Greetings new and returning Tornado families! In just five days on Monday, May 11th, we will begin our 2026 Tornado swim team season, and your coaches couldn't be more excited! Our team this season is 103 swimmers strong -- a perfect number for productive practices and a fantastic season!

Coaching Staff

We are very excited to share that we will have a new coaching staff this season! All three of our coaches have been members of our Tornado team since they began as shrimps at age 5. Their love for swimming and the Tornados shines through every day, and they have been busy planning another fun season for our swimmers. Your 2026 Tornado coaches will be:

• Patrick Applegate, head coach 
• Dani Lupinski, assistant coach
• Leah Ludwiczak, assistant coach (10 and under)

Many of you may also remember former Tornado and college swimmer Coach Meredith, who has been with us in years past. We are excited to share that she will also be joining us on Fridays to work with our swimmers focusing on stroke technique. 

We want to thank our previous coaches -- Anna, Sophia, & Gabi -- for all of the love and energy they gave our team over the years. They will all be doing internships this summer, but I suspect they will be around periodically to cheer on our swimmers!

Coach Patrick will reach out over the weekend with information about the start of the season, but I wanted to first cover a few logistics and welcome our newest team members!

Practice begins Monday, May 11th!

We will confirm the plan for next Monday once we get a better idea of the weather and water temperature. It is likely that we will have a meet & greet followed by dry-land for our 10 and under swimmers. This will be a great opportunity to meet the new coaches and hear expectations for the season. 11 and unders will get an abbreviated meet & greet and then hit the water, weather permitting!

Practice times until CMS is out will be as follows:

• 4 - 4:30 p.m. -- Shrimps (ages 5-6)
• 4:30 - 5:15 p.m. -- Ages 7-10
• 5:15 -  6 p.m. -- Ages 11+

Also, we recognize the end of the school year is busy, and many of our swimmers have other commitments. Please do not worry if you cannot attend every practice -- we are thrilled to have our swimmers attend as often as they can, as schedules permit!

Suit Fitting - Saturday, May 9th, from 1 - 2 p.m.!

For those who would like to try on suits before placing an order, we will have a suit fitting this Saturday, May 9th, from 1 - 2 p.m. at the pavilion. We will have sample suits available in limited sizes for trying on, and a few of our coaches may be there to answer any questions and talk with the kids about the fun season ahead!

The Tornados will use the same team suit as last year. It looks great, is affordable, and it is available via our Swimoutlet.com team store. Swimoutlet offers free 2-day shipping on orders over $49, so if you are ordering just one suit it might pay to add some goggles to your order. Also, if you order Saturday, you should receive it in time for practice on Tuesday!

Please reach out with any questions - Go Tornados!

Michelle