JBRS Rapid Barracudas

Head Coach: Amy Shirley

Amy grew up swimming in Gwinnett County Swim League, and at Norcross High School. She went on to coach summer swim for seven years and we are excited to welcome her as head coach! Amy's two children, Luke and Abby, joined the Rapid Barracudas in 2025 and can't wait for the 2026 season. 

We are so excited to have you as a part of the team this year. My name is Coach Amy, this is my first year coaching this team, though my kids Luke and Abby were Barracudas and Jr Barracudas last year so many of you will recognize me. I grew up swimming in the Gwinnett Co Swim League, for Norcross High School, and I coached summer league swim for 7 years when I was in high school and college. It was a highlight of my year as a kid, and I hope it will be for you as well.

My goal is that at the end of the season, each swimmer sees improvement in their swimming abilities and times but also has had a lot of fun. We want practice to be a positive experience. We’ll work hard, encourage one another, and hopefully have a blast most days. Everyone wants to win, that’s a given and we will be working towards that goal, but I want to win as a team that cheers for each other in everything, in both the personal victories and challenging days.

For every swimmer, our expectation is that they come to practice ready to swim and be a good teammate. This means primarily 4 things:

1)Wearing appropriate swim gear (see list below)

2)Ready to Listen to the coaches and do what they tell you to do

3)No Rough Housing or Name-Calling

4)Ready to try new things and techniques to improve your strokes and times

For 8 and Unders, the coaches – including me, will be in the pool as we explain new techniques, often manually manipulating arms and legs so that the swimmer can feel the motion. We do not want this to be a surprise to them, so please let them know ahead of time.

Swimming Gear for Practice

• Close-Fitting Swimsuit, ideally a sports style will be best for practice. Please avoid baggy suits or rash guards as they create drag that can be especially bad for our younger kids where it can trigger a drowning response.
• If their hair is long, we recommend a Swim Cap even for practice. If they do not want to wear a cap, please make sure it is styled to stay out of their face (think tight braids, etc).
• Goggles – this is a personal preference. I think that they often get in the way, especially if they are constantly falling down. If your child prefers to use them, great. If they hate them, don’t worry about it. If your swimmer plans to wear them in the meet, please have them wear them at practice so that we can practice dives with them on.

Swimming Gear for Meets

• Legal Swimsuit (ideally the team suit) - Swimmers must wear a legal swimsuit (no zippers, clips, ties in back, or long sleeves) to swim meets. Ideally, we’ll all be in our matching team suits but either way, they need to follow this standard for their suit.
• Swim Cap – Everyone should have a swim cap on for meets regardless of hair length.
• Goggles - if desired, see note above.

We’ll go into more detail about meets as we get closer to the season.

A couple of last notes:

• We know the first few weeks can be crowded, hectic, and often chilly. We are going to do our best to minimize any overwhelm but if they need to take a day off and try again, that is ok. If it is really chilly, we may spend more time on the pool deck doing Dry Land exercises to warm up our bodies before jumping in the water.
• Please go ahead and commit/decline to ALL meets that you know about, including the county meet. This helps us with planning. For the County Meet, if you declare that they are eligible, they may be on a relay. It is a really fun experience at Georgia Tech.

We can’t wait for the season to start and look forward to another amazing year with our Barracudas! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

Coach Amy