Hello Tideriders!

The folks behind the scenes are working hard to prepare for this upcoming season! With that said, we have a few announcements and will be updating as we progress towards our First Practice/Parents meeting scheduled for May 28th.

First, we want to give a huge WELCOME to our North Hampton families! The North Hampton Pool is experiencing some challenges opening this season and although we are sad that the pool is unable to host the swim team, we are excited that several families will be joining us here at the ELE Pool. We have thoroughly enjoyed partnering with North Hampton in the last few swim seasons and we feel honored that they have chosen our pool and team.  

Second, we have a few updates for our Coaching Staff. We are welcoming back Bonnie Ketterman and Sophia Harris. We are also thrilled to announce Jason Vance as the newest member of the coaching staff.  Bonnie and Jason will be Co-Head coaches this season, working together to create a fun but challenging experience for our swimmers. Sophia returns as an Assistant Coach, working closely with Bonnie and Jason. We will offer an official introduction in the upcoming week but wanted to give you a quick update with the coaching teams background.

Bonnie has been swimming for GPSA for 13 years and is on her 15th year with the Tideriders. Bonnie has held the following positions- volunteer Jr Coach, Asst Coach and Coach/Manager.

Jason has been swimming for GPSA for 13 years and was a Coach with the North Hampton team during the 2023 season.

Sophia is entering her 4th year on the team, and her second year of coaching!

We are looking for Volunteer Jr. Coaches to help with our younger or less experienced swimmers in the pool. If you have a swimmer or know someone that would be interested, please reach out to myself or Victoria (757-706-4850).  This is a great way to earn school volunteer credits.

Finally, I will be officially stepping back as the Manager and passing the torch on to James and Vanessa Smeltzer. For those of you that know the Smeltzer's, this should come as no surprise. Thank you to James and Vaness for doing so much for the team in the past seasons, you both have been such amazing supporters of the team and our swimmers!!! I will still be around helping to launch the 2024 season so don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

One more note, we will be offering morning and evening practices to help with family scheduling conflicts! The new schedule will be-

May 28th-June 14th-

all evening practices from 6-7pm

June 17th - July 25th -

Mornings / Tue, Wed and Thur 7:30-9am

Evenings / Mon, Tue, Thur 6-7pm

More to come!

Laura Ketterman

757-478-6552