Hello Barracudas!!

We are so excited for another summer of swimming! You are receiving this email because you were on the team last year. We hope this is a helpful guide if your child or children plan to swim this year. Please forward to anyone who is interested in joining the Barracudas this summer as well. 

This is an introductory email, which is not conclusive, but meant to give you all preliminary information ahead of a fun summer.

Registration for summer 2026 should also open in the next two weeks. In the meantime, here is a lot of great information to get you started:

County AND Barracuda registration: Registering for the Barracudas is a TWO STEP process.

- First, register with Montgomery County, which opens registration in mid May (We will send out another notice when registration opens.)

• The Montgomery County dues are expected to be around $200 per swimmer, which goes directly to the country.

- Second, register with the Bethesda Barracudas.

- It is CRITICAL that you complete both steps before you practice with the team or swim in meets. We will notify you shortly on ways to pay the Bethesda dues.

• The Bethesda Barracuda fees will be $85 (the same prices as last year) for the first and second swimmers and $80 for the third and fourth swimmers of the same sibling family. 
• These fees include: A team t-shirt, latex team cap; a team photo; weekly theme night pool activities, such as tie-die night, Olympics night, etc.; theme meet props; the banquet, including food and awards; and other odds and ends like donuts and popsicles, etc. The fees are to ensure that your swimmer(s) have a fun, spirited summer.

Detailed instructions for both steps are on the home page of the Bethesda Barracudas website.

Volunteering: The Barracudas requires every parent to volunteer. We are looking to build up our ranks of consistent volunteers to make the team run more smoothly.

Please use this Sign Up Genius to fill out your interest and would like to learn more. (This does not mean you are locked in, but just that you are interested.)

-- Officials: We are always looking to teach more parents to officiate our meets. This year we need to train several new Stroke and Turn Judges. We have an experienced group of officials with experience in summer and year-round swimming to help new officials learn the basics of officiating. Your help makes the summer fun possible. We cannot run meets without officials. Please reach out to Curt Hastings at [email protected] if interested. The officials clinics are mainly before the season, so please reach out early.

- An A meet concession coordinator and a B meet concession coordinator: This person would be in charge of organizing volunteers and concessions for each home meet. There are 3 home A and three home B meets this season.

- Banquet coordinator: This person helps to organize food and activities for the end-of-summer banquet. Planning usually starts early July.

- B Rep: We have two wonderful B reps---Katarina and Andria---but are looking for a third. This position helps to organize the home B meets and communicates with the opposing team during away B meets.

- Spirit coordinator: A person who coordinates theme weeks and keeps the spirit high!

- Awards coordinator: Someone who participates in and coordinates the ribbon writing for A and B meets.

- Apparel: Designs the BE t-shirt each year and manages the BE store,

Team Store: Our team store is up and running! You can purchase team suits, silicon caps, hoodies, pajama pants and more. Please note, the deadline to order personalized silicon caps is May 15. 

Important dates: PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE A FEW MEET SCHEDULE CHANGES

- May 15-ish: Registration opens with the county and Barracudas

- May 26: New swimmer evaluation

- May 26: Parent meeting MANDATORY

- May 27: First practices

- May 29: New swimmer make-up evaluation

- June 6: Time Trials and Team Photo

- June 10: Blue vs White B Meet at Bethesda

- June 13: First A Meet vs Glenwood

- June 17: Second B Meet vs Chevy Chase Recreation Association

- June 20: Second A Meet at River Falls

- June 27: Third A Meet vs Darnestown

- July 1: Fourth B Meet at Glenmont

- ******July 2: A Meet 5P -- 9P: Fourth A Meet at Flower Valley. PLEASE NOTE THE DATE AND DAY CHANGE DUE TO THE JULY 4 HOLIDAY.

- July 8: Fifth B Meet vs Rockville

- July 11: Fifth A Meet vs Mohican

- July 22: Team Banquet

Additional dates for swimmers who qualify

- *****July 5: Division B Relay Carnival at Darnestown THERE WILL BE A LATER START DUE TO THE JULY 4 HOLIDAY (10 AM)

- July 18: Division B Division Championship at River Falls 7A -- 12N

- July 25: MCSL All Star Relays Section I at Rockville Swim and Fitness Center 7A - 9A

- July 26: MCSL Individual All Stars at Rockville Swim and Fitness Center 8A - 12N

Please contact any of the team reps if you have a questions. We are looking forward to a fun summer!

A reps: Jennifer, Curt and Leigh Ann

B reps: Andria and Katarina (and you?)