keep an eye on both without leaving the pool area. This is especially nice as the locker rooms at Strattonwood are a bit smaller and colder, and kids risk building too much character on colder days!
Filming or taking pictures of practice is not allowed. This is a team-wide rule, regardless of group or pool.
Need to Miss Practice?
It is alright to miss practices from time to time. Wave's 'Sport' track (Black->White->Purple...) is designed for kids with busy schedules - even multiple sports on the go. Several swimmers in the group have regular weekly schedule conflicts, and it's not a problem. But if swimmers miss a practice, then they will be a bit behind the group at the following practice! Swimming is a technique intensive sport, and we tend to do a lot of skill progressions, so it's not just physical fitness that you will be missing. That's why we call it 'practice', not just 'workout' or 'training'.
*Attendance is taken every practice, and is an important factor in Move Up decisions.
Google Calendars
Subscribe! These are the most reliable, up-to-date schedules and event information.
Regular Schedule Changes
Wave tries to keep schedules as consistent as possible so swimmers can plan activities around practice times, far into the future. If larger schedule changes are unavoidable we try to provide extra lead time for families to adapt. There are several times through the year when schedules are likely to change:
Beginning of September – Start of the School Year and our largest 'Move Up' always means a new Schedule for all groups
New Year - Schedule change for a few swimmers that 'Move Up' on January 1.
Mid February – Possible Schedule 'shuffle' at the end of High School Swim Season.
Early April - Schedule change for a few swimmers that 'Move Up' after Short Course Season.
Mid-May – Possible Schedule shuffle when Colman Pool opens and Strattonwood closes (Summer League).
End of June – Possible Schedule shuffle for the end of the School Year
Best & Worst Vacation Times
In general, it is best to take vacations just after championship meets and before move-ups. Taking a break before a meet or after a move-up is a great way to miss out on group momentum. From best to worst times to take a vacation:
Summer: Mid - Late August - After PNS Long Course Champs in early August, and after our biggest yearly move-up. Select groups take three weeks off about this time every year.
Winter Holidays: Late December -Early Jan- Sport teams take a few extra days off around the winter holidays and it's a great time to go somewhere warm and chase dolphins.
Spring Break - April ish , but try not to miss meets!
There are no other great times - frequent interruptions in training can leave a swimmer far behind the rest of the group in both skill level and fitness. Swimming is far more skill-sensitive than most sports, and we have a skill base that we build on throughout a season. If a swimmer misses many practices through the season, they can't just 'get the notes from a friend'. Muscle memory takes longer to Swimming skills are something you have to feel and try, not just know.
The worst time is the month prior to a major championship meet (late Feb/March, late June/early July, or Nov/ early Dec). Few athletes in any sport excel if they take vacations before championship games/meets/tournaments.