Swim Meet 101
The day before the meet:
Suggested packing list:
- Swim suit + extra
swim suit
- Googles + extra
- Swim cap + extra
- Towels
- Warm, comfortable clothes to wear between events (sweatshirts, pants/shorts,
parkas, etc)
- Sharpie, highlighters, pen/pencil
- Water and/or sports drink
- Healthy snacks
-Blanket for the floor
- Games/books/electronics to pass the time
- Cash for concessions
- Heat Sheet (print at home the night before if available)
- For outdoor meets – sunscreen and hat
The day of the meet:
Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your team’s warm up time. Swimmers should be ready to enter the pool at the start of the warm up period.
Find your team area. Depending on the pool you are competing at, there may be an area for teams to camp out between races (usually a gym or other nearby space). Set up in your area and prepare for the day.
Using the heat sheet, find your swimmer’s events and mark their arms. You will make a grid on the swimmer’s arm and mark E – event #, H – heat #, L – Lane # and distance+stroke (FR – free, FLY – butterfly, BR – breaststroke, BA or BK – backstroke, IM – Individual Medley)
Swim meets may be broken into sessions (ex: morning and afternoon) with a break in between. Some meet programs will provide a session report that will tell you if there are multiple sessions and estimated time for events and breaks.
The heat sheet is the program for all the events of a meet. It will list the breakdown of events including the competitors, age, team, seed times, heat number and lane assignments. If you have a heat sheet, it is suggested to highlight your swimmer’s events, and lane numbers for quick reference. This is also a good time to check relays to see if your swimmer is part of a relay.
Your swimmer should be available well before their race so that they can be marshalled and lined up in advance. Many meets often marshal 2-5 events in advance so keep an eye on what event is in progress and have swimmers ready for marshalling. Swimmers are responsible to be available for marshalling. Marshals will not search for your swimmer and the race will proceed without your swimmer if they don’t show up.
During the Meet:
You are welcome to cheer on your swimmer poolside, but please do not stand behind the blocks or in the areas where the lane timers are at or block officials who are officiating races.
DQs happen for a variety of reasons. If you have questions about a DQ, please address it with your team coach. Do not approach the officials directly or the timing table. Your team coach can address questions with the appropriate channels.
If your swimmer has completed all their events, please check in with a coach prior to leaving to ensure they aren’t in any relays or needed to sub in for a relay.
Meet results are typically available with a few days of a meet. You can typically find the results on swimtopia once they are received.
HAVE FUN!!!!
GO RIPTIDES!!!
