Introduction
Welcome to Central Area Aquatic Team (CAAT). CAAT is a year-round swim club dedicated to providing swimming opportunities to members of our community in Seattle’s Central Area, and to all seeking a diverse, fun, challenging environment in which to learn and train. CAAT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is a member of USA Swimming and Pacific Northwest Swimming.
Interested in joining CAAT?
CAAT swims at the Medgar Evers Pool, next to Garfield High School, and new for this year we will also be swimming at Seattle University in the Connolly Center (located on 14th Ave and Cherry St.). We are very excited to have this additional pool space to accommodate our growth and to provide more practice time flexibility to our families. Swimmers range in age from 6-18 and compete at various levels at local and regional age group swim meets.
If you are interested in joining CAAT to compete or for fun, fitness, or technique development, please go to and click on the Home Page link “To Join CAAT”. Starting in September 2010, we will register all families online through our website, and we require automatic payment with a credit card or with bank electronic funds transfer for all payments.
CAAT Team Info & Communications
CAATprovides information electronically thru email and through our website, Almost any info you need about our team can be found there, including training schedules, training locations, contact information for coaches and others, calendars, and event information. Please visit this site often to keep up to date on team happenings.
Since email is the standard and primary mode of communications between the Board, coaches, swimmers and parents, please be sure to give us an active email address that you check often.This email address will also allow you access to your own online account on our webpage, and will allow you to sign up for meets, view your times and results, and even check the status of your bill.
Annual Meeting
CAAT holds an annual parent meeting every Fall to elect the board of directors, to review the budget, and to address any questions of parents. It is important to attend this meeting. The meeting this year will be held in conjunction with our Fall Party on October 13, 2010 (details to follow). This is a good opportunity to meet other parents, meet the coaches, learn about swim meets, arrange carpools, organize volunteer tasks for the year, elect board members for the new year, and express any concerns or compliments about team policies.
Coaching Staff
Head Coach Lisa Dahl joined theCAAT coaching staffin March 2009. Lisa has overall responsibility for the entire team and spends time with all training groups, but her primary focus is on the Age Group Competitive Groups (I, II and III). She has an accomplished career in competitive swimming as an athlete and coach. Lisa currently competes in masters water polo and swimming events. In addition to many achievements as an athlete, she has even set a world record in Masters swimming. With over 20 years experience as a coach, she has led swimmers at all levels from beginning age group swimmers to senior national qualifiers. Many of her athletes have achieved awards and recognition including local records, national top 16 rankings, and even a national age group record. Lisa focuses on excellent stroke work, self-respect, and positive group dynamics with her swimmers. She strives to create a fun and positive atmosphere where everyone is encouraged to have fun and swim with confidence and from internal desire.
Coach Alvin Barnes will be returning to coach primarily the Development Groups. Alvin has been working in aquatics for the nearly fifteen years as a age group swim coach, W.S.I. certified swim lesson instructor, as a Masters coach, as a dive coach, and as a lifeguard. Alvin swam for Garfield High School.
Coach Katie Dahl-Lomatewama joined CAAT in the Spring of 2009. She will be returning to assist primarily with CAATFish and Age Group Competitive Groups.
Practice Groups
CAAT swimmers are offered the following practice groups according to age, experience and swimming ability. Our philosophy for instruction:
“One CAAT, Many Swimmers”
Practice groups are offered to accommodate pre-competitive, fitness, and competitively focused swimmers.
New Swimmer Required Swim Evaluation Before Registration
The coaching staff will determine which group your child will swim with. For swimmers new to CAAT, a swim placement evaluation with a coach is required before registration can be finalized. Please contact the Registrar () or a Coach to schedule a tryout.
2010-2011 Season-Starting Swim Eval for Group Placement
Medgar Evers Pool
Tuesday September 7, 2010 4:00-4:30 PM
Wednesday September 8, 2010 4:00-4:30 PM
Other tryouts after the initial September tryout sessions above are scheduled by contacting the Head Coach. These are typically accomplished around instructional times at CAAT pools.
Pre-Competitive: “CAATFish”
Group Description: This is our entry level group targeted for ages 5-10 who are new to competitive swimming. The purpose of this group is to introduce swimmers to competitive swimming and for them to become comfortable in the water and to begin to learn and become proficient in all four competitive strokes. To make CAATfish easy on your family’s schedule, we offer 5 days of ‘CAATfish’ swimming a week and suggest that swimmers attend 2-3 days per week.
Instruction / Training: One-hour session offered 5 days per week. (sites and afternoon times TBD)
Suggested Participation: 2-3 days per week
Minimum Participation: none
Swim Meet Participation: No requirement, but available and encouraged if interested
Development/Fitness Program: Development I and II
This is our developmental program with offerings to a broad range of ages and skill levels. The distinction between the Development/Pre Comp groups and the Competitive Team is that the Development/Pre Comp groups are not required to attend swim meets. The distinction between Development and CAATFish is that the Development group swimmers will have more developed strokes and technique.
We offer two levels/ groups in the Development Program to serve various ages and skill levels: Group I (targeted for age 8-11) and Group II (targeted for age 11 and up). For registration purposes, these groups are roughly equivalent to Dolphin + Junior Fit (age ten and under) from 2009-2010, and Junior Fit (11+) and HS Fit from 2009-2010.
Group Description: Swimmers in these groups may be developing their strokes and skills with a goal of moving to the Competitive groups. Swimmers may also be in this group for fitness and stroke work with no goal of competing in meets. The major goals of this group are to learn and become proficient in all four competitive strokes and to learn the fundamentals of swimming competitively with legal execution of all four strokes, flip turns and starts. These groups will receive coaching and instruction in all strokes, learn flip turns and build fitness level.
Instruction / Training: One-hour session offered 5 days per week (Sites and afternoon times TBD).
Suggested Participation: 3-5 sessions per week (but no minimum number)
Swim Meet Participation: No requirement, but available and encouraged if interested
Competitive Team
CAAT has a competitive team available for swimmers of all ages who meet the requirements to join the competitive program. Swimmers on the Competitive Team are competent in all four strokes, can execute flip turns and have demonstrated their personal commitment to compete in swimming. The goals of the Competitive Team are to learn and refine advanced racing skills, train for competitive success at every level, and to compete in meets. The coaches will make the determination as to whether a swimmer is qualified for the Competitive Team or Development/Pre-Comp and will make the determination as to which Competitive Team is appropriate.
The Competitive Team currently has three groups:
Group I: generally ages 6-9
Group II: generally ages 9-11 and
Group III: generally 12 and older.
In many respects Competitive II and Competitive III will feel like a single group because they work out at the same time and do dry-land training (out-of-pool strengthening, conditioning and flexibility) together, but because older swimmers can tolerate more intense workouts, we have divided them into two groups and will provide age appropriate levels of intensity.
CAAT Coaches will select approximately 10 meets per year for the team to participate in as a group and swimmers on the Competitive Team will be expected to make every effort to attend these meets. For some of these meets the team will select only one of two weekend days for meets.
Group Description: Group I (Sharks) is a competitive group targeted for young swimmers aged 6-9 who are demonstrated competitive swimmers and know their strokes, starts and turns.
Instruction / Training: One hour sessions are offered Monday-Friday (5 days per week).
Suggested Participation: 2-3 days per week
Swim Meet Participation: expected
Group Description: Group IIis a competitive group, generally ages 9-11.
Instruction / Training: 1 ½ Hour sessions offered Monday through Friday (5 days per week). Additional dry-land training is offered 5:30-6:15 pm Monday through Thursday
Required Participation: minimum three (3) sessions per week with 4-5 sessions recommended per week.
Swim Meet Participation: expected
Group Description: Group III is a competitive group for swimmers, generally aged 12 and up.
Instruction / Training: 1 ½ Hour sessions offered daily Monday through Friday. Additional dry land training is offered 5:30-6:15 pm Monday through Thursday
Required Participation: minimum three (3) sessions per week is 3 with 4-5 sessions recommended per week.
Swim Meet Participation: expected
For returning families and swimmers, these competitive groups are roughly equivalent to Bronze, Silver and Gold groups, respectively. When you choose your child’s swim group during online registration, your choice will be verified with coaches before actual group assignment. Coaches ultimately determine into which groups swimmers are placed.
Swim Calendar, Registration Information and Policies
The CAAT 2010—2011 Swim Yearruns continuously from September to the end of July, with ten monthly billing sessions and a six-week summer bonus session which is free of charge as long as you pay for at least five months during the year. Summer sessions are held mostly at Medgar Evers Pool, but some outdoor (fifty-meter “Long Course” or LC) pool practices may be scheduled.
Medgar Evers pool will close for three weeks from September 20, 2010 for scheduled maintenance and will reopen October 11, 2010. We will utilize the Seattle University Pool at the Connolly Center and Lakeridge Swim Club Pool for all instruction and training during this closure. We will be establishing temporary training times during this period which may include some early evening times for some groups in order to accommodate all swimmers into the single facility. You will be notified on the website and by email as these schedules are finalized.
CAAT Registrationwill be accomplishedonline at starting August 16, 2010. There is a helpful, short training Webinar at our team site :
Scroll down the page to “Online Registration - A Parents Perspective” and click on the “VIEW WEBINAR” button. If you need to download the Adobe Plug-in, you will be prompted to do so. Please review the Webinar before attempting registration.
Certain important registration documents must also be completed:
- USA Swimming Registration Form (“PNS Form”) is required yearly by USA Swimming. It must be filled out completely and legibly, and is submitted to PNS (Pacific Northwest Swimming, our Local Swim Club or “LSC”) as a hardcopy by the Registrar after review. This form is available to download at the following link: . CAAT must register each swimmer with PNS/USA Swimming. Failure to register swimmers with the national and regional swimming organizations jeopardizes CAAT’s insurance coverage and puts CAAT at risk of receiving fines for unregistered swimmers competing at meets.
- Washington State Head Injury (Lystedt Law) Form is required by Washington State law effective July 2009 for all youth sports participants in Washington and for out-of-state youth participating in Washington State activities. A new form must be completed yearly. Both the parent/guardian AND the swimmer must sign and date. No swimmer is allowed to practice or compete without a completed form on file. This form is available to download at the following link:
- CAAT Medical Information Form assists coaches and pool personnel in understanding medical issues which may impact your swimmer’s experience, and assists first responders in the unlikely event of an emergency. It also helps CAAT on-deck personnel anticipate the needs of your swimmer, and may help inform the training plan.
These written forms cannot be completed with our online registration system. It is essential that CAAT receive these updated forms each year. CAAT anticipates running a “forms forum” during new swimmer placement assessments (please see above) where your downloaded, completed forms can be reviewed and collected by the Registrar and other CAAT personnel. Please watch your email for announcements.
Please contact the Team Registrar at if you are unable to complete registration online.
At the time of electronic registration, you may pay for your registrationonly by credit card (CC) in accordance with CAAT’s all-electronic payment policies. If you cannot pay by credit card, please contact the Registrar via email.
PAYMENT FOR ONGOING MOTHLY CHARGES AFTER REGISTRATION IS ACCOMPISHED THRU CAAT’S “AUTO-PAY SYSTEM”. YOU MUST ALSO SET UP AUTO-PAY AFTER RECEIVING REGISTRATION APPROVAL FROM THE REGISTRAR BY CLICKING ON THE “SET-UP AUTO PAY” LINK IN THE LEFT BORDER COLUMN ON OUR HOME PAGE. Only electronic forms of payment are accepted for monthly charges at CAAT. Electronic forms of payment are required to avoid added monthly handling and service charges associated with CAAT’s processing checks.
Our Team Unify electronic registration system only confirms successful completion of the required electronic information. It is not an authorization to swim. Authorization to swim occurs via email from the Registrar after coaches’ swim assessment and Registrar review of all registration materials.
Financial Obligations and Policies
Payment: CAAT is a volunteer organization. We rely on timely payment of your fees to compensate employees, pay bills, offer scholarships and create reserves recommended by USA Swimming. As the team has grown, timely receipt of payments owed to CAAT has become increasingly important. We will therefore switch to mandatory online electronic monthly invoice payments for the start of the 2010-2011 session. You may pay by submission of electronic funds transfer information (EFT) or credit card (CC) information. All sensitive account information is encrypted and cannot be accessed by CAAT.
If you are unable to submit an electronic payment for invoices (credit card or electronic funds transfer) you must contact the Team Registrar at . You will be assessed a service charge ($5.00) for each check submitted. These fees also apply to scholarship families.
****CAAT strongly encourages the use of electronic funds transfer over credit card payment****
**** Use of EFT results in substantially lower transaction costs, which helps hold fees down****
Once your information is entered, your electronic funds source will transfer your invoiced fees to CAAT automatically every month. Unless you contact the CAAT bookkeeper or Registrar to cancel at least 15 days prior to the next month, these transfers will continue every month and will not be refunded.
To enter your electronic payment information for invoices:
1) Have your credit card or bank account routing information handy
2) Sign In to
3) Under “My Account” at the left margin, click on “Setup Auto Pay”
4) Follow the simple instructions
5) You will receive a “success” message at the end of the process, but remember your swimmers are not authorized to swim until you receive an email notification from the Registrar.
Billing: families’ bills are generated on the 21st of each month and email notification is given soon thereafter. Payment is due by the second week of the session (electronic payment methods discussed below assure this will happen). If payment is not received by the second week of the session, the swimmer(s) will be removed from practices until the account is settled. If there is a second occurrence of late payment the family’s membership in CAAT may be voided, with no return of any payments or fees.