Swim Meets

Items to Bring

Aside from your swimmer and lots of enthusiasm, here is a list of recommended items to bring to the meets:

  • Swim suit, cap, and goggles
  • Big cozy towels
  • Sunscreen
  • Lots of warm clothes; Sweats, hoodies, fuzzy slippers, and/or snuggies (it gets quite chilly)
  • Lots of healthy snacks; swimmers work up a mean appetite
  • Cash for the snack bar

When to Arrive

Warm-up begins about 30 minutes before each meet. It's a good idea to get there for warm-up so you can find out what you're swimming and familiarize yourself with the pool.

What to do When You Arrive

  • Check-in your swimmer
  • Write your swimmer's events, including heat and lane, on their forearm. This ensures swimmers don't miss events.
  • Look for the rest of the team, usually gathered together in one spot.
  • Get psyched!

Events, Heats, and Lanes

The order of events in meets is always the same:

  • Freestyle
  • Backstroke
  • Freestyle Relays
  • Breaststroke
  • Butterfly
  • Medley Relays

There are six age groups - 6 and under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18, which are each separated by boys and girls. The oldest age groups swim first, girls first, then boys next. So the first event is the oldest girls swimming freestyle, and the last event is the youngest boys swimming medley relays.


The starter will keep you advised of the meet's progression as he/she will announce the event number, stroke and gender of every race as swimmers come to the blocks. When there are more kids in a race than there are lanes in the pool, there are additional heats. The first 6 kids are in the first heat; the second 6 kids are in the second heat, and so on.