Good day Team Lighting – Welcome to the 2026 Summer Swim Season!

My name is Jonathan Kohl and I am pleased to serve as your meet director this summer. It sure may not look and feel like it at the moment, but our first practice is just days away and there are several important updates to share:

Let’s Welcome and Grow the Team

At the time of this email, we have 45 registered swimmers. That is a good start and we hope to see more before the registration deadline of June 11th.

Welcome to all the new or returning swimmers and their families. I can attest after seven seasons with the Lightning that the experience will be fun and rewarding for all involved. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to consider joining us.

Practice Starts this Week – All practices (and meets) are held at the North Pool.

Evening Practices

May 26-27-28 (Tues through Wed)

• 5:30pm-6:30pm Option 1
• 6:30pm-7:30pm Option 2

Normal practices schedule begins Monday June 1st

Monday – Friday

• 7:30am-8:30am (ages 13 and older)
• 8:30am-9:25am (ages 9-12)
• 9:25am-10:05am (ages 8 and under)

Evening practices will also be offered on Monday and Wednesday for 2 additional weeks (until June 10th) to accommodate swimmers who may still be in school.

Meets and Volunteering

The first swim meet (an exhibition) will be held Wednesday June 10th at the Hopyard Hammerheads in King George. Please check out our team page on Swimtopia for the full meet schedule: Home - Lee's Hill Lightning Swim Team

Stay tuned for future emails about volunteering requirements and opportunities. When we all registered our swimmers, we committed to volunteering. Swim meets, home or away, cannot happen without a strong support presence from parents and guardians.

Some volunteer positions do not require special training – Announcer, Assistant Clerk of the Course, Awards Clerk, Concessions, Heat Winner Ribbon Distributor, Meet Set-Up, Runner, Safety Marshall, and Lane Timer.

Other positions require training via an online Rappahannock Swim League platform at https://rsl.swimtopia.com/training. Examples are Head Referee, Administrative Referee, Clerk of Course, Head Scorekeeper, Head Timer, Starter/Time Drop Operator, Stroke and Turn Judge.

I will send a later email with more volunteering details and suggest giving some thought to your options in the meantime. For those inclined, training is available online today and can be completed at your convenience.

That is it for now. Let’s hope the sun comes back soon. I can also be reached for questions at [email protected]. See you at the pool.

Jonathan