Welcome Torpedo Families to the 2026 Swim Season! My name is Blair Wildauer, Volunteer Coordinator, and I am happy to help the torpedoes again this summer.  This will be my fourth summer helping the torpedoes in this role. You will be receiving many emails from me this season, but I promise to make the rest of them shorter! 

The First Meet is only a week away! Volunteer slots are now open. This year we will again be using the SwimTopia Website/app for sign ups. Here is the link for the first meet. (Or sign into swimtopia and go to schedule and click on first meet). Volunteering for the other meets will open soon.

Volunteers are needed to make our meets run smoothly. Our first meet is a Home Meet on Wednesday, June 3rd. Volunteering is a fun way to be involved in the swim team. There are many different positions and everyone will have a chance to go watch their swimmers when it is their time to swim!

Families are asked to volunteer a total of 5 slots (each slot is about a 2-3 hour commitment). There are multiple slots for each meet and there are a total of 6 meets. You will see First Half and Second Half slots. Times will switch over at the half-way point of the meet (times on the sign up are tentative). The half way point is event 27/28.

About signing up:

1. If you have older swimmers, please save the first half shifts for those with young children.
2. All volunteers should check in with the Volunteer Coordinator, who will be posted near the coaches where you check in your swimmer.
3. Second half volunteers, listen to the announcer when to report for the 2nd half volunteer duties. Times on sign up are tentative. It will depend on the halfway point of the meet.
4. Remember, to arrive on time. If you sign up, show up and if you have to cancel, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator ASAP.
5. Friendly reminder, if you are not meeting your volunteer obligations you risk your swimmer not being able to participate in meets and practices. Reach out to the Volunteer Coordinator and/or Parent Rep if you have any concerns with meeting the required volunteer hours.

Here are some descriptions of the different volunteer positions:

Meet Set-up Helpers - Help with set-up before the meet starts. Put out cones, rope off areas, stack chairs, etc.

Concession Workers - Assist with stocking and passing out food. Pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, candy, etc.

Heat Winner - Gives lollipops or treats out to the winner in each heat.

Timer (We need a lot of timers!) - A fun, important job. You get to be right in the action. There are three timers per lane!

Head Timer - Deliver event/lane sheets to timers, make sure runner receives event sheets right after race. Operates two stopwatches and serves as a back-up in case lane timers miss the start.

Announcer - announces swimmers reporting to clerk of course and other announcements needed throughout the meet.

Clerk of Course Assistant - Organizes the swimmers in their heats and assists them to get in the right lane for their events.

Meet Runner - Great position for a youth volunteer. Picks up lane timer sheets from Timers and DQ cards from the Referee. Delivers sheets and cards to Table Workers.

Label Ribbons - 2nd half only position. Help organizing and labeling the winning ribbons.

Assistant Table Worker - Assists Head Table Worker in receiving, sorting, and recording deck cards and DQ cards from the Runners. Verifies meet ID's and provides information to computer workers. Helps label ribbons.

Meet Clean Up - Help clean up the supplies and put away all the equipment.

There are a few slots that are GRAL Certified Official positions. These are specialized volunteer jobs that require a small amount of additional training and are essential to the efficient running of our swim meets. We are always happy to have new parents become certified. An email went out recently, if you are interested in volunteering for a Certified position please contact Lindsay Wood, [email protected]. 

Thank you for your support this swim season!

Blair Wildauer 

[email protected]