Welcome to the 2026 Season Otters!!
Hello Otter Families! Please read this email carefully.
On behalf of the Thousand Oaks Otters Swim Team Board, we would like to welcome you to the 2026 summer swim season!
A schedule of our meets, practices, and events can be found on our website at www.thousandoaksotters.com under the Meets & Events tab. We also encourage every family to join our Facebook group – Thousand Oaks Otters Group for quick updates on a daily/weekly basis.
COACHES
- Head Coach: Doug Delay
- Assistant Coach: Kyle Martin
- Assistant Coach: Drew Delay
- Assistant Coach: Zella Berberich
- Athlete Coaches assist with 3rd and 4th practices
PARENT MEETINGA meeting for parents will be held at the Otters Pool (6620 N Nevada Ave., Kansas City, MO 64152) on Thursday, May 21st at 6:00 pm. Our coaches and board members will be present to answer any questions and share a lot of good information about the season. This is a great opportunity for new families! If you are a returning family, you are also welcome if you are interested in attending.
PRACTICE
First day of practice in the water is Tuesday, May 26th. Practice group are as follows -
1st Practice: 7:30 - 9:15 am
This practice is for swimmers ages 13 & up. The focus of this practice is endurance swimming with minor attention to stroke development.
2nd Practice: 9:15 - 10:30 am
This practice is for swimmers ages 11 – 12. The focus of this practice is primarily endurance swimming but will include stroke development.
3rd Practice: 10:15 - 11:15 am
This practice is for swimmers ages 9 – 10. The focus of this practice is endurance swimming and stroke development.
4th Practice: 11:00 am – 11:45 am
This practice is for swimmers ages 8 & under. The focus of this practice is primarily stroke development but will include endurance swimming. Each week the Coaches will determine if a child is ready to compete in a swim meet and which swim strokes they will swim.
Please send your child to the practice group for their current age. For returning families, please send your child to the practice group for their current age unless your child was specifically assigned to a different group last year. The coaches will evaluate swimmers during the first two weeks of practice and may make changes based on ability and group size.
PUPS
The program will be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday each week starting June 15th through the week of July 6th. The Pups practice is for 30 minutes each day, and the times will be 10:00-10:30 am or 10:30-11:00 am. Pups’ parents you should have received an email regarding which practice your swimmer is assigned.
COMMUNICATION
We use email, Facebook and text messages to communicate with the team. If you have not already joined our Facebook page, please go to Thousand Oaks Otters Group and request to join. To join the Facebook page, you will need to answer two questions: 1) the name of your swimmer (just one if you have multiple swimmers) and 2) the name of the pool, which is Otters.
When the weather gets bad, please watch for an email, text or message on the Facebook page. If practice is ever canceled due to rain or bad weather, a message will be posted on Facebook and an email will be sent letting you know practice has been canceled. If you do NOT get an email or see a message posted, assume practice is still scheduled. Sometimes, practice will be going, and then the coaches will send the kids home early because the weather gets bad during practice. Please plan to be there for your child or make arrangements for them if weather looks questionable.
VOLUNTEERING & CONCESSION DONATIONS
We need many volunteers to run successful meets and events throughout the season. Each family is required to volunteer a minimum of 12 hours each summer. You can sign up for volunteer jobs on the Meets & Events tab on our website one week prior to each meet. You will receive an email from either our Director of Volunteers, John Perry, or our Volunteer Coordinator, Amber Bettis.
All families are asked to donate water, soda or Gatorade to be used for hospitality at the meets. You may bring items to the Parent Meeting on Thursday, May 21st. Or please bring your items to practice by June 3rd before our first meet.
A-J: Case of bottled water
K-Q: 12 pack of 20 oz Gatorade
R-Z: 12 pack of soda (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Fanta Orange, or Root Beer)
MEETS
The first meet is the Mock (Red and Black) meet on Thursday, June 4th. This is a great opportunity for swimmers to have fun and new families to experience how meets run. Please visit our website for the schedule of all of our meets - https://www.thousandoaksotters.com/swim_meets. Instructions on how to declare your swimmers for a meet will be sent out closer to our Mock (Red and Black) meet.
20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONThis year the Otter's Swim Team is celebrating 20 years with a fun Alumni Meet Party and everyone past and present is invited! Please see information with the provided Facebook and Instagram links.We have a lot of helpful information on our team website under the Information, Meets & Events and Practice tabs.
If you have any questions, feel free to email a board member. Board email addresses can be found on the website at https://thousandoaksotters.swimtopia.com/board-of-directors.
We are looking forward to a great season!
We appreciate your patience and grace as we work with multiple organizations, teams, and departments to make the upcoming swim season a success.
We are looking forward to a great season!
Thank you and GO OTTERS!!
Thousand Oaks Otters Swim Board