嗨，大家好！

Welcome to the 2008-09 ISB Dragons swim team:

As a member of one of the most competitive international school swim teams in Asia, the coaching staff hopes that all of you are eager to improve your swimming talents, compete to the greatest of your ability, and to have fun being a part of the Dragon team.  We realize that swimming is not the only priority for the ISB swimmer, however we want students to be able to achieve their goals and ideally develop a lifelong love for the water.

This year we have initiated a new structure for team practices, with the hope of accommodating the range of swimming levels and extracurricular schedules of the ISB swimmer. To allow students that wish to balance their swimming with a host of other school activities throughout the year, we have created the “Development Team” which has more lenient practice requirements and a condensed competition schedule. We also want to foster a highly competitive environment for those swimmers whose main extracurricular focus is swimming, and the competition squad was created with this in mind. Those swimmers will be held to higher expectations, but will also have the opportunity to train and compete more often.

We expect all team members to take responsibility for their participation on the team. This refers to striving to improve oneself as a swimmer and an ISB Dragon team member, and of course, arriving at practice on time, prepared to swim. Simply showing up to a minimum number of practices each week may meet team requirements, but may not allow one to meet personal goals, or the potential that we as coaches may see in a swimmer. Needless to say, swimmers should be on deck, ready to swim at the beginning of practice.

Parents of swim team members play a vital role in both the motivation of their sons and daughters as well as the success of the swim program. We ask that all parents contribute to the program by volunteering time at our home swim meets. Although this year we will be bringing a few hired officials for home meets, there is always a need for timers, and marshals.

Notices, information or letters regarding the swimming team are e-mailed to parents on a regular basis, and meet information is often posted at the pool. We ask that parents pass this information on to the swimmers and keep us updated of any changes in e-mail address, to ensure an accurate group mailing of team information.

The Staff involved in the ISB Swim Team, welcome you all to a new year and we look forward to a successful, enjoyable year in the pool.

Regards,                                                                             

The ISB Swim Team Coaching Staff