Swim Meet 101
This checklist may be useful to parents as they prepare for a meet
What Swimmers Should Bring to Meets:
Sunscreen and Goggles
Team swim cap and team t shirt
Extra clothes to stay warm and dry
Towels
Water bottles filled with water or sports drink
Light, healthy snacks (fruit, pretzels, etc.)
Something to keep busy during events (books, games, electronics, etc.)
Folding chair or blanket to sit on
Sharpies for writing events on swimmers
Note: Put your child’s name on EVERYTHING!!
What Parents Should Bring to Meets:
Your swimmer(s) on time for warm-ups
Chairs for viewing the meet
A loud voice and positive attitude for team cheering
Snacks or money for snacks or dinner for yourself and/or swimmer
Willingness to help and pitch in wherever needed. Our team cannot function without contributions from all parents.
General Notes for Parents:
Bring your swimmer to practice five minutes early and arrive at meet locations 15 minutes before warm ups.
Swimmers must know that while practice is fun, it is not a social event. If they are at the pool during practice time, they must practice. Please do not bring your swimmer during practice if they aren’t going to join with the team. This sets a good example for other swimmers in showing them your swimmer’s commitment to our team.
Have all equipment on hand for swimmer (any suit for practice and goggles; team suit, cap and goggles for meets).
Encourage! Encourage! Encourage! Teach your swimmer to focus on stroke technique and improving on individual times, NOT on getting ribbons.
Have patience with your swimmer. It takes time to develop each stroke. Bringing your child to as many practices as possible will further their stroke development and help to build confidence as they prepare for meets. Remember that morning practice time is closed to the general pool membership, so morning practice lends itself to more time in the pool and better, more focused practice. Please try to attend morning practice. Swimmers may attend one or both practices each day.
Practice will be held Monday through Thursday afternoon from May 16 – June 1. Starting June 6 – July 7 practice will be held Monday through Thursday mornings and Monday through Wednesday evenings with meets occurring on Thursday evening (see Schedule section of our Swimtopia website). Fridays are "fun swim" days where swimmers will receive ribbons from the meet the night before.
As stated in the first bullet: every family must commit to working one half half per parent per meet (a single parent family must commit to one half per meet, a two parent family must commit to two halves – one parent may work both halves or each parent may work one half each). Parents are required to time, score, and officiate swim meets. We may not use you the entire meet but we require you to be available. Parents are also required to help set up and tear down for home meets and fill worker positions for away meets.
If you will be out of town, or your swimmer will not be swimming a particular meet, you need to let us know by the Sunday prior to the meet. If something does come up, it is YOUR responsibility to find a replacement and communicate the change to one of your SAIL reps.
On-deck Volunteering
The following roles are considered on-deck volunteering and need to be supplied by our team to efficiently run a swim meet:
Home Meets (per half unless otherwise noted):
1-Referee – works entire meet (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
1-Starter – works entire meet (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
6-Stroke & Turn Judge (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
1-Head Clerk of Course – works entire meet (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
5-Clerk of Course (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
1-Computer – works entire meet (Classroom Training & Online Test Required)
4-Runner (Online Test Required)
1-Chief Timer – works entire meet (Online Test Required)
14-Timer (Online Test Required)
2-Records (Online Test Required)
2-Ribbons (Online Test Required)
Home Meet Volunteering
Sign-ups will be located on the KWPR website: your swimtopia site link
In addition to the On-deck volunteering roles, a HOME meet will require the following volunteers:
2-Head Tent Parents
4-Tent Parents
4-Concessions
Away Meet Volunteering
In addition to the On-deck volunteering roles, an AWAY meet will require the following volunteers:
2-Head Tent Parent
4-Tent Parents
All swimmers who commit to a meet should strive to participate in the events they signed up for. If they are unable to make a meet or event, they need to inform the coach who can scratch them or find a replacement before the meet starts.
Swimmers must remain in the tent area during the meet. If they leave the tent area they must notify the head tent parent. Swimmers should remain aware of the current event lining up so that restroom and concession breaks can be planned accordingly.
Swimmer Events
SAIL Swim Meets are divided into (80) Events and are listed below. Each event contains one or more heats. Most of the pools participating the SAIL league are (6) lanes. If there are more than (6) entrants for an event, it is necessary to conduct multiple heats within that event.
Some helpful tips about the SAIL meets:
Female athletes will always compete in ODD numbered events.
Male athletes will always compete in EVEN numbered events.
Events for 10-year old females will always end in “3”. For example, 3, 13, 23, 33, etc.
Events for 12-year old males will always end in “6”. For example, 6, 16, 26, 36, etc.
Heat Sheets
Each swim meet will have a heat sheet that will provide information such as event, heat, swimmer, lane, and any previous swim times. The head Tent Parents should have these details and heat sheets are available for purchase at concessions.
For parents who would like to follow the action, check around on the pool deck if the Home Team has these available for sale.
Timeline for the Swim Meet
Swim meet software provides a timeline for the swim meet based on swimmer times. The timeline will show the estimated time for each event, which will allow you to better plan your evening. If the heat sheets has this data, do not use this timeline to determine your arrival time at the meet. Your swimmers’ coach will tell them when to arrive for warm-up.
First Swim Meet Guide
The most important items after the events have been selected and the volunteer roles have been chosen, is to arrive on-time (warm-ups and events) and have your athlete record their event details on them.
Each swimmer must have their events written on their arm with permanent Sharpie marker. Do this at home, before sunscreen is applied and the swimmer warms up (oily or wet arms are difficult to write on). Please mark the child with event number and name (i.e., #12 Short Fr).
Make sure your athletes learn who the Tent Parents are. They can make sure swimmers get to the correct location in time for their events.
