Preparing for a Meet
What to bring (LABEL EVERYTHING!):
Swimmers bring:
• Team swim cap, black team suit
• Goggles (properly adjusted and previously worn swimming) - preferably two pairs
•Towel(s) (and a blanket to sit on if desired)
• Sunscreen, sunscreen (stick form) for face, sunglasses, hat, bug spray
• Books, cards, etc.... for entertainment between events
• Drinks: water, juice, Gatorade, Powerade
• Snacks (fruit, fiber bars, oranges, healthy snacks)
Parents bring:
• Highlighter & Permanent marker (Sharpie)
• Printed copy of the heat sheet (will be emailed the day before the meet)
• Money (for concession items - small bills please)
• Drinks and Snacks
• Folding camp chairs or blanket
• Canopy for shade (daytime meets)
Day of the Meet:
• Apply sunscreen to your swimmer before leaving the house.
• Highlight your events on your heat sheet (printed at home)
• Mark your swimmer with a Sharpie! (First and Last name on the back of shoulder and event list - see below)
• Be on time. Warm-ups begin well before the meet start time; our warm-up time wll be emailed with other meet instructions a few days before the meet.
• Check in with the volunteer in charge of check in so coaches know you are here. Coaches have to submit relay changes 30 min before for the meet starts for an away meet and 45 min before the meet starts for a home meet. If your swimmer is not checked in at this time, he/she will be removed and substituted with another swimmer for relay events.
• Swimmers report to READY BENCH
• Team will warm-up together
• Pay attention to which event number is swimming
• Have your swimmer at the ready bench 10 heats before they are swimming
• Have fun and cheer on your teammates!
• Do not leave pool without checking with Coach Erick, regardless of whether your swimmer has finished their last posted event (changes in relays may not be printed on the heat sheet)
• PLEASE THROW AWAY ALL TRASH AND GATHER ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS BEFORE LEAVING
** If you are running late for a meet or your child is sick on the day of a meet, please send a message on Remind with your swimmer's first & last name, age group, and the situation (running late, sick, etc.) as soon as you know.
** It is very important that you let us know if you are unable to attend a meet as it may affect a relay event and cause other swimmers on the team to miss out on swimming the relay.
The Heat Sheet
Heat sheets list all the swim events 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 in that event before) or it will show "NT" for "No Time." To keep track of when your swimmer is swimming, it is a good idea to go through the heat sheet and highlight each of your swimmer’s events/heats.
To help swimmers keep track of what events they are swimming in, each swimmer needs a grid/chart on their arm or leg showing the event number, the heat number, the lane number, and the stroke/distance...for every race they are going to swim. You get this information from the Heat Sheet.
Find your swimmer’s name on the heat sheet. Notice the Event number, Heat number, and Lane number.
Using a waterproof marker (Sharpie), write four column headings on your swimmer’s arm
E, H, L, Stroke – for Event, Heat, Lane and Stroke respectively.
Continue filling in the grid until all of your swimmer’s event information is on the arm.
Example of what the arm or leg of your swimmer may look like:
