Shakerag Swim Team

Meets:

1.If you will miss a meet, let us know. If the coach doesn’t know of a scratch prior to the meet, we may lose points and other swimmers might lose the opportunity to swim an event. Check out via RSVP on the website www.shakeragswimteam.com by TUESDAY at noon before the meet. Please find a replacement for your volunteer assignment if you had signed up to work this meet

2.Help your child set reasonable goals. If a fast time seems a long way away, try improving the time by one second or swimming without any DQs.

3.Get to the meet on time! Swimmers should be at the pool for home meets at 4:15PM so they can start warming up at 4:30PM. Please arrive at the away meets at 4:30PM and be ready for warm-ups at 4:45PM.

4.Upon arrival, report to parent and swimmer check-in. Parents and their swimmers should check in at the coaches tables. Look for the designated area for check in.

.5.Bring a small cooler with plenty of drinks and some high carbohydrate value snacks (fruit, crackers, bagels, pasta, etc.).

6.Bring extra towels, t-shirts and sweats for each swimmer and a pair of shoes. The decks and parking lots can be rugged and get HOT during those summer days! Bug spray is helpful during the summer nights.

7.During the meet, swimmers MUST stay in the bullpen. If you are 10 and under, put your gear in the bullpen area and check in with the bullpen parent. If you are over 10, find an area near the bullpen to put your gear. You are responsible for checking your events and getting to them on time. If your swimmer has to leave the bullpen, they must tell the assigned bullpen parent, and it is now your responsibility to make sure he/she is back in that area at least 6 events prior to their next event. Bullpen volunteers will help to get them to the starting blocks, but please don’t expect them to go find your child sitting with you, or at the concession stand.

8.Do not leave a meet without speaking to the coach first unless your child has finished swimming for the evening and you do not have any volunteer commitments. We encourage all families to remain until the end of the meet to cheer on the rest of our swimmers.

9.Remember that swim meets don’t run themselves. It takes a lot of parents to make a meet run smoothly.

10.Don’t assume that a meet is cancelled even if there are thunderstorms in the area. With only 5 meets in the season, we work our hardest not to cancel a meet. The referee will decide after arriving at the location. Cancellations and delays are sent out via the Swimtopia App and email, in addition to being posted on the website. If you haven’t heard from the coordinators, the meet is ON.

11.We will have a concession stand at all home meets.

12.Do NOT substitute any swimmer in any of the races – individual or relay. This is a decision the coaches must make. If, as a bullpen parent, you see a child is missing from the relay, let a coach know immediately and that coach will take care of any necessary substitutions.

13.Give encouragement to your children. Let the coach do any necessary corrections.

14.Please do not talk to the coach about personal concerns during the meet.

Volunteer Obligations:

Each swim team family will be required to sign up for a designate number of volunteer hours based how many swimmers we have on the team. Once you are signed up for a volunteer shift, it is your obligation to find a replacement to work for you if you are unable to fulfill your commitment. The coaches and team committee members are not responsible for finding you a replacement. *If a volunteer shift is not fulfilled, your child will not be eligible to swim in the next swim meet.*

What to Bring to a Swim Meet:

• 2 Towels
• Goggles
• Swim Cap
• Arrive dressed in team suit
• Water/ sports drink
• Boredom Busters: Games, books, playing cards, etc. to stay occupied between events
• Snacks & money for concessions
• Sunscreen & bug spray

Arm Writing Code:

All swimmers must arrive to each swim meet with their events already marked on their arm. The heat sheet that indicates the races your child will be in for the meet will be sent out via email on Wednesday night. Arm Writing is a CRITICAL component of making sure that a swim meet runs smoothly. This is an example of how it will look on your child’s arm:

E H L

“E” is the event number “H” is the heat number “L” is the lane number a (#) after the lane number, will mean position in the relay “BK” means they swim the back stroke “BR” means they swim breast stroke “FR” means they swim freestyle “FLY” means they swim butterfly

In the example, the swimmer is swimming the first event (event #1) in the second heat (or race) in lane 6. The child is the second swimmer. The child’s next event is #12 in heat 1 and lane 2. The child is swimming breast stroke. At each meet, a flipchart or digital sign will show the current event number. Additionally, the announcer will announce events as they occur.

What is a Heat Sheet? What Does it say?

The Heat Sheet is a program that shows all the participating swimmers and what events they will participate in as well as the heat number and lane number. The announcer will say the event and heat number. You will receive a copy of the heat sheet via email Wednesday night before the meet. It is your responsibility to print a copy of the heat sheet to bring to the meet to follow the progress of the meet and to see what events your child will be racing in. The team will not have heat sheets available for pickup at the meet (we have 150 swimmers on the team!)

Event Number: There are 86 events in each meet.
We swim the Medley Relay, Short Freestyle (25 and 50), Individual Medley (a 25 yard of each of the 4 strokes), backstroke, breaststroke, Long Freestyle (50 and 100), Fly and Freestyle Relay. For each of those 8 races, we swim 12 events -- one for each age group/gender.

Heat Number: In each of the 86 events, there are HEATS. Each heat has 6-8 swimmers - depending on the size of the pool.

Lane Number: This will tell you which lane your swimmer is scheduled to be in.