Tips for Entering Swim Meets

(Things that I wish I knew the first year my child was swimming)

 

RULE 1:        Swimming is not just about winning, it is about doing your best. Each meet entered helps your swimmer improve his/her skills, strength and speed, Therefore, attending practices regularly to develop endurance is very important.

 

RULE 2:        Swimming is a team sport not just a individual sport. Each time your swimmer places in a event, points are earned for the team. There are team relay events that your swimmer will need to swim with others on the team.

 

1.  When possible enter your swimmer in as many meets as you can attend. Each meet helps the swimmer to develop confidence in his/her swimming skills. Meets are time consuming but they are also fun. Your child will have plenty of time to socialize with other teammates between events. Also at each meet, enter your swimmer in as many events as possible, even if he/she is not very strong at that stroke yet. By entering the event, your swimmer will improve in that stroke and develop endurance and strength. It also makes the day go faster if there are multiple events to look forward to swimming in.

 

2.  Bring a chair, towel, umbrella, sunscreen and cards/games for the swimmer.  Between swim events, they need something to do that is fun but does not require them to run around.  They need to save their energy for swimming.  Bring good energy snacks and cold drinks, it will also be hot. Please avoid carbonated drinks. Instead consume water, juices, and limited sports drinks. Some of the team parents will bring tents for the swimmers to sit under in the shade. If you have a tent that is easy to put up, bring it.  Prepare for rain, you never know when a sudden afternoon shower will pop up and the meet will wait out short rainstorms.

 

3.  Be prepared to buy a meet program (generally about $5).  It lists all swim events, heats and lane assignments.  It lists all other swimmers and their seed times in the event.  Then you will know what the competition is like for the meet.  Bring a pen, so you can write down the times of your swimmer on the sheet once the results are posted.  You will need a Sharpie to write the events on your swimmer and a highlighter to mark events on the heat sheet

 

4.  There may be multiple heats for each event; it will depend on how many swimmers are entered in the event.  At some of the larger meets, there may be 3 to 4 heats of 6 - 8 swimmers per heat.  It does vary with meet, age group and event.  Swimmers are arranged in heats based on their seedtime.  So slower swimmers are in the same heat and faster swimmers are in another heat.  This allows swimmers with similar times to compete against each other. The finals are filled with best times, not heat placings.

 

 5.  Event results are generally posted in a common area after each event is completed and logged into the computer.  Look for these results and record your swimmer’s time and placement rank in the event.  Remember that with multiple heats in an event, your swimmer may place first, second or third in the heat but still not receive a placement ribbon because the other heats had faster swimmers.  Praise your swimmer for his/her heat finish and compare his/her seedtime to the final event time.  Improvements in that time are GREAT; your swimmer is getting better.  Remember that these kids only have a difference of a few seconds and sometimes fractions of seconds between 1^st and 6^th place.  Therefore, an improvement of a couple of seconds for your swimmer is wonderful. 

 

6.  To help your swimmer see his/her improvement, you can keep a chart or make a record in the computer where your swimmer can record swim times and placements at the various meets to see if improvement is being made.  While not every meet may be an improvement, over the summer your swimmer should see his/her over-all times improve.  Many of the swimmers from other teams do swim and practice 4-5 days per week YEAR-ROUND.  These swimmers will be in better condition and swim faster.  It is hard to compare your swimmer to someone who practices 8-10 hrs per week all year.  Therefore, you need to focus your swimmer on the improvement of his/her individual stroke skills and times.  Make it fun for your swimmer, so he/she wants to swim and practice regularly.  Remind him/her that improvement at meets requires practice and work; try to get the swimmer to as many practices as possible.

 

7.  Relays are team events with four swimmers in the same age group.  The coaches will select the swimmers for relays.  Some swimmers may swim up in an older age group to help make a relay team.  Relays are good team fun for the swimmers and give your swimmer another chance to improve his stroke.  They learn to work together as a team in the relays.

 

8.  Individual swimmers and the team will receive points for each placement above 6^th or 8^th place.  Points from each event are added together to give high point team awards at the end of the swim meet.  Some meets also give individual high point awards to swimmers, so entering multiple events improves your swimmer’s chances at high point awards.  All medals and ribbons for the individual events are put into a team box and given to the coaches at end of the meet.  The coaches will need time to sort out these awards and will pass out the medals and ribbons to the swimmers at a practice later in the week.  Generally there is not an awards ceremony at the end of the meet except for high point awards, so you do not have to wait around to get your swimmer‘s placement ribbons.  Some meets will give ribbons to heat winners and  “personal best” ribbons to young swimmers that finish the event at a time faster than their seed time, so that the kids can carry a ribbon home from the meet.

 

9.  In general, the meets can be a fun way to spend the day with your child and a good opportunity to teach him/her about sportsmanship.  Most meets take all day and will require travel time of 30 to 90 minutes.  So plan to spend the day with your child.  If getting your swimmer to the meet is a problem because of work schedules or other conflicts, talk to the coaches about arranging transportation.  Most of the swim parents are supportive of all the swimmers on the team and will help to make car pool arrangements for any swimmer that needs assistance getting to the meets.

 

10.  Remember swimming is a sport that teaches character.  The most successful swimmers learn    to focus on the process and not the outcome.  Giving an honest effort regardless of the outcome is much more important than winning.  As one Olympian said, “My goal was to set a world record.  Well, I did that, but someone else did it too, just a little bit faster than I did.  I achieved my goal and I lost.  Does that make me a failure?  No, in fact I am very proud of that swim.”  Wow, what a great attitude!  Is not that the kind of determination that we all want to see develop in our children so that they can be successful in anything that they choose to do in life.  In the summer of 2004, the USA Olympic swimmers gave our children a wonderful display of how dedication and hard work leads to outstanding performance and success.  They also managed to show us that good sportsmanship is still the most important virtue in both athletics and life. 

 

 

 

Specific Tips on Each Meet

 

 

Troup Georgia Games - La Grange, GA.

 

Saturday only meet, that is held early in June.  Swim competition can be easy to moderate depending on which other teams attend.  Meet is easy to get to in La Grange and is held in a great new indoor swimming pool at the recreation complex.  GREAT meet for new swimmers, medals are given for      1^st - 3^rd places and ribbons for 4^th - 6^th place.  Must attend this meet if possible.   

 

Carrollton Invitational Swim Meet - Carrollton, GA.

 

Friday and Saturday meet.  One of the longest drives to a meet.  Swim competition is generally moderate to hard, as many year-round swimmers attend.  Medals given for 1^st - 3^rd place and ribbons for 4^th - 10^th place.  Good meet to develop skills, practice in competition and see some of the more competitive swimmers.  

 

Americus Blue Tide Classic - Americus, GA.

 

Friday and Saturday meet, well organized so that 10 & under swimmers compete in the morning of both days and the 11 & over swimmers compete in the afternoons.  Very well organized meet that may only require ½ day if you only have swimmers in one age group.  Competition can be easy to moderate depending on what other teams enter.  Medals are given for 1^st - 6^th place and ribbons for  7^th - 12^th place.  Meet also gives individual high point awards to swimmers in each age group and high point team awards.  GREAT meet for new swimmers to see some harder competition and still have a chance to get a ribbon.  Another Must attend meet if possible. 

 

Macon Heritage Swim Invitational - Macon, GA.

 

Saturday meet with long distance events held on Friday evening.  Generally well organized and runs smoothly so the meet may end early in the afternoon if weather is good and entry numbers are not too high.  Competition is generally moderate to hard with many year-round swimmers.  Medals given for 1^st - 3^rd place and ribbons for 4^th - 10^th place.  Heat winner ribbons are given to younger swimmers.  Gives awards for individual high point swimmers and awards to high point teams.  GOOD meet to improve skills and compete with faster swimmers.  If you cannot make Americus meet, attend this one; but best to do both if possible. COST: $15 / day- $7.50 Friday pm

 

Griffin Gators Swim Meet - Griffin, GA.

 

Friday and Saturday meet with long distance events held on Thursday evening.  Competition generally moderate to hard.  Medals given for 1^st - 3^rd place and ribbons for 4^th - 10^th place.  Gives awards for individual high point swimmers and awards to high point teams.  Held after the district swim meet so good meet to enter for practice competition prior to the state swim meet.

   

District Swim Meet - TBA

 

Swimmers MUST have entered and swam in at least two swim meets prior to the district swim meet.  Each swimmer can swim in two individual events and two relay events.  The coaches will help your swimmer decide which events to enter so that he/she has the best chance of placement.  The top three swimmers in each event will advance to the State swim meet.  As our district is smaller than some other districts, most of our swimmers stand a good chance of making it to the state swim meet.  Your swimmer may not be swimming in his/her best event, especially if your swimmer can swim well in several different strokes. Our coaches are trying to get as many kids as possible to the state meet (another reason that you want your swimmer to learn to swim and compete in different strokes at local meets; is so that he/she will be prepared for the district meet).  Many swim teams are only able to get a few swimmers qualified for the state meet as the number of swimmers and competition is greater in some of the other districts.  This is to our advantage, as a large number of our kids will get to experience the thrill and honor of attending the state meet. 

 

GPRA State Championship Swim Meet

 

Site will vary from year to year.  Swimmers under 10 will compete on Friday and swimmers over 11 will compete on Saturday.  Only swimmers that finished 1^st - 3^rd at their district meet will be entered in the state meet.  Therefore, the competition will be tough.  Getting to compete in the state meet is a great honor and the kids that get here, have worked very hard to qualify for the meet.  Preliminary heats for each event are held in the morning, there are generally 2 - 4 heats per event.  The eight swimmers with the fastest times for each event will be entered into the final heats.  The final events are held in the afternoon.  An award ceremony is held after the events are completed so that the swimmers have a chance to stand on the platform and receive their awards.  Medals are given for     1^st to 8^th place, so all swimmers in the final heat will get a medal.  If your swimmer does not make the finals, but still he/she performs well at this meet; then you can be proud of your swimmer’s accomplishments for the summer.  Getting here was not easy; it required practice and dedication. Remember the goal is not just winning; the REAL Goal is to perform well and improve performance.

COST: NO FEES  - You will be charged a scratch fee if you fail to show up.