What to expect at your first meet.
This weekend will be the first meet of the season and for the majority of you, your first meet ever. I know we covered allot in our parent’s meeting but here are a few tips that will help you get through the weekend.
Before going to the meet, check on our club website the directions as well as the events in which your swimmer is swimming. Also, make sure you check what time your session starts. If it states that warm-ups are at 7:00am make sure you are there 15 minutes before that so that the swimmers can get settled on deck and be ready to get in at 7:00am sharp. If it states not before noon, come around noon. Make sure you are in team attire and most importantly team suits or black and for girls the team cap.
Upon arrival to the pool, find out where the sign in sheets are for the swimmers. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER. If your swimmer does not highlight their name as being present they are taken out as a no show. Once the have signed in they need to find their coach and where the team is sitting or “camping”. Parents are not allowed on deck during the meets although the swimmer may go to the stands in between swims. Most kids come to the meet with a sharpie and write their event, heat and lane numbers on their hands so they know what to listen for so they don’t miss an event. Coaches will help the younger ones get this information down. For the older kids who are new we will either help them or have an older swimmer help them.
Meets move pretty quick so it is very important for your swimmer to pay attention. No matter what age group they start with, the girls go first then the boys. All swimmers need to see their coaches before and after their swims. This allows us to remind them what they need to think about during the race and then tell them what they need to work on after the race.
Most kids will bring snacks for the day and you will generally see alot of pasta with no sauce, energy bars, gatorade and water as well as fruit and veggies. We would prefer the kids not to have anything that could make a huge mess on deck. Especially boxes of jello mix. Kids bring blankets, their DS and cards as there is down time between events.
If you buy a psych sheet at the entrance of the meet, this will show what events your swimmer is in and where they rank amongst the other swimmers entered. However, since this is the first meet for most, your swimmer will be entered with a NT (no time) so the ranking wont be there for the new swimmers. There is also a heat sheet which is given to the coaches as well as posted on the wall for the swimmers to check what heat and lane they are in. You will want your swimmer to pass this info on to you so that you know when to watch for them. This is also the info that is written on their hands. Once your swimmer swims and gets a time, that time will be used to enter them in the next meet. We always use their “BEST” time when entering. So, if your child swims slower in meet 2 we will use the time from meet 1 to enter them in meet 3. If by chance your child gets DQ’d (disqualified) which will happen from time to time then that time is no good.
Once your swimmer is done with his or her events make sure they see their coach before leaving the meet. Sometimes there are relays in which they may have put your swimmer in and they may need you to stay a little longer.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or stop me on deck and I would be more than happy to address any questions you may have.
Kim Holmes
Head Age Group Coach
