Meet Day
For each meet, qualification, and championship, every swimmer MUST sign up for the meet electronically on the team website so that all swimmers are accounted for when coaches make the entries. If you do not register for the meet by the deadline stated, it will be assumed your swimmer is not attending the meet, and your swimmer will not be entered into the meet. If a swimmer fails to appear at a meet he or she was signed up to attend, the swimmer will forfeit participation in relays at the following meet. Changes cannot be made after the meet sign up deadline. It is the responsibility of each family to proactively sign up each swimmer for each meet.
Meet Day
What to bring for each meet: positive attitude and your A Game! Meets are fun! Organized Chaos. Also bring:
Swimsuit
Woods of St. Thomas Swim Cap
Goggles
Sharpie
Two or more towels
Folding bag chairs or blanket
Food: fruit, fiber bars, bagels, oranges, melon pieces, healthy snacks
Drinks: water, juice, Gatorade, Powerade
Heat Sheet (printed from email sent the afternoon of each meet)
Highlighter
Sunscreen and Bug Spray
Cash for concessions
Loud voice for cheering!
Upon Arrival
Be on time! Warm-ups begin well before the meet start time. Home Team warms up first.
Mark your swimmer with a Sharpie! (see below)
Swimmers report to age group areas (look for signage).Please do not pull your child from this area and if you must take to the restroom, let the Volunteer Parents know. Relays and events have been missed do to looking for children.
Stake out space for your seating – at home meets, spectators may sit around the trees in the back. If you have a tent, please bring and allow swimmers to have the shaded tent areas first. Please note that no spectators should be sitting at either starting ends of the pool. At home meets, our deck space is so small, we ask that you stay on the lawn so swimmers can get to their locations.
If volunteering, check in at the volunteer table for instructions.
Check the posted heat sheet for your events.
Coaches will give instructions regarding warm-ups.
Team will warm-up together and cheer together.
Delays- if there is a weather delay, we will communicate as soon as we are aware. If we are at the meet and a delay occurs, please do not leave the meet unless an announcement is made that it is cancelled. Trying to make up swim meets is difficult with such a short season.
Writing on your Swimmer.
1.In order for age group parents to identify their young swimmers, swimmers need to have their names somewhere so they can be seen. Swimmers 12 years old and younger have parents who guide them to their heats during the meet. Write on your swimmer, using a waterproof marker (Sharpie), write your swimmer’s last name and swimmer number on their shoulder. (Numbers will be assigned before the season begins. Swimmers will use the same number for the entire season.)
2.Swimmers don’t have Heat Sheets. So how do they keep track of what events they are swimming in? ... By writing on themselves, of course.
Each swimmer needs a chart on their arm (or leg) showing the event number, the heat number, lane number and the stroke/distance… for every race they are going to swim.You get this information from the Heat Sheet.
The Heat Sheet
The Heat Sheet is a program that shows all the participating swimmers and what events they will participate in as well as the heat number and lane number. The announcer will say the event and heat number and there is usually a marker near the announcer listing what event is up.
Heat sheets list all the swim events 1 through 80 in order, along with the participants in each event, what heat they are in, what lane each swimmer will occupy, and his/her previous best time in that event (if the swimmer has competed before) or it will show “NT” for “No Time.” To keep track of when your swimmer is swimming, it is a good idea highlight each of your swimmer’s events/heats.Double check the heat sheet!!! There can be last minute changes. Age group parents will have the latest, most accurate heat sheets.
Write on your swimmer
- Using a waterproof marker (Sharpie), write four column headings on your swimmer’s arm - E, H, L, S - for Event, Heat, Lane and Stroke respectively.
- Find your swimmer’s name on the heat sheet, if swimming multiple events, they will have multiple rows.
- Enter the heat sheet information on your swimmer’s arm under each column.
- Continue filling in the grid until all of your swimmer’s event information is on the The arm would read:
E H L Stroke
21 1 2 25 free
33 3 2 25 back
Reading a Heat Sheet
What is a Heat Sheet?
This is the printed listing displayed before and during a meet that tells swimmers what events they will compete in. It also defines the swimmer's lane assignment per event. Lanes are typically assigned based on seed times, with the fastest swimmers in the center of the pool.
Events are listed in order usually alternating girls and boys events.
Terms:
Seed time is the fastest time a swimmer or team of swimmers has swum an event prior to the
submission of entries for the meet. For individuals, this is the time entered for the swimmer for the event, and is a good goal to try to beat. It also factors into lane placement and heat number.
An “NT” listed for seed time means no seed time has yet been recorded for that swimmer, i.e. that swimmer has not competed in that event, or was disqualified during the event.
An X in front of seed time means the swimmer is swimming an exhibition heat .
In exhibition heats, swimmers receive a time, but do not score points for the team . Exhibition heats are performed so that more swimmers can participate in events, and are a valuable
opportunity to get a legal time for championship eligibility, or achieve one’s personal best.
Note: Individual Medleys are swum in order:
1) Butterfly, 2) Backstroke, 3) Breaststroke, 4) Freestyle.
It ’s important for swimmers to know the order, because any other order will result in a “ DQ” or disqualification.
As in the example above, swimmers in age groups 6 & under and 7/8 and 9/10 swim one length of the pool, or 25 yards/meters, whereas 11/12, 13/14, and 15 and up swim two lengths, down and back, or 50yards/meters. In their relay medleys, swimmers 1 and 3 enter the water at one end of the pool, and swimmers 2 and 4 at the opposite end. Older swimmers start and finish at the same point.
Relay medleys are swum in order:
1) Backstroke, 2) Breaststroke, 3) Butterfly, 4) Freestyle
