Swim Team

Welcome Flying Fish!  

NEW 2023 Information is HERE!

Swim Team General Information

Eligibility

All pool members - ages 18 and under - are eligible to join the swim team.  Your child should be comfortable putting their face in the water and able to jump in and swim safely to the edge without assistance. Swim Lessons will be offered during the summer season for those who need additional assistance to prepare for swim team. 

To join the swim team, click the REGISTRATION FORM below and you can conveniently register all your children for the swim team at the same time. If you would prefer, you can also fill out a paper copy of the registration at our "Meet the Coach" night on May 17th from 6:00-7:30 PM at the pool - SAVE THE DATE! If you have any questions, just email us. We are happy to help! 

Registration Form 

Swim Practice Hours

Regular practice times are Monday-Friday:

*Junior Fish are children who are brand new to swimming. Your child should be comfortable putting their face in the water and able to jump in and swim safely to the edge without assistance. All new swimmers will be evaluated by the Head Coach to determine placement in practice groups.

VAST Team Fees for 2023

* Lynchburg Aquatic League requires all league swimmers to be members of the pool for which they swim. Student memberships age 13 -18  are available for those who are not already members. The cost is $325 for a single child, which includes a non-voting summer membership for that child AND team fees. 

The links above will direct you to Square for secure and convenient payment processing.   Square payments will include a 3% convenience charge.   We will happily take payment via check to avoid this additional charge.   Make your check out to "Vista Acres Pool" and mail it to PO Box 4764, Lynchburg, VA 24502.

Staff

We are excited to have Coach Hadley Baker returning as our head coach along with Coach Malia Manning as our assistant coach for our 2023 Summer Season!  Coach Hadley has many years of competitive swimming experience, including at the college level, as well as coaching experience with all age levels.  Coach Malia is one of our own!  She has spent many years swimming as a flying fish.   She is a 2023 graduate of Heritage High School and also offers private swim lessons at Vista Acres pool! 


*Swim Team Board Representatives: Rebecca Stickle and Lynn Chapman-vaflyingfish@gmail.com

2023 Meet Schedule

Special Events

Notices and Handouts

The swim team will have a “mailbox” for each family in a file folder box. This box will be kept in the guard building so please check your family’s folder regularly. Each week you’ll find items like handouts, ribbons, and other team information. Please advise your children to be sure this information makes its way home.

Text Message Alerts

Our Coaches will be using a text message service to send out about practices, meets, inclement weather, etc. This will be a way to quickly contact parents of last minute changes. The service does not require parents to share their cell number as it is secure and private.  Ask your swim team coach for the code to sign up for swim team text messages! 

Sign Out Schedule Book

As you establish your vacation and other plans for the summer, please indicate the absence of your swimmer(s) for any particular meet in the Sign-Out Notebook. This book will be located in the swim team file box and it is important that you sign your child(ren) out of a meet by WEDNESDAY preceding the meet on the following Monday. Failure to do so could result in disqualification of an event or relay which may be important to the meet line-up. If an emergency arises, or a swimmer becomes ill, please notify the Coach as soon as possible.

New Swimmers

If this is your child’s first swimming experience they will be practicing from 10:30-11:00 once morning practices begin on June 5th.  As they progress and gain endurance the coaches will let you know when they are ready to increase their time. Involvement in our meets will begin as soon as your child is able to swim the full length of the pool without assistance! You will be amazed at how quickly their proficiency increases throughout the summer!

Team Swimsuits

Please support our swim team by purchasing your swimming needs through swimoutlet.com.  

While it is not mandatory, a team suit helps each child feel like a part of the team and helps our overall team unity and spirit.  More information about team suits will be provided at Meet the Coach night!

After the meets

One tradition our swimmers love is to go out for ice cream after our swim meets! This is optional, but we love continuing our team spirit after the meets with a treat!

 Will will have an ice cream social and late night swimming at our pool on June 12th and July 17th.  The cost will be $3.00 or $12 per family.  

The BIGGEST fundraiser we do is our Swim-A-Thon. This will take place on July 20th from 9-11 during practice. We will need volunteers to help with this event.

Championship Meets

There are two Championship Meets held at the end of the summer season – a “B” Championship Meet followed by an “A” Championship Meet. To qualify for the “B” Meet, a swimmer must have swum the specific event(s) in a dual meet and not have made an “A” time or been disqualified. If a swimmer has two or more “A” times, he/she may not swim in the “B” Meet. Any “A” times received in the “B” Meet qualifies the swimmer for the “A” Meet also.

To qualify for the “A” Championship Meet, a swimmer must have achieved one or more “A” times during the season, either at a dual meet or the “B” Meet. If you finish first in an event at the “B” Meet, you also qualify for that particular event at the “A” Championship Meet. One “A” time qualifies the swimmer to swim only that individual event plus the relays. Two or more “A” times qualifies the swimmer to swim any three individual events plus the relays.

In the “B” Meet, team points and awards are given to the top eight finishers. Medals are awarded to the first three places; ribbons are awarded to places four through eight. In the “A” Meet, team points and awards are given to the top six finishers. The first three places receive medals; the next three receive ribbons.

Volunteer Information

We LOVE & NEED Our Parent Volunteers!

It takes the effort of our whole Vista Acres Family to run our swim meets. All parents of swimmers are encouraged to volunteer. Most volunteer positions are simple and easy to learn at the meet. A few positions require specific training and certifications and they are indicated below. Lynchburg Aquatic League provides training for these positions annually. If interested, contact Kris Sennett at ksennett@liberty.edu.

Since a typical meet lasts about 2-3 hours, you can choose whether you want to work for half of the meet or the whole meet. Meet sign-ups are done weekly and can be found on the signup genius link that will be sent via email. Please help out the team by having at least one parent in each family sign up to help out in some way at our swim meets. This is very important and will prevent us from trying to find people before a meet. We have to have positions filled in order to have the meet.


Volunteer Positions

*MEET REFEREE: Has authority over all officials. He/she will decide all questions relating to the actual conduct of the meet. The referee must be a certified stroke and turn judge qualified by the LAL and/or the USS.

*STARTER: Upon signal from the Referee, assumes full control of swimmers until a fair start has been achieved.

*STROKE AND TURN JUDGES: Note infractions of strokes and turns. Must be qualified by the LAL and/or the USS.

HEAD TIMER: Makes sure lane timers are ready and watches are clear before the start of each race. Also provides a roving watch in case a lane timer misses the start or has a watch malfunction.

PLACE JUDGES: Stationed near the finish of each race, and judges the order of finish of all swimmers.

ANNOUNCER: Before the start of each race, he/she shall announce the number of heats. At the start of each heat, he/she shall announce the lane, name of each swimmer, and the team affiliation. He/she shall also make any other announcements as requested by the Scorer, Referee, Record Keeper, or management.

LANE TIMER: Two timers shall be placed directly over each lane at the finish. Their watches are started at the instant of the flash from the Starter. Their watches are stopped immediately when any part of the swimmer’s body touches the end of the pool.

SCORE KEEPER: Records the order of finish and the times of each swimmer in all events and disqualifications as given them. They shall complete the team scores.

*These volunteer positions require specific training and certification from the LAL and/or the USS. 

2023 Stroke & Turn training sessions will be held on:


2023 Starter/Referee training session will be held on :


** If willing/interested register using the sign up genius here:

signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44aea922a5ff2-2023#/




Vista Acres Swim Team Code of Conduct