PRACTICE SWIM MEET
- We are planning to hold a PRACTICE MEET Thursday, May 22. We aim to begin around 6pm.
- The Practice Swim Meet ... or 'time trials' ... is our internal first look at the swimmers in a 'race environment'. It is also a practice run to show how a meet flows.
- We will only have the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly individual events. No relays and no IMs.
- The practice meet will be held in place of practice for that day.
- Everyone - Please arrive as close as you can to 5pm so your swimmers are ready to begin warm ups around 5:30pm.
- Plan to check in at tables just outside pool house doors on the pool deck. Swimmer check in, get swim caps ... This will help everyone get used to a regular meet. Swimmers will check in with coaches.
- Swim caps will be given out. I will bring some Sharpies and recommend that you write your swimmer's last name (and first initial/name if needed) on the cap. This is especially important and helpful for the younger swimmers to help coaches and volunteers know names. This is your swimmer's cap for the season; please keep track of it! (We will also have the caps at the meets for those not able to attend Time Trials.)
- Swimmers can wear any suit. It is not necessary for them to wear their team suits (if you purchased team suits).
- We will prepare heat sheets (or Meet Program) for this Practice Swim Meet event so that everyone can get used to using them. The heat sheet is a document that shows the order of events at the meet and the names of swimmers involved in each event. The heat number and lane number for each event your child will be swimming are shown. If we have 18 swimmers in the same event and only 6 lanes in our pool, then we will need to run 3 heats of this race. This heat sheet document will outline all of that for you! It is likely that your child will be in a different heat and lane for each event. It can be helpful to write the information on his/her forearm or thigh with a sharpie so that they can know where they will swim. Something like this:
E H L
2 3 1 free
6 1 5 back
(this example is made up but is intended to show ... I am in event (E) #2, heat (H) 3, lane (L) 1 for the freestyle, and event #6, heat 1, lane 5 for the backstroke.).
- The heat sheet is a .pdf file and can be printed and brought with you or viewed on your phone.
- The heat sheet will be posted to this site on the afternoon of the meet.
- As I mentioned before, this event is an opportunity for the coaches to observe the swimmers doing the different strokes. For this reason, we will likely enter every swimmer (except Shrimpers) in every stroke. Please do not worry if your swimmers have not mastered every stroke yet! They may surprise themselves. We would love everyone to give each stroke a try. The attempt gives coaches great information about what swimmers might need to work on.
- Each swimmer aged 7 and up will have the opportunity to swim freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. That said ... if your swimmer is nearing a meltdown about a particular stroke, please reassure them that they won't be forced to do it. They have the opportunity to TRY. The coaches will be able to observe and see what works and what might not be quite 'there' yet. Along those same lines, though, do encourage your swimmers to try!
- In our league, swimmers are not required to begin on the starting blocks. They can stand on the side of the pool or can begin in the water while touching the wall to start races. I have not seen any swimmers this season who seem fearful of the starting blocks, but I did want to share that with you in case.
- Swimmers will gather behind the slide area, and volunteers and coaches will help organize them for their events.
- We will also use the air horn to start the races to simulate an actual meet. This can be helpful for swimmers new to the team to experience what a meet will sound and feel like before an actual meet.
- Swim caps will also be available for pick up at our regular meets for anyone not able to attend this event Thursday.