Hi Blue Crabs!

We’ve got a BIG week coming up: Eastside Relay Carnival! Mighty Mini Meet! Division 3 Championship! And to top it all off, our End of Season Party!!! This is our final week of the season for most of our swimmers—everyone but our all-star qualifiers—but before we get to all those details, we put together quite a meet this weekend!

Although the weather was warm and the meet went on and on, this couldn’t stop our impressive Blue Crabs! We left Robin Meadows with a victory secure: the final score Blue Crabs 375, Robin Meadows 267! This closes out our second consecutive undefeated regular season! You can check out the full results here and photos from the meet here.

This email contains shout-outs, details about the Eastside Relay Carnival, Apparel Pick-Up, Mighty Mini Meet, the Division 3 Championship, our End of Season Party, and a run-down of our schedule for the week. Happy reading!

SHOUT-OUTS

Once again, our swimmers put together some outstanding accomplishments despite no blocks, a shallow pool, and a hot day. The Blue Crabs had 105 swimmers combine for 177 personal bests (full list here). Five of our swimmers put together an undefeated 4 events: Andrew McDonald, Alberto Nevares, Carmen Nevares, Spencer Stanley, and Eric Yi each scored 20 points while Ava Cecilia and Jarrett Zhou added another 18 each. Way to go!

Saturday’s meet saw us set 4 new individual team records: Colette Nicholes (7-8 25 free), Alberto Nevares (10 & Under 100 IM), Stefania Stone (8 & Under 25 breast), and Jarrett Zhou (13-14 100 IM). In addition to those accomplishments, our record-setting boys crescendo relay team of Eric Yi, Alberto Nevares, Spencer Stanley, Mason Garmon, and Andrew McDonald recorded the 4^th fastest time in FSSL history to (view all our team records here). We are proud of you all!

We continue to have swimmers add their name to the list of all-star qualifiers. This week’s first-time all-star qualifiers are Caroline Amato (6 & under 25 free) and Dakota Dove (13-14 50 fly). This brings our total number of all-star qualifiers to 37 swimmers (full list here). Kudos to all of these swimmers and our fantastic coaches!

Summer swim team is unique among youth sports in that it really does take a village. The Blue Crabs swim team is a community endeavor, and more specifically, it takes the time and energy of so many parents. Everyone has a part to play. So many of you have gone above and beyond in volunteering, in solving problems, in stepping-up, in anticipating needs and meeting them. These events don’t happen, the fun isn’t had, memories aren’t made, and the Blue Crabs don’t exist without you. So, thank you!

EASTSIDE SPLASHDOWN 

We’re going to try this again! The Eastside Splashdown—the FSSL’s first Relay Carnival—will be held on Tuesday, July 15. While we would love it if everyone could participate in this meet, given the number of teams that are coming, our entries are limited. Here is the list of relay entries for the meet and here is the meet information.

If you have a swimmer participating, please plan to arrive no later than 5:10. If you are able to walk to the meet or carpool, please do so as parking will be the biggest challenge in running this meet. The pool deck will open at 4:30 PM (please don’t arrive any earlier). Please take note that there will be no tents allowed on the pool deck. Our team area will be in the grass courtyard.

THE MIGHTY MINI MEET

The Mighty Mini Meet will take place on Thursday, July 17 from 5:00-7:00 PM (there will be no practices this day). This meet is for swimmers—both Blue Crabs and Mini Crabs—8 and under, and we have invited the Seahawks to join us this year as well! Each lane will have a helper assigned that will be in the water to assist swimmers as needed. We are encouraging all the Mini Crabs swimmers to sign-up for the kickboard race and freestyle. If you are a Blue Crabs swimmer and you have participated in at least two meets, we are requesting that you do not sign-up for the kickboard race and only sign-up for 1 or 2 events that you have not finished in the top 3 previously.

Swimmer Entry: Every swimmer who is participating needs to declare themselves as either “attending” or “not attending.” Only those swimmers marked as “attending” by 10:00 PM on Tuesday, July 15, will be eligible to participate. 

To declare your swimmer for the Mini Meet, follow these instructions:

• start by going to the Swim Meet & Event Sign-Up page and then click on the green "Meet Entry" button located next to the event labeled “Mini Meet.”
• Next click the "Edit" button at the bottom of the page.
• For each swimmer select an option from the dropdown list next to his/her name: "Attending" or "Not Attending."
• Then select the events you would like your swimmer(s) to participate in.
• Click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page.

Volunteer Sign-Up: We also need a handful of volunteers to run this meet. We are encouraging Mini Crab parents to take advantage of these volunteer opportunities. Job signup takes place on our website on the same Meets & Events page where you enter your swimmers. Simply click on the green "Job Sign-Up" button listed by the Mini Meet and then you can sign up for a job. Thank you!

DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

The Division 3 Championship Meet will take place on Saturday, July 19. Our meet theme will be ALL BLUE errryyythang! The meet will be hosted by the Braddock Heights Barracudas at the Middletown High School pool. The meet will begin at 8 AM. Once we have additional meet information from the host, we will pass that on to our families. In the mean time, here are a couple of things to note:

Swimmer Eligibility: To be eligible to compete at this meet a swimmer must have competed in two or more meets during the regular season. If you only swam in one meet, we are sorry, but you are not eligible to compete.

Swimmer Entry: Whether you plan to attend the meet or not, please take a moment to declare whether your swimmer will be “attending” or “not attending” the meet. In a division championship meet, swimmers are only permitted to participate in up to 3 individual events and only 1 relay. To participate, you must submit your swimmer declaration by Tuesday at 10:00 PM. There are no exceptions to this deadline. 

END OF SEASON PARTY

We are looking forward to a fun event next Sunday evening, July 20, as we celebrate this fantastic and fun summer swim season! Please RSVP no later than Wednesday night, so that we can provide enough food for all families attending. The team will be providing dinner for swimmers and their parents, as well as the swimmer’s siblings.

We are planning on having exclusive use of the entire pool from 4:30-7:00 PM. During this time, we will be hanging out, having fun, and we will have dinner available from 5:15-6:30 PM. This will be immediately followed by an awards ceremony that will take place in the grassy area outside of the pool. We’re hoping to have everything wrapped up sometime around 8:00 PM.

Regarding the awards, all swimmers will receive a certificate and a 2025 Blue Crabs pin. Only swimmers who are new to the team will receive a Blue Crabs medal. If you are a returning swimmer, please bring your medal with you to the awards ceremony!

We understand that you may have misplaced your medal and would like a replacement for your swimmer. Replacement medals are available for purchase for $8. They are available to order here and you can pick them up during the awards ceremony.

🦀THE WEEKLY CRAB🦀

MONDAY | JULY 14

Morning Practice Session:

• 9-10 year olds practice from 8:30-9:15 AM
• 11+ practice from 9:20-10:10 AM
• Mini Crabs practice from 10:20-10:50 AM
• 8 and unders practice from 11:00-11:45 AM

Afternoon Practice Session (you must bring your pool pass):

• 9-10 year olds practice from 5:00-5:40 PM
• 8 & under practice from 5:45-6:25 PM
• Mini Crabs practice from 6:35-7:05 PM
• 11 & over practice from 7:10-8:00 PM

TUESDAY | JULY 15

No Practices - EASTSIDE SPLASHDOWN RELAY CARNIVAL

• Participating swimmers should arrive by 5:00 PM
• The event should conclude around 8:00 PM

WEDNESDAY | JULY 16

Morning Practice Session:

• 9-10 year olds practice from 8:30-9:15 AM
• 11+ practice from 9:20-10:10 AM
• Mini Crabs practice from 10:20-10:50 AM
• 8 and unders practice from 11:00-11:45 AM

Afternoon Practice Session (you must bring your pool pass):

• 9-10 year olds practice from 5:00-5:40 PM
• 8 & under practice from 5:45-6:25 PM
• Mini Crabs practice from 6:35-7:05 PM
• 11 & over practice from 7:10-8:00 PM

THURSDAY | JULY 17

No practices – Mighty MINI Meet! All swimmers should arrive by 4:30 PM. The Meet will begin at 5:00 PM.

FRIDAY | JULY 18 – PANCAKE PARTY!

For our final fun Friday, we are going to have a pancake party at the conclusion of each practice!

• 9-10 year olds practice from 8:30-9:15 AM
• 11+ practice from 9:20-10:10 AM
• Mini Crabs practice from 10:20-10:50 AM
• 8 and under practice from 11:00-11:45 AM

SATURDAY | JULY 19

• Division 3 Championship Meet
• Meet theme is ALL BLUE errryyythang!

SUNDAY | JULY 20

End of Season Party

• 4:30-7:00 PM Pool Party
• 5:15-6:30 PM Dinner
• 7:00-8:00 PM Awards Ceremony

LOOKING AHEAD

This week will be a wrap on our season. 

• Only All-Star participants will practice next week. The All-Star Meet will be held at Hood College on Saturday, July 26.
• 2026 Registration will open for returning swimmers on April 1, 2026

Thank you to all of our Gold Sponsors: