Weekend Info: UVA Pro Am Friday + Firefish Invitational Saturday & Sunday

Michael DiFazio • October 13, 2026

Weekend Info: UVA Pro Am Friday + Firefish Invitational Saturday & Sunday

Hey BASS Families,

We have a big weekend of meets coming up! Here’s everything you need for the days ahead.

Firefish Fall Invitational at Liberty University

Our first big invitational of the season is this Saturday, October 17th, and Sunday, October 18th, at the Liberty University Natatorium (1521 Liberty Mountain Drive, Lynchburg, VA 24502). The psych sheet and an estimated timeline are both attached below.

Our warmup times are:

  • Saturday: Warmup from 2:55 to 3:20 pm. Please plan to arrive by 2:40 pm.
  • Sunday: Warmup from 8:00 to 8:25 am. Please plan to arrive by 7:45 am.

Please make sure your swimmer has a suit, goggles, cap, water and snacks, a towel, and something warm to wear between races. If this is your first meet, check out our meet info tab HERE. I’m looking forward to a great weekend of swimming from our BASS athletes!

Spirit Buddies

We’re trying something new and fun at this meet: spirit buddies! Each participating swimmer will be randomly assigned a teammate, and you’ll bring your buddy a meet day bag. If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form HERE by tomorrow evening, Wednesday, October 14th, so we can send out assignments and give families time to shop.

These bags are meant to be a small, fun gesture, just a little snack and meet day treat. Please keep it simple and inexpensive.

Reminder: UVA Pro Am This Friday

I want to send a reminder that the UVA Pro Am is this Friday, October 16th, the night before we head to Lynchburg. The afternoon session starts at 6:00 pm at the UVA AFC pool and admission is free. It’s a short course meters meet that serves as a tune-up for the short course world championships with swimmers in the field who have more than 60 Olympic medals between them.

Friday’s events are the 50 free, 200 IM, 50 breast, 100 back, 200 free, and 50 fly. I expect the stands to fill up quickly so it will be hard for us all to sit together. Please coordinate arrival times with teammates’ families if you’d like to walk in and sit together. I am planning to arrive early in order to grab a good seat (potentially around 5:00). I hope to see many of you all there!

We’ll also be getting together for a team dinner afterward. Details will be shared on Spond so please let us know there whether you plan to attend the meet and the dinner. If you haven’t joined our Spond group yet, you can do so here: https://spond.com/invite/ULYPB

I will see you all on deck!

Coach Mike DiFazio


By Michael DiFazio • October 19, 2026
Weekend Recap and Upcoming Events
By Michael DiFazio • September 11, 2026
Hey BASS Families, Our first week of practice was great and It was wonderful seeing everyone in the water! Below is some important info for the next couple of weeks of our BASS season. Practice Info Please plan to arrive 10 minutes before your swimmer's practice time so there's time to stretch and get ready before their practice starts. Swimmers should bring a suit, goggles, and a water bottle to every practice. (Swimmers with long hair should also bring a cap) Quick reminder that Monday/Wednesday practices start at 6:15 pm this season. BASS Families are restricted to the upstairs viewing area and the parking lot. Please drop off and pick up your swimmer(s) in the lobby, family members are not allowed to come onto the pool deck. Family members should also use the upstairs bathroom in the lobby rather than the pool deck locker rooms, including to help kids change. Team Gear We'll have a gear swap next week, all week, upstairs near the viewing balcony. Bring any lightly used swim or BASS gear you no longer need, and feel free to grab anything that would be helpful for your family. Please also take a moment to update your swimmer's shirt size in your Captyn account. Our 2026-27 BASS Team Shirts and Caps will be passed out soon, be on the lookout for a message letting you all know when we plan to start passing them out. First Meet, September 20th Our first meet is Sunday, September 20th. This will be a fun, low-pressure meet, perfect for families trying out their first USA Swim meet and for experienced swimmers looking to get in some early-season racing. I've attached the full meet invite HERE with details including location and event list. Warm-ups will begin a little after 5:00 pm, exact warmup times will be sent out as soon as we have a head count on who is attending. The meet itself will run from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Sign-ups will open through your Captyn account soon, we're working through a few sign-up issues and will let you know as soon as it's ready. Entries will be due by Wednesday, September 16th . Please note, this is a USA Swim meet meaning that times achieved in this meet will be valid times and that an active USA Swimming membership is required for every swimmer entered. It will be an intrasquad meet across all three BASS sites (Fluvanna, Charlottesville, and Orange), which means we need to fill volunteer positions across all three sites together. If you're able to help, we would love to have you. You can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054AADA823A6FB6-65748510-bass USA Swimming Registration I've attached step-by-step instructions for registering your swimmer for a USA Swimming membership HERE. If your swimmer had a membership last season, you likely don't need to do anything. Premium memberships are valid through the end of this calendar year. Seasonal and flex memberships will be automatically renewed by the club soon. For anyone registering for the first time, there are three membership options: Flex (12 and under only): allows participation in up to 2 meets, excluding championship meets. The September 20th meet is an intrasquad meet and will not count toward that limit. Seasonal: valid September through March Premium: valid through the end of the 2027 calendar year  Communication Please join our team communication app, Spond, using this link: https://spond.com/invite/ULYPB . This is where you'll find team event details and parent led updates. We ask that all athletes 13 and up join as well. Weather delays and other last-minute updates will go out by text and email. Please keep an eye on both, especially on bad weather days. If you ever need to reach me directly, my email is DiFazioMike99@gmail.com . Thanks so much, and I'm looking forward to a great season with all of you! Coach Mike DiFazio
By Mike DiFazio • September 1, 2026
2026-2027 BASS Season Update Hey BASS Families, September is here and that means we’re getting close to the start of another BASS season! Here are a few quick updates as we get ready to get back in the water: Pay-in-Full Registration Now Available The pay-in-full options for the 2026–2027 season are now available online. If you’re planning to swim with BASS this season. Be sure to select the group with (pay in full) in the group name if that is the option you would plan to choose. Register for the 2026–2027 BASS Season Meet Schedule Posted Our 2026-2027 meet schedule has been posted on the website. We are still looking at our meet options for December and January so those months are not finalized yet. We’ll update the schedule as soon as we have chosen the meets that fit our team best. View the 2026–2027 Meet Schedule Practice Starts Next Week! Practice begins next week, right after Labor Day, on Tuesday, September 8 . I’m excited to see everyone back in the water and get the new season started! Coach Mike DiFazio