Swim Meet 101
What to expect at swim meets-both home and away.
What is a meet?
- A dual swim meet is when two teams swim compete against each other at the host pool. Points are assigned to the top 3 fastest swimmers in each race in all age groups except 6 & under.
General meet timeline:
- Warm-ups 5:00pm-6pm
- Meet begins at 6pm. Events start with medley relays (all 4 different strokes swam by 4 different swimmers), followed by individual events and concludes with freestyle relays.
- Events are broken down by gender and age. Events begin with 6 & under girls, 6 & under boys, followed by 8 & under, 9-10 year olds, 11-12 year olds, 13-14 year old, and 15-18 year olds.
- Meets generally finish around 8:30pm
How are swimmer events selected?
- Coaches will select swimmer events based on the swimmers ability and the number of entries we have for each event. Not all swimmers will swim every event due to space limitations, but this is summer swim fun. Coaches will encourage swimmers to compete in every stroke-please encourage your swimmers and be excited for this challenge! Please do not request certain events for your swimmer-trust the coaches and the relationship they have built during practices. If you have very young children, the last freestyle relay can end rather late; please let your coach know ahead of time if they will not be able to make it all the way to the end of the meet.
What to bring to meets:
- Swimmers should have all events written on their arm or leg in the format shown in the picture. We will NOT have time to write on all swimmers before warm-ups.
- Team suit and team cap.
- Healthy snacks to have in between events. There are some obvious breaks where swimmers can have snacks and even dinner. For younger swimmers, your rounder can help you to identify when these times are.
- Home meets will have concessions and food for dinner, away meets may not. We will do our best to gather that information and share with families prior to the meet.
- A water bottle for your swimmer is highly recommended.
- The team t-shirt to wear between events.
- A sweatshirt-especially for early season meets-it can be chilly for wet swimmers and cold pools! (Write names in team shirts-they will get mixed up!)
- 2 towels-you will be amazed how wet the first will get.
- The heat sheet printed or saved to your phone. These will be emailed out and posted on the event calendar (here). How to read a heat sheet.
Where will we sit at meets?
- Swimmers will all sit together as a team. This is critical for the parents who are lining up the kids before their races. If they are not sitting in the team area, they may miss their event.
- Swimmers should absolutely not be playing in deep end or baby pools during meets.
- Parent seating will vary by pool. Rarely is there actual seats for spectators, so bring tailgate chairs.
What do swimmers do between events?
- Cheer on their teammates! This is the most fun part of summer league.
- Strategically determine when you want your child to eat dinner/snack between events. It is best to plan that ahead so they know when to have which snack and dinner.
What should I do if I'm a volunteer?
- All volunteers will need to arrive by 5:15pm.
- At home meets, please report to the Lily Pad area for further instructions
- At away meets, please stay in the team area and we will gather all volunteers
Meet Volunteers
Swim meets can't happen without all of you! At least 1 adult should volunteer if your child is participating in a swim meet. Below is a description of volunteer roles.
Timers: We need 1 timer per lane to be paired with a timer from the other team. You will be provided a stop watch and will write your times down on the provided sheet for each swimmer in your lane. The runner will pick these up and take to the clerk to enter during the meet. This is a great way to get an up-close view of your swimmer swimming.
Runner: Picks up DQ slips from officials and timing sheets from timers and delivers them to the clerk for computer entry.
Rounder: This job is to get the swimmers in your assigned age group together and in lane order for their event. You are only responsible for Fernwood swimmers. You will be given a heat sheet so you will know who is swimming each event. Only swimmers on your heat sheet can swim in the event. If there is an open lane or a swimmer chooses not to swim, we can not put another swimmer in their place. Our swimmers will be in one assigned area. For some of our youngest swimmers, they will need some help staying occupied and focused. Our head rounder can help you with some ideas. This is a perfect position if you have younger children who are not swimming.
Lane Placement: These parents are assigned a lane to make sure that the right swimmer is swimming in the right lane for each event. If a lane is empty for a heat or a swimmer chooses not to swim, we can not put another swimmer in their place. This is a great position if you are detail oriented and are familiar with a heat sheet and the general schedule of a swim meet.
There may be additional rolls to fill depending on the configuration of the particular meet.
