Hi Tiger Sharks Families --

T minus 14 hours until we kick things off at the Championship meet! I hope everyone is as excited as we are -- it is going to be a GREAT meet, and we're excited to watch everyone's hard work this season come to fruition!!

Please remember this meet is at the Harris YMCA at 5900 Quail Hollow Rd, Charlotte, NC 28210. Please plan to arrive early as it sounds like parking could be a bit chaotic with other programming going on in the facility.

I am including some important information below. Please ensure you read this in full and review the attached document - there's a lot of essential information included here that we need to get through.

1. The 2026 Polar Bear League Championship Meet will be held this coming Saturday, 2/28. Each age group will compete at a specified time - please review the information below for your swimmer(s) age group times.

• 11 & Older Swimmers: We will open the Aquatics Center at 7:15 AM for people to start entering. Fort Mill Tiger Sharks will start the first round of warm ups at 7:30 for the southern end. The meet will start at 8:30AM and is expected to have a finish time of 11ish.
• 8 & Under Swimmers: This group can plan on arriving between 11:45 and 12. We will hold southern warm ups at 12:00. Looking to start this meet at 12:45, I do not foresee it running past 2:15-2:30.

• 9 & 10 Swimmers: This group should plan on entering between 2:30 and 3PM. We will hold southern warm ups at 3:00. We will look to start NLT 3:45. This is our smallest group, if we can get going a few minutes earlier, we will try. This meet should finish 5-5:15PM. We will take care to not run too fast if the swimmers are having to turn around from one event to the other.

2. IMPORTANT -- The Harris YMCA has placed a spectator limit on all age groups of the Championship meet this weekend. From Coach David: "There are capacity restrictions within our building. The first two sessions of the meet could have in excess of 180 swimmers per session. Add in coaches, lifeguards and spectators, we start getting a huge crowd. The limit will be 2 spectators per family at the meet and please try not to bring non-swimming siblings (siblings who are swimming in different sessions are welcome)." This is for everyone's safety at the meet in the event of an emergency and to ensure we stay within the fire code limits. This rule will be strictly enforced.

3. Snacks will NOT be permitted inside the pool area or on deck, unless medically necessary. This includes swimmers, spectators, siblings, and parents alike -- the Harris YMCA lifeguards will be strictly enforcing this. Drinks are of course permitted, however please do not send any glass or ceramic bottles that can easily break. Please see the attached document for further information.

4. Volunteer slots are still available -- please sign up asap so we can ensure a smooth meet for all!

I know this was a long one - thank you for reading this far! As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Excited to see you all tomorrow! Let's go Tiger Sharks!

Coach Taryn