To jumpstart this year's swim season, the Sid Jacobson JCC's swim team, the Barracudas, held a pep rally which started with a light lunch sponsored by the Aquatic department, followed by a special interactive program and then swim practice.

At the luncheon, head coach Bill Catania helped introduce new members and answered questions as the children ate and caught up with their friends. Coach Catania also discussed goal setting and winning strategies for the upcoming meets in the Metro New York JCC league. A "Big Sister, Big Brother" mentoring program was set up to increase interaction between the younger members and the older more experience members of the team. Aquatic director Audrey Kurland was present to welcome the 85 swimmers, ages 6 to 17, and get the new season off to a great start.

An interactive get-to-know-you program was presented by Stu Botwinick, program director at the Sid Jacobson JCC. The children were given the task of finding the answers to an interesting questionnaire of "Who do you know ..." questions followed by a Team Trivia contest with buzzers and a scoreboard. The older member finished with a spirited discussion of how to work with new and younger team members. When all the fun and games were over, the team went to the pool for a full workout.