Any Samena Club member in good standing who meets the following requirements may join.

* Must be at least 5 years old.

* Must have a minimum proficiency in each of the four swimming strokes: freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke.

* Must, as a family, be willing to volunteer to help with swim meets, or be willing to pay additional fees to cover costs.

Swim team is not a substitute for swim lessons. Swimmers who have completed lessons through Intermediate II are best-prepared for swim team. If a new swimmer hasn't completed these lessons but thinks he or she is ready for swim team, there are swim team tryouts for new swimmers immediately before the swim team information meeting held at Samena in May.

The swim team information meeting, held at Samena, is the kick-off event for the swim season. The meeting is the first opportunity to meet coaches, parent reps, volunteer committee chairpersons, and is a great way to get answers to your questions.

Parents or guardians of swim team members attend the information meeting to receive an introduction to the season, receive the swim team handbook, sign up swimmers, and pay swim team fees. The meeting lasts about an hour.

Volunteer committee chairpersons will have sign-up sheets and can answer questions about volunteer tasks. Volunteering is an essential part of making Samena swim team possible, be prepared to sign up for a volunteer position.

Team apparel, such as sweatshirts and t-shirts, are available and can be ordered at the parent information meeting. Team swimsuits are sold by Sylvia's Swimwear and can be purchased at Samena before the information meeting.

If you cannot make the swim team information meeting, copies of the Samena Swim Team Application form and the Participant Medical Information form will be available at the Samena front desk. Contact the Samena office (425-746-1160) or the team parent reps at SamenaSwimTeam for additional information.

Swimmers who are new to Samena swim team must attend the swim team tryouts held at Samena immediately before the swim team information meeting.

Swimmers will be asked to show that they can swim the four strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) and that they can swim the strokes some minimal distance, such as the length of the pool. Coaches will observe each swimmer and determine whether he or she is ready for swim team.

Tryouts are not a timed event. Swimmers should focus on demonstrating how well rather than how fast they can swim. Swimmers need to bring swim suits, goggles and caps (if needed) and be ready to be in the water promptly.

The kickoff event for the season is the swim team information meeting and swim team tryouts. Daily after-school workouts start at the beginning of June and the first dual meet of the season is the second or third Tuesday in June.

There are five weeks of dual swim meets and one week of championship meets. All swim meets conclude by the end of July. Check the meet schedule for days and locations.

To prepare for the first meet, daily workouts begin before schools let out for the summer. This means during the early part of the season, workouts are held each weekday after school. Once the Bellevue public schools let out for the summer, workouts are moved to the morning.

Because there is limited time for workouts, all swimmers need to be ready to get into the pool at their appointed workout time. Plan to come to workouts to work hard and improve your stroke, stay positive and have fun.

Parents should avoid talking to the coaches during workouts. If a question or problems arise, please contact the parent reps. If you must talk to a coach do so before or after workouts.

Time trials are held over two nights the week before the dual meets start. They give the coaches baseline times for determining the dual meet line-ups, and give the swimmers a chance to practice starts, strokes, and turns in a competitive way before the actual meets begin.

The trials are run like a regular swim meet, except there are no relays or individual medley events. All swimmers swim every stroke (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) and times are recorded for each swimmer.

Time trials for 8 & Under and 10 & Under age groups are typically on Tuesday and all other age groups the next day. Time trials warm ups begin at 5 p.m. and events start at 5:30 p.m. Check the meet schedule for the date of the time trials for the season.

Organizing and running swim meets takes the time and effort of many people therefore the swim team relies on the support of volunteers. Volunteer tasks range from timing the events to preparing and selling food at the concession stand. Although most jobs are best suited to swim team parents and other adults, some jobs can be done by older swimmers. Check the volunteer positions list for descriptions of the various tasks.

The volunteer requirement per family is five sessions, about 10 total hours depending on the task or tasks. You can mix and match volunteer tasks to make your requirement. For example, doing two concession sessions and three timing sessions over the course of the season will satisfy the requirement. Keep track of your volunteer sessions and report them by the end of the season.

Important: If you and your family absolutely cannot volunteer your time, you must pay an additional fee (as stated in the swim team registration form). If you complete some volunteer sessions but cannot complete all five, you will still be assessed the full fee amount.

In the late 1930's, various public beaches in the Seattle area first began competitive swimming on a recreational level. Most of these competitions were restricted to "males only", but the fairer sex was allowed to compete in sidestroke races. The first trace of the Midlakes Swim League occurred in 1954, when the Mercer Island Beach Club entered the King County Beach League. The annual championships were held at Pete's Pool (more like a small lake than a pool) in Enumclaw. Things changed rapidly in the 1950's as Eastside communities began to grow and build pools.

After two years in the Seattle Summer Swim League, the Eastside teams (including Samena, Phantom Lake, Newport Hills, Mercerwood, Mercer Island Beach Club, Edgebrook, Triangle and Norwood) formed the Midlakes Swim League. In the years that followed the League continued to grow and by 2000 the League consisted of 26 teams representing neighborhoods throughout the Eastside.