ONT HANDBOOK

 

Welcome to all new and returning swimmers and their families!

The Oakhurst North Torpedoes Swim Team is a recreational swim team, providing a safe, fun, summer sport for the children of the Oakhurst North Subdivision. The swim team is open to children ages 5-18 with basic swimming ability and a desire to learn. 

The Oakhurst North Torpedoes is a member of the Trident Swim Conference, a group of 6 teams participating in dual meets throughout the summer season. 

The swim season will begin with practices commencing after the pool opens on Memorial Day and will conclude with the End of Season Celebration scheduled shortly after the Gold Meet. Our season typically includes a time trial, 8 dual meets, a last chance meet, if needed, and the Silver and Gold Championship Meets.

 

Our Mission

The mission of the Oakhurst North Torpedoes Swim Team is to create and maintain a neighborhood swim team supported by the Oakhurst North Homeowners Association and the Trident Swim Conference that will provide the opportunity for:

• Oakhurst North children swim on a neighborhood team that promotes fun, friendly competition, and camaraderie with their friends in their subdivision.
• The children improve their swim strokes in an environment where support, respect, and courteous behavior are modeled, encouraged, and expected.
• Every swimmer has the chance to succeed both individually and in a team format, which helps build self-esteem and confidence.  
• Every swimmer to understand and appreciate the sport of swimming better.
• Oakhurst North parents to support their children’s athletic endeavors, network with current friends, and meet new ones.
   

Eligibility Requirements

Swimmers are divided by age group according to their age as of June 1st of the current year. Age groups at a meet are divided as follows: 

 

All children who can swim one length of the pool without assistance are eligible to participate. While we are a recreational swim team with swimmers of all abilities, we are nevertheless a competitive swim team, not a learn-to-swim program. If your child can swim one length of the pool without assistance, we’ll be able to make him/her a better swimmer and teach them some of the different competitive strokes. For safety reasons, if your child does not know how to swim and cannot swim one length of the pool unassisted, we recommend you enroll him/her in the swimming lessons offered by the pool or in the community.

Coaches may opt to have swimmers join the Little Torpedoes swim group.

• Little Torpedoes are for children 8 years old and under who can swim halfway across the pool either freestyle or backstroke, or even both. These swimmers can compete in home meets in EXHIBITION HEATS. They can still use kickboards or swim with a High School helper until they can finally cross the pool without any form of assistance. Once they can do it, they will advance to TORPEDOES. With the coaches' approval, they can sign up for away meets.  

Registration & Fees

Team registration opens on April 13, 2026 for both returning and new swimmers. Registration ends May 29, 2026. After this date, swimmers may register but will be charged a $50 late fee, All fees are due by June 3rd.

All information required for the ONT swim season is available on the Oakhurst North Torpedoes website www.ontswim.com. 

The swim team board sets the fees to cover the costs of operating the team. This year, the registration fee is $185.00 per swimmer ($250.00 per non-resident swimmer), and the $5.00 online registration fee is included. However, if the registered family has decided to withdraw within the first week of the official start of the season, a full refund will be issued MINUS the $5.00 online regsitration/administration fee which is included in the fee. The fee does not go to our swim team. It is the SportsEngine policy. It is the fee they collect from us for each registration.

We also require each family a $100 volunteer check, payable to "Oakhurst North Torpedoes". More details under "Parent's Responsibilities"

There will be a Parent Informational Day in April in the Oakhurst North Clubhouse for those new and returning to the swim team.  This will provide an opportunity to learn about swim team membership and family worker responsibilities as well as ask any questions about the team.  Members of the coaching staff and the swim team board will be in attendance. 

 

Refund Policy

A full refund will be issued to the swimmer:

• who withdraws from the swim team before the Time Trials.  
• if fails to qualify for the swim team.
• needs to withdraw due to documented medical conditions. A written proof from a healthcare provider is required

After the time trials, refund requests will be reviewed by the ONT Swim Team board on an individual basis. 

No refunds will be issued for voluntary withdrawal after the first week of practice.

Swimsuits & Apparel

All swimmers are encouraged to wear team swimsuits and team swim caps during swim meets.  Goggles are also strongly recommended.  Although this is not mandatory, it encourages team spirit and unity, plus it makes it easier for coaches and parents to recognize our swimmers. Club suits and caps should not be worn as they do not represent the Oakhurst North Torpedoes.  Suits and apparel will be communicated on the website along with timing for placing orders before the season.  

 

Practice Times

Regular practices are held Monday through Friday in the mornings before the pool opens to residents. Times are listed on the website, in the Practice Schedule menu. Swimmers are encouraged to attend as many practices as possible, as improvement in technique and times is strongly linked to regular attendance.  If school is still in session, practices will be in the evening/after school hours, and a schedule will be posted on the website.

• Swimmers should arrive 5-10 minutes before practice time to warm up and be ready in their lane to swim at their practice time. If worn, a swim cap and goggles should be on before entering the water, to make the most out of your workout time.
• Please exit the pool promptly when your practice is over, so as not to delay the next group's practice.
• Practices are held rain or shine. Practice in the pool will be canceled if there is a thunderstorm in the area, or if the air temperature is below 60 degrees F.  Coaches may still have swimmers come to the pool wearing tennis shoes and warm clothing so that dry land training activities can be done outside of the water. A coach will be present or a sign will be posted outside of the swimmer's entrance to the Oakhurst North pool if practice is canceled due to weather, and sent out via electronic communication.
   

 

Help sessions will be available, outside practice hours, by arrangement with our coaching staff for an additional fee.

 

Torpedoes Time Trial

The Torpedoes Time Trial is a practice intrasquad meet before the competitive season begins, in which every swimmer is timed on every stroke. Results from the time trials give the coaches an idea of each swimmer’s ability level and help them determine your child’s practice placement. This also establishes a base time for each swimmer to gauge his/her improvement throughout the season. It’s also a great way for the parents to practice running a meet.   

 

Meets and Swimmer Check-In

Swimmers are required to be at each meet one hour before the start time.  A check-in volunteer is assigned to check in swimmers during home meets. Each swimmer must check in with the Head Coach in away meets.

Swim Meet Starting Times

Tuesday & Thursday Evenings Home Meets                                              

Check-in starts at 5:30 pm                                                              

Warm-ups begin at 5:45 pm                                                           

Meet starts at 6:30 pm                                                                 

 

Ribbons

Ribbons are awarded at every dual swim meet to swimmers in first to sixth place.  Swimmers receive their ribbons at the morning practice following the swim meet. Swimmers should look in the file boxes for their ribbons. Note: Championship meets will have different award standards. For example, only the top 8 receive awards.

  

Silver Championship Meet

Swimmers, aged 12 and under, who have not qualified for the Gold Championship Swim Meet or who do but choose not to swim in the Gold Championship Meet, may NOT swim in the Silver Championship Meet for any events. Swimmers are required to participate in at least three (3) meets (home or away, and Time Trial is excluded) to qualify for the Silver Championship Meet, which will be held on the Thursday before the Gold Championship Meet. This championship meet is a team-hosted meet. Many swimmers qualify for awards, and it is an exciting way to end the swim season. Please try to arrange your schedule so that your swimmer can attend this important event. 

Parents are responsible for working a job at this meet if their child is swimming.   

 

Gold Championship Meet

All swimmers aged 13 and older, and those swimmers aged 5-12 who have a top 3 time in an event, AND have competed in a minimum of 3 DUAL MEETS, in at least one (1) away meet (Time Trial and Intrasquad/Last Chance meets are excluded) are eligible to compete in the Gold Championship Meet which will be held on the Saturday after the 4th of July.  At the Gold Meet, swimmers are eligible to swim in individual events in which they have achieved a top 3 time, and additionally, may compete in relay events in any stroke at the coach’s discretion.  A swimmer who has participated in the Silver Meet may swim in the Gold Meet at the coach’s discretion, but only as a member of a relay team. 

Parents have a responsibility to work a job at this meet if their child is swimming. 

 

Swim Meet Rules and Regulations

All swimmers, parents/volunteers, officials, and coaches will be governed under the Trident Conference Bylaws.  

• There is to be no running, shoving, jumping, or any other inappropriate behavior during the meet. Pushing anyone into the pool is strictly prohibited.
• Water slide pools, zero-depth areas of the main pool, ponds, retention areas, or any other pools are strictly off-limits to all swimmers and spectators. All swimmers should remain near their team area.  In the event of a change to the line-ups, the coaches should be able to find you easily at all times.
• Lifeguards and/or coaches should be notified in case of emergency.
• A member of the coaching staff from each team must be poolside during warm-ups to maintain control and safety. Warm-up guidelines must be adhered to. Diving is permitted only during designated times and in designated lanes.  Feet-first entry to the pool is required at all other times.
• Food is allowed in designated areas only. There is no clean-up staff, so everyone needs to do their part in clean-up.
• Swimmers with shoulder-length hair or longer are required to have their hair secured and off the face.
• The use of any recording devices, including voice recording, still camera, or video is prohibited in the locker room, changing areas, and from the blocks when swimmers are in the starting position or exiting the pool
• Have fun and always do your best.

 

Bad Weather

• If lightning is visible during a meet, any adult should bring it to the referee’s attention. The referee is then incumbent upon clearing the pool for a minimum of 15 minutes. At Oakhurst North home meets, the referee will clear the pool for 30 minutes.  If there is no lightning or thunder during that time, the referee may resume the meet.
• In the case of the above weather, swimmers will be directed to immediately clear the water and everyone should clear the pool deck and seek shelter in the locker rooms or their vehicle.  Please follow the directions of the referee and the pool staff/guards. Do not remain on the hill area or in tents, and for the safety of everyone, please do not use umbrellas.  Please do not leave the meet until it is called off.  If a meet resumes after a weather delay, swimmers must be prepared to swim the original schedule.
   

 

***REMEMBER SAFETY COMES FIRST***

 

Disqualification

Swimmers can be disqualified in any event for start, stroke and touch-turn, and finish violations.  If a swimmer is disqualified in an event, the time does not count as an official meet time, and the swimmer does not qualify for an award for that event.  When an official notes a disqualification, he/she will fill out the information regarding the reasons for disqualification and raise the card to notify runners for collection.  Note that all references are event, heat, and lane assignments. Officials do not have access to lane assignment sheets and swimmer names during the meet.

Disqualification is common in the early age groups, especially in Butterfly and Breaststroke, and especially at the beginning of the season.  Please inform your new swimmers that disqualification is part of the learning process.  Every swimmer has been disqualified at some point in his or her career.

Sometimes, officials do not see a stroke infraction. and the swimmer is not disqualified.

Swimmers can also be disqualified or removed from a meet for sportsmanship and behavior infractions.  Coaches and meet officials can evict swimmers for these offenses.  

For 8 & Under only, there will be no disqualifications for the first (2) dual meets of the season.  Warning of violations by swimmers will be given to the coaches in a STANDARDIZED DQ card identifying the violated stroke and/or turn rule but not input into the computer. Disqualifications for 8 & under will occur at the third scheduled dual meet and all subsequent meets of the season. This rule will take effect 2025 season.

 

Meet Attendance 

Summer is a time to take family vacations, and many families are involved in other activities besides swimming.  Thus, we ask you to check your calendars and indicate your availability to attend each dual meet.  You will be required to indicate your availability for each meet online at www.ontswim.com, by signing in and visiting the Events page. Each event will have an “Edit Commitment” or "Attend/Decline" button with which you can change either “yes” or “no” for your swimmer’s attendance.  We understand children become ill or other things come up, so we request that any changes within 5 days of a meet be communicated to the head coach as soon as possible.  If the meet declaration has passed, we cannot add any more swimmers. This has been the rule from the very start and there will be no exceptions. Please commit your athletes promptly.

 

Other Activities

The social committee is busy planning many exciting events.  Please check the website to see what is planned for this season.
 

Parents’ Responsibilities

We are all here for the benefit of our kids; they are the heart of the team. However, it is the parents who keep it going. It takes approximately 40 parents to run a home meet and 15-16 parents to run an away meet. It is the parents’ responsibility to work their assigned jobs. Without you, the meet cannot happen. 

Parents with children under 13 must be present with their children at the meets. Drop-offs are not allowed. The Board and Coaches are not responsible for children under 13 left at the meets unsupervised.

This year, worker sign-up will again occur online at www.ontswim.com.  Please watch your email for details of this process.

If for any reason you are unavailable to work, it is your responsibility to trade with another family. If you are not going to be on time for the meet due to work responsibilities please find a substitute until you can arrive. If you have traded with another worker, please notify the job/worker coordinator as soon as possible, and when checking in at the meet as a sub, state who you are subbing for to avoid the originally scheduled person being held responsible for a no-show.  

If your child swims in a championship meet (Silver or Gold) you will be required to work a job for that meet.

If your substitute does not check in and let the check-in person know about the substitution, the responsibility falls back to you, the original person scheduled.

If your child is not able to swim in a meet in which you are scheduled to work due to illness or otherwise, you are still responsible for finding a replacement. No exceptions! 

We will charge each family a $100 deposit, in addition to registration fees, at swimmer registration. If you fail to work one of your assigned jobs, without finding a replacement, we will cash the $100 check as a penalty. WE WANT YOU TO WORK YOUR ASSIGNED JOB; WE DO NOT WANT TO CASH YOUR CHECK. Deposit checks that have not been cashed will be destroyed at the end of the Silver and Gold meets. If the check deposit is cashed, we require the family to replenish it ASAP or ONT may disallow the swimmer's participation in the next meet and will notify the family. (Every missed job will cost each family a $100 Volunteer Check). This allows time for the family to sign up for a job and rectify the situation. 

PLEASE NOTE: It is your prerogative not to commit your swimmers to any meets. HOWEVER, families are still REQUIRED to do the number of required jobs in a regular season. No exceptions!  Our job/worker coordinator will work with you to fulfill your required jobs. Please see WORKER POLICY/VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT that you agreed upon during team registration.

All Committee Volunteers have become a yearly tradition that we want to keep alive. We want to make the season fun and memorable for our swimmers, and we need your help to make this possible! All families must sign up for, at least, one (1) committee, either a committee lead or committee helper. If you are not signed up, the volunteer committee will assign one for you. This year, Committee Volunteers sign-up is online. Please go to the MEETS / EVENTS tab and click Job SignUp on the COMMITTEE VOLUNTEER ONLINE SIGN-UP 

 

Oakhurst North Torpedoes Worker Job Descriptions

With a team as large as ours, we need many volunteers to run a meet successfully Currently, each family is required to volunteer for five jobs throughout the season. If a parent cannot fulfill their obligation, they are required to find a replacement. 

All volunteers are expected to sign in at the Oakhurst North Torpedoes worker sign-up table one hour prior to the start of the meet. Some jobs, however, require workers to arrive early or stay late. Committee Chairs will notify parents of any special time requirements.  Below is a brief description of what each job entails. 

Timer 

Timers stand behind their assigned lane and record swimmers’ times in that lane. Workers use a stopwatch to record the time, check to make sure the swimmer is in the correct event and lane, and then give the time to the runners. Timers must attend a poolside Timer meeting 15 minutes before the start of the meet.

Runner 

Runners collect the timer sheets and DQ cards from the timers after each event. Promptly deliver cards to the computer/scoring table. Runners must attend a poolside Runner meeting 15 minutes before the start of the meet.

Official 

Officials monitor the swimmer’s strokes, detect false starts, and determine proper turns and touches. Workers must attend an official training clinic before the swim season.

While poolside, officials note any disqualifications by raising their hand & completing a swimmer DQ card. Officials must attend a poolside Officials meeting 15 minutes before the start of the meet. While working at meets, Officials should wear the official uniform of a white shirt with khaki pants or shorts. 

Concessions & Hospitality 

Concessions workers may be assigned to take and serve food and drink orders, prepare orders, or grill entrée items. You may also be asked to help set up the concessions area before the start of the meet and help clean up at the end. Hospitality workers provide water to timers, runners, computer table workers, coaching staff, announcers, and officials during the meets.

Set-up/Breakdown

Workers arrive 1½ hours before the start of the meet to set up equipment. For the 5:30 pm week-day meet starts, workers must arrive at 4:00 pm. 

IF for any reason, a makeup meet is needed, it is normally held on Saturdays. For the 8:30 am Saturday meet starts, workers must arrive at 7:00 am. Workers must also stay late, after the meet ends, to put away equipment. Set-up equipment includes Tables, chairs, umbrellas, flags, timing plungers, etc.

Ribbons 

Ribbons workers at home meets affix labels onto swimmers’ ribbons and then file them into the swimmers’ folders. Ribbon workers at away meets work the morning after the away meet. The work is the same as the home meet work but is conducted during morning practice the day after the away meet, at the Ashbury pool. For Saturday away meets, the Ribbon worker must work the Monday morning after that meet.

Bullpen 

Bullpen workers will be assigned duties & obtain heat sheets from the Clerk of Course (Committee Chairperson). Bullpen workers line up swimmers according to their event & take swimmers to starting blocks.

Scorers

Scorers remain near the computer/scoring table, gathering DQ cards from runners, and sorting and separating those cards into teams. Scorers record the results following each race and track the team scores. Scorers circle the official time, attach DQ cards to the back of the timer sheets, and write the team and swimmer’s name on the back of the DQ card. Scorers work with computer personnel to review timing sheets.

*Bag Tags

This job is only available when a Swim Team sponsor has provided bag tags. Bag tag workers will be at the edge of the pool observing the 1stplace finisher and hand in a bag tag to the heat winner.  (Bag tags are NOT handed out to relay winners). Home meets only.

Coach Communication

Many of you may have questions regarding your child’s swim team experience throughout the summer. The coaches are more than happy to discuss any concerns or questions you may have. Please use these guidelines for communication:

• Email the Head Coach (see website for email address)
• Speak directly to the coach after scheduled practices
   

If you need to communicate with any of the coaches, please do not do it while they are on the deck coaching. Their responsibility is to the age group in the water at the time. This is not only from a coaching standpoint but also a safety issue.

During practices, all parents /nannies / siblings MUST remain off the pool deck and within the gated concession area to not distract coach communication with the swimmers. (You do not have to stay for practice; this is only for the parents that are staying).  This is also a safety requirement from the Homeowners Association.

Please do not speak with the coaches before or during the meet.  If you have a problem that is not being resolved, please contact a Board member.

 

Website & Other Communication

The ONT website is your direct link to the Torpedoes swim team. The website contains all the information you will need to have an enjoyable swim season, including such information as: Pool Locations and Directions, Frequently Asked Questions, and more.  All swim families will be issued passwords for the website.  These passwords will allow us to protect the privacy of our swimmers and families from the general public.  Families will be required to sign in to view meet entries, results, and any photographs. Please check the Torpedoes website often for valuable information and updates: www.ontswim.com.

E-mail and the Band App will be used extensively to provide up-to-the-minute information to swim families.  Emails will be sent about practice changes, meet cancellations, social activities, and much more.  Please make sure to provide accurate email information in your registration – your email address also acts as your ID for the team website.  In addition, both the coaches and board will be readily available via email.

Family File: Soon after practices begin, there will be files for each family at the pool. These files are typically out the day after each dual meet and placed in the team’s mailbox. It is the family’s responsibility to check your file for flyers, results, and/or ribbons from the previous meet(s).