THANK YOU - Thanks to all the family members who donated their time and effort in making Camp Franklin 2006 possible for our swimmers!! Great job to all the swimmers who survived yet another year!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE GATOR ELF!
NEW PHOTOS! - Gators at Indianapolis Nov. 17-19 2006 - Photos courtesy Rosemary Douglas.
GATOR ADS - It's time to sell ads for our 2007 Great Times Meet Psych Sheet. All ad orders are due Jan. 12 (please get them in earlier if you can). As before, we will reprint the same ads unchanged in the May 2007 Long Course Kickoff program. Here's the info:
Letter to Gator Parents - Ad Order Form - Ad Sizes/Examples - 2006 Ads Sold
GATOR FLOAT WINS IN PARADE! - Gator Swim Team's Parade of Lights float entry won first place in the City of Cape Girardeau's Parade of Lights Class B Appearance category. Congratulations to all who participated! Special thanks to Laura Brown, who coordinated this year's float entry. The annual parade was held Sunday night 11/26. If any Gators have photos they would like to share, please email them to the webmaster. Vie results in the Southeast Missourian. The making of...
GOOD LUCK SUSAN BETH, HANNAH AND STEFFAN! - Good luck to Gator swimmers Susan Beth Scott and Hannah Kinder, and Gator grad Steffan troxel, who are participating in international and national meets this week. Susan Beth is swimming in the U.S. Paralympics Swimming World Championships Nov. 29-Dec. 9 in South Africa, and Hannah and Steffan are swimming in the U.S. Open meet in West Lafayette, Indiana, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Check their progress at these websites/related articles:
TOP TIMES - Marcio Vieira has updated the Gator Top Times and SCY Records.
GATORS MAKE CUTS, CLOSE CALLS - The meet in Indianapolis last weekend had over 900 swimmers entered with teams from Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Minnisota, Illinois, Ohio to name a few.The Gator Swimmers did fantastic, getting 5 new sectional cuts and several close calls.those getting the cuts were:
Close calls were:
We had several swimmers make it into finals on Saturday and would have made it back on Sunday except we left early becaue of the long drive time back to Cape. Austin Hobbs, Morgan Fraser, Kevin Douglas , Susan Beth Scott, Allison Hobbs, Hannah Kinder, Caleb Coots , Wyatt Larson, and Sam Gramling were our finalists. Congratulations to all our swimmers for their efforts and great swims. - COACH STEVE
MEET ATTENDANCE - Coach Steve has sent the following clarifications about upcoming meets:
MEET SIGNUPS - IMPORTANT NOTE FROM COACH - Coach Steve will not accept email or phone calls to enter swimmers into meets. You must sign up at the pool !
FALL/WINTER MEET SCHEDULE - The following meet schedule has been approved by the board. Any questions, please contact Coach Steve. (* qualifiers only):
BOARD NEWS - Alicia has stepped down as president of Gators to accept an assistant-coaching position with Gators. She will remain on board. She and Ann Welker will be the assistant coaches. John Wolpers, vice president, has assumed the post of president. Andy Kendig has been named vice president. Board approved the revised parent handbook and new fee structure. A parent meeting is scheduled Oct. 5 to discuss changes.
SWIM ALL YEAR - with the Gators! More Info here (pdf)
REVISED HANDBOOK - The Gator Handbook has been revised. Please be sure to read it! The most significant changes are a modest and necessary fee increase, the simplification of the fee structure, some fee discount opportunities and the creation of two new training groups, Periodic Age Group Swimmers and Gator Tots.
National Wrapup
CONGRATULATIONS GATORS - Gators Hannah Kinder and Susan Beth Scott had outstanding swims at their national meets. And former Gator Steffan troxel recently earned a U.S. Olympic Trials cut in the 1500 free. Hannah finished 7th in the 100 free, 16th in the 50 free and 22nd in the 200 free at the 2006 Speedo Junior National Championships . Susan Beth earned a trip to the US Paralympic World Championships with her first place finish in the 200 back and second place finishes in the 1500 free, 400 free and 100 back the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships. Steffan finished 23rd in the 1500 free at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in 15:47.77. The trials cut is 15:53.59. More info:
GATORS AT NATIONAL MEETS - Good luck to Gators Hannah Kinder and Susan Beth Scott, who are swimming in national meets this week. Hannah is in the 2006 Speedo Junior National Championships behing held Aug. 7-11 in Irvine, California, and Susan Beth is in the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships being held Aug. 10-12 in San Antonio, Texas. Both swimmers were featured in recent newspaper articles:
JO'S - Congratulations to Gator AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS swimmers Caleb Coots, Alyssa Coots and Maryanne Kendig, who participated in the 40th AAU Junior Olympic Games held Aug. 1-4, 2006, at Hampton Roads, Virginia. 2006 AAU JO results
OZARK CHAMPIONSHIP meet results are online here. Gator Swim Team finished 4th of 17 teams, behind the three large St. Louis teams of Parkway, Rockwood and Rec-Plex.
Meet Results - Individual Rankings - Team Scores

Gator swimmer Hannah Kinder on screen at the University of Missouri
following her 50M freestyle race. More photos
2nd PLACE and NATIONAL CUT at SECTIONALS - Gator Hannah Kinder swam US Open and National qualifying times in the 50M freestyle finals at the USA 2006 Central Section Region VIII Long Course Summer Championship meet held July 19-22 in Columbia, Mo. She finished 2nd with a time of 26.66. Hannah also swam a US Open-qualifying time in the 100M free with a time of 58:47. Congratulations to Hannah and all of our Gator Sectionals-qualifying swimmers:





Photos courtesy Marcio Vieira and John Waggener - More photos
GATORS WIN SMSC CHAMPIONSHIPS !! - Gator Swim team won the Large Division Southeast Missouri Swim Conference Championship with 1,309 points, 8 Gators took home age group high point trophies, and numerous Gator swimmers achieved best times or were among those breaking 15 conference records at the meet. Congratulations to all of our swimmers for a great effort and a successful season!
SMSC Championship Meet Results - High Points - Summary - Gator Photos - SMSC Photos

Gator summer practice photos courtesy Angela Welker - More practice photos
GATORS BREAK MORE RECORDS - Congratulations to our record-breaking Gators!
Sikeston Record Breakers - Sikeston Relay Record Breakers - Sikeston Full Meet Results
Scott City meet photos are now online!
Charleston Meet Photos are now online.
MEET WORKER VOLUNTEERS are needed for our SMSC Championships meet July 22, 2006. Please note our online signup form has been de-activated until further notice. Please sign up at the pool.
INDIANAPOLIS meet results are now online.
SIGNUP DEADLINES FOR CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS - The USA Division I Championship sign-up sheet is in the file box and the last day to enter is on July 14. There will be absolutely no exceptions! Once I send in the entries I will not be adding to it or subtracting from it. I also need to have all summer league swimmers who plan on swimming in the SMSC Championships sign up by July 10 ( even if you have not swum in the last meet I need to know your intentions) - Coach Steve
GATOR MEET RESULTS (in additional to full eet results) are now available on te calendar page.
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIRTS: Orders are being taken for 2006 SMSC Championship Shirts. Cost is $12. See DeAnna to put your order in. Orders due by Thursday, July 6th.
JULY 4th COOKOUT - We will be having hot dogs, chips, drinks and ice cream after practice on the 4th. (Yes, we are still having practice!! I know that's what you were thinking! And yes, we know it will be early in the morning for some of you, but we don't doubt your ability to still have a hot dog and some ice cream!) There is a signup sheet for hot dogs, buns, chips, and drinks at the pool. Ice cream and toppings will be provided. Come and celebrate all the hard work you have done all summer!
USA FALL PRACTICE SURVEY - A survey regarding convenient practice times for your swim group this fall is in the family folders. Please fill out and return to the Arevalo folder by July 15 if you want your vote to count!! These are NOT the practice times. We are just trying to get a general idea of times for each group.
FIRECRACKER FRENZY MEET CANCELED - Due to a low number of entries, the Gator Board has voted to cancel the Firecracker Frenzy meet scheduled for June 30-July 2.
MESSAGE FROM THE MEET DIRECTOR - As you have already heard the Firecracker Frenzy has been canceled by action of the Gator Swim Team Board. I want to thank those who showed their support and had already put out effort and time to try to make this meet a success. If held the meet would have required more effort on the part of our parents than the benefit we would have derived. Very little monetary expenses were realized in preparing for this meet and any that were incurred will benefit our other meets. We now need to focus our meet activites upon SMSC Championships and co-hosting Divisions in Carbondale. I will be posting sign-up information for both of these in the near future. Thank you again for your continued support. Not only do these meets offer great opportunities for our swimmers but they help keep our cost down for every swim family. - Dan Rau
STROKE CLINIC - Hap Gentry, a Total Immersion certified coach, and Coach Steve will lead a stroke clinic for Gator swimmers from 7 am-noon on Tuesday, June 20, at Central Pool. Cost is $25. To participate, and have your strokes videotaped and analyzed, be sure to sign up for a session at practice!
TEAM PHOTOS are scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, at 8:00 am. Order envelopes are in your file.
NEW PHOTOS from Jasper and from the Small Club Championship are now online in the photo gallery. And more.
GATORS SET NEW SMSC CONFERENCE RECORDS - 3 conference records were broken on Saturday (6-3-06) in Perryville by our very own Gator swimmers!
Congratulations Gabby and Austin!! What a way to start the summer!!
PARENT CALENDARS - Here are PDFs of the Gator parent calendars: June - July - August
AAU MEET SIGNUP INFORMATION: Summer league is under way and we are implementing a new meet signup policy. The black file box has a folder for each AAU meet in it. In each file is a team roster. You NEED to indicate on the sheet if you are planning to attend the meet or not by the signup deadline. (See parent calendar or website for each individual deadline). NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED. Events and relays will be put together by the coaches. IF your child(ren) are on a relay and does not show up, the relay team will have to forfeit because of it. If something comes up the day of the meet and you cannot make it, PLEASE call 382-2580 and let us know.
SUMMER CALENDARS - Parents - Be sure to pick up your summer schedule calendar that has been placed in each family folder. Important deadlines/meets/events are included!
LINEUPS for the Saluki meet and Jasper, IN, are now online,
MEET RESULTS are now online for the Long Course Kickoff:

Gators at Small Club Champs (Photos)
GATOR AWARDS - Congratulations to the following Gators recognized at our Spring '06 banquet April 23:
| OUTSTANDING GATOR AWARD - Hannah Kinder and David Welker | ||
| MOST VALUABLE GIRLS 8 and under Gabriela Vieira 9-10 Kyleigh troxel 11-12 Mary Kendig 13-14 Morgan Fraser 15-18 Hannah Kinder |
MOST VALUABLE BOYS |
MOST IMPROVED GIRLS 8 and under Elizabeth Orr 9-10 Morgan Maguire 11-12 Madison Rau 13-14 Audrey Glover 15-18 Ashly Ducharme |
| MOST IMPROVED BOYS 8 and under Carson Retter 9-10 Luc Helwege 11-12 Jordan Gramling 13-14 Sam Gramling 15-18 Caleb Statler |
MOST DEDICATED GIRLS 8 and under Sierra Goss 9-10 Iliana Arevalo 11-12 Alyssa Coots 13-14 Susan Beth Scott 15-18 Maria Esswein |
MOST DEDICATED BOYS 8 and under Ian Cameron 9-10 Chase Hagerty 11-12 Ramsey Scott 13-14 Caleb Coots 15-18 David Welker |
VISIT THIS OFTEN - Coach Steve's official file cabinet at Central Pool is usually out in the hallway right before the entry into the pool. Each team member has a file folder inside. Parents need to check their file often to sign up for meets and receive information. Coach will also distribute awards via your file folder.
NEW GATOR BOARD MEMBERS - Congratulations to new board members elected April 23: Mary Esswein, Andy Kendig, Marcio Vieira and Ann Welker. Returning board members are Alicia Scott, president; John Wolpers, vice president; Karl Larson, treasurer; Sherrie troxel, secretary; and Dan Rau, meet chairman. Many thanks to our retiring board members for their service: Greg Luehman, Mark Coots, and Julie Fraser.
GATOR PARENTS - If anyone would like to receive their bill by email please send me your email address. I am in the process of getting a list together of email addresses for this purpose only. It will save the team in postage and it is very easy to do. Also, in the future I hope to have it set up where you will be able to pay your bill for direct deposit. Please email me a response if you have interest in this as well. That way I will be able to tell if this is worth setting up or not. Thank you, Karl Larson-Treasurer, Gator Swim Team
GATOR TEAM SHIRT ON DISPLAY - A framed Gator Team T-shirt signed by team members last summer is now on display in the dining area of Buffalo Wild Wings in Cape. - John Waggener
SUMMER MEETS are now online on our calendar page.
GREAT SWIMS AT HEAT MEET - Gabbie Vieira won the high point award at he 8 and under championships this past weekend in St. Louis. winning 7 out of her 8 events and making a 9 -10 "A" Time in the 50 back. Anne Simminger, Siera Goss, Helen Wojdylo , and Josey Powell also swam in the meet helping the 100 Free and Medley Relay to 6th place finishes. All the girls broke 2:00 in the 100 IM, and also did great in their other events - Coach Steve.
SECTIONAL RESULTS - Congratulations to our swimmers who competed at Sectionals! Results Here
SWIM LESSONS - Debbie Janisse will be in Cape March 10-13 and available for swim lessons. If interested, call her at (615) 491-1881.
OZARK CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS - Gator Swim Teamhad one of its best all-around performances of the year at the 2006 Ozark Short Course Championships. (Gator Results) Sam Gramling was one of the high point award winners and Kyleigh troxel was only one out of the money. We had several swimmers achieve new Sectional time standards:
SIGN UP FOR HEAT MEET - Remember to signup for either the Heat meet in March (next weekend) or the Small Clubs Championships the last week of April. Instead of taking a week off this year I am going to be having a turn ,start , and stroke clinic along with filming of swimmer the week after the Heat Meet. I would suggest all swimmer plan to attend! - Coach Steve
GREAT TIMES RESULTS Full Meet - Gator Results THANK YOU - I wish to thank everyone for their support and hard work that helped the team put on a great Great Times Meet. The feed-back we have received so far from visiting teams and coaches is all very positive in all regards and this shows that all of our efforts helped. I was especially impressed with the work done by Karen and Missy and their Gator Parent support in providing one of the best hospitality facilities at any meet I have been to in a long time. I would also like to point out that their efforts were successful and beneficial due to alot of parents at home cooking. I hope that you and your swimmer had a great meet and I am actually looking forward to the long-course meet in May. Thanks again to all - Dan Rau - Meet Director
GREAT TIMES MEET A SUCCESS - The Final Results are in! Thanks to everyone that helped we had a very successful Great Times Meet. The profit from the meet was up 30% as compared to last year. The extra money will help maintain our costs for our families and possibly go toward necessary equipment replacement. The Gator Swim Team Board is looking into the replacement of the timing console (the old one we have is not even being serviced by the manufacturer) and/or purchasing new lane lines. If you have any other ideas please feel free to contact a Gator Swim Team Board officer or member. Also, please keep in mind that our next meet will be the first weekend of May. With your continued efforts this meet could also be a great success. Thanks Again - Dan Rau - Meet Director
SUIT SWAP? - Gator Gals who wear a size 28 -- please check the size of the suit that you took home after the meet on Sunday. We have a younger Gator swimmer who left her suit in the locker room and I think one of you who wear a 28 accidently picked up her smaller suit. Double check the suit you took home to be sure it is the right size. Call DeAnna if you have the wrong size with you.
SPRING & SUMMER SCHEDULE UPDATES - The summer schedule is done for long course/remaining short course:
We are just about set for the Great Times Meet. We still need a few timers and it is a necessity that we have 16 timers per session. Simply put, we cannot have a meet without timers. If you have not signed up, please do so as soon as possible (). Here is the schedule for workers:
Dan Rau - Meet Director (334-4448)
GREAT TIMES UPDATE (1/25/06) - The Great Times Meet is a week and a half away. Things are coming along swimmingly and I appreciate everyone's efforts. I have placed a sign-up sheet on the Gator Swim Team Bulletin Board outside of the girl's locker room exit. Many areas are already covered but we need timers. Timing is one of the easiest tasks and there is no better seat in the house to watch your swimmer during his or her events then while timing. If you have not signed up to work please sign up as soon as possible. This can be done on-line, at the pool, or, you can contact me directly at 334-4448. Also, if you have already signed up please check to make sure your name appears on the sign-up sheet. - Dan Rau - Meet Director
Online Signup Form
MINI MEET SATURDAY MORNING 1/28/06 - Please be at the pool by 6:30 a.m. on Saturday for the mini meet scheduled to begin at 7 am.
GREAT TIMES AD PROOFS - Thanks to everyone who sold ads for our Great Times Psych Sheet. HERE IS A LIST (pdf) of the 60 ads scheduled to appear in our book. Beginning this afternoon (Friday 1/20) there will be a blue notebook with ad proofs at the pool file box if you would like to check your ad. Please let me know ASAP (by Wednesday 1/25 at the latest) by phone or email if your ad is somehow missing, if a major change is needed or an error has been made. Thanks! Julie - 334-7867.
GREAT TIMES SHIRTS - Deadline to order Great Times Shirts is Monday, January 16th. We are not ordering extra shirts this year. Cost is $10. Order form is on the bulletin board. Also, a Gator hoodie was turned in to me that was found at the Carbondale meet. If you lost yours please let me know. Thanks, DeAnna
MESSAGE FROM THE MEET DIRECTOR - MONDAY, JAN. 9, 2006
I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season. Everyone should be back into the swing of things with school and swim practice. The Great Times Meet is comming up soon and we will be having a Parent Meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2006, at 6 pm. The meeting will be held at Grace Bible Church. The church is located on Old Cape Road by The I-55 - Kingshighway intersection. This meeting will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and sign-up for meet activities. The Great Times Meet is one of the Gator Swim Team's major fund-raisers so your help is needed. Also, the Gator Swim Team Handbook contains the following information under the heading Home Meet Policy at page 9.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
1. Every family is expected to provide one worker each session of the meet.
2. If a family cannot attend any one of the above sessions, it is the family's responsibility to make arrangements ahead of time with the Meet Director to help with a job prior to or after the conclusion of the actual meet.
3. It shall be the responsibility of each worker to "sign in" properly at the registration table each session of the swim meet.
4. Failure to satisfy the requirements spelled out above will result in a $25 assessment for each session not worked.If you have any question please feel free to send me an e-mail at DavisandRau@charterinternet.com or you can call me during the day at my office (573) 334-4448.
Dan Rau - Meet Director
GREAT TIMES MEET T-SHIRT - Here's a look at the Great Times T-shirt, available in purple or black. Shirts are $10 and must be ordered by the team. See our meet invitation for more info,
GREAT TIMES ADS DUE TODAY 1/9 - Families who raised $100 or more for the Splashathon are not required to do Great Times ads (unless you want to!). Questions? Read the info below.
2006 Ad Campaign Info - Ad Order Form - Ad Example Sheet (sizes) - Last Year's Ad List
SPLASHATHON UPDATE - Thanks for all the hard work and effort by our swimmers and parents in the Splash-A-Thon. Early indications are that it was a huge success. Please try and turn in all your $$ by Friday, January 6, at the latest. If your swimmer qualifies for a prize see DeAnna to make the order. Again thanks for all your efforts. As you know we try and minimize fund raisers, but they do help us keep our team fees low. Great Job Gators!!! - Alicia Scott
GREAT TIMES ADS - It's time to sell/prepare ads for our 2006 Great Times Meet Program/Psych Sheet. This is one of our team's MOST IMPORTANT and PRODUCTIVE fundraisers so please give it your best effort! All ad orders are due JAN. 9. Ad forms and other info will be available shortly in the pool file cabinet, but you can download the info below (pdf files). A business contact sign-up booklet will be available at the pool shortly as well.
2006 Ad Campaign Info - Ad Order Form - Ad Example Sheet (sizes) - Last Year's Ad List