Hello Water Rat Families! The 2025 Rutherford Water Rat season is quickly approaching, and we are very excited to have you register with swim and dive teams!

Please review the announcement highlights below:

• Registration for the 2025 season is now live. Please view the new practice schedule, review the calendar, and sign up for swim and dive! Check the website often as we are finalizing updates for the season. Please note: registration and payment will be done completely online through Swimtopia.
• Morning practice groups and times have changed. This is to support access to our programs!
• Swim and Dive practices begin May 27; morning practices begin June 12. There is no practice on FCPS last day of school. Our Little Rats Developmental Program will start practices also on May 27!
• Our championship swim team was promoted to division 15 this year. Our championship dive team was promoted to division 6. As we continue to refine the schedule, check out the list of Dive Meets, the swim schedule, and sign up later in the season in the SignUp Calendar .
• Team Pictures is scheduled for June 24 at 9:30am
• If you have new friends and neighbors to the community who may be interested in joining the team, please pass on our website address and/or contact information. If you have friends who do not have an NVSL Dive team, they can join the Water Rat Dive team.

Gear updates!

• Team suits--We are in year one of our two-year team suits. Come to the Pre-season kickoff meeting April 27th to see the suit reveal!
• Order fan T-shirts during registration. It is a fundraiser for the team, and the shirts will be the same higher quality and softer T-shirts as the 2024 championship shirts, but cost remains $20.00.
  • Material is different than last year's team shirt. The shirts are the same quality of the champion shirts--they are softer and nicer.
  • Size chart links are here:
  • Youth sizes (Youth XL not available) : DT6000Y Product Measurements
  • Adult sizes: DT6000 Product Measurements
• Order new swim caps that match our 2025 t-shirts! Caps are not included with registration.

Staffing updates!

• Our new Dive Head Coach is Heather Calderon, who is a returning coach and graduated senior. Dive Assistant Coach is John Burns.
• While we will have familiar faces for the swim team coaching staff, we are still searching for a Head Coach. The bios will be posted on the website after we finalize the entire coaching staff. More to come!

Parents Corner!

• Pre-Season Kickoff meeting on Sunday, April 27th @ 5:30. Join us at the pool for information about the season, new team suit reveal, volunteer roles, meet coaches, and we can answer any questions. Plan for a 30 minute parent meeting. Swimmers and Divers can meet their coaches, connect with summer friends and get excited for another Water Rat season!
• While most volunteer roles do not require any training, if you are interested in roles that require shadowing or training this summer, please reach out. We are always looking for ways to expand our volunteer staff on deck for meets!

We are really looking forward to another fun-filled summer of swim and dive. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Go Rats!

--Your Swim and Dive Reps - Rebecca, Stu and Kathy

*If you will not be joining us this year, no need to respond back. A new distribution list will be generated from the new registrations for 2025. Apologies for the initial round of emails.