What to Expect

Swim meets are supposed to be FUN for both you and your swimmer(s)! The keys to having a fun first meet are to be patient, ask questions, and pay attention to team emails leading up to the meet. The weekly newsletter will have everything you need to know about the swim meet, and it will be posted at the pool at practice. 

You should know that parking can be a problem. With two teams coming together in any one location, you're bound to have a shortage of close parking spots. Be sure to leave with enough time to park and walk to the pool before warm ups. For home meets, we encourage you to drop your swimmer off in the circle beside the clubhouse, and then find a parking spot. (Please obey all parking signs, park only on the right side of the street, and do not block any homeowner's driveway). At home meets, you can meet up with your swimmer at the pavilion next to the playground behind the pool deck where they will sit with the rest of the team. For away meets, your swimmer will go to the team tent and you will receive details about where it will be in the weekly newsletter.  

The pool deck will be rearranged to direct swimmers through the Clerk of Course and to keep an open path for the officials. Spectators are not allowed to sit on the pool deck during the meet, but there will be designated spectator areas on the deck where you can watch your swimmer compete. Spectators are allowed to sit outside the fence surrounding the pool deck.  

For home meets, we have an ‘extra’ event called Event 81. The party begins after the pool deck is cleaned up, swimmers and parents are expected to pitch in. Once the deck is returned to normal, pizza is served and the pool is open for fun for the entire family! 

What to Bring

Swim cap, goggles (extra pair wouldn’t be a bad idea), towel, bag/camping chair (for swimmer and parents) or extra towel to sit on, sunscreen, bug spray, black Sharpie marker, water bottle or sports drink, healthy snacks or money to buy these at concessions, sweatshirt/sweatpants in case you get cold in between events … and lots of patience! 

What Happens

A swim meet is divided into two halves. The first half consists of the Medley Relay [events 1-10], Short Free [events 11-20], Individual Medley [events 21-30], and Breaststroke [events 31-40]. The second half is Long Free [events 41-50], Backstroke [events 51-60], Butterfly [events 61-70] and the exciting Free Relay [events 71-80]. The Medley relay order is Back, Breast, Fly, Free. The Individual Medley is Fly, Back, Breast, Free.

For each event, the gender and age groups are broken down like this: 

• 8 & under, girls events will end in 1, boys will end in 2 
• 9-10, girls events will end in 3, boys will end in 4 
• 11-12, girls events will end in 5, boys will end in 6 
• 13-14, girls events will end in 7, boys will end in 8 
• 15-18, girls events will end in 9, boys will end in 0 

For example, if an 8 & Under girl is swimming short free, breast and backstroke then her events would be 11, 31, and 51. The 11/12 boy’s events would be 16, 36, and 56.

There can be multiple heats in each event. If we have 15 8 & Under girls swimming freestyle then we will have 3 heats of event 11. At a meet, a swimmer can participate in up to 3 individual events and 2 relays (1 Medley and 1 Free). When signing up for the meet, you will be able to note if your swimmer is available to swim in the relays. 

The Heat Sheet is the published schedule of all events and the assigned swimmers in each. The Heat Sheet is emailed to each family prior to the swim meet. It will not be available in hard copy at the swim meet. 

During the Race:

Stroke & Turn officials are instructed to disqualify (DQ) swimmers when strokes are performed incorrectly during a race. DQs should be thought of as a learning moment. If your child does DQ, he/she will be provided with additional information on what they did incorrectly by their coach either during the meet or at practice the following week. Coaches will work with the swimmers on what they did incorrectly during practice the following week to correct the stroke and build confidence to try it again. When a swimmer is DQ’d, their time from that race will not be recorded officially and they will not receive a ribbon for that event. If you have questions or concerns regarding your swimmer's DQ during a meet, please direct those to the coaches only. Parents are not allowed to discuss DQ's with stroke and turn officials during the meet. 

Please don’t hesitate to ask a fellow swim team parent any question that you might have. We want this to be a positive experience for the swimmers and the parents!