NOVA News
October 16th, 2023
David's View
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed some time away from the pool and is feeling refreshed and ready to go. With spring in full swing, it’s exciting to look ahead to summer and all the opportunities the next few months will bring.
We kick things off THIS Saturday, April 11th, with our “Out of This World” themed swim-a-thon—a fun and energetic start to a fast-moving season. Before we know it, July will be here, bringing championship meets across the state and opportunities to qualify for postseason competition.
So what does the end of spring break mean for our swimmers? Long course season is here—and this is where great progress happens.
Long course training plays a critical role in swimmer development. It builds endurance and brings greater awareness to technique, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement with every stroke. While short course allows swimmers to rely more on walls and underwater work, long course shifts the focus to what happens between the flags. This added challenge helps swimmers become more efficient, more disciplined, and ultimately better prepared when the short course season returns.
We’re fortunate to have access to our own long-course pool, and we’ll be taking full advantage of it across the entire program. Beginning this week, practice schedules have been adjusted so that all NOVA swimmers have the opportunity to train and learn to race in a long-course environment.
As we transition into the competition season, it’s important to note that long-course meets fill quickly. Due to the size of our program, entries are submitted earlier than in short course to ensure our swimmers have a chance to compete. Please be mindful of meet entry notifications, pay close attention to deadlines, and commit promptly. Late entries may not be accepted.
We’re excited to begin this long-course season and look forward to helping each swimmer continue to grow, achieve their goals, and elevate their experience in the water.
NOVASTRONG! See you at the pool!
~Coach David
NOVA wrapped up the short course season March 25-29 with NCSA Age Group Champs. NOVA's 14 and under swimmers traveled to the Rosen Aquatic Center in Orlando Fl to race some of the fastest age group swimmers in the country.
NOVA raced hard! This long 4 day prelim finals meet was filled with energy, fast swimming, fun in the sun and lots of support from teammates. The swimmers earned many new time standards, cuts, team and state records and a NAG (National Age Group) record. NOVA swimmers took to the blocks to receive medals for top 8 finishes - and NOVA brought home a good share of hardware for both individual and relay events! Our first place winners also brought home the coveted NCSA towel
Congratulations to all the swimmers, coaches, and parents!.
The 2026 Swim A Thon is THIS SATURDAY April 11.
- Do I need to sign up? NO. Come to NOVA Regency on Saturday at your group’s assigned time. Please check in to pick up a free t-shirt and a log sheet. Head into the pool to find your coaches and friends, and start swimming laps!
SATURDAY GROUP SCHEDULE
6-8 am National, Senior Gold, Senior Silver, Senior Bronze
8-10 am Senior Dev. Bronze, SDS and SDG
10am - 12pm Age Group Bronze, Age Group Silver, Age Group Gold
12pm - 2pm Age Group Dev. Bronze, Age Group Dev. Silver, AGDG
2pm - 4 pm Novice Bronze, Novice Silver, Novice Gold
Do I have to stay the whole time? NO. You may come and go any time during your group’s assigned time slot.
Does my swimmer have to complete 200 laps? NO. 200 laps is a reach goal for many swimmers. They can use fins, paddles, and kickboards to help. They can take breaks as needed.
What will be provided? Your swimmer will get a free 2026 Out of this World Swim A Thon t-shirt, and a sheet to count laps. There will be water, Gatorade and some light snacks such as Goldfish, bananas, and fruit chews.
What else will be going on at the pool? There will be photo opportunities, time to chat with teammates and fun aliens to dodge.
Here is a link to a step by step video with instructions for completing your swimmer profile and asking for donations created by Coach Kevin. Setting up your swimmer’s profile ( as with almost all team unify tasks) should be done on a desktop or laptop. It does not work well in the mobile version.
Thanks for participating and helping NOVA reach our team goal!
Julie Farney
julie.farney@novaswim.org
Over Spring Break, 5 NOVA swimmers took on the challenge of swimming at the Open Water Junior Nationals. Open Water Junior Nationals and Nationals is held at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL. They offer a wide range of events, a National 10k and 5k swim and a Junior National 5k swim. This year they also added a 3k Knockout race where the top 20 finishers in a 1500 move on to swim a 1,000 after a 10 minute break, and then the top 10 of the 1,000 race a final 500 after a 5 minute break. This event was offered at both the National and Junior National level. What many people don’t know is this is the biggest open water meet in the United States. On Olympic years, this is the Olympic Trials for open water swimming. Orielle Hall, Nora Francis, Trent Abbott, Daniel Bunge, and Owen Milkos took on training after NCSA’s to race in the 5k with Orielle, Daniel, and Owen throwing down in the 3k knockout the next day.
Open water swimming offers a different type of swimming than a normal race in the pool. Physicality and mental toughness are required in open water swimming- demanding that swimmers swim in an unmarked, uncontrolled group of up to 80 swimmers for long periods of time. The races are big, long, and require experience and strategy that differs from pool racing. I believe all of our swimmers gained an incredible amount of experience racing and competing at this distance and level of competition.
We came away with lessons learned, medals and podiums. A great week of racing and representing NOVA out on the lake!
-Coach Sean
NOVA LC Kickoff- 4/17-19
NOVA LC Senior Invite- 5/1-3 Entry deadline 4/27, Commit HERE
BASS Jim Frye Invite- 5/2-3 Entry deadline 4/26 , Commit HERE
Eastern Zones LC Super Sectionals 5/14-17 Entry deadline 4/14 , Commit HERE
NOVA LC Spring Splash- 5/15-17 Entry deadline 5/4, Commit HERE
NOVA's 2026 Long Course meet schedule is posted to the NOVA website HERE!
SwimNOVA Summer 2026 Lessons Registration for Team Siblings
Team families receive priority registration for lessons. Email novalessons@novaswim.org to register your team sibling for Summer lessons by April 21. See the upcoming email communication from Leslie Wenert for more information and check out the SwimNOVA website for the schedule, dates, times, pricing.
*SwimNOVA Lessons office is also hiring in-water swim instructors for the summer in the afternoons and evenings! Preferred minimum age is 16 years with lifeguarding experience and or experience working with children. Note: 15 year olds must have lifeguarding, CPR, first aid and a work permit through the Virginia Department of Labor. Next upcoming new instructor training dates are either May 17 or May 20. If you know of anyone interested, please have them reach out to coachmc@novaswim.org for more information.
Welcome back… it’s long course season!! For those new to the team, the long course season runs from April to July (and August for some of our older swimmers). You will notice on your next visit to Regency that the pool has been switched… Instead of our usual 20 lane-25 yard set up, we have 8 lanes spanning both the East and West Courses (50 meters).
Here at NOVA we are extremely fortunate to have our own 50 meter pool, and we encourage all age groups to both train and compete long course. For Novice swimmers, we focus heavily on technique and getting comfortable swimming in the 50 meter pool. This early exposure keeps swimmers from developing a fear of long course and sets them up for success as they move through the program.
We are looking forward to our first LC Novice practices tomorrow at Regency!
-Coach Laurel
