Welcome OBST Summer 2026
Hello OBST parents,
Our summer season is officially two weeks away! I have compiled all essential information for the season below. Please read the following thoroughly and refer back as necessary.
To our new families, welcome to the Orange Beach Swim Team! We are so happy to have you join the Mako Nation and look forward to our new athletes' growth alongside our seasoned swimmers. I am excited to meet/reunite with our athletes at our first practice of the season beginning Tuesday, May 26th after the Memorial Day weekend.
A couple of topics to touch base on before we launch the season...
1) COMMUNICATION & APPS
If you are a new family, you should have received an e-mail from SwimTopia asking you to create/complete your account. If you haven't already, please do so, as this is the platform we use to host our website, mark competition attendance, publish monthly newsletters, etc. I recommend downloading the app and enabling notifications to ensure you remain in the loop.
We have been utilizing the communication app called "Slack". You will receive an invitation to collaborate with OBST in your inbox before the first practice. Once you join Slack, I will be alerted and place parents under their athlete's respective group. This allows parents and myself to communicate without the exchange of cell phone numbers. My door is always open; feel free to use my cell contact if necessary. Slack just makes things a bit easier as our team grows.
I also suggest downloading Meet Mobile. USAS and some rec-level competitions will report events and results on this platform in real time. If your child is a USAS athlete, you will frequently use Meet Mobile for digital heat sheets and swim meet results. There is an annual subscription.
2) PRACTICE: SCHEDULE, ATTENDANCE & EQUIPMENT
ALL groups will practice from Monday-Friday this summer. The practice schedule, which varies by group, is on your registration and under the "Programs" tab in SwimTopia.
To be fair to our participants and those on the program waitlist, we have an attendance policy in place. It is assumed you are knowledgeable about the policy because you answered "yes" when prompted about reading the handbook to complete registration. CLICK HERE to review the handbook.
We kindly request your athlete has the required equipment ready at practice by the second week of the season. You may view the required equipment for each group via the website/handbook.
2. NEW TEAM SUITS & APPAREL
I have documented most of our current swimmers' sizes for the new team suit through Agon Sport. I previously requested new OBST families to drop by the Orange Beach Aquatic Center for athlete measurements. You may still do so anytime after 11 a.m. for the next two weeks. For the most part, athletes have been sizing down a full size under the Agon Sport brand. *** This suit is not mandatory. If a swimmer has an appropriate competition suit from a previous season, they may use it. ***
Individual families can view available items and place orders through this link: https://www.agonswim.
OBST has a bulk ordering period through Monday, May 18th. If your athlete is in the market for a new competition swim suit, please order their correct size this week! Orders placed by 5/18 should hopefully arrive before the second USAS meet. All orders will ship directly to our facility in one box, with items packaged together by family for easy distribution.
3. USA SWIMMING / MCAL COMPETITIONS & TEAM CALENDAR
We have a pretty packed schedule for our summer season thus far! As of now, it looks like the Mobile County Aquatic League (MCAL) will welcome us as probationary members this summer to see if it is a good fit for recreational competition. Therefore, I have marked the rec meets that I plan for us to attend as "tentative" until MCAL confirms their summer schedule at their next board meeting on 5/17. I will confirm and update these details as soon as possible. Otherwise, the other meets on the calendar are USA Swimming competitions that require USAS membership for your athlete to attend. To establish, transfer, or renew membership, click this link: https://omr.usaswimming.
Once your swimmer is a USAS member, they have the option to compete in or qualify for the meets listed in blue. Otherwise, all summer athletes are encouraged to compete in MCAL recreational meets.
6/5-6/7 GPAC Tom Lalor Invitation (Need entries in by Wed 5/20)
6/13-6/14CAT5 Aquatics Long Course Open
6/18 CCM Rec Meet (Tentative)
6/25 Lake Forest Rec Meet (Tentative)
7/7 OBST Summer Splash Rec Meet
7/14 Bay Minette Rec Meet
7/11-7/12 CMSA Summer Invitational (TBD... might swap for another meet.)
7/17-7/19SES Summer LC Championship (Qualifiers Only)
7/23-7/25 MCAL City Championship (Tentative)
7/31 OBST Awards Banquet 2026
To mark your athlete's attendance for a meet, you will login to your SwimTopia account, click on the "Calendar" tab to view "Competitions & Events," and then click the meet of interest. Parents are responsible for marking their athlete as "attending" or "not attending" each meet. If we receive no response by the entry due date, we will assume your swimmer will NOT be competing.
I will contact families before each swim meet regarding their swimmers' events and any applicable fees. More details will be specified in the monthly newsletters as well.
THANK YOU!
Although there is a lot of information here, all of it is necessary, especially for new members.
I know everyone is extremely busy. In leiu of a parent meeting, I will be available to speak with and answer any questions parents might have after practices conclude at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26th. Please do not hesitate to reach out in the meantime!
I'll see you on deck! :)
Coach Dakota