Tuckahoe Boots Machine

[Anonymous]

Entity Name: Hydra Aquatics of Northern Virginia LLCEntity ID: 11801729
Entity Type: Limited Liability Company Entity Status: Active
Series LLC: NoReason for Status: Active
Formation Date: 02/05/2025 Status Date: 02/05/2025
VA Qualification Date: 02/05/2025 Period of Durationerpetual
Industry Code: 0 - General Annual Report Due Date: N/A
Jurisdiction: VA Charter Fee: N/A
Registration Fee Due Date: Not Required
https://cis.scc.virginia.gov/EntitySearch/Bus...isSeries%20=%20false

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bringing Machine and Swim Farm into the loop as “bidders” was all for show, after T announced his plans to the high school swimmers on their senior night. Seems obvious that they were just trying to save face.

Exactly! They just needed to pretend for the sake of answering to their members that they were simply evaluating "proposal based on three key principles". The fact that Machine was informed of this not through a formal notice from the Tuckahoe board, but instead from a parent during meet, proves just that.

[Anonymous]

It was definitely a sham RFP. Shame on the Tuckahoe board. Swim Farm is a great choice for families who don’t have AAA swimmers and I’m sorry their time was wasted in this process.

[Anonymous]

Question for York parents - any official communication from the team yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for York parents - any official communication from the team yet?

0 +0 =0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blazing a New Path Forward
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Tuckahoe Recreation Club Members,

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am writing to inform you of a change to one of our Associate Member Agreements for next year and to provide transparency into the evaluation process.

As many of you know, Machine Aquatics, a locally owned and operated competitive swim club, has partnered with Tuckahoe Recreation Club as an Associate Member continuously for over 20 years. As part of a negotiated Associate Member Agreement, Machine Aquatics swimmers and coaches have utilized the Club’s pool facilities during specified hours of the week. In return, the Club has received Associate Member Dues from Machine Aquatics. The current Associate Member Agreement with Machine Aquatics is for a 1-year term and expires in summer 2025. In December 2024, members of the Board were asked if the Board would open the Associate Member arrangement for competitive bids.

To consider the future of the Associate Member arrangement, the Executive Committee established a working group composed of chairs from the Executive, Operations, Finance, Aquatics, and Member Relations Committees. In turn, that working group initiated a competitive bid process designed to foster a fair, transparent, and financially responsible selection process at the January 2025 Board meeting. Competitive bids are a standard practice within virtually all industries and are a healthy process to ensure up-to-date pricing and to encourage performance improvements and innovation. Before this, Tuckahoe has engaged in very few, if any, formal Request for Proposals (RFP) competitive bid processes for Associate Member status in over twenty years.

By evaluating each proposal’s financial and operational sustainability, the intent of the working group was to help ensure that the selected program would align with the long-term goals of our Club and membership. To that end, on January 31, 2025, the Club initiated a formal RFP process to solicit competitive bids.

A total of three competitive proposals were received for consideration: (1) Hydra Aquatics; (2) Machine Aquatics; and (3) Swim Farm.

The working group evaluated each proposal based on three key principles:

Financial Considerations – Assessing short-, mid-, and long-term financial projections, including growth potential and revenue to support expenses, deferred maintenance, and capital improvements.
Impact on Members and Facilities – Reviewing lane usage, practice schedules, operational feasibility, and overall Club access, in conjunction with potential synergies and efficiencies relating to the Club’s current aquatics offerings for members.
Risk Assessment – Identifying potential risks, liabilities, and uncertainties associated with each proposal, balanced with the past performance and long-standing history with the incumbent.

Each proposal was reviewed individually before the working group convened to weigh the benefits, risks, and financial scenarios. After extensive deliberation, Hydra Aquatics was selected as the best long-term fit for the Club. This decision was not made lightly as both Machine Aquatics and Swim Farm presented very competitive proposals.

First and foremost, Hydra Aquatics offered the greatest revenue over the life of the contract. In serving as stewards of the Club, the working group is mindful that additional revenue directly defrays overall costs and expenses there by decreasing pressure to raise annual membership dues. All three proposals offered contributions in varying degrees to help with upcoming infrastructure projects, such as the deck repair and the HVAC replacement for the indoor pool. Moreover, all three proposals represented significantly increased revenue over the existing contract.

In addition to the financial advantages, Hydra Aquatics offered a vision aligned with the Club’s philosophy. Hydra Aquatics will be led by Torey Ortmayer, who has served as Tuckahoe’s Aquatics Director and summer swim coach, and who has been a dedicated member of the Tuckahoe community. His vision integrates competitive club swimming at Tuckahoe and non-competitive winter swim programs, benefiting our members and families with year-round professional coaching and structured management. Moreover, we anticipate that, while Hydra Aquatics is and will remain as its own separate entity that is unaffiliated with Tuckahoe Recreation Club, a Tuckahoe-aligned PVS swim club will make the Club potentially more attractive to current and prospective members.

In terms of impact on members and facilities access, a key factor of importance to the Board working group, the Hydra Aquatics proposal also matched the current lane usage footprint. This means that Tuckahoe members will be able to enjoy the same amenities and levels of access to the Club’s pools and facilities as they currently do, and nothing is changing in that respect.

Finally, the Board working group closely examined the risks of transitioning to a new relationship with a start-up swim club. Hydra Aquatics is in the process of establishing itself as part of the Potomac Valley Swimming (PVS) organization. As a new swim club and a start-up entity, uncertainties exist relating to future enrollment, staffing, and other risks. While the working group is confident in Torey Ortmayer’s proven track record and sees robust growth opportunities for Hydra Aquatics, the working group coordinated closely with the Finance Committee to ensure that the Club’s finances could support the loss of Associate Member dues in the unlikely event that Hydra Aquatics is unsuccessful. In the worst-case scenario, more swim lanes would be made available for members, and the working group would restart the process of finding a suitable Associate Member swim club partner. The working group weighed the pros and cons and identified opportunities to mitigate potential risk to the Club. The working group is confident that the relationship with Hydra Aquatics will unlock new opportunities, increase financial gains, and better serve Tuckahoe Recreation Club and its members with strategic and long-term benefits.

Today I notified Machine Aquatics and Swim Farm of the Club’s decision. The existing Associate Member Agreement with Machine Aquatics continues to be in effect and will be operative until the expiration of the contract in summer 2025. A new multi-year contract with Hydra Aquatics will begin this August.

It is also important to mention that this decision was made as a strategic opportunity for the Club and in no way reflects negatively on Machine Aquatics or the positive manner in which its management and coaches have conducted themselves throughout our long-standing relationship. We recognize that there has been speculation regarding this process, and we want to ensure that accurate information is provided directly to our community.

Looking ahead, the Member Relations Committee is planning to organize a Town Hall to introduce our members to Hydra Aquatics, among other agenda items (exact scheduling and agenda TBD). We are excited about the new direction for the Club and confident that this decision will provide long-term benefits for our members and community.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to this next chapter in Tuckahoe’s history.

Would love to know the fuzzy math here. How does a club that is only really a club in name est. Feb 5, 2025 and has no member offer great revenue? I can tell you I will pay you $100K a year but without a financial statement to back this it is just concepts of a plan.

If I was the board president I would be embarrassed to sign my name to this email full of blatant lies. As a member, I'd have more respect if he had just been honest in why they went this route.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think this is rocket science. They know and like this coach. He is charismatic and influential in their community. He can attract people to his new team and probably already has commitments from people going in. And it benefits him and it benefits the organization and it benefits the summer team.

There might be growing pains, but overall seems like a good setup. This is every coaches dream to ditch the corporate club and go out on their own. They just need a pool to do it. And those are very very hard to find.

[Anonymous]

No one is questioning the motives behind this decision for the coach, but the way it was handled by both the club and the incoming program raises serious concerns about professionalism and transparency. Machine Aquatics was a long-standing tenant for over 25 years, yet they were removed without prior notice, which is highly unprofessional. Additionally, it appears other established programs, like Swim Farm, were brought into the process, under false pretenses, making it seem as though they had a legitimate chance when the outcome Machado already been decided. If the intent was always to transition the space to this specific coach, Machine should have been informed first, and the decision should have been communicated months ago to allow them time to adjust their plans. Wasting other programs’ time to maintain appearances with the membership is disingenuous.

This situation also raises questions about competitive fairness within NVSL. Summer league is designed to provide an equal playing field, but does any other team have a direct pipeline from their summer program to a year-round club team running out of the same pool, with their summer coach as the owner? If not, this change creates a potential imbalance that should be addressed.

Lastly, this has significant consequences for Machine swimmers, families, and coaches who now have to scramble for alternatives with little notice. The lack of communication and the way this was executed do not reflect well on those involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Machine Aquatics was a long-standing tenant for over 25 years, yet they were removed without prior notice, which is highly unprofessional.

Additionally, it appears other established programs, like Swim Farm, were brought into the process, under false pretenses,

does any other team have a direct pipeline from their summer program to a year-round club team running out of the same pool, with their summer coach as the owner?

Lastly, this has significant consequences for Machine swimmers, families, and coaches who now have to scramble for alternatives with little notice. The lack of communication and the way this was executed do not reflect well on those involved.

This is ridiculous. First, how much prior notice does Machine need? They were given a chance to bid and told the outcome of the decision along with everyone else.

As for Swim Farm being brought in under false pretenses, I would want to hear from Swim Farm first. And the owner of Swim Farm is the head coach for Donaldson Run. Several summer pools have winter programs.

As for the scramble, Machine has 150 sites and parents have months to make a decision before registration in May. This isn't exactly last minute.

[Anonymous]

I'm just upset this wasn't done with more coordination for the swimmers. My kids really liked the curved walls in the deep end and are upset they wont get to use it anymore. Why couldn't Tuckahoe have come to the practice and explained the decision to the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just upset this wasn't done with more coordination for the swimmers. My kids really liked the curved walls in the deep end and are upset they wont get to use it anymore. Why couldn't Tuckahoe have come to the practice and explained the decision to the kids?

Maybe bc your kids have your sense of humor? Lame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just upset this wasn't done with more coordination for the swimmers. My kids really liked the curved walls in the deep end and are upset they wont get to use it anymore. Why couldn't Tuckahoe have come to the practice and explained the decision to the kids?

🙄 it’s a “business” decision. Machine was on a 1 year contract and the club didn’t renew it. There’s nothing else to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm just upset this wasn't done with more coordination for the swimmers. My kids really liked the curved walls in the deep end and are upset they wont get to use it anymore. Why couldn't Tuckahoe have come to the practice and explained the decision to the kids?

🙄 it’s a “business” decision. Machine was on a 1 year contract and the club didn’t renew it. There’s nothing else to say.

Pretty sure this comment was sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Wtf is with comments getting deleted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Machine Aquatics was a long-standing tenant for over 25 years, yet they were removed without prior notice, which is highly unprofessional.

Additionally, it appears other established programs, like Swim Farm, were brought into the process, under false pretenses,

does any other team have a direct pipeline from their summer program to a year-round club team running out of the same pool, with their summer coach as the owner?

Lastly, this has significant consequences for Machine swimmers, families, and coaches who now have to scramble for alternatives with little notice. The lack of communication and the way this was executed do not reflect well on those involved.

This is ridiculous. First, how much prior notice does Machine need? They were given a chance to bid and told the outcome of the decision along with everyone else.

As for Swim Farm being brought in under false pretenses, I would want to hear from Swim Farm first. And the owner of Swim Farm is the head coach for Donaldson Run. Several summer pools have winter programs.

As for the scramble, Machine has 150 sites and parents have months to make a decision before registration in May. This isn't exactly last minute.

Just came here to say that I would also love to hear from Swim Farm and Machine. What did their offers look like? Just curious how they stacked up and what the differences were between them and the winning bid.