Volunteer sign-ups are now open! Please visit the Current Volunteer Sign-up Sheet first and find out where there are volunteers needed. Then go to the Volunteer Sign-up form and submit it. Please do not sign up for jobs that have already been filled!

2012 Spring FLAG’s Meet Letter       2012 Spring FLAGS Time Standards

Are you visiting Sarasota for FLAGs? Please view our hotel options.

SYS travel trips costs this year will be reduced by $965 because our Sharks swimmers raised $915 in car wash donations on Saturday and $50.00 from the kettle corn proceeds. Add this money to the previous $688 from Car Wash I and the Sharks are on their way to making their championship travel trips more affordable.

As noteworthy as our Sharks fundraising on Saturday were the comments about our swimmers from people who donated at the car wash. These strangers were genuinely impressed by the Sharks teamwork, motivation, and behavior on display. Nice job Sharks!

Car Wash III is slated for February 4 and will include a Valentines Day themed bake sale. We really need Shark parents to help out and bake a Valentine goodie to sell in addition to parents to staff the bake sale from 11 am to 2 pm at the YMCA. Please contact Pam or Bill Wall if you can bake or help out on February 4.

The SYS car wash on Saturday was a success with donations that totaled $688.00, and almost all of the swimmers who qualify for Senior Champs, Sectionals and Y-Nats, participated. Our group effort on Saturday helped to make our travel expenses more affordable, and we had some fun, too!

These donations, as well as the donations we collect from our next three car washes on January 7, February 4, and March 3, will help defray travel costs for all of the swimmers competing in the above mentioned meets this winter and spring. A special thank you to Joe for having all of the supplies and hoses ready for us. We appreciate it!

On November 12 and 13 the Sarasota YMCA Sharks Masters team will host their annual Bridge the Bay meet. Anyone interested in volunteering please sign up on the board that is downstairs in the lobby. They will need about 20 volunteers each day. The Sharks Masters are big supporters of the Sharks program, if you have the opportunity please give back! This is also a great way to earn community service hours. Thanks for your time and support. GO SHARKS!

Welcome to sarasotasharks.org! If you still have sysharks.org in your browser, it now points to this site, so you can enter either URL and end up in the same place.

We hope you like the look and feel of the new site. There are several pages that are not yet complete, and currently much of the archival material is unavailable. We’ll be working behind the scenes to make sure that all the Sharks history you could access at the old site is available on the new site.

Please join us in saying a huge THANK YOU to Bob Clark for his decade of maintaining the team website. His dedication and attention to detail gave the Sharks an invaluable working tool to keep us informed, organize the staffing of our meets, preserve our history and recognize our amazing swimmers. Bob will be sorely missed for many reasons, the website being only one. We have extremely high standards to meet with the new site and ask for your patience as we develop it. Please send any suggestions you have to the webmaster.

Parents – If you are planning on going to the UF meet in Gainesville in early December, it will not be an official travel meet, meaning that you (and your swimmer) will be responsible for booking your own hotel room. Information on the Sharks hotel blocks for that meet are now available on the Hotel Block Info page of the website.

Dear Sharks Parents and Volunteers,

Every year it becomes more difficult to express in words how truly grateful we are to have such dedicated and passionate volunteers. Through long hot days on the pool deck during meets to feeding thousands of hungry officials, coaches and athletes throughout the year, we are blessed to have you as a part of our Sharks family. I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you who donated your time, energy, money and talents into making this year’s Siesta Key Triathlon a spectacular event. I’ve heard from many athletes over the past few days that our event is their favorite and how it keeps getting better each year. This is no accident or coincidence, but a direct result of your tireless and relentless efforts. Please know that you are very much appreciated by our coaches and staff. It is you and your families that make our program special and one of the very best in the nation.

My deepest thanks and appreciation, Ben

It is indeed with a heavy heart that the Sharks announce the passing of our beloved “Coach Bob” Voege. Bob passed away peacefully on the morning of September 19th surrounded by his family. Words can’t express how deeply he will be missed by the Shark family. He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone, especially his swimmers. He was truly a remarkable man who led an accomplished life that touched so many. Learn more about Coach Bob by reading this obituary.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Coach Bob’s memory to the Special Olympics of Sarasota County, P.O. Box 2112, Venice, FL 34284 or call (941) 412-0402. We will miss you, Coach Bob. Rest in peace.

Swimmers and parents: With the summer season now in full swing and the water park attracting large crowds, it is imperative that extreme caution be exercised when driving through, and in the vicinity of, the parking lot. Please SLOW DOWN and WATCH OUT for children darting between the cars as they tend to do.

Additionally, the area directly in front of the fountain by the pool entrance gate is an active DROP OFF/PICK UP area only, no parking or standing of cars is allowed in this area. We must be able to maintain the safe and free flow of traffic through this area. Let’s all do our best to try to prevent any accidents from happening.

Earlier today, the Shark website had its one millionth visitor, as the visit counter at the bottom of this page rolled over to 1,000,000. The website has averaged over 100,000 visitors a year for the past 9 years. Here’s to the next million visits!