Blue Devils Swim Meet Information
Swim Club Summer Swim Meet Information
Swim Meets are organized competitions between two or more swim clubs. They allow the swimmer to demonstrate swimming proficiency under the pressure of competition. During the course of every swim year, a competitive swimmer will have the opportunity to participate in several meets with swimmers of a similar level of ability.
There are several types of swim meets in our schedule. The season begins with the North Zone held as a ice breaker meet. This introduces new families to swim meet procedures and establishes “times” for each stroke. Invitational meets follow offering entire event lists over two days with entry sometimes subject to qualifying “A” or “B” cut-off times. Each competitor, in consultation with their coach, generally swims six individual events. All swimmers are welcome at the Regional meet, provided they have swum in at least one sanctioned swim meet during the summer season. The season ends in August with Provincials.
When signing up for a swim meet, please check to see if it is an indoor or outdoor pool. It is important to bring warm clothes for the outdoor pools.
I am going to...
Eat Well; Drink Wise, Know My Times; Know My Goals, Work With the Situation, Do all The Small Things, Imagine My Race, Support my Team-mates, Towel, suit, cap, goggles.
I am going to bring...
HEALTHY snacks, Sunscreen, hat, rain gear, Cards, games, books, music, etc., Team wear (sweats, t-shirt, etc.), The Blue Devils Handbook, and Lots of Energy!
Note: If you know you will be attending more than one swim meet, it is good idea to pay ahead. Payments are kept on account and will be credited accordingly. This will save you from writing many small cheques throughout the swim season. All families will be notified by e-mail after each meet what their remaining balance on account is and any credits will be returned at the end of the season.
Swim Club Summer Swim Meet Instructions
Division
Summer swimming age categories, which gather swimmers of approximately the same for race purposes.
1. During Summer the weather can be hot. Have an ample supply of fluids to drink during the day. Find a cool place where you can rest, escape the heat, and get fresh air.
2. During Summer months the weather can be unpredictable at outdoor meets. Have supplies for hot weather; hat, sunscreen, t-shirt, etc. And have supplies for cooler temperatures too; sweat suit, extra towels and swim suit, sleeping bag.
3. Plan for time between events. Be wsure to bring enough food and drinks for the day, and have a book, Walkman or Mp3 player, homework, and games to entertain you.
Meet sign up procedure.
Step 1. Remove Remove a SWIM MEET ALERT from the blue plastic folder in the front of the SWIM MEET BINDER. All pertinent meet information should be outlined here. This is yours for posting on your fridge!
Step 2. Flip through the SWIM MEET BINDER to the section reserved for the meet you wish to attend. There you’ll find the MEET INFO PACKAGE indicating which events are being swum and when. On the SWIM MEET SIGN-UP SHEET please fill in your swimmer’s NAME and DIVISION and which days you will be attending (Coaches will determine which events your swimmer will participate in). If your swimmer is a NOVICE (25 m swims) please note this!!
Step 3. You will notice that MEET ALERTS indicate the COST of each individual event as well as the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EVENTS they can swim. Since coaches will determine which events your swimmer will participate in, please multiply out the cost of your swimmer’s events, attach the lower portion of the MEET ALERT to a CHEQUE and place in the MEET FEES FOLDER, found in the BLUE BOX. MEET ALERTS will indicate if a meet is free of charge. ALL Blue Devils swimmers will be expected to hand-in their MEET FEES at the time they sign up for a meet.
Step 4: Be sure to check the VALIDATION LIST before leaving for a swim meet. The validation list will be in the Blue Box mid-week before a meet. This list indicates which event numbers swimmers are signed up to swim for the upcoming meet. Please verify these event numbers with those in the MEET INFORMATION PACKAGE. Mistakes do happen and when caught in advance the possibility of fixing them is much greater than the day of a swim meet. If there is an error, please advise your coach as soon as possible.
Swim Meet Terms
Division:
Summer swimming age categories, which cather swimmers of approximately the same age for race pourposes.
Heat Sheet:
Can be purchased at the swim meet. Event numbers and lists the swimmers according to their heat.
Event Number:
Number that corresponds to a race for each division. These numbers are used to call swimmers to the marshalling area.
Marshalling Area:
The area where the swimmers are organized before each race. In the marshallinbg area one picks up a card and waits on benches until it is time for their race to begin.
Heats:
Events are divided into heats of six or eight swimmers, depending on the number of lanes in the pool. Event's heats are generally organized from slowest to fastest.
Heats and Finals:
When a meet allows the fastest six or eight swimmers from each event to compete for a second time later in the day, that competition is referred to as a heats and finals meet. The final determines the top six or eight swimmers of the event.
Timed Finals:
When a meet allows swimmers to compete each event only once each day. All competitions that offer heats and not finals are considered timed finals.
IM:
'Individual Medley' is an event comprised of equal part Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle in that order. '100m IM' is one length of the pool for each stroke, '200m IM' is two lengths of the pool for each stroke.
Relay:
This is an event composed of four swimmers, each completing two lengths of a pre-arranged stroke. Can be done Freestyle or IM depending on the meet.
DQ:
'Disqualification' given to a swimmer by the official due to a mistake made in the pool during the race, or because of a false start. Also can be given for behavioural problems.
