Dual Meets

Weather

The only person that can cancel a meet is the Referee.  Representatives from each team will consult with the referee for delays or cancellations due to weather or other circumstances.  What this means, is that no meet will ever be cancelled prior to its start time.  Therefore, always show up to a meet no matter how unlikely it seems there will be a meet. 

Parking

Parking at our pool and at those we swim against is very limited.  For home meets, please consider walking to the pool leaving your car at home.  If you drive, remember to park on only one side of the street facing right direction.  For away meets, try your best to carpool with someone. 

Preparation

Nutrition: 

Swimmer should eat a high carbohydrate meals two days prior to and the day of the meet to help with performance.  Pasta, rice and breads are good sources of complex carbohydrates.  A fruit snack like bananas, oranges or apples is recommended between 3:00 and 4:00 on the day of the meet.  Candy bars, hot dogs and the like are not suitable foods for competition and ingestion of this type of food may not only impair his or her performance but may also make the child sick.

Swimmers also need lots of liquids during the meet. You should pack children fruit juices if they will not drink water. Although concession services are available at most meets, pack your child a "lunch" if you want to have either control over what your child eats or want to be sure he or she will be fed during the course of the meet.

Rest:

The coach asks that the children rest quietly on meet day after plenty of rest the night before.

Equipment:

Bring a portable chair if you want to be sure you have a seat for the swim meet. 

Swimmers should have a sunscreen, towel, swim goggles, suit, swim cap if their hair is shoulder length or longer, and footwear.  Games, snacks, drinks, are also good ideas.

Swimmer Check-in

Per ASA guidelines, home teams warm-up first at 4:30 pm and visiting teams warm-up at 4:45 pm.  Therefore for home meets swimmers should report no later than 4:00pm and 4:30 pm for away meets.

Once arriving to the meet the swimmer should report immediately to the team area.  For home meets, this will be our baby pool area.  For away meets it shouldn't be too hard to find, but if not sure just ask someone from the other team.  Before and during the meet your child MUST BE in the designated are if they are not warming-up or swimming an event.  Plan accordingly by packing and labeling everything ahead of time.  Please discuss with your child to be respectful to the volunteer parents.  If your child leaves the designated area for any reason he/she must communicate that with the volunteer parent.  Volunteer parents do not have time to search for swimmers!  If your child is with you make sure they make the event.

Swimmer Event Matrix

One of the most important activities a swimmer will do during the check-in process is get their entries for the meet.  Each swimmer will get his or her assignments written in Sharpie pen on an arm in "special code". The youngest swimmers often get their names written on a shoulder blade with their age designation. Don't worry, the writing comes off after the meet with eye makeup remover or baby oil and gentle scrubbing.

The "special code" matrix will look something like this:

Using this matrix, you see that this swimmer is entered into 3 events.  She will swim in:

1)  Event #1 (E1), Heat 1 (H1) in Lane 3 (L3) for the Free Relay as the 2nd swimmer.

2)  Event #13 (E13), Heat 3 (H3) in Lane 1 (L1) for the Freestyle

3)  Event #35 (E35), Heat 2 (H2) in Lane 3 (L3) for the Backstroke

In the Stroke column you'll see several different abbreviations.  They may include FLY (Butterfly), BR (Breaststroke), F or FREE (Freestyle), BK (Backstroke), IM (Individual Medley), FR (Freestyle Relay, usually followed by a number to indicate which leg), and MR (Medley Relay, usually follow by a number or the stroke they are doing)

During a meet there will always be an event board that displays the current event in progress.  Keep an eye out for that board and the announcements to make sure you don't miss your child's events.

Meet Timeline

Warm-ups:  4:30 pm Home Team, 5:00 pm Visiting Team

Workers Reports & Referee Briefing:  5:15 pm

Meet Starts:  5:30 pm

Meet Ends:  Around 8:30 pm

Attire

Swimmers are asked to wear their team suit or similar Navy colored suit during swim meets.

Each swimmer will also receive a team t-shirt and are ask to wear them to each meet.  

Swimmers should compete their uniform with a swim cap. Each swimmer will receive a latex cap with their registration.

Swim goggles are necessary, but swimmers must understand that sometimes they come off or move.  Goggles have a knack of disappearing so it’s a good idea to always have a backup pair and have your name on it somehow.

Order of Events

 Per ASA Rules, all meets follow a predefined order of events.  Here is the list:

You'll notice that all 6 & Under events are completed after Event 36.

Scoring

During the meet teams score points based on the order of finish for the first heat of each event.  Heats 2 and beyond are considered "exhibition" heats and do not count towards teams scores.  Points are awarded based on this chart:

The same team cannot be awarded all the points for each event.  In individual events that means even if a team has no swimmers entered into an event the other team can only receive points for 1st and 2nd place but not 3rd.  For relays a team can get points for 1st or 2nd but not both.

Ribbons

Ribbons are awarded for each heat.  Therefore if a swimmer competes in 4 events she can expect to receive 4 ribbons.  However, if a swimmer or relay team is disqualified (DQ) for an infraction, no ribbons will be awarded for that event.  Swimmers usually receive their ribbons at the Wed. morning practice after a meet.  This is known as the ribbon and donuts practice.

For individual events ribbon are awarded for 1st to 6th place depending on number of lanes per heat.  4 is typical.  For relays, ribbons are awarded for 1st and 2nd place.

Misc. ASA Rules

Dress Code

Full body suits (Speedo Lazer Racer, Blue 70, Tyr, etc…) will not be allowed in ASA meets. The suit restrictions are as follows: Boys suits are limited to a jammer or brief design that can extend no further than the knee and cannot cover the upper torso or arms.  Girl’s suits may not extend below the knee and cannot extend past the shoulders in coverage. All suits must be made from a “permeable” material and cannot compress the swimmer’s body.

Coaches in the Water

Coaches are not allowed to be in the water with swimmers during a race. This rule applies to all age groups and exhibition swimmers.  An exception to this rule will be made in the case of a disabled swimmer.