Swim Meet Survival Guide
What to bring to a meet (label everything!):
- Extra Towels - Towels on the ground get wet - it's inevitable.
- Goggles (2 pairs)
- Plastic Bags for trash and wet clothes.
- Sunscreen
- Money for food at the concession stand.
- An extra swimsuit for emergencies.
- Swim cap
- Sleeping bag, chair, or something comfortable for kids to sit on under the team tent.
- Warm clothes - Comes in handy on cool mornings
Arriving at the Meet:
Arrive at the swim meet early.
- Check-in with the coaches so they know you are there. If you are not going to attend a meet you’ve signed up for, please be sure to contact your child's coaches ASAP so they can determine impacts to relays.
- Warm-ups typically start around 6:45 for away meets and 7:00 for home meets. Warm-ups are a great time for kids to get the feel of a new pool before competing.
Team Tent:
At every meet, you will see the large, red Sea Lions tent. This is the team's home base, where the kids can leave their stuff and hang out during the meet. We ask for kids to stay in the tent area when they are not swimming or cheering on their teammates. This makes it easier for tent parents to locate and direct kids to the heating area when it’s their turn to swim.
Heating:
Before swimming in an event, swimmers must report to the heating area. This is a holding area for upcoming events, where the swimmers are organized in rows of chairs or benches that represent heat and lane assignments.
Heating volunteers make sure all swimmers for the event are present and in place to move to their event together. Flip charts outside of the heating area show what events are being heated, and what events are being swum. The meet announcer also calls events to heating.
Roped-off Areas:
The roped-off areas around the pool are specifically for the coaches, officials (starters/referees, timers, runners, stroke judges, heaters, etc.), and swimmers involved in the current event. Parents and swimmers not involved in the current event are asked to stay behind the ropes. Swimmers should not be hanging out in the coaches' area.
Meet Clean Up:
Please help us keep the pool area clean, both at home and away meets. Clean up your area when the meet is over, help pick up and empty trash, and make sure the kids help so they know this is their responsibility too.
