Water Wizards Swim Team

The Kings Ridge Water Wizards Swim Team is a part of the Kings Ridge Swim Club. Although each member of the swim team pays a fee in order to belong on the team, the pool does not fund the swim team. The swim team is funded through dues paid for each swimmer and fund raising activities. To be a member of the swim team, your family must be a member of KRSC.

The Kings Ridge Water Wizards Swim Team is a member of the Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL). During the off season, the NVSL ranks each of the 102 member teams from 1 to 102 based primarily on swimmers’ times, and then divides the teams, based on these rankings, into 17 Divisions of six teams. This means the fastest teams are in the lower numbered Divisions. In 2024 Kings Ridge will be swimming in Division 11.

Each family is encouraged to read and familiarize themselves with the NVSL’s handbook. The NVSL Handbook provides the rules of the league, information of the participating swim teams and the league’s record times for each swim event.

Our Philosophy

Having fun is an important part of our summer swim program. We believe in a safe and healthy environment that encourages each swimmer to do his/her best, recognizes individual improvements and provides fun activities for kids and families.

The mission statement of the NVSL is: To develop in the children participating this program -- a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship.

Team Reps and Coaches

The people you will run into the most in your swim team dealings are the Team Reps and the Coaches. The Team Reps are volunteer parents who were new to swimming at one time just like you. The Team Reps are responsible for running every aspect of the swim team and is the representative of the team to other swim teams in the NVSL. It’s a job that is impossible to do successfully without help from a great many parents. The Team Reps hire the Coaches who are responsible to the Team Rep for the swim team program.

This season our Team Reps are Maura Butler and Julie Lunsford. Our Division Coordinator is Kris Bondanella. 

Registration and Membership

In addition to being a member of the KRSC, swimmers must be members of the swim team in order to practice. Membership on the swim team requires submission of a registration form and payment of dues.

Swim Meets

There are two types of swim meets. Saturday or “A Meets” and Monday Night or “B Meets”.

Saturday Meets

The six teams in each division swim the other five teams, one at a time on five consecutive Saturdays. Based upon the results of these five meets, a division champion will be named. These meets run from the middle of June until the end of July. Each meet consists of one heat of each of the four strokes in each of the age brackets plus relays. The age brackets for both sexes are: 8 & Under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18. In general, swimmers with the fastest times in the strokes are selected to swim in the Saturday meets. NVSL computer software is used for this process. No swimmer can swim more than two individual events. Sometimes, a swimmer is asked to swim in an older age bracket if we do not have swimmers to fill our lanes in the older bracket.

Events and Distances

The Mixed Age Relays are swum by an 11-12 year old, a 9-10 year old, a 13-14 year old and a 15-18 year old, in that order.

Swimmer Warm-ups are at 8:00 am for home meets and usually 8:25 am for away meets. Meets start promptly at 9:00 am. Swimmers will find out what strokes they are swimming on Thursday before the meet.

Disqualifications (DQs) and False Starts

A swimmer will be disqualified if he/she does not follow the rules of the stroke or false starts. These are covered in more detail in the NVSL Handbook. Stroke and Turn officials will judge the swimmers to ensure they are doing the strokes properly. If they disqualify a swimmer, they will fill out a slip that is given to the swimmers coach or team rep. The coach will use this slip to correct stroke problems.

Seeding

In Saturday Meets, the home team swim in lanes 1, 3 and 5 while the visiting team swim in lanes 2, 4 and 6. The fastest swimmers are in lanes 3 and 4, the next fastest in lanes 2 and 5, and the next fastest in lanes 1 and 6. Swimmers are seeded based upon their fastest times attained in prior competition. Lane 1 is always on the right side as you stand facing the pool at the start of 50 meter events.

Scoring

In the individual events, a first place finish earns 5 points for the team, a second place finish 3 points, and a third place finish 1 point. Relays are scored as 5 points for the winner and 0 points for the loser. There are 420 points up for grabs in a Saturday meet. Unless places are not awarded in the event of a DQ or lack of swimmers, you need 211 points to win.

In the event of a tie, the points for the places involved are equally split among the swimmers. For example, a two way tie for second place, each swimmer earns 2 points (3 points plus 1 point for third equals 4 points, half for each swimmer). No third place would be awarded because the next swimmer is fourth. For a third place tie, each swimmer is awarded ½ point.

Meet results are posted at the pool, later in the afternoon. You can also get results by visiting the NVSL website, www.mynvsl.com Ribbons are put in the swimmers mailboxes at the next practice.

Monday Night Meets

Kings Ridge, Brandywine, Commonwealth, Fairfax Club Estates, Lakeview, Ravensworth Farms, Sideburn Run and Sully Station II are in the Fairfax Area Swim Team (FAST) League. Swimmers who place 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in an individual stroke in an NVSL A Meet during the current season cannot swim that stroke on Monday. The idea is to have swimmers develop their skills in all strokes and to give those who did not swim or place on Saturday a chance to get ribbons. Ribbon awards for B Meet events do not preclude a swimmer from continuing to compete in future B Meets.

Each B Meet consists of as many heats as are necessary of each of the four strokes in each of the age brackets to accommodate all those who want to swim. Six and Under is added to the age brackets for these meets. A swimmer may only swim in his/her age bracket on Mondays. There are no relays at B Meets, since these meets focus on the individual rather than the team. The swimmers will swim an Individual Medley (IM) at Monday Meets. Due to the limited amount of time for a B Meet, swimmers are limited to two strokes plus an IM.

B Meets start at 6 pm. Warm-ups are at 5:00 for home meets and 5:25 for away meets. There are no meet sheets for these meets and B Meets are not scored. Times from B Meets are official and can be used for seeding swimmers into a Saturday morning meet.

Swimmers sign up for the B Meet on Monday morning; before, during or after practice. We will do our best to get them signed up then, so we don’t have to chase you or your child down later in the day.

Unofficial swimmers shall swim in an event if a lane is available and does not require additional heats to be added. Unofficial swimmers may be entered into their heats by mixed ages and sexes in order to minimize the number of heats. A swimmer may only enter one unofficial event in a B Meet. Swimmers should compete in B Meets unofficially for compelling reasons that have been agreed upon before the meet begins with the coaches and team reps.

Ribbons are awarded for 1^st through 6^th place for each event. Our team will recognize swimmers for individual achievements that week.

Special Swim Events

Relay Carnival

The Division Relay Carnival takes place on Wednesday, June 26th and will be held at Mosby Woods. All six teams in each division converge on one pool for an evening of relay races. These include both freestyle relays (each swimmer swims the freestyle) and medley relays (each swimmer swims a different stroke).

Division Relay Carnival focuses on the team, not the individual. Coaches and the NVSL computer software will determine which combination of swimmers in each age group will make the fastest relay team. No swimming-up is permitted in Relay Carnival.

In Relay Carnival, teams are not seeded. Each team’s lane assignment for the first event is based upon luck of the draw and teams then rotate one lane to the left after each event. The meet sheet lists only the team swimming in each lane in each event (except for All Start Relay Carnival).

IM Carnival

This year the Individual Medley Carnival will be held on Monday, TBD. The IM Carnival is not a Division event. Instead, it involves the teams from our Monday Night League. This carnival consists solely of IM events for each age group. Participation in the IM Carnival is up to the swimmer just like Monday Night meets. It focuses on the individual, not the team.

Divisionals

The sixth week, each Division has an Individual Championship meet, commonly referred to as Divisionals. Divisionals focuses on the individual swimmer, not the team. It includes two heats of each stroke for each age group and IM. Swimmers select the events in which they would like to participate but, unlike B Meets, a swimmer may not be able to swim each event selected. Based on the selections, the swimmers are ranked by times. The two swimmers with the fastest times are entered in Divisionals. Each team is allowed to enter only two swimmers for each event. Since only the two fastest swimmers in a stroke are entered in Divisionals, a swimmer is advised to select his fastest strokes for Divisionals. A swimmer can enter no more than two events. The heats are then seeded with the swimmers with the fastest times in the second heat.

If a team does not have two swimmers for an event, the other teams can bid in other swimmers to fill the empty lanes. In filling the empty lanes, priority is given to swimmers with the fastest times in the event. When this happens, an event will have more than two swimmers from one team. However, each swimmer is still limited to two events.  Greenbriar is hosting Divisionals on July 20.

All Stars

After the Divisionals, all the Division coordinators meet to select swimmers for the All-Stars meet the following week. The sole criterion for All-Stars selection is having one of the eighteen fastest times in the entire NVSL in the age group at Divisionals.

Adult Participation

Every regular and special swim meet requires the participation of approximately 50 adults. The adults serve as NVSL officials, team representatives and concession stand operators. The following officials are the minimum required to run an NVSL meet:

Total = 45 Officials

In addition to the officials, who come from both home and visiting teams, the home team needs adults to serve as announcer, runner and concessions stand operators for every swim meet. We also use computer operators to enter the meet data and print the backs for the ribbons.

**All officials are required to dress in white shirts and blue shorts/pants/skirt. Team clothing is not appropriate if you are an official. Cheering is also not appropriate if you are an official.

Practices 

Practice takes place in the afternoon between Memorial Day and the end of the FCPS school year and mornings for the remainder of the season. Please see Practice Schedule on the website for detailed information.

Picture Day:  TBD. Please arrive on time and in a team suit. Team and individual photos will be taken. 

Practice Decorum and Safety

Safety is of paramount importance. Swimmers are to obey all pool safety rules during practice and swim meets.

Swimmers are expected to follow the coaches’ instructions during practices. Swimmers who do not follow instructions or interfere with the smooth conduct of practices will be asked to leave the practice. It is not fair to the team for a swimmer to disrupt practice.

Concessions

Our concession stand is our primary means of raising funds. It is operated by parent volunteers. Please contact Alison Willison if you would like to volunteer and help. You will be able to watch your child swim his/her events!

Communication

Email: [email protected]

Mailboxes: in the guardhouse under the swim team bulletin board, a file box with a file folder or “mailbox” for each family. Written communication and swimming ribbons will be distributed through the mailboxes.

Check your email and mailbox frequently!!

Website: https://waterwizards.swimtopia.com

www.mynvsl.com is the website for our league. You can look up information about the league, meet scores and team locations.

Social Activities

Friday Nights:

Before Home A meets, we will usually have a dinner at the pool and then set up the pool for the following morning’s meet. We chalk the driveway to welcome our visiting team, make posters to hang in the team area, etc.

Before Away A Meets, we will gather to decorate cars (optional) and make Wizard Wands and put on tattoos and paint nails, etc.

Team Breakfasts: During July, designated Fridays will be a different themed breakfast for the team. Bagels, Cereal and Donuts are provided by the parents of swimmers. Keep your eyes open for sign ups.

Lip Sync: No swim season is complete without the Lip Sync Night! Friday, July 12, 6:30 pm. 

Paper Plate Awards: The coaches will get together to make Paper Plate Awards for all the swimmer and present them on Friday, July 19, 6:30 pm.

Swim Banquet: It is a potluck dinner held at the pool the evening of Divisionals, Saturday, July 20. We enjoy lots of good food, thank our coaches and recognize individual accomplishments during the season.

Trophies: Trophies are awarded to all swimmers at the Swim Banquet. The height of the trophy will depend on how many points the swimmer contributed to the team scores, throughout the season.

Meet Schedule: See the season's meet schedule

Pool addresses are located on the NVSL website, www.mynvsl.com or in the NVSL Handbook.

We will caravan from Kings Ridge on Saturday mornings for Away Meets. There is no caravan for Away B Meets.