Important Updates and Reminders (1/14/26)

Jessica Evans

Greetings!

I know everyone is busy but please read the reminders below for the following items:

  • Outreach Athlete meet reimbursements due by January 15
  • Please complete our club survey
  • Coach continuing education grant applications due by January 23
  • The next Coach Clinic is January 26
  • Seeking members for the Governance Committee and other STX committees
  • Log into SWIMS and confirm your email address to receive important updates
  • Open Water Zones coach applications close February 1
  • Registration update
  • Meet recon reminders

Meet reimbursement requests for Outreach Athletes who competed in meets during October, November, and December, 2025 are due by January 15. The form is posted here. Late applications will not be accepted. As a reminder, teams offering Outreach Athlete memberships must also offer reduced training fees to athletes and submit documentation of financial need within 21 days of renewal or registration. Our LSC currently has 178 Outreach Athletes registered for 2026 (with AAAA, AHAC, C3S, CCLR, CLOV, HOT, HPAC, MSC, SASA, SEAL, TST, TXLA, VTX, WAVE, WOW, and YMCA), but I have received documentation for only 24 of those athletes. Please help us to prevent delays in reimbursements and ensure compliance with our LSC Outreach Athlete policy by submitting the required documentation to [email protected].

The Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement Committee is requesting assistance from all STX member clubs to learn more about how our clubs support athletes who need financial assistance to be able to participate in the sport of swimming and how clubs support para athletes and athletes with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. The committee will use this information to continue expanding opportunities for our member athletes and clubs that include these athletes in their programs. These opportunities may include promotion of events for athletes with disabilities, financial and other assistance, and creating a network of coaches for supporting athletes with disabilities and other needs. Thank you AAAA-SW, WLOO, and SGA for responding. Everyone else: Please complete the survey posted here to assist the DICE Committee with data collection.

Coach Continuing Education Grant: All STX Coach members received an email on January 12 with information about the continuing education grant program being offered by South Texas Swimming. Please take advantage of this opportunity by completing the application form link included in that message. The application deadline is January 23.

The next Coach Clinic is January 26 at 1:00pm and will feature Dr. Joe Raabe, who will discuss sports performance. The Zoom information is posted on the STX calendar here for January 26. Resources from all Coach Clinics are posted here for reference.

Governance Committee: The Governance Committee is seeking two athlete members and one nonathlete member. If you are interested in being considered, please complete the application here, which also allows you to submit applications for other STX committees and includes descriptions of each committee’s role in our LSC. Our committees have been very active over the past year and this increased participation has allowed the LSC to offer new opportunities for our members. Please get involved so we can continue this support for our membership!

USA Swimming will require EVERYONE to update their login account password starting on February 1. As part of that process, USAS needs to be able to send you email instructions. All parents, athletes, and other USAS members should log into their USAS accounts NOW and make sure that the email on file is correct, current, and one that is checked on a regular basis so members are receiving communications from USAS. To do that: Using a computer, go to https://hub.usaswimming.org; Log in with your current credentials;  Click Settings in the upper-right corner; Select Email and confirm that your login email is correct and accessible; and Update your email if needed.

Open Water Zone applications for coaches and athletes are open until February 1 for coaches and until March 8 for athletes. All distance swimmers ages 11 and older are encouraged to apply. Please click here for more information about the trip to Lake Longhorn (April 24-26), and for links to the coach and athlete applications. So far we have received 28 athlete applications and two coach applications. Please encourage applications from your club!

Registration Update: STX currently has 8,000 members registered for 2026. As a reminder, USAS member clubs may NOT waive membership requirements for any athlete, coach, administrator, or other individual participating in your program. Please make sure all members are registered to comply with your USAS club membership agreement and to ensure that your club has USAS insurance coverage. If you need assistance with registrations, please contact me.

Meet Recons: BEFORE you enter an athlete in a swim meet, please check to make sure the athlete is registered and in good standing. Please don’t leave this work to the meet host and your times officers. We have too many teams using meet recons to trigger getting swimmers registered and this is causing a lot of work for others. Registrations need to be completed prior to entering swimmers in a meet.

Please let me know if you have questions or need any assistance.

Jessica Evans
South Texas Swimming
[email protected]