A Parent Guide to Swim Meets!

POOL LOCATION: Home meets are at Inverness Estates Pool. Away Pool locations are listed on the calendar/events.

ARRIVAL TIME: Please arrive at the pool on time for all meets. The start time of the meets will be communicated toward the end of the week, usually parents and swimmers will be required to arrive between 6:00am - 7:00am. Please sign in with the Volunteer Coordinator as you enter.  Please have your child check in with the Coaches and then proceed for arm marking.

COACHING: During the meet our coaches will be on deck observing each child. These observations will be used in upcoming practices to help swimmers improve. The assistant coaches will be helping swimmers get set up for starts, reminding swimmers of specifics for each race (stroke type, sequence, etc...). Please allow them to focus on these activities. No parents should be in the ready bench area, start or finish areas that are not working a volunteer shift.

What to Bring

• Team swimsuit, cap, goggles (an extra pair of goggles is a good idea!), team tshirt, towel, and sunscreen. Make sure all items are well labeled with your child's name.
• Plenty of snacks and drinks to keep your swimmer hydrated and energized. (Concessions also sells food & drink during the meet).
• Games for your child for time in between meets. (travel games, books, ds etc)
• Folding camp chairs to sit on, and a canopy for shade if you have one.
• Event reports/heat sheets printed from the website.
• Print HEAT SHEETS or use Meet Mobile App. Heat sheets will be available online Friday night before the meet, the Coaches will let us know. PLEASE print out your heat sheet and bring to the meet. There are no extras at the meet and none for sale. For our new parents, the heat sheet is the master key to the meet. All the events and swimmers are listed on the heat sheet. For our new swimmers, they will have NT next to their time which means NO TIME. Our returning swimmers will have their time from the previous year on the sheet.

Upon Arrival

• Be on Time! Warm-ups begin well before the meet start time.
• Ensure your swimmer has sunscreen on and is marked up with his/her event information. (A volunteer will mark up swimmers).
• Swimmers report to coaches and then to arm marking volunteer(s). Once you have signed in with the volunteer coordinator, please take ALL SWIMMERS to the coaches to sign him/her in. YOU MUST SIGN YOUR SWIMMERS IN with coaches. If your swimmer is not signed in they will be scratched from their heats by the coaches. The same goes for the end of the meet, PLEASE inform the age group parents you are taking your swimmer home especially our 6 and under parents.
• VOLUNTEERS: If you have signed up to volunteer NO MATTER WHAT SHIFT, PLEASE check in with our volunteer coordinator as soon as you get to the pool. We LOVE our volunteers and like to know we have all our bases covered. Volunteer descriptions can be found on the web site.

Marking up your Swimmer

• Find your child’s race information on the Event Reports/Heat Sheets.

• Your swimmers will be labeled with a black sharpie with their race details and their event information:

(E = event, H = heat, L = lane, S = Stroke). For relays, add a column for position on team, ie. 1,2,3,4

During the meet

• WHAT YOUR SWIMMER SHOULD KNOW: First and foremost have fun! Do their best and enjoy the meet. PLEASE leave the coaching to our amazing coaches and just encourage your swimmers. If you are volunteering and leaving your swimmer especially our younger swimmers, please make sure they know where all their "stuff" is snacks, goggles, money and entertainment. Please remind your swimmers to stay with the team and not wander off as this can create chaos when time comes to swim. Please lather your swimmers with sunscreen prior to arriving at the pool.
• FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS: As a general rule we like to promote “green” thinking so bring a reusable water bottle. Water containers will be available. At home meets breakfast is for sale in the early morning. Around 11:00 the lunch will be available. You can bring in food and drinks, but we ask that people do not bring in glass. Please be aware of any food allergies and discourage children from sharing foods. If your child has an allergy please ensure you have an epi-pen on hand and the Wipeouts are informed.
• READY BENCH: Age group parents are responsible for getting our swimmers to the ready bench so if you choose to take your child out of the age group tent during a meet, you are responsible for informing the age group parent and getting them to the ready bench on time. Failure to get to the ready bench will mean your swimmer is scratched from the race.
• RELAYS: Please don't cancel on relays, especially last minute - if your swimmer is signed up to swim the relay and for some reason you cannot stay, or make it, PLEASE INFORM the coaches immediately. A relay is 4 swimmers and if one isn't there, the whole relay team has to forfeit. It makes everyone sad when this happens. Please indicate if your child won't be available for early or late relays. 
• HEAT RIBBONS: In an effort to have more kids have a chance we give out heat ribbons to first place swimmers in their heat for our younger swimmers. This is a reward for working hard in practice and improving their time to achieve first place in their heat. Please explain to your children the intention of heat ribbons and the importance of being a good sport. Heat ribbons are given to the first swimmer to touch the wall, they may still be DQ’d depending on stroke judge.
• DISQUALIFIED: Swimmers will be DQ'd (disqualified) for improper strokes. If your child is DQ'd please assure your swimmer that it is okay and how proud you are of them for trying. The coaches do get a list of what the swimmer was DQ'd for and they will go over with the swimmers in practice!
• SPORTSMANSHIP:  Wipeouts swimmers stay in the water at the end of their races until all swimmers have touched the wall, it's respectful to other swimmers. Once all swimmers have finished the race swimmers may exit the pool.

Additional Thoughts

• Please MARK EVERYTHING with the swimmers name so we can avoid lost shirts, towels, caps, bathing suits, etc. The meet should finish between 1PM and 2PM. Again if you are leaving early please tell the age group parent. We encourage all parents and swimmers to stay until the end of the meet to cheer on all of our Wipeouts.
• Wear sunscreen!
• Bring cash and small bills – Concessions will not have change for anything over a $20.00!  Credit cards can be taken as well.
• Have fun watching all the kids experience summer swim. Most of all, the WIPEOUTS want to be known for our good sportsmanship. Please congratulate the winner no matter what team they are on, please encourage all swimmers and please encourage your swimmers to do the same. Our swimmers will follow our example.
• T-SHIRTS: Wear Wipeouts T-Shirts or spirit gear to meets, if you would like to buy a t-shirt they will be available at the beginning of the season.

The events of a swim meet:

• Medley Relay {Backstroke, Breast Stroke, Butterfly, and Free Style) 
  • Ages 7 & Up

• Freestyle 
  • All ages
• Breast Stroke 
  • Ages 7 & Up
• Individual Medley { Butterfly, Backstroke, Breast Stroke, Free Style) 
  • Ages 8 & Up
• Backstroke 
  • All ages
• Butterfly 
  • Ages 7 & Up

• Freestyle Relay 
  • All ages

• Swimmers are limited to 3 individual events + 2 relay events, The coaches preplan what events each swimmer will compete
• To compete at season end Divisional Meet, the swimmer must have competed in a minimum of 2 dual meets

• A swimmer's fastest time in an event is used as a seeding time, Preseason time trial's times are used for the first meet
• The final heat of an event is selected for the fastest seeded swimmers. Heats are organized from slowest seeded swimmers towards fastest seed swimmers
• For 9 & under swimmers, Heat winners are awarded "Heat Winner" ribbons
• ALL 6 & Under swimmers receive a Heat Ribbon
• Places 1st - 6th are determined at the completion of all heats for the event, The times from all the heats are compared to determine places 1 - 6. Faster times in a slower heat often beat times in the faster heats. Additionally, disqualifications during faster heats affect Places 1-6.

• Home meets- 2nd Place Relays get a 2nd Place ribbon, not all NWAL teams comply
• Disqualifications are received when a swimmer incorrectly swims incorrect style according to NWAL or incorrectly touches the wall during turns or completion of the race. These will be discussed with the swimmer by the official and the coaches. The Team is happy to answer any questions you may have

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Our coaches and our parent leads will also be able to answer questions you might have at the meet. Most importantly HAVE FUN and ENJOY the day!

Wipe 'Em Out Wipeouts!