Welcome to the McCallum Swim Team!

About the team (2024-25)

Team Website

https://swimmccallum.swimtopia.com

Team Instagram

@swimccallum

Practices (these are 2024-25 times)

Monday-Thursday 7:00-8:45 pm (Great Hills Pool)

Fridays: 7:30am-8:30am (Dry Land at McCallum) *does not always happen

Equipment Needed

Swimmers must purchase/provide:

• Team Suit. This is required per UIL rules; swimmers must wear the team suit at meets. The team will organize one big order for these when the season starts. Swimmers can re-wear previous years’ suits if they have one. Team suits can be ordered via our A3 store (link @ registration) or women’s Jolyn suits may be ordered via the Team Store tab on the website. Girls have the option of either the A3 or Jolyn suit.
• Practice suit. Any appropriate suit is fine.
• Goggles
• Pull buoy/kickboard
• Possible: fins, paddles, snorkle (don’t have to have at first practice, may not be required)
• Water bottle

Equipment provided by the team for the school year:

• Swim bag (must be returned at the end of the season)
• Swim Parka (must be returned at the end of the season)
• Team t-shirt (does not need to be returned)
• Team swim cap (does not need to be returned)

Does your swimmer need scholarship funding to cover any expenses? Please contact [email protected] for assistance. We want to support every swimmer, regardless of constraints.

Weather

The team practices outdoors, even in less than ideal weather. Generally, Coach will cancel practice if it’s 32 degrees, but otherwise, yes, the swimmers will swim even in the cold. The pool is heated (81 or so.) Thunderstorms or heavy rain mean a canceled practice, sprinkling does not.

Culture

This is a supportive and inclusive team. Mac swimmers are friendly and respectful to each other and to opposing teams. Some Mac swimmers are also on club swim teams and some are relatively new to swimming–all are welcome and all are valued.

Holiday Practices

The swim team practices during Thanksgiving break, typically mid-day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  If a swimmer’s family is out of town, Coach asks the parents to confirm this and then the swimmer is excused.  Otherwise attendance is required.

Similarly, practices are scheduled during the December/semester break. They are often held mid-day throughout the entire break. There is a swim meet that happens during this break (Corpus) so attendance at practices is important. If a swimmer’s family is out of town, Coach asks the parents to confirm this and then the swimmer is excused. Otherwise attendance is required.

Meets

The swim team participates in 5-6 swim meets each year. The District meet is a ‘qualifying’ meet, meaning that if a swimmer completes their race under a particular time, they qualify to swim that race at the Regional meet. Swimmers who place in the top 1 or 2 spots in their race at Regionals qualify to compete in that race at State. Only qualifying swimmers participate in the Regional and State meets, although Coach tries to create relay teams to maximize Regional participation.

Tomball Meet Notes: 

This meet is usually held on a Saturday in November. The team usually rents a bus and drives there and back together. They will leave very early and get back by early evening.

Corpus Christi Meet Notes: 

This meet is usually the first full weekend of January, which is often during the Winter Break. The team needs parents to chaperone and drive down (carpooling). Typically everyone leaves early in the morning on Friday, caravans down together, spends the night, and returns in the late evening Saturday. Historically, the swimmers’ hotel rooms are paid for by AISD, but transportation costs, chaperone hotel rooms, and meals are all paid for by the individuals involved.

District Meet Notes:

This meet is usually the first mid-January, and is held in the Austin area. Schools from AISD all compete. It is a one-day event. Swimmers typically provide their own transportation to and from the event. Swimmers who place in the top 6 in their events qualify to go to Regionals.

Regionals Meet Notes: 

This meet is usually the first full weekend of February, and is often (but not always) held in the San Antonio area. It typically involves an overnight, maybe 2. (Thurs-Sat or Friday-Sat.) Many parents drive down to watch one or both days. The first day is for preliminary races, and the top 8 competitors in each race move on to the finals on Saturday. Historically, many relays have advanced to the finals, but it is a very competitive meet for individual races.

The team needs parents to chaperone and drive down (carpooling). Typically the swimmers’ hotel rooms and meals are paid for by AISD, and AISD’s policy says that chaperone/driver meals & hotel rooms are not paid for by the district. However, there seems to be some variation in this, as in 2023, three chaperone hotel rooms were also paid for by AISD. The booster club can cover meals or hotel room costs if needed but it’s probably better for all parents to expect to pay their own hotel/food/etc costs.

Note about funding:

AISD pays for many things for the team, including the pool rental, coach stipend, meet entries for meets that occur within a 50 mile radius of Austin, and most/all swimmer expenses associated with the Regional meet. AISD also provides some funding each year for equipment like swim parkas, swim bags, etc. AISD policy says that for meets that the Coach chooses to participate in that are more than 50 miles away, the swimmers/parents/Booster club must pay for all of those expenses (ie, Tomball, Corpus Cristi).

Pre-season To-Do List

1. Complete the AISD Online Participation Form: AISD Online Participation form

For this you will need a physician to fill out a portion that the student must turn in to the McCallum athletic trainer.

1. Complete the UIL Previous Athletic Participation Form:

UIL previous participation form

https://www.uiltexas.org/athletics/forms

1. Complete the AISD consent form:

AISD consent form

Once you've completed the AISD physical, have your swimmer submit it to the McCallum trainer, Matt Johnson. His office is at the field house behind the Mac. All forms except PAPF need to go to Matt Johnson [512-202-6251] These need to be done prior to anyone being allowed to practice with the team - try to do them ASAP.

1. All NEW students to MAC Swim must fill out the PAPF and print out, sign, scan and email it to Coach Rudy[email protected]
2. Register. Each swimmer/family should complete a new swimmer intake/registration form. If you’re a returning swimmer, the form will automatically populate when you log in. Please update any information. https://swimccallum.swimtopia.com/register/32979/main
3. Optional: Please JOIN the swiMcCallum Booster! Support your team and help us make this the season one to remember!
4. Get your team suit ordered.

Help Wanted

The swim team cannot operate with parent support.

The school district provides funding for the largest expenses, but does not cover all costs. Plus, adults are often needed to chaperone, time, organize, and support!

Please plan to contribute a little money, time, or both!

When you register your swimmer, it’s EASY and SO HELPFUL if you join the boosters. (It’s just a donation.) For 2023-2024, it is also expected that the team will have a “Fair Share Fee”.

Also, keep an eye out for volunteering requests and fundraising–we need both every year.

Or email us to donate! [email protected]

Useful Links

To email the whole team, email [email protected]

To email just the parent booster group: [email protected]

The booster email: [email protected]

To email regarding donations/sponsorships: [email protected]

Booster website: https://swimccallum.swimtopia.com

paypal:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4LW2RMKFDXDEL

Looking forward to seeing you all this season!