Welcome Letter to Challenger 1 from Coach Rich

Good afternoon Parents & Swimmers,

I am excited to welcome you to the 2025-2026 Water Rat Swim Season. We have a talented group of swimmers in the Challenger 1 group, with the potential to achieve success. We will measure our success by our individual and collective improvement throughout the season. Our coaching staff believes that important lessons learned in swimming coincide with the most important lessons in life. We will promote good character and sportsmanship on a daily basis, while developing each swimmer’s skill and knowledge of the sport.

I was blessed to swim for the Water Rats from 1988-1996. The Water Rat program prepared me to excel at the national level and fostered a lifelong love of swimming. It is our goal that every swimmer in our program create a strong foundation in which they can build on to pursue their athletic and fitness goals in high school, college and beyond. In order to reach these goals, we must all bring a strong work ethic and positive attitude to practice each day. We must be great teammates and value opportunities to step into leadership.

The Challenger I group will focus on reinforcing the proper technique and mechanics of all four strokes. We will learn how to physically and mentally prepare for swim meets and racing opportunities. Practices will be designed to increase the level of interval training and aerobic work to prepare swimmers for the Senior level. It is crucial that all swimmers bring their equipment to practice on a daily basis.

Required Equipment:

Fins: any full length rubber training fins, (sporti floating fin, finis floating fin, TYR flex, etc.)

Snorkel: front-mount training snorkel, (NOT a diving snorkel) We recommend Finis Jr’s Swimmers Snorkel

Speedo Pull-Kick: SKU: 7530402/ Product Code: 32219

2 Pairs of Goggles (one pair as a backup)

Water bottle with water or sport drink

You can purchase all equipment at the website:  swimoutlet.com 

Attendance:

Swimmers are required to check in with the coach at the beginning of practice and check out with the coach at the end of practice. We do not have a formal attendance policy and we respect that our student-athletes have other responsibilities including family activities, school work, other sports, etc. With this in mind, we strongly encourage swimmers to attend as many practices and meets as possible in order to take full advantage of our program.

Health Related Issues:

Please email me directly to communicate if swimmers have any health-related issues such as allergies, asthma, illness, injuries, or any other issues that would hinder their participation.

I look forward to meeting and getting to know each of you over the next few months. It is an honor and a pleasure to be a mentor to these young swimmers, this season and in the years to come. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly.

Go Wrats!

Coach Rich Carter

c: 203-918-0582

E: [email protected]