Swim Meets 101
Summit Chase Sharks Summer Swim Team
Swim Meets 101
I. Team Communication
1.Email, Remind messages, summitchasesharks.swimtopia.com and Facebook will be our main methods of communication – Please go and like our Facebook page: Summit Chase Sharks.
2.Emails sent on meet days may not be seen by coaches or board members. If you have an urgent issue, please send a text.
3. A file box of envelopes for each family will be at Saturday practices for ribbons. Please only take your ribbons. Please leave the envelope in place for future meets/ribbons. If there is any important information, it will be included there.
II. Meets
1.Team suits or suits similar to our team suits should be worn at meets as well as the team swim cap.
2.What to bring:
Towels (2-3)
Extra goggles
Chairs
Bug spray
Sharpies
Entertainment – uno cards, etc. Electronics are not a good idea around wet swimmers!
Dry clothes – sweatshirt for temp drops
- 3.What NOT to bring: Glass containers are not allowed at all pools. County regulations prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the pool deck. Smoking is also prohibited at all facilities per county regulations.
4.Explanation of meets:
Home:
Set up begins as early as 4:30 pm. If you are assigned to set up, please arrive on time so that we are able to get the pool deck ready for the meet.
Swimmers have to be at pool at 4:45 pm ready for warmups. Arrive early in order to get your swimmer settled and marked up, as we take the pool at 5 pm sharp for warmups.
Meets start at 6 pm. Once you swimmer has completed all of his or her races, you are free to go. HOWEVER, please check in with coaches, as many swimmers will be on relays. Remember that if your child is scheduled for a relay, and you leave early, you may be responsible for forfeiting the relay which impacts 3 other swimmers.
Away:
These begin at 6 pm just as home meets do.
Swimmers may have to be at pool at 5:15 p.m. ready for warm-ups
Arrive EARLY as these are neighborhood pools that have very little parking.
Event/Heat/Lane breakdown:
Meets are organized into Events by stroke and age groups (e.g., Event 1 is 8
and under Girls 25-yard Backstroke, Event 2 is 8 and under Boys 25-yard
Backstroke) Within each Event, swimmers are broken further into groups called
Heats. Heats are swum with 1 swimmer in each lane, unless it is a
relay.
You will be able to download a Heat Sheet before each home meet, however, you will have to purchase a heat sheet at away meets. Remember, arrive EARLY.
Because of the number of swimmers and events, your child could have long waits between races, please bring snacks and drinks and/or games to keep your kids occupied. UNO is quite a hit during swim meets.
All swimmers will need to remain in the team area for the duration of the meet. This will help our coaches to get them in line for their events and staging. We cannot track down swimmers during a meet.
Example Heat Sheet and Marking your swimmer:
It is important to mark your swimmers, especially the little ones. Please write their last name on their back – Right shoulder blade area along with their age. This will help our parent volunteers to identify your children for staging. Please also put their events either on their arm or leg to assist them in knowing what events they are swimming. See images below.
The top swimmers in each heat contribute a certain number of "points" for our team, all of which will be added up to determine which team won that particular meet- The main goal is for the swimmers to swim legal strokes and do their best to improve their individual times at each meet
III. County Meet
1.The Count Meet generally around the second weekend in July at Georgia Tech. The County takes the fastest 50 swimmers in each event. We will keep you all updated on who is in the top 50 as we enter into our last few meets of the season.
2.County practices will be at our normal scheduled time between the last meet and the county meet.
3.We will have a County Meet Luncheon for all those swimmers participating. We will load them up with carbs and create some team excitement as we gear up for the weekend!
IV. Other
1.Our banquet is generally held the 3rd Thursday in July and is for ALL of the team to celebrate! There will be awards presented, food, and a DJ for a fun night for our team. We will send out forms for this as we get to the last few meets of the season.
2.Team and individual pictures will be taken during the season. More details will be sent by email and handed out by the parent board during practice. Swimmers will need to wear their team suits for pictures.
